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No, they are. They decided, for no goddamn good reason, to switch on the discrete graphics chip when certain APIs were called, after doing a whole lot of work f
by krakensden 17y ago
No, they are. They decided, for no goddamn good reason, to switch on the discrete graphics chip when certain APIs were called, after doing a whole lot of work for years and years to encourage the use of said APIs.
AMD is doing this the right way- turn it on when you plug in, and let users toggle the thing manually. Optimus seems like an interesting compromise. But API sniffing is ridiculous, because 3D != Intensive 3D That Must Be Fast.
- mootymoots 17y agoexactly... The idea is great, but needs more thought, because as you rightly suggest, not all 3D graphics = intensive, and not all types of app (ie status bar apps doing nothing) require discrete graphics card switch on 100% of the time... THIS, is the issue.
- nvoorhies 17y agoIt's a maintenance issue for the driver folks though. 2 OpenGL drivers with subtly different behavior and sets of bugs means at least twice as many headaches if you want to keep things looking the same.
- matwood 17y agoI don't think the AMD way is necessarily the "right" way. What Apple needs to do is add more options. Make the options part of the power control applet. You should be able to have different settings based on plugged in/not plugged in, API usage, integrated/discrete always on/off, etc... IMHO, a combination of Apple's way and AMD's way is the right way.