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Ultimate Scaled Resolution in Retina MacBook Pro

N

Nomad110

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2012
166
49
I have had my 2.7/16/768 for all one day and I can't stop gushing about how amazing it is. I do have a more technical question though. I feel that the suggested "Best" setting for Retina is a little too small for my needs. I came from a 17" hi res screen so I got a little used to the real estate. I have played around with the upper two settings called More Space. I love the 1680x1050 and the 1900x1200 but I fear getting a performance hit. Honestly though I really don't feel any performance hit in these scaled settings. Could someone tell me what exactly I am giving up in terms of performance or if you have experienced first hand any slowing characteristics as a results. I guess I am just trying to understand the downside of using the scaled resolutions. The 1680 really feels perfect to me. Should I steer clear?

Thanks,
Nomad
 
If you don't notice anything with the upper scaled resolutions, then leave this thread immediately and never look back lol. Don't let people on this forum confuse you with their bitching and whining.
 
Great advice there. Use what you like! Also try SwitchResX and see what real high resolution looks like...
 
Honestly I have tried a number of things like play HD videos in you tube and quicktime and nothing seems to trigger the discrete GPU in any of the scaled resolutions. Anyone else have any examples of a drawback?

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Damn...you know what the highest setting for me is actually the nicest. The text is so freaking sharp you don't really mind it. I have thrown some pretty hard stuff at it in terms of some live renders in Google Earth and there really isn't a difference between the scaled and non scaled resolutions. Am I missing something here?
 
Nomad110 said:
Honestly I have tried a number of things like play HD videos in you tube and quicktime and nothing seems to trigger the discrete GPU in any of the scaled resolutions. Anyone else have any examples of a drawback?

----------

Damn...you know what the highest setting for me is actually the nicest. The text is so freaking sharp you don't really mind it. I have thrown some pretty hard stuff at it in terms of some live renders in Google Earth and there really isn't a difference between the scaled and non scaled resolutions. Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

Try scrolling a 'heavyweight' webpage (facebook, the verge, etc..) forcing iGPU at 1920 scaled mode.

Moving to ML GM and/or switching to dGPU and/or switching to 'Best for Retina' greatly reduce the issue to a point where it's barely noticeable anymore.
 
Just out of curiosity, are you running ML?

I tried out the 2.6/16gb model at the apple store (running Lion) and scrolling the Apple page was...awful. There were about 2 frames in between going from top to bottom.

If you're running Lion, then I think that 2.7 processor is really doing you good. Maybe they have a better iGPU?

EDIT: It was probably 2.6/8gb since that seems to be the high end base model.
 
Last edited:
Panini said:
Just out of curiosity, are you running ML?

I tried out the 2.6/16gb model at the apple store (running Lion) and scrolling the Apple page was...awful. There were about 2 frames in between going from top to bottom.

If you're running Lion, then I think that 2.7 processor is really doing you good. Maybe they have a better iGPU?
Click to expand...

I don't think you are telling the truth. 2.6/16gb is a custom build. So unless it was someone's personal computer, you didn't use that setup.
 
Well I've spent my week+ with my new rMBP. Amazing machine. Ruined me for other displays (such as the one I'm squinting at right now). I typically turn off any superfluous animations that I can control (I only keep animations that contribute to my intuition about an operation without being intrusive), and I've never understood or will get what the heck smooth scrolling is supposed to do -- as far as I can tell, this feature hasn't been useful to me since IE in Windows 95 or wherever. Having said that, I get UI lag in Mission Control (I hate that many of these animations appear to be un-adjustable) on the integrated but not discrete graphics cards while running 1680 or 1920. But I have yet to see scrolling lag in most other places in the OS.

I do get some kind of graphical corruption from time to time. It's unclear to me what program (if just one) is the culprit. It's happened twice now. I've had one kernel panic, too, and I suspect either Chrome or Skype. Hasn't happened again since.

Wow, talk about your poorly organized post. Um, I was originally in the camp that preferred 1680 over 1920, but I've since moved up to 1920. We'll see how long that lasts.
 
I for one am in the 1920 camp. I'm worried about eye strain, so we'll see how long this lasts. I think the 1680 looks fuzzy, so if I go down it'll be to the 1440.

gentlefury said:
I don't think you are telling the truth. 2.6/16gb is a custom build. So unless it was someone's personal computer, you didn't use that setup.
Click to expand...

