 Better performance when using external monitor?, Reality or wishful thinking/marketing claim? |
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  October 28th 2009, 09:35 PM
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#1
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 Legendary  Group: Members Posts: 882 Joined: January 6 '03 From: Ontario Member No.: 3,225  |
So I've decided to get a new monitor finally. I'm sick and tired of looking at a tiny little 13" screen.
Leaning towards this one: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?d...amp;cid=MTR.282 Anyways, I saw a Macbook stand on the Apple store and noticed it had this claim: "Enhance performance You can actually boost the performance of your MacBook or MacBook Pro by running it closed in the BookArc. That's because your system automatically dedicates 100% of its video memory to the external display rather than splitting it with the built-in display. You’ll see a noticeable speed increase when working in many graphics-intensive applications." http://store.apple.com/ca/product/TW852LL/...mco=MTA4MTYwOTU So is their any truth to that, or typical marketing hype? I could believe the claim that it would run better on a single display compared to 2, but that it'll be better on an external monitor over the built in one? (or maybe I'm just misreading it)    Anyways, how the heck am I going to stand this thing up... lol/ $60 for a stand is too much! -------------------- Rev.B-Macbook 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo + OSX 10.6
1GB RAM. 60GB HD + 250GB External HD 2nd Gen 8GB iPod Touch + OS 3.1 |
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October 29th 2009, 02:00 AM
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#2
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 Verbal Windbag Group: Members Posts: 4,482 Joined: August 23 '05 From: over there Member No.: 7,719 |
QUOTE(Silver Samurai @ October 29th 2009, 04:35 AM)  So is their any truth to that, or typical marketing hype? I could believe the claim that it would run better on a single display compared to 2, but that it'll be better on an external monitor over the built in one? (or maybe I'm just misreading it) The blurb's right regarding the one monitor vs. two monitor thing, but it's very unlikely that there's a noticable performance gain by running only the external monitor vs running only the internal display (except the external display has a much lower resolution - like 640x480...). -------------------- "We do what we must, because we can."
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October 29th 2009, 04:29 AM
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#3
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 of the Popeye Analogy Group: Members Posts: 8,812 Joined: May 31 '05 From: London, UK Member No.: 7,389 |
Yeah, I think you're trying to read too much into that claim. All they mean is that running one display is going to be faster in certain applications than running two.
-------------------- Polytetrafluoroethylene to my friends.
Macbook Pro - C2D 2.4Ghz / 4Gb RAM / WD Scorpio Black 320GB ( 255GB OSX v 42GB XP ) / Geforce 8600M GT 256Mb / 15.4" Cube - G4 1.7Ghz 7448 / 1.5Gb RAM / Samsung Spinpoint 250GB / Geforce 6200 256Mb We won! Apple offer the 17" with a matte screen! Well... at a price... |
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October 29th 2009, 02:04 PM
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#4
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Legendary Group: Members Posts: 882 Joined: January 6 '03 From: Ontario Member No.: 3,225 |
Didn't think that's what it meant.
Thanks 
-------------------- Rev.B-Macbook 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo + OSX 10.6
1GB RAM. 60GB HD + 250GB External HD 2nd Gen 8GB iPod Touch + OS 3.1 |
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October 29th 2009, 02:59 PM
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#5
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 Legendary Group: Members Posts: 1,256 Joined: July 28 '07 From: Elmira, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 10,383 |
If you own a console I'd get a monitor with an HDMI port. Its super handy even if you have an HD TV already that you game on, since it allows someone to bring their console over for LAN parties and still have an HD screen
-------------------- MBP: 2.4 GHz C2D // 4 GB DDR2 // nVidia 8600M GT // Snow Leopard 10.6.2
PC: Q6600 @ 3.2 GHz // 4 GB DDR2 // ATI 4890 1 GB OC // Windows 7 64 bit Currently Enjoying: Uncharted 2, Fat Princess |
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October 31st 2009, 11:28 AM
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#6
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Legendary Group: Members Posts: 882 Joined: January 6 '03 From: Ontario Member No.: 3,225 |
QUOTE(Sneaky Snake @ October 29th 2009, 04:59 PM) If you own a console I'd get a monitor with an HDMI port. Its super handy even if you have an HD TV already that you game on, since it allows someone to bring their console over for LAN parties and still have an HD screen They didnt have any with HDMI in stock as far as I could tell. Oh well, I've never had a LAN party here and doubt I'd use this as a TV anyways. In any case I'm loving this thing. MacBook runs a lil hotter but I presume it's because I'm running a higher resolution so it needs to work a lil harder. Ah well, while I lose the webcam ability, since I hardly ever used it, it's no big deal to me, although using CD/DVDs is a bit of a pain since the laptop is behind my monitor. -------------------- Rev.B-Macbook 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo + OSX 10.6
1GB RAM. 60GB HD + 250GB External HD 2nd Gen 8GB iPod Touch + OS 3.1 |
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October 31st 2009, 11:55 AM
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#7
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of the Popeye Analogy Group: Members Posts: 8,812 Joined: May 31 '05 From: London, UK Member No.: 7,389 |
You don't lose the webcam ability. Once the external screen has turned on (and you get to be able to use the desktop/whatever's on the screen), feel free to open up the MB and let it's cooling system work properly (which would explain why its running hotter, no?). Then you can use the webcam again, but the screen will stay turned off...
Of course, since it's behind your screen, the placement means that you can't use it, but in theory you can. As for the console to HDMI thing, it doesn't matter because you can just use a HDMI-DVI cable. You can't use it for sound, but I doubt that the monitor has built in speakers worth a damn anyway, so you'd have to use the basic AV cable to get your audio anyway. -------------------- Polytetrafluoroethylene to my friends.
Macbook Pro - C2D 2.4Ghz / 4Gb RAM / WD Scorpio Black 320GB ( 255GB OSX v 42GB XP ) / Geforce 8600M GT 256Mb / 15.4" Cube - G4 1.7Ghz 7448 / 1.5Gb RAM / Samsung Spinpoint 250GB / Geforce 6200 256Mb We won! Apple offer the 17" with a matte screen! Well... at a price... |
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October 31st 2009, 12:39 PM
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#8
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Legendary Group: Members Posts: 1,256 Joined: July 28 '07 From: Elmira, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 10,383 |
Yea, you should have your laptop open if possible. When playing games, the laptop screen will just go completely black, using none of your graphics power
-------------------- MBP: 2.4 GHz C2D // 4 GB DDR2 // nVidia 8600M GT // Snow Leopard 10.6.2
PC: Q6600 @ 3.2 GHz // 4 GB DDR2 // ATI 4890 1 GB OC // Windows 7 64 bit Currently Enjoying: Uncharted 2, Fat Princess |
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November 4th 2009, 09:01 PM
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#9
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Legendary Group: Members Posts: 882 Joined: January 6 '03 From: Ontario Member No.: 3,225 |
QUOTE(Sneaky Snake @ October 31st 2009, 01:39 PM) Yea, you should have your laptop open if possible. When playing games, the laptop screen will just go completely black, using none of your graphics power No can do. laptop is behind my monitor. I don't have a big desk. Man I love using this thing. NWN even runs well! Hopefully I'll never have a laptop again! (although if I get a ajob and my work buys it, i'll just use it at work if I have to. -------------------- Rev.B-Macbook 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo + OSX 10.6
1GB RAM. 60GB HD + 250GB External HD 2nd Gen 8GB iPod Touch + OS 3.1 |
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