Control graphics perfomance in your Core i5/i7 MacBook Pro with a homegrown switching utility

By on May 9, 2010 at 1:45 PM
Hardware May 9, 2010

gfxcardstatus

MacBook Pro owners rocking the latest Core i5/i7-equipped models know the pain of having to give up control over their graphics performance by allowing OS X to dictate which graphics hardware, either the integrated Intel graphics or the NVIDIA GT 330M, is in use. Control-hungry power users will be happy to learn of a new utility developed by Cody Krieger that places you squarely at the helm of your graphics performance. The application, aptly titled gfxCardStatus, started off as a toolbar utility to monitor which hardware was currently in use and has developed from a passive watcher to an active participant by allowing the user to manually select which graphics hardware to use. Navigate your way to Kreiger’s website, grab a copy of this slick software, and get in control of your graphics now.

[Via Engadget]

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12 Comments

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  • Richard

    I really need macbook pro 2010 15 inch w/ high resolution w/ anti glare.. along w/ 8 GIG of RAM.. SSD would be nice too(any size).

    I promise I won’t win any other contest from BGR..

    I realize this is not a typical request/entry but can I win this from BGR before May 15 2010?

    • …

      what the fuck is wrong with you?

      • AusFest

        LOL, I can’t stop laughing at this comment. Been at work 10 hours, this just made my day.

      • Benitocamela

        xD i’ve had the best time of this afternoon by reading the comments. Just wanted to say that this little app has saved me from a panic attack: i was watching a video online with flash, and because of the dynamic switching of the mbp it just was using the intel hd graphics, and that’s fine, until i wanted the video fullscreen, and that was too much for the intel (about 10 fps), but it never changed to the nVidia… This app as I said is great, simple, easy to use, but very useful if you need to get a little bit more out of this 2 gpu configuration, specially on battery power!

  • Richard

    sorry~~

  • Richard

    but at least I made AusFest laff~~ ;-)

  • RJB

    This is an awesome feature for Mac users…

  • Silver8ack

    I with Richard I should be a co-winner

  • MikeD

    I love the about Apple “dictating” what processor to use.

    So what is the hit on the battery life once you override the Graphics processor. because I think that was actually the reason why Apple has the switching.

  • BLaker

    A little behind the curve here. I just bought an HP Pavilion DV4 with the core i5 and it has switchable graphics too. In fact, when I unplug the power cord it switches automatically or I can do it manually. Crazy to think that a PC could have beat a Mac to something (even though I have both :) )

    • silver8ack

      When has apple ever given you total control of your hardware? Never…you have to do it the apple way. No one ‘beat’ apple to anything, apple simple chose to not give you the option.

    • NuShrike

      What’s going on is Apple implemented something magical in the OS similar to Nvidia’s Optimus that does the switching automatically and powers off the other hardware. It’s a little better than the auto-picking depending on AC/Batt it had previously, and like your HP.

      Problem is it’s missing knowledge/control of what the user really wants. Maybe user wants always Intel graphics (to save on heat and batt) no matter ac/batt/opengl state.

      This will probably improve battery life significantly for those whom only switch to turbo-graphics when it’s really really necessary. i.e. On a Sony Z, Intel HD is good enough even for running EVE Online, and most likely WoW also. Switching to Nvidia is only necessary if maybe dogfighting vs 10+ ships, or large raids, respectively.

      What would be a significant improvement is to implement some sort of SLI also.

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