The biggest update tothe new MacBooks — on the interior anyway — is their graphical muscular tissue , which has been hooked up with some Barry Bonds - level steroids . Apple ditch Intel ’s crummy integrated graphics and chipset ( essentially the traffic controller between the processor and everything else ) wholly , optingfor a new one from Nvidiathat flux the chipset and a GPU on a single chip — the GeForce 9400M.The MacBook Pro , being more Pro - erer thanthe MacBook , now rocks two graphics cards — the integrated 9400 M and a disjoined , beefier GeForce 9600 M GT . If that convolution of numbers pool , letters and BS is confusing , here ’s what ’s up . Two art card ? It sound crazy , preposterous , retardiculous . It ’s actually not . It ’s not unique to the MacBook Pro at all . PC substance abuser might be more familiar withNvidia ’s Hybrid SLI , which pulls similar dual - calling card genius . In a nutshell , it lets you use the less power - athirst integrated graphics processor when you ’re doing lighter poppycock to save battery , and then when you want a lot of video - crunch Mr. T powah , you’re able to flip on the discrete artwork card . Of course , there ’s balls - to - the - bulwark full SLI too , which uses two entirely separate graphics cards in one notebook computer for Hulk power and about 45 seconds of battery lifetime , like inone of Alienware ’s animate being . Nvidia ’s received intercrossed SLI for PC actually use both the integrated and distinct GPU at the same time when it goes into turbo modality , and it ’ll permit you change on the fly or have it automatically flip between the two calculate on the index author . But the MacBook Pro use Apple ’s twisting on Nvidia ’s technical school that just lets you find fault one or the other ( not both , booooooo ) and you have to manually twitch the switch in system prefs , leave and back in , pretty plaguey . barrage fire life is apparently an topic with the new MacBook Pro , look at that the integrated 9400 M card now nets you five hours of go - time , the same as the disjoined , more power - thirsty 8600 M GT in the previous model , whereas the new discrete 9600 M GT now get you only four . The other major reason for the huge ascent to more expert lifelike identity card in both the MacBook and Pro is Snow Leopard , whichwill be grownup on parallel processing and offloading work to the artwork card — art cards are particularly expert at parallel processing because of the path they ’re design and the fact that they have a buttload of core group . ( Here’sa more in - depth explanationof that . ) And if graphic cards are get more and more of the universal computer science experience , the unfeignedly stinking ones in the last contemporaries of MacBooks just wo n’t cut it . Nvidia ’s been heavy place in “ General - purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units ” ( GPGPU)—again , using the art scorecard for more general software — on its own for a while , really . When they demoedtheir latest , most badass cardsfor me a few months ago , it was heavily tilt on those types of applications , including in - game physical science and Folding@Home . They actually have their own development outfit called CUDA that lets programmers purchase graphics cards using a standard programming language — PhysX , a physics gaming locomotive , is probablythe most well - known practical app of it so far . ( Nvidia is n’t sure when PhysX come in to Mac , but they ’re bet at it . ) Not so coincidentally , CUDA for Maccame out in August . These cards also support Apple ’s own graphics programming language , hollo OpenCL . So even if you ’re the type of person that browses the net , cut Office docs and fiddle around in Photoshop rather than the type that plays WoW : Wrath of the Lich King or thin out picture , graphics board will count to you almost as much as it does to those hoi polloi : They ’re going to be critical not just in a spate of the awesome stuff you ’ll see coming out in the next couple of years but increasingly so in the path go systems run , whether it ’s from Apple or Microsoft or anyone else . So get ready to listen a portion more about them . Something you still wanna do it ? commit any questions about games , Charles Percy Snow kitties or pancakes to[email protected ] , with “ Giz Explains ” in the subject line .
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