GMA 3000 Questions

[Dont Hurt Me]

I noticed at the Dell site they are showing machines with Coreduo2 and GMA 3000 yet I havent seen a review on that combo. Has anyone else? Im curious just how much more it may offer over the current lackluster GMA950? With Apple's switch to Intel I forsee Intel graphics for near future in Mini & Macbook and even iMac Jr So im wondering if this will be the next step for these lines.

 

[Abstract]

Why is the GMA 950 so "lacklustre"? It's not horrid, or it isn't for what I do. The only negative I can think of is that the GMA950 in the MacBooks uses 80 MB of my RAM to process graphics stuff. 80 MB isn't a lot by graphics processing standards, but it's tapping this from my main RAM. While I wish it would use even more than 80 MB if necessary, I also want it to use as little as possible so that i have more for my apps.

 

[QCassidy352]

it's exciting that the GMA 3000 is ready. That means it'll probably be in the next macbooks, and that should provide a nice bump to the GMA 950.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Im not so sure, Dell is selling them in its xps210 line but I havent seen them in the laptops. Its a small desktop machine starting at $1100 for those who dont know.

 

[Sun Baked]

Should be here around the time the mobile 965 chipset hits the shelves, since that is what most of the Macs but should use.

 

[jhu]

Why is the GMA 950 so "lacklustre"? It's not horrid, or it isn't for what I do. The only negative I can think of is that the GMA950 in the MacBooks uses 80 MB of my RAM to process graphics stuff. 80 MB isn't a lot by graphics processing standards, but it's tapping this from my main RAM. While I wish it would use even more than 80 MB if necessary, I also want it to use as little as possible so that i have more for my apps.

my computer has an intel 82845g graphics controller, and its driver allocates/deallocates system memory as needed. i wouldn't be surprised if the driver for the gma 950 does the same thing. on the other hand, my computer is running windows 2000, so the ui graphics demands aren't very high whereas os x has compositing, which has much higher video memory requirements.

 

[Eidorian]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Merom

http://guides.macrumors.com/GMA_X3000

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

I guess its just to early for real world benches on this combo, I have to wonder how much more performance they will get out of it. Also I was able to compare a GMA950 vs a ati 9200 in two mini's and though the frame rate was slightly better then the 9200, things looked better, colors more vibrant etc in the 9200 machine. Guess we will just wait and see what happens with the next updates from Apple. Will they go back to ati? or keep with the Intels? the x1300pro would be nice but knowing apple I dont expect it. If anyone sees any new tests on the gma 3000 chipset or is it 965 please post them here if you will.

 

[jhu]

I guess its just to early for real world benches on this combo, I have to wonder how much more performance they will get out of it. Also I was able to compare a GMA950 vs a ati 9200 in two mini's and though the frame rate was slightly better then the 9200, things looked better, colors more vibrant etc in the 9200 machine. Guess we will just wait and see what happens with the next updates from Apple. Will they go back to ati? or keep with the Intels? the x1300pro would be nice but knowing apple I dont expect it. If anyone sees any new tests on the gma 3000 chipset or is it 965 please post them here if you will.

they certainly won't go back to ati now that amd bought ati and apple is using intel processors.

 

[jholzner]

Well, my roommate has a year old 12" Powerbook and once he saw the Macbook he was going to sell his Powerbook and get one. However, I've read that the graphics in the Macbook are worse than the year old card he has in his Powerbook. He plays a lot of WoW so I told him to just wait. I hope the 3000 bests his current graphics card or Apple will lose a sale.

 

[jholzner]

they certainly won't go back to ati now that amd bought ati and apple is using intel processors.

Why? They relased Pages when MS has Office. Apple released FinalCut when adobe had a video editing package. Apple went with the G5 when Moto was suppling them with G4 procs. I don't think Apple is at the whim of intel. If they want to use ATI they will.

 

[ReanimationLP]

We have a HP Pavilion with the Core 2 and the GMA X3000 graphics, and its a LOT faster than the 950. It feels just as fast as the 6200/X300. And a bit slower than the X1300/7300.

 

[jhu]

Why? They relased Pages when MS has Office. Apple released FinalCut when adobe had a video editing package. Apple went with the G5 when Moto was suppling them with G4 procs. I don't think Apple is at the whim of intel. If they want to use ATI they will.

the issue with software is that it doesn't "cost" them much since apple employs the people. however, with hardware, they will minimize cost wherever possible. that means going all intel for the low-end. with regards to apple when it was using powerpc, the powerpc specification was a result of the "aim" alliance (apple, ibm, motorola). essentially, apple was buying processors from its original partners. so, no they will not be using integrated ati anymore.

 

[Spock]

the issue with software is that it doesn't "cost" them much since apple employs the people. however, with hardware, they will minimize cost wherever possible. that means going all intel for the low-end. with regards to apple when it was using powerpc, the powerpc specification was a result of the "aim" alliance (apple, ibm, motorola). essentially, apple was buying processors from its original partners. so, no they will not be using integrated ati anymore.

I dont know about that, its hard to say. Dell uses both AMD and Intel at the same time and why would AMD lose out on a large computer maker like Apple?

 

[kgarchar]

using the gma950 is pretty bad if you're hooked up to an external monitor. i am using a 20 in display with my macbook (1.25 gb ram) and it's so much slower than the macbooks 13.3 in screen. if they had a gma3000, i'd love it. until then, i'm pretty sure i'm upgrading to a macbook pro