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I think the worst part about it is not necessarily that some lower-end/slimmer laptops have integrated Intel GPUs. That's fine, there's a market for it. The wo
by mtgx 9y ago
I think the worst part about it is not necessarily that some lower-end/slimmer laptops have integrated Intel GPUs. That's fine, there's a market for it.
The worst part is that Intel has coerced OEMs into buying their integrated GPUs even if they buy a dedicated GPU for their laptop.
Imagine if ARM said that if you wanted its Cortex-A CPU, you had to use a Mali GPU, even if you also bought a PowerVR GPU to put in your device...That would be crazy, right? Then so is this.
Intel has done quite a few anti-competitive things since it was last sued (and lost) in the EU for such behavior, almost a decade ago. I wonder why no government body seems willing to take on it anymore. Everyone's tired of doing the whole antitrust dance with Intel again?
- neogodless 9y agoMaybe I'm just a sucker for marketing, but the whole reason for the "Optimus Technology" was that you could effectively "turn off" the power hungry nVidia graphics when you weren't playing games. Yes, that means Intel is selling integrated graphics, but that silicon is useful for power savings. It doesn't seem like a bad thing.
- rayuela 9y agoNo, you are absolutely correct in pointing this distinction out. There is indeed a place in the market for this dual GPU setup. The Intel GPU provides for much better battery performance over the discrete graphics card and switching between the two can be very useful.
- pkolaczk 9y agoWhy is it such a problem to make discrete cards less power hungry instead of powering them down and switching to internal GPU?
- neogodless 9y agoA simple metaphor would be like - why not make a Ford F350 get 35 mpg instead of owning a Fusion Hybrid for commuting during the week? Limits of physics and engineering. Will a reasonably powerful gaming card eventually draw the equivalent power of an integrated chip (when not gaming)? Probably. It seems like we're not there yet.
- riobard 9y agoEven for laptops with dedicated GPU, the the integrated GPU is still necessary to save battery life when the extra gfx performance is not needed.
- pwthornton 9y agoI suspect that even if it were an option to get notebook CPUs without integrated graphics, very few models would come with this configuration. Apple would surely keep the dual GPU setup to maximize battery life via GPU switching when the dedicated GPU is not needed (and Apple gives you the option of only using the dedicated GPU if you wish). Most PC makers would do the same. The integrated GPUs are fine for most notebook tasks, even for power users, and they get much, much better battery life, which is one of the key things a notebook needs to do well. I'm on a rMBP and only my integrated GPU is in use right now because I'm not doing anything that needs the bigger, more power hungry GPU.