Iris Pro 5200 vs Iris 5100

[phero]

So I'm about to buy a rMBP for college (13" or 15", prefer 13" for size and price), and I'm a bit obsessed about the UI framerates in OSX on the retina macbooks.

Does anyone know if the 128mb eDRAM on the Iris Pro will make a significant difference in the framerates of OSX UI animations like Mission Control or swiping between spaces? With a moderate amount of apps open (browser with a couple of tabs, mail, Word, iTunes).

I've used a 2013 MBA in the past with HD5000 graphics. OSX animations were always buttery smooth, but ofcourse they only had to be rendered at 1440x900.

I just want to be sure that OSX renders smoothly in a typical usage situation on the HD5100 on the 13" retina - or if I should opt for the 15" that has the eDRAM. It really is an important point for me.

Thanks for any input!

 

[JAG87]

I don't think it matters if it has the EDRAM or not. The few random places where the OSX UI lags is because the GPU is idle and down clocked. Apple is not going to trigger the GPU into a high power state just to smooth out the few places (like Mission Control) where frame rates suffer.

Anyways, I think you're being very picky. I am extremely sensitive to UI frame rate, and the very few scenarios like Mission Control where it lags do not bother me because 99% of the time everything is smooth. Also swiping between spaces does not lag for me (2012 13" rMBP with 10.9).

 

[TreVader]

If you're really concerned with framerates on a 4-5 megapixel screen the only real solution is to go dedicated graphics. Unfortunately Apple has refused to add an option to upgrade the 13" or the 15" base models with a geforce gt750m so you're stuck with a $2600 min laptop which ends up being 2900 with taxes.


However, I don't think the framerates are really anything close to something that would affect performance enough to make it unpleasant to use the 13" or the base 15". But if you must have something that never stutters ever even a bit the only solution is to go big. On a 1.8 megapixel screen it's not that hard to never stutter but when you get to 4x that res it becomes problematic.

 

[Smartazz]

Even my HD4000 doesn't really lag. I'd imagine something newer will be fine. Maybe I don't really notice it when someone else would.

 

[joshhedge]

Even my HD4000 doesn't really lag. I'd imagine something newer will be fine. Maybe I don't really notice it when someone else would.

There is a clear difference between the HD4000 and the 650M, that gap has narrowed somewhat in Mavericks though.