Macbook Pro, Nvidia 750M vs Iris Pro?

[JavaMomma]

Need a new work MBPr - Software Development, need all the CPU / RAM I can get, will go with the 512GB of storage as I can't justify the price of the 1TB drive. I don't really game at all on my work laptop, just played StarCraft II / Diablo III on my old MBP a bit when in a hotel a couple times. Think the Iris Pro can handle that, right?

Are there any other advantages of going with the 750M over the Iris Pro? Can Iris Pro power a 4K display? Are there any other advantages that I can't think of? I currently run with just a single 27" Thunderbolt display.

I'm also now a bit leery of the discrete graphics, my current MBPr the Nvidia 650M just called it quits. After non-stop kernel panics today related to the GPU I was able to get things running stable by using gfxCardStatus to disable the discrete graphics card. Problem is no multi-monitor support now... grr.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The 750M is an upgrade from the Iris Pro. If you game a lot, I'd want it.

Dunno about how well either one would work with a 4k display though, they're not really up-to-the-second GPUs.

I play quite a bit of XCOM: Enemy Unknown on my rMBP with the Iris Pro and it works pretty well at half-screen resolution (1440x900 instead of 2880x1800). I imagine SCII and DIII would be alright.

 

[postmortemIA]

Think of Iris Pro as GeForce 600M series mid-range GPU.
The nvidia chip is not even running until you fire up something full-screen. It is same on windows (look up nvidia optimus)

 

[JavaMomma]

So, it's looking like the 750M is $200 Canadian. 2.8Ghz i7, 512GB of storage...
Some research shows both the Iris Pro and 750M support 4K displays.

Iris Pro:
Better Battery Life / Less Heat

750M
20-40% better performance in games
Cuda

I'm not sure it's worth the $200 for performance I'll rarely need at the cost of battery life which I can always use. Also, it adds an extra component that can fail which is what I am experiencing right now. I think if the price was <= $100 I'd consider it.

 

[ViRGE]

If you aren't doing meaningful gaming, don't bother with the 750M. The Iris Pro is going to be just fine for your working needs.🙂

 

[vbuggy]

Less heat is always good in a Mombook given the temps you can attain even with a bit of light work.

 

[JavaMomma]

Thanks guys, going for:
2.8GHz CPU
512 GB SSD
Iris Pro

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Even with the Iris Pro, I can easily drain the battery in <2 hours while gaming.

Less heat is always good in a Mombook given the temps you can attain even with a bit of light work.

If you are gaming, consider deactivating Turbo Boost. The chip WILL turbo up to what IT thinks its thermal limit is, which is 100C. Deactivating Turbo Boost keeps things in the low 70s.

That said, "light" work has me in the mid-30s. So whatevs.

 

[Oyeve]

Not to be a dick, but what games would you even play on a mac that even requires anything higher on the GPU side that apple didnt have 4 years ago? I have an old MBP from mid 2010 that plays whatever game is available on mac.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Not to be a dick, but what games would you even play on a mac that even requires anything higher on the GPU side that apple didnt have 4 years ago? I have an old MBP from mid 2010 that plays whatever game is available on mac.

http://store.steampowered.com/browse/mac/

*shrug*

I've got a lot of hours on StarCraft II and XCOM. They're usable with a 5200. A 4600 is less than half the framerate - probably wouldn't be playable, at least happily. Forget texture packs.

A 320M (most common dGPU for a 2010 MBP) is less than half as powerful as the 4600.

I don't game a LOT on the MBP, but it's nice to know I can. Especially in the hotter summer months.

 

[Tegeril]

Not to be a dick, but what games would you even play on a mac that even requires anything higher on the GPU side that apple didnt have 4 years ago? I have an old MBP from mid 2010 that plays whatever game is available on mac.

That opener ...

There's plenty of stuff being developed cross-platform now. Particularly