Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

0 points

17" i5 MBP GPU Switching Observations

This is a culmination of my posts from another forum, I wanted to post my observations on here as well to see if I can get an 'Official Response' of some sort..

I noticed that you can see which GPU is active in System Profiler and started watching which one the system was using.

Some really strange observations...

Launching Tweetie, even when it is the only application open, makes the computer use the 330M. As soon as I quit it, it switches back to the Intel unless of course Aperture or something like that is open..

Right now with Firefox and a few tabs, Mail, Adium, Terminal, Calendar, Address Book, Word, Power Point, Excel and system profiler open (Just started launching random stuff to test), I am on the Intel. The second I launch Tweetie - 330M.

I am also noticing more weird instances of switching to the 330m, and in my opinion unnecessarily.

For instance, in Firefox, I can have a bunch of tabs open (Right now - Facebook, Macrumors, TUAW, Gizmodo, Engadget) but as soon as I go to my iGoogle page the 330m kicks in. As soon as I close it's tab, the Intel goes back on. My 2007 white Macbook was able to handle iGoogle without a problem, is it really necessary to use a discrete GPU for Google??... NO

It's also interesting to watch the battery while doing this. Right now, at 96% it says 7:22 remaining, upon opening a tab with Google, it goes down to about 6:00 remaining whether the tab is in the foreground or not.

Note - I am only referring to iGoogle - the classic Google page does not force the use of the 330m.

And my next observation may be even more annoying!

It also seems like I am getting 'stuck' on the 330m after a bit of usage. I noticed that after closing Aperture (on battery), I am still using the 330m. Figured it may be some other application requiring it so I quit everything that was running, including System Profiler and then relaunched just System Profiler, and I am still on the 330m.

Right now the only way I can get back over to the Intel GPU is by logging out (I think) or rebooting.

I hope other users are willing to look at their systems and see if what I am observing is 'normal', because I doubt I am the only one experiencing it. This all comes at a sacrifice to battery life and Apple really needs to address it quickly...

I hope that someone comes up with a way of giving the user more control over which card is active, be it Apple or someone else.

17" 2.53 i5 Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 21, 2010 7:11 AM

60 replies

dougjacobs Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2010 4:51 PM in response to dougjacobs

It's definitely good to see that some of the Dev's are contacting Apple about this. Hopefully they will get an update out soon.

I just noticed that if I hide the chat pane in iGoogle, it immediately switches from the 330M back to the Intel HD. I wonder why it forces the 330M on in the first place?

Apr 24, 2010 3:13 AM in response to dougjacobs

Just tried Yahoo Messenger. It too triggers the Nvidia GPU. As does Time Palette. Right now, I am on the Intel HD GPU but I am trying to search for other apps that might trigger the Nvidia. Apple needs to fix this and quickly as it seriously is killing my battery life.

bitninja

Level 1

10 points

Apr 24, 2010 11:54 AM in response to dougjacobs

Hey all,

I made a menu bar app that lets you know which card is in use, so you don't have to check the system profiler anymore. It updates when you launch/terminate any application, and when the display configuration changes or an external display is plugged in. There's also a manual update if you feel it isn't correct. See this thread if you're interested (anchored to my first post of the app):
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=901521&page=5#122

There are screenshots and some feature list updates further down the thread if you want to see what it looks like in action before you try it out. It has worked for everyone with an i5 or i7 MacBook Pro that has tried it yet, so it should do the same for you if you choose to try it out. Thanks, let me know what you think!

Cody

Apr 25, 2010 3:25 PM in response to dougjacobs

On my 15" Core i5, I found that the Microsoft Office Auto Update daemon (Microsoft AU Daemon.app) was triggering the 330M to run all the time. That runs (well ran) as part of my Login Items, so restarting didn't resolve the issue either.

Pretty odd for a faceless background app.

Message was edited by: Tim Rand 2

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Apr 25, 2010 4:14 PM in response to Tim Rand 2

Saw another user who found that removing the AutoUpdate Daemon from his log-in items (amongst a group of others) resolved the problem of the computer switching to the Intel at startup too, and your post seems to confirm that it was at least part of his issue.

Given that it is part of the "default" installation of MS Office it is certainly likely to be an issue for many, many people with the i5 and i7 MBps. Maybe even more so than Skype and Tweetie! Thanks for the info.

Cheers

Rod

Apr 25, 2010 6:55 PM in response to Rod Hagen

Put me down as someone who really wants more control over this "autoswitching" of the GPU's. It doesn't seem to be working as intended and it is forcing me to play cat and mouse with a variety of installed (and well-used) apps to find out which ones are forcing me into discrete versus integrated GPU modes. Today I discovered that Firefox was forcing the machine to stay in discrete mode, but when I shut down Firefox and re-started it, the machine switched back into integrated mode (nothing else was running).

Someone posted these suggestions on the macrumors forum and I'm copying them here as I think they represent good ideas Apple should consider for an update patch soon:

1) Mac OS X should use the discrete Nvidia GT 330M NOT just by detecting any OpenGL, OpenCL, Quartz Composer, Core Animation and Core Graphics. It should also judge if the application running one of these technologies really needs the resources of the Nvidia GT 330M (such as tweetie, igoogle, iPhoto, Skype....).

2)Mac OS X system preferences should provide a setting for the user to completely turn off the Nvidia GT 330M (like the previous generation Macbook Pro).

3)Furthermore, in advanced settings, the user should be able to choose which applications should trigger the Nvidia GPU to wake up and which shouldn't. This can help conserve the valuable battery life and allow the user to use Nvidia GPU at the times demanded by the user AUTOMATICALLY.

In summary: While I appreciate that the MBP is 'smart' enough to auto-switch when it feels it needs to, that decision should have an override ability controlled by me, the user and owner of the machine.

bitninja

Level 1

10 points

Apr 25, 2010 7:03 PM in response to ReallyBigFeet

Ditto, ReallyBigFeet. Some kind of user-controlled list should definitely be implemented to tell OS X when to switch on and off the 330M, and there should be a way to "lock" one card on for use.

yonajon

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2010 8:20 PM in response to dougjacobs

I too am plagued by GPU issues. I can confirm that both Skype and Gmail chat (whether in Gmail or in iGoogle) cause the 330m to kick in. It would be great to have the following features:

1. Ability to completely disable the 330m, preferably by power source (i.e., disable the 330m for all applications when on battery).

2. Ability to dictate for which apps to engage the 330m.

3. Ability to turn off the 330m regardless of power source.

sshhoott

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2010 8:59 PM in response to ReallyBigFeet

Thanks for spreading the word ReallyBigFeet

Message was edited by: sshhoott

eeeeee

Level 1

4 points

Apr 26, 2010 7:56 AM in response to sshhoott

I can confirm that my 15" MBP dropped into using the Intel graphics card once I'd disabled the MS AutoUpdate daemon.

It may just be coincidence but it changed at the second I ran pmset -g on the command line!

Thanks to bitnija for the little util - very useful!

e

Apr 26, 2010 8:36 AM in response to dougjacobs

I am against a list. Apple was clearly trying to avoid the clunky way Nvidia implemented this switching on the windows side. The problem is it appears that Apple does nothing more than switch when a certain api function is getting called. To me this is just way over assuming since many programs will use stuff that hooks into game grade api's (did Apple not test this?). Besides detecting that a program has gone full screen and using opengl, it seems like consideration should be given to how much the intel HD graphics is actually being burdened.

I'm sure this would be hard too. Apple just needs to find a more workable solution that takes into account existing applications this time 🙂.

Message was edited by: cendrizzi

bitninja

Level 1

10 points

Apr 26, 2010 8:39 AM in response to eeeeee

My pleasure! Glad I could be of assistance. 🙂

tsqu

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2010 9:53 AM in response to cendrizzi

I think people would be happy with a way to simply disable nVidia if they are on battery, no lists, no magic thank you very much. Why would Apple not have done that, I wonder?

washley

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2010 2:38 PM in response to dougjacobs

For anyone affected by Skype, you can stop it from causing a switch to Nvidia graphics by disabling video support. Go to Preferences -> Video and uncheck "Enable Skype Video" then restart Skype.

Apr 26, 2010 5:22 PM in response to dougjacobs

Further testing shows that ALL modules of Office 2004 will drop you into nVidia mode.

17" i5 MBP GPU Switching Observations