Tuesday, October 14th 2008
Hybrid SLI Could be Part of Updated Macbook Pro
Apple's switch to x86 and Intel was seen as a change for the better. The company seems to have gone on a visual-computing drive, with closer associations with NVIDIA, and increased inclusion of NVIDIA's technologies into its products. Word is, that the next update to the Macbook Pro, could have NVIDIA's core-logic (chipset), with the likely candidate being MCP79. There's also widespread speculation in the industry, that some models of the Macbook Pro could come with two GPUs.
It is certainly possible, that the MCP79 could provide Hybrid SLI support. The chipset embeds a GeForce 9300 class integrated graphics processor (IGP), and provides additional PCI-Express connections to an external GPU. In this case, Apple could use a powerful GeForce board that handles graphics. The IGP could work in tandem with the GeForce board, or handle graphics all by itself, to save power. Pictures of the new Macbook model had surfaced yesterday, revealing the slick new Macbook Pro chassis. The range could start for as low as US $899.
Source:
Engadget
It is certainly possible, that the MCP79 could provide Hybrid SLI support. The chipset embeds a GeForce 9300 class integrated graphics processor (IGP), and provides additional PCI-Express connections to an external GPU. In this case, Apple could use a powerful GeForce board that handles graphics. The IGP could work in tandem with the GeForce board, or handle graphics all by itself, to save power. Pictures of the new Macbook model had surfaced yesterday, revealing the slick new Macbook Pro chassis. The range could start for as low as US $899.
25 Comments on Hybrid SLI Could be Part of Updated Macbook Pro
jesus just tell them style whores to get a proper laptop. its...
1. Cheaper
2. More powerful
3. Doesnt need bootcamp
4. upgrades are cheaper & are more widely available
Apple = FAIL
sooner or later there wont be any reason to buy Macbooks other then for the name & the fact that some people who like to feel 'hip & with it' spend more money for something they think is better with the sorry ass excuse "Oh but i can connect my ipod to it & use itunes"
Seriously.....
end rant.
1 up for REAL laptops!
Not so much for the possible gain in performance when they work together (although it is appealing of course; if drivers get properly optimized, you might get a 20-30% performance gain in a combination of, say 9600M GT and the integrated 9300M [I'm guessing here]), but the fact that is most appealing, is the fact that you can totally turn off the 9600M GT when not in use and let the 9300M do all the dirty work => much less energy consumption and perhaps we'll see cheper High performance GPUs in the future, because they can "forget about" power-saving modes for the high-performance GPUs.
And I'm pretty sure the new MacBook will be just as solid as the current one and just as pricey... In my opinion Apple makes good Hardware and Software but the Price/Performance-relation just is not there and with a bit of knowledge you can do that and more on a Windows OS PC aswell.
Hybrid SLi, like Hybrid Crossfire, turns off the descrete GPU when it isn't needed. This saves on power, as descrete GPUs take up a huge amount of power compared to integrated GPUs. When the descrete GPU is needed, it is turned back on. Also, in the case of battery powered devices, it can be set to never turn the descrete GPU on when running on battery power alone.
And while we have just started to hear about apps that take advantage of CUDA in the past few months, there is already a very major one coming out that a lot of Mac owners are looking forward to. Photoshop CS4. A large portion of Mac users are artists, artists that use Photoshop on almost a daily basis, so this is a very major thing for them.
personally i own a macbook, and a pc i use my macbook for photoshop dreamweaver and things like that.
i use my pc for gaming and streaming movies and stuff to my xbox 360.
i like the both i think we should keep it to a "To each there own" thread and not start bashing apples new laptops because you haven't even used it yet (even with bootcamp) to see how well it plays games or whatever you guys are ASSuming right now.
The GeForce accelerates graphics/scientific apps, while the MCP79 IGP runs the graphics and turns off the main GPU when not needed, to save power.
As for these new Macbooks, well the hardware sounds nice, but that case is FUGLY for a Mac. Seriously, black keyboard and black surround on the monitor - who made this, Dell?!!....
I would guess no.Same here. I think most Apple bashers haven't tried the OS. That is what makes the mac, the hardware is just a side note.
And about that laptop, it looks like it has room for a full size keyboard. Why wouldn't they put one on it, sometimes I question Apples design philosophies.
Ive used and tried repairing Macs in the past, 1 had a bunk drive in it, wound up being the OS dumped the Extension for the "CD Drive" it required you to upgrade the firmware of the OS not the drive, before anything and i think that is bunk especially when you cant find the extension or firmware on Macs own help site or download site. Windows on the other hand if the driver goes bunk you can find it anywhere.
on another Point, anyone use Darwin, all Mac OS is is just this with a Skin on it.
And if you consider the parts you get in the current Macs, they are very reasonably priced, notebooks being the noted exception. Take the iMac, show me one other all-in-one unit that represents the same value at the same performance level. Same with the MacPros. Last time I checked, it cost within $100 to build a dual socket Workstation with all the same features (including software to do what the Mac does out of the box), as opposed to buying the Mac. Although, they rape you on the upgrades when configuring, so they make a pretty chunk of change when you don't buy a base model. I actually prefer this age of Intel Macs. At least cpu upgrades aren't crazy expensive like they are on PPC Macs (Speaking of which, where the hell are my G5 upgrades to extend the life of this machine a little? lol)
Macs are not worse than PC's by any means. The major downside to Mac is a lack of Games, although many major titles do release on Mac, just not as many. And although it can be a downside, having controlled hardware makes for a much more stable OS. Both PCs and Macs have their pros and cons.
If you ain't gonna read the article, don't comment on it.