You're right, that is a BTO option that shouldn't be in the store. But insinuating he outright lied is a bit strong. He may have simply been mistaken. There is talk circulating though of Apple stores stocking the maxed out MBPr with 2.7/16/768GB. So I wouldn't say it is impossible that the store had one. If they did have one, it would be odd for it to be on display, though.
 
Nomad110 said:
Honestly I have tried a number of things like play HD videos in you tube and quicktime and nothing seems to trigger the discrete GPU in any of the scaled resolutions. Anyone else have any examples of a drawback?

----------

Damn...you know what the highest setting for me is actually the nicest. The text is so freaking sharp you don't really mind it. I have thrown some pretty hard stuff at it in terms of some live renders in Google Earth and there really isn't a difference between the scaled and non scaled resolutions. Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

wah, I'm glad that you've tried it! I personally want to use 1680 res when I get my rMBP.
 
Panini said:
Just out of curiosity, are you running ML?

I tried out the 2.6/16gb model at the apple store (running Lion) and scrolling the Apple page was...awful. There were about 2 frames in between going from top to bottom.

If you're running Lion, then I think that 2.7 processor is really doing you good. Maybe they have a better iGPU?
Click to expand...

I'm running Lion
 
Sambo110 said:
luigi.lauro said:
Try scrolling a 'heavyweight' webpage (facebook, the verge, etc..) forcing iGPU at 1920 scaled mode.
/QUOTE]

The Verge is a terribly test. There's not many computers it DOESN'T lag on.
Click to expand...

The verge, Facebook, and Apple all seem really smooth to me with the integrated graphics. I think the 2.7 makes a big difference when compared to the base.
Click to expand...
 
is it possible to run 1920x1200 without any retina?

this is a yes or no question, not a question if i should get it or not.. thank you.
 
darwinian said:
Well I've spent my week+ with my new rMBP. Amazing machine. Ruined me for other displays (such as the one I'm squinting at right now). I typically turn off any superfluous animations that I can control (I only keep animations that contribute to my intuition about an operation without being intrusive), and I've never understood or will get what the heck smooth scrolling is supposed to do -- as far as I can tell, this feature hasn't been useful to me since IE in Windows 95 or wherever. Having said that, I get UI lag in Mission Control (I hate that many of these animations appear to be un-adjustable) on the integrated but not discrete graphics cards while running 1680 or 1920. But I have yet to see scrolling lag in most other places in the OS.

I do get some kind of graphical corruption from time to time. It's unclear to me what program (if just one) is the culprit. It's happened twice now. I've had one kernel panic, too, and I suspect either Chrome or Skype. Hasn't happened again since.

Wow, talk about your poorly organized post. Um, I was originally in the camp that preferred 1680 over 1920, but I've since moved up to 1920. We'll see how long that lasts.
Click to expand...

Unorganized? Yes. Very informative and helpful? You bet :)
 
charlieegan3 said:
No, but it is more likely to have the need to.
Click to expand...

Wrong. The integrated is more then capable of doing window compositing.

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gentlefury said:
I don't think you are telling the truth. 2.6/16gb is a custom build. So unless it was someone's personal computer, you didn't use that setup.
Click to expand...

You are aware that you can get a BTO setup in Apple store, are you? Many stores have different options in stock. The store I went to also featured both 2.3ghz and 2.6 ghz models.
 
leman said:
You are aware that you can get a BTO setup in Apple store, are you? Many stores have different options in stock. The store I went to also featured both 2.3ghz and 2.6 ghz models.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Apple stores only carry the 2.3/8GB RAM/256GB, 2.6/8GB RAM/512, and 2.7/16GB RAM/768GB configurations in store, not a 2.6/16GB RAM option. Any other configuration requires ordering online.
 
gentlefury said:
I don't think you are telling the truth. 2.6/16gb is a custom build. So unless it was someone's personal computer, you didn't use that setup.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought 2.6 comes with 16GB. I know for a fact it was 2.6, so it probably had 8gb.

Not that it is relevant to the thread in any way, though. I doubt scrolling uses that much ram :)
 
charlieegan3 said:
No, but it is more likely to have the need to.
Click to expand...

I've been running 1680*1050 all day and haven't seen the dGPU come on any more frequently than when at best for retina, isn't it triggered by certain apps regardless of resolution, i.e. iPhoto switches to dGPU when its opened whatever resolution I am using.
 
Sambo110 said:
The verge, Facebook, and Apple all seem really smooth to me with the integrated graphics. I think the 2.7 makes a big difference when compared to the base.
Click to expand...

The 2.7 shouldn't make THAT big of a difference. I mean, the extra L3 cache IS nice, but it shouldn't be night/day.
 
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