Do Newer Macs Have Better H.264 Decode Acceleration?

ichiro_dk

Junior Member
Jul 10, 2013
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0
Hi everyone.

I have a Macbook Pro mid-2009 with a 2,66ghz Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel GeForce 9400M 256mb (and also the 9600M, but it uses way more battery!). I am considering upgrading my computer soon.

However, I would like to know if I can expect the hardware acceleration to be better on newer computers viewing online video on f.ex. YouTube or any flash site as BBC iPlayer as well as NetFlix (using Silverlight). Currently my computer uses up to 80% of my total CPU capacity, and up to 100% viewing Full HD video in full screen.

I hope you can help me answer my question.

Regards,
Niels.

Since this is a Mac specific matter, I'm going to move this from CPUs to All Things Apple. I've also retitled the thread to better describe your question and hopefully get you a better answer
-ViRGE
 
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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,825
1,396
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The 9400M is effectively the lowest end GPU (besides perhaps some Intel models) that does this HD video acceleration properly. For YouTube 1080p at usual online bitrates (eg. PSY Gentleman) it shouldn't use anywhere near 100% CPU for full-screen Flash playback. It also works fine for higher bitrate MKV H.264 files.

OTOH, Netflix with Silverlight is problematic. I blame the programming, since it's problematic on Windows 7 as well.

Netflix has switched to HTML5 with Windows 8.1, and it's supposedly much better. We can only hope they'll do the same with OS X Mavericks, because their solution with Silverlight on Mountain Lion and older versions of OS X just isn't very good.

Overall, I have very few complaints with H.264 decode on my 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo 9400M 13" MacBook Pro. In contrast, H.264 HD really eats up CPU cycles on my 2.4 GHz X3100 13" MacBook. The difference is night and day. The X3100 doesn't do significant H.264 decode assist. So, be glad you have the 9400M (and 9600M). Your machine will support Mavericks as well AFAIK.
 
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dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
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On my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, I never hear the fans during a 1080p YouTube video. Even my 2011 would throw a fit every now and then.
 

runawayprisoner

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2008
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Yeah, 4K h.264 videos are hardware accelerated on my 2012 Retina MacBook.

I couldn't play any 4K video clip on my 2010 MacBook Air, so my assumption is that anything made before that would run into the same problem.

So yeah, newer Macs do have better h.264 decode acceleration.