Macbook Pro + 30" ACD Owners

[radiantm3]

Are you experiencing subpar graphics performance using your macbook pro connected to the 30"? Particularly in Quartz Extreme animations. I have the 2.16ghz Macbook pro with the 256mb gpu and 2 gigs of ram. Exposé in particular gets a bit choppy when working on the 30". It was a big problem for me when I had my powerbook, but I thought the jump to 256mb video ram would solve the issue. I'm even considering selling the 30" and picking up a 24". I don't expect to play games or anything, but I'd at least like to see my OS be able to run smoothly without graphical hiccups.

Any thoughts? Maybe running in closed-lid mode will solve this issue? I will probably try that when I get home from work. Might not sound like a big deal for most, but I am pretty anal about framerates and seeing the aqua interface drop in frames is rather annoying.

 

[bpd115]

I haven't really noticed any quartz animation issues, but I haven't been looking for them either. Do you have the 15" or 17" MBP? Clamshell or Dual display mode?

On a side note, when using yours with dark or black backgrounds/images do you notice any horizontal flickering lines of pixels?

 

[iGary]

Not really an answer specifially to the MBP, but my PB 1.67 15" runs my 30" display perfectly - Expose', Dashboard, Google Earth, and a mapping program I use.

No issues whatsoever. I just used it for three days while my PM was in the shop.

 

[radiantm3]

I haven't really noticed any quartz animation issues, but I haven't been looking for them either. Do you have the 15" or 17" MBP? Clamshell or Dual display mode?

On a side note, when using yours with dark or black backgrounds/images do you notice any horizontal flickering lines of pixels?

I have the 15" and have been in dual display mode. I will test clamshell mode when I am at home. Also, I just received my macbook 2 days ago so I haven't spent enough time on it to notice any graphical glitches as of yet.

 

[iGary]

I have the 15" and have been in dual display mode. I will test clamshell mode when I am at home. Also, I just received my macbook 2 days ago so I haven't spent enough time on it to notice any graphical glitches as of yet.

That may be the difference - I run mine in closed lid mode.

 

[e²Studios]

I had no idea my MBP could drive a 30" display. I for some reason though that you needed some spiffy high end video card that was on a mac pro/power mac G5.

Ed

 

[radiantm3]

Not really an answer specifially to the MBP, but my PB 1.67 15" runs my 30" display perfectly - Expose', Dashboard, Google Earth, and a mapping program I use.

No issues whatsoever. I just used it for three days while my PM was in the shop.

Really? I had the same powerbook before I upgraded to the macbook and the UI animations were far from smooth. Even dragging windows around dropped frames. This was in comparison to my dual 1.8ghz g5 with the 6800GT which ran very smooth.

 

[radiantm3]

That may be the difference - I run mine in closed lid mode.

I guess you can ignore my previous post as I always ran it with the lid open.

 

[iGary]

Really? I had the same powerbook before I upgraded to the macbook and the UI animations were far from smooth. Even dragging windows around dropped frames. This was in comparison to my dual 1.8ghz g5 with the 6800GT which ran very smooth.

Yeah, I honestly don't know why, but in closed lid, I really forgot that I was working on th PB a few times. No issues.

Wish I knew what was up.

 

[Scottyk9]

I guess you can ignore my previous post as I always ran it with the lid open.

I have an MPB and had a 30" (returned it because of the same problems that bpd115 had). I mostly used it in clamshell, but occasionally used in extended desktop. I noticed no problems with quartz animation (expose, dashboard, desktop manager animations).

I did experience what you are describing on a 1.25 PB when hooked up to a 20" display, but that only had 64 Mb of VRAM in total. I would think that 256 (even if split between 2 displays) should be enough for smooth animation.

(by the way, I echo bpd115's request to look for graphic abnormalities - especially apparant on black backgrounds. I went through 2 30" ACDs because of this problem, but now I'm finding it hard to live without!)

 

[Scottyk9]

Yeah, I honestly don't know why, but in closed lid, I really forgot that I was working on th PB a few times. No issues.

Wish I knew what was up.

At least on the older machines, VRAM would not be scaled to the display. If you had a 15" display and a 20" external display, the 64Mb of VRAM would be split evenly between the 2 (not proportionately). When you close the lid, now all the VRAM is for one display.

 

[iGary]

At least on the older machines, VRAM would not be scaled to the display. If you had a 15" display and a 20" external display, the 64Mb of VRAM would be split evenly between the 2 (not proportionately). When you close the lid, now all the VRAM is for one display.

Right, but I think he tried that right?

 

[Scottyk9]

I have the 15" and have been in dual display mode. I will test clamshell mode when I am at home. Also, I just received my macbook 2 days ago so I haven't spent enough time on it to notice any graphical glitches as of yet.

radiantm3 - have you had a chance to use your 30" ACD with a black background yet? Curious to hear if you see any abnormalities.

How is it working in clamshell mode for you?