Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What are all the benefits a beter grahics provide?

P

ptjh

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2008
136
0
Is it mainly for games? or/and graphic designers?

Or

Does it also improve the quality on your laptop for

Watching DVDs
Viewing Photo's
The general look of things
Driving/Hooking up external monitors

+
Help / Hinder your Clock speed / Free up RAM?

Is a 256 fine or is the 512 alot better for the latter things mentioned? I don't do much grapgic design but do some photo editing and watch alot of DVDs . I may also hook up a big monitor in the future. I do not intent to play games but will use it for pro audio work.

512 MB worth it or 256 MB still very good? Does it make a difference for my use?
 
yes the things you listed will benefit from a better graphics card. Anything visual-related, from watching movies, to viewing pics, to powering a 30-inch monitor, will be enhanced by better gfx card.
 
Well. It's only useful for final cut studio pro, or running games like crysis. If your gonna use logic, watch movies, play some casual games like WoW, spore, etc. Get regular macbook. If not, get pro.
 
Aniki said:
Well. It's only useful for final cut studio pro, or running games like crysis. If your gonna use logic, watch movies, play some casual games like WoW, spore, etc. Get regular macbook. If not, get pro.
Click to expand...

Two contradictory views...I won't ever play games on it (I have a Wii & Xbox 360). I won't get a MB due to lack of firewire and my preference for a 15" screen.

It's either the entry level MB pro or the more expensive ones (possibly with 2.8GHz if I'm spending so much I may as well get somethign that'll last). Will a better graphics card use up my CPU more?
 
For your uses, I'd get a base MBP. The difference between 2.4/2.8GHz and 256/512MB VRAM will be pretty marginal for a casual user.

Will a better graphics card use up my CPU more?
Click to expand...

GPUs don't "use up" your CPU. They're dedicated processors that offload graphical computations that would otherwise be done by the main CPU (which is not as efficient at this type of task).

The GPUs in the new MBPs are all the same (as in same GPU chipset, 9400M/9600M GT combo), with the only difference being the amount of dedicated RAM. More dedicated video RAM can improve the performance of applications that heavily rely on the GPU (games, Core Image applications, etc.). But again, you're describing what is mostly casual use and you probably won't see much of a real world difference in performance.
 
CaptainChunk said:
For your uses, I'd get a base MBP. The difference between 2.4/2.8GHz and 256/512MB VRAM will be pretty marginal for a casual user.
Click to expand...

I think you may be right but I do keep laptops for a few years (my current on is 3 1/2 years old. The plugins & soft synths are pretty heavy though! Saying that alot of MBP only users seem to get by. Roll on quad core laptops. Then the Mac Pro won't even be a consideration for me.
 
Well, I'm not necessarily recommending against the idea of buying a faster machine as a BTO. I usually buy faster than base because I'm a video production professional and sometimes have to render on the road.

If this will be your only computer and you want to keep it for 3+ years, a higher-end model might make more sense because you can only really upgrade memory on a MBP.
 
CaptainChunk said:
Well, I'm not necessarily recommending against the idea of buying a faster machine as a BTO. I usually buy faster than base because I'm a video production professional and sometimes have to render on the road.

If this will be your only computer and you want to keep it for 3+ years, a higher-end model might make more sense because you can only really upgrade memory on a MBP.
Click to expand...

It will be my only machine - desktop replacement. I'd have an mac pro and a low end macbook pro in a perfect world but i'm an academic at the momement. It's interesting but all I really love is music!
 
You think pro audio work = casual user or were you referring to me as a casual graphics card user (which makes more sense)? Noramally I need as much CPU as I can for softsynths ect.
 
dukebound85 said:
macbook and external monitor is my vote
Click to expand...
Not an option. I need firewire & want a 15" screen. The MB screens look bad from different viewing angles.

Do you recon a 256 vs a 512 graphics card won't make any difference for DVD playback or on an eternal monitor?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back