AMD Macbook Air?

[bmad5]

Yes, but, the 320m is integrated. Like a previous poster mentioned, the computer would be a brick without it.

Well my desktop would be a "brick" without my AMD HD 6950 card does that make it an "integrated" graphics card too?
(My mobo doesn't have built in graphics)


Sorry couldn't resist.


Look I'm from the old school where IGP=suck and you could either get a "business" laptop with suck or a "gaming" laptop with a GPU. So honestly if I see Nvidia or ATI/AMD - I think GPU.

While I love my ~2 year old desktop i7, from what I've heard the latest & greatest Intel mobile graphics has reached "less suck" but not quite "good". I was merely excited to see that the next MBA could have better CPU & GPU chops, but apparently it was a fake rumor and I'm a dupe.

(Tho apparently that's better than being Scott LOL)

Bill

 

[reputationZed]

Interesting guess. But still prefer Intel i series for computing purpose on 13'

13 feet, dude that is one big laptop.

 

[s.hasan546]

why would apple bother with amd? They have become a joke in computing power. Even the i3 outperforms most quad core amd chips. Only good thing about amd is cheaper chips & mobos. Maybe Bulldozer will save them.

 

[omniatlas]

why would apple bother with amd? Only good thing about amd is cheaper chips & mobos. Maybe Bulldozer will save them.

Duh. Thats why I just upgraded my desktop to a Phenom II 955 3.2 Ghz black edition quad core. If I went with intel, the equivalent cpu would be double the price.

 

[omicron]

why would apple bother with amd? They have become a joke in computing power. Even the i3 outperforms most quad core amd chips. Only good thing about amd is cheaper chips & mobos. Maybe Bulldozer will save them.

Any savings you get might be thrown out anyway due to the increased power usage....

 

[fyrefly]

I could believe that maybe the new Air is using an AMD/ATI IGP, but not a processor... Particularly because thunderbolt is developed and managed by intel, no? So if they really want to push it, they have to use an intel chipset!

Apple can't use Sandy Bridge (Intel) CPUs and an Nvidia or AMD chipset, 'cause Intel pulled their monopoly card and sued Nvidia and settled. So now we're stuck with Intel IGPs with any "Core iX" processor, unless there's room/power for a dedicated GPU (like in the 15"/17" MBPs).

And with the Air's tiny Motherboard - there's no room for a discrete Nvidia/AMD chip. (Especially with a Thunderbolt chip added to the mix).

While I love my ~2 year old desktop i7, from what I've heard the latest & greatest Intel mobile graphics has reached "less suck" but not quite "good". I was merely excited to see that the next MBA could have better CPU & GPU chops, but apparently it was a fake rumor and I'm a dupe.

The thing with AMD is you get better graphics ('cause they own ATI) but you get less performance/watt - which is the "magic" that powers the MBA. Intel's Low Voltage processors have been decent on the CPU side - and they are (slowly) catching up on the GPU side.

At this point, unless you're trying to play Left 4 Dead or Crysis on your MBA, there's not much/any "day to day" computing stuff that the Intel HD 3000 can't do that the 320M can.

 

[bmad5]

At this point, unless you're trying to play Left 4 Dead or Crysis on your MBA, there's not much/any "day to day" computing stuff that the Intel HD 3000 can't do that the 320M can.

But I do want to play Crysis!

My Alienware "netbook" can play it (on low settings) so that basically what I want... in a super thin package.

My 11" Alienware's 335M can do ~6500 3D Marks 06 and I think the 320M is more like 4000 3D Marks. I think 4k is about what the regular i5 chips can do so the low voltage ones would probably hit 3000 3D Marks?

Yes I realize I want it all.

 

[peskaa]

But I do want to play Crysis!

My Alienware "netbook" can play it (on low settings) so that basically what I want... in a super thin package.

My 11" Alienware's 335M can do ~6500 3D Marks 06 and I think the 320M is more like 4000 3D Marks. I think 4k is about what the regular i5 chips can do so the low voltage ones would probably hit 3000 3D Marks?

Yes I realize I want it all.

The 335M isn't integrated, and the Alienware is also quite chunky - certainly not super slim.

