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    Why new macbook pro's do not have hybrid SLI

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by jafoca, Oct 23, 2008.

  1. jafoca

    jafoca Notebook Enthusiast

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    It is software, plain and simple. Here is why:

    1. If heat were a concern, apple could enable "hybrid SLI" (switching on the fly) without enabling "hybrid boost" (gpu teaming). nVidia documents this on their site, these are two distinct features.
    2. Heat is not the concern because - only minimal heat is saved by disabling integrated when running on discreet. The discreet is System On A Chip architecture, which means that the whole chip is never disabled, so power and heat savings are not very much by not teaming.
    3. Logging out to swap cards is a pain in the rear - apple would not have this if it could be avoided.

    Apple just has not been able to integrate the ability to do this stuff yet.


    I really just hope they do not release this as a "soft update" or something stupid like that. I might hate Jobs if he says "look at this new macbook pro with hybrid sli and a un-noticeably updated processor"
     
    jafoca, Oct 23, 2008
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  2. Douten

    Douten Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah nVidia themselves said the hardware is capable. So it's only up to Apple. Remember that the 8600M GT allowed the gpu to decode HD movies, the hardware was capable, however Apple didn't take advantage of it until the 9600M GT. I'm hoping that this isn't the same thing that's happening because on the fly switching would be really nice. Hopefully it won't cost $5 like that wireless "upgrade" :rolleyes:
     
    Douten, Oct 23, 2008
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  3. cjcerny

    cjcerny Notebook Consultant

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    Probably just an OS X issue that hasn't been resolved yet. The 3dMark06 scores I've seen from XP or Vista running boot camp on a new Mac Pro are indicative that the hybrid SLI actually does work with those OSes.
     
    cjcerny, Oct 23, 2008
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  4. Xirurg

    Xirurg ORLY???

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    Xirurg, Oct 23, 2008
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