Intel GMA950 Graphics Question

The GMA950 is a rather strange GPU. It ranges from extremely good for 2D applicatios to really bad for 3D applications. Basically I suggest that you buy now if you think the MacBook, as it is, suits you. Otherwise, there's no harm in waiting either.

The thing is, nobody know what Apple's plans are for their future products and it is against the Terms of Use for these forums to discuss them. If you wish to there are plenty of rumour sites out there with forums to talk about it to your heart's content.

The graphics chip in the MacBook has 64 MB of dedicated video RAM, as opposed to the Radeon 7500's 32 MB. Also, the intel graphics chip uses the computers main memory, it doesn't have its own. Based on the statistics, the MacBook should have better graphics than your iBook. However, neither one will do very well in playing major graphics-enriched games with high resolution and frame rates. I've read both positive and negative posts on both the sims an WoW. I think 1 GB of RAM is necessary for the MacBook if you're going to be playing any games. I would recommend 2 GB.

Hope this helps.

I also read somewhere that the Intel GMA 950 can use up to 224 MB of main memory if needed for graphics support. Becuase there are two memory slots occupied in the MacBook, there is always one whole stick available to the computer alone. It don't think it will slow the system down that much if at all.

While the specs for the GMA does state this it is unclear exactly how much it can actual claim under Mac OS X. All I can ever find in Apple's documentatin is that it's "more"…

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303718

You can visit the following Intel website for info on the GMA 950:

http://www.intel.com/graphics

The website states the chip can grab as much as 224 MB system memory, but the downloadable PDF states 192 MB.

The graphics chip in the MacBook has 64 MB of dedicated video RAM

That's incorrect. the GMA950 actually uses regular ram not video RAM which is a lot faster then system ram. This is one of the big knocks against the GPU.

Mike

While the specs for the GMA does state this it is unclear exactly

Don't read too much into the memory allocation, its actually pretty simple.
16 meg of system ram is used for overhead for the GPU and 64 Meg of system ram used for the GPU's actuall operation. This provides a total of 80 meg for the GMA950. The macbook page assumes you're running with 512meg of ram, so it does the math based u[on that.

Apple caps the memory usage in OSX so that its only 80meg, whereas if you book into windows it can access/use the total amount of ram that intel intended it to use.

Mike

The website states the chip can grab as much as 224 MB system memory, but the downloadable PDF states 192 MB

Yes it does say all that although that does not take into account the way the Mac OS X driver for the GMA950 handles this. It is possible that the Mac OS X driver limits the RAM accessible to the GMA 950 to less than it's maximum capacity. Don't ask me why they'd do this but anything's possible.

Without concrete documentation from Apple one can't say either way. Although we do know it can claim "more" than 64MB. That's all anyone can really say.

what I meant by that was that it had 64 MB of main memory set aside for it to use. It can use up to 224 MB if it needs to.

It can use up to 224 MB if it needs to.

No that's incorrect, the specifications on the macbook are very clear. The card uses 16 meg of main memory for overhead and 64 meg for displaying images/text/etc. While the card is capable of accessing more memory Apple has capped it in OSX to 64 (80 total when you include the 16).

Mike

While the card is capable of accessing more memory Apple has capped it in OSX to 64 (80 total when you include the 16).

Can you actually provide ANY evidence that would indicate that this is true? And please don't refer to a MacWorld article where Mr Boger says this because I can also refer you to a MacWorld where Mr Jobs said we'd have 3GHz PowerMacs amongst other things. Please note that I'm not disputing that Mr Boger said what he did, I just dispute the accuracy of his statement… "today".

The following Apple tech note…

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303718

… states…

"Mac OS X may make additional main memory available to the graphics processor for texture use beyond the base 80 MB amount mentioned above, depending on the application being used."

Now, that's pretty clear language to me. Also, the MacBook specs page does states…

"Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB"

Why would they use the word "Minimum" if it were fixed at 80MB?

So unless you can provide any real documentation, and I do mean documentation rather than magazine articles or forums threads, that would support your statement and conflict with the provided Apple documentation I would strongly suggest you, and mhunter, stop spreading this BS.

Regardless, I am able to play WoW with 512mb of memory on my 2ghz MacBook. I have turned all the settings to low, and I can get about 10-15fps on average.

Joshua

Can you actually provide ANY evidence that would indicate that this is true?

Yup, straight from apple's hardware specification's page
MacBook

Here's another
Macbook specs

Note the continued and consistant reference to 64Meg. It seems pretty clear cut that apple considers the card in the MB to be a 64meg video card. Now I realize the card is capable of addressing more memory but apple limits it in OSX (for what ever reason). The GMA950 works completely uncapped in windows (via boot camp).

Mike

Mike

Note that the statement you rely on as a footnote and that foot note says: "Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 432MB of system memory available."

Rick