uMBP - battery life - Intel vs Nvidia

Hey guys,

I understand that the uMBP has auto graphics switching. I want to know whether there is any significant difference in battery life (when not plugged in) between the intel and nvidia chipsets? If yes, then how do I switch between them manually?

 

there is a utility someone wrote you can download for free called gfxCardStatus, you can use to manually see and switch between them. You will get much better battery life using the Intel.

 

Cheers thanks for the reply. Will it affect the machine in any significant way if I use Intel most of the time? When should I switch to nvidia? like what type of programs are better performed under nvidia?

 

Only programs that really benefit from graphics cards:

-Games, obviously
-OpenCL written programs - basically only professional programs
-Flash 10.1 or 10.2 - shouldn't notice a huge difference unless you are doing HD Fullscreen videos
-Other video watching programs - VLC Player, etc.

 

Thanks for the reply mate. appreciate it

 

No problem.

 

you can just let it do it's job automatically. you won't get a significant battery-life improvement handling it manually, but it will be one more thing you need to manage.

 

thanks for that masterchef341. Is manual switching recommended though?

 

I don't have one.. but I would do it manually if I did.

It does not switch based on how much horsepower you need, it switches only based on what apps you have open and what frameworks or APIs they are linked against. This means poorly thought out programs that might link against OpenGL even though it never uses it, can activate your GPU when its not needed... etc... etc... If you want to make sure your using the Intel to conserve battery, its best to set it manually.

 

cheers thansk for that

 

programs that don't use openGL wouldn't link against it. this would be worse than just poorly thought out.

additionally, poor coding design can trash your battery regardless. i could write a program that spawns 80 infinite loop count threads just for kicks. then what are you going to do? kind of splitting hairs at that point, no? you are basically saying to handle it manually all the time so you will get slight battery optimization in unlikely worst case scenarios.

i have the auto-graphics switching system. in general, you won't get any benefit on your battery by handling it manually. you *may* be able to contrive a situation where you can. so, do it anyway, you really want to, you already made up your mind. for you, it isn't about optimal performance or battery life, it's about control. which is fine. so go right ahead.

 

sorry to double post, but i am slightly frustrated by the alternate answer you got from someone without the system. and i'm also slightly frustrated that you *just* wanted to hear that answer, so you jumped on it. so, i am clarifying:

the answer depends on the question:

"is manual switching recommended to optimize performance?"

no.

"is manual switching recommended to optimize battery life?"

no.

"is manual switching recommended to optimize control?"

yes.

 

Thanks for the elaborate answer. Very much clarified now.

 

you would be surprised... just an include statement to a framework to use a better random number generator can do it, even if you are only using the 1 thing out of it... There are some programs that some people like to run that even run in the background all the time and kick on the GPU always.

I only told what I'd do... and yes, its because I like to control my system, so it does what I want it to do.

Would I keep switching it right away? no... I'd leave gfxCardStatus running and just watch and see... make sure it worked good. Since they have been out a while now, a lot of problem programs have patched their programs so it won't be a problem, but the first few weeks these auto switch machines were out, there were quite a few things, even popular stuff like iStat that could lock on the GPU all the time.

just like I use smcFanControl, though its usually just to monitor and not to change... I'd use gfxCardStatus to monitor as well... because Apple makes good machines, they are not perfect...

they do mess up and act in ways they shouldn't.... just like my 2008 MBP that waits until its over 90º C before it even starts spinning the fans up from 2000rpm, and usually gets over 100º before it starts getting fast enough to cool... Apple says this is normal operation, and even a motherboard swap didn't change anything. Well that is within specs and the machine could probably run under normal use for 5 years or so like that, but I'd rather take care of the fans myself and have it last 10... so it doesn't hurt to monitor stuff.

 

Cheers thanx. I think Ill stick to monitoring with the gfx software, rather than actually using it to manipulate the system.

 

Keep in mind, Google Chrome will use the Nvidia card, I've recently only started using Chrome when plugged in, and use Safari when on battery.

 

Cool thanks for the tip. But I find that safari is sufficient enough for my needs> hence, that is always my default browser.

 

I don't like Safari at all (Chrome kicks ) so I use GFXcardstatus to use the Intel card at all times.

I don't agree; I achieve battery savings of over an hour when running on the Intel chip only versus auto-switching. It's not that much to manage, to be honest. Put it on Intel when you want battery life, put it on auto-switching when you want performance capability.

 

I suppose it depends on your usage. I've found that most of my programs that I would I would want to run on intel end up running on intel. But- I am using firefox, not chrome. That would be a deal-breaker if chrome runs on nvidia.