 

[fyrefly]

But I do want to play Crysis!

My Alienware "netbook" can play it (on low settings) so that basically what I want... in a super thin package.

My 11" Alienware's 335M can do ~6500 3D Marks 06 and I think the 320M is more like 4000 3D Marks. I think 4k is about what the regular i5 chips can do so the low voltage ones would probably hit 3000 3D Marks?

Yes I realize I want it all.

Yeah. The 320M reaches ~4600 in 3DMark06. The LV i5's only reach ~2200.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-series-9.aspx?page=3

That's what you can expect gaming-performance-wise in at least the low-end 11" MBA. (Maybe a bit better, as Apple seemingly writes better drivers for the Intel HD 3000 than MS).

If they can stuff the 25W CPU/GPUs into the 13" MBA then you can expect the higher-clocked GPUs, like the 2011 13" MBP. Then you'll have the 2011 MBA reaching ~4000 on 3DMark06.

 

[fibrizo]

To be honest, with the current crop of AMD Llano processors, It might be best suited for the Macbook if it gets an update. It's still sitting on a C2D etc, and has the capacity for the 35W processor. Sure the CPU isn't as fast, but you get quad cores and high performing video. It also competes well in terms of battery life, and likely will be cheaper, allowing apple to get more out of it's 999 price and keep it's margins.

This way they can keep market segmentation between the pro and the macbook. Additionaly people/kids who end up with the polycarbonate macbook might be interested in gaming as well, and would see marked performance increase.

Of couse this leaves the 13inch mbp the bastard stepchild in being different, but it's not the first time apple has done this. (No high res option, no AG option, no discrete video)

 

[TSE]

The new Llano processors look good. Slightly faster than Core 2 Duo, Graphics Performance of an ATI Radeon 5650 HD built in, and battery life basically the same as Sandy Bridge, perhaps slightly better.

I don't think they will be found in the MacBook Air, but it's nice to see AMD is competing once again.

 

[bniu]

320m is discrete in that it shares the 256 mb of VRAM with the main memory but is not completely integrated into the mother board.

Intel IGP stands for Integrated Graphics Processor and is tied completely into the CPU and mother board.

another thing, the 320m doesn't really share 256MB of main memory, it "steals" it away so your system only sees 3.75 GB of RAM (assuming you have 4GB to begin with). The Intel HD3000 is part of the actual CPU and will only take what it needs from main memory up to 384 or 512MB depending on how much RAM you have.

 

[nutjob]

Yes, but, the 320m is integrated. Like a previous poster mentioned, the computer would be a brick without it.

Integrated? Into what, the motherboard? Then the memory, hard disk, bluetooth, etc, etc all all integrated. LOL. Integrated in this context means it's in the CPU chip or IC package. It's not.

These forums are overrun with the ignorant.

 

[Hellhammer]

Integrated? Into what, the motherboard? Then the memory, hard disk, bluetooth, etc, etc all all integrated. LOL. Integrated in this context means it's in the CPU chip or IC package. It's not.

These forums are overrun with the ignorant.

It's integrated into the Controller Hub, in this case, a combination of Northbridge and Southbridge.

 

[nutjob]

It's integrated into the Controller Hub, in this case, a combination of Northbridge and Southbridge.

And? So what. It's not integrated into the processor, which is the point. this is a discussion about switching processors is it not? It's in a discrete package which happens to also be the IO processor and the memory controller.

 

[Hellhammer]

And? So what. It's not integrated into the processor, which is the point. this is a discussion about switching processors is it not? It's in a discrete package which happens to also be the IO processor and the memory controller.

It's integrated as long as it used the system memory (RAM) instead of it's own dedicated memory. That is the definition of IGP. You could say that in Nehalem and newer architectures, the GPU just happens to be in the same package with CPU cores, IMC etc. 320M is an IGP, you can't change that fact.

 

[gman901]

Has anyone seen the new Asus U36 with optimus and a discrete nVidia graphics card? Now how can Asus pull something like this off in such a thin notebook and Apple stick to intel's crappy hd3000? Maybe Apple has a way to add a discrete card like Asus?