NVIDIA v. Intel

albimalbim
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm deciding between the older plastic intel model and the new unibody macbook, and one of the main points of my decision is the difference between NVIDIA and intel. I plan on using photoshop often, along with the general surfing and word processing. So, my question is, will there be a huge difference between the two chips that could convince me to go up to the $1300 MacBook?

firewire is of no concern to me

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Not right now there isn't but by the middle of next year there will be. The next OS (10.6) has improvements that use GPU computing so some of the processing gets pushed over to the GPU. For certain optimized tasks, this speeds things up by a huge amount.



    The Nvidia 9400M has 16 cores running at 580MHz so although they aren't full processors, it's like adding 16 extra CPUs at 580MHz to the 2 x 2GHz main processors.



    The machine should run cooler due to the new design so you won't hear the fan noise so much when using it. There will also be a lot higher hardware-acceleration support in general like Core Image support.



    You can also support higher resolution displays. The integrated graphics don't do so well on high resolutions, even ones they support. The overall experience should be much smoother.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    albimalbim Posts: 68member
    Thanks a lot marvin, I think I've made my decision to go for the new MacBooks now.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ALBIM View Post


    Thanks a lot marvin, I think I've made my decision to go for the new MacBooks now.



    Let us know how you get on with it. It's always good to hear real-world reviews.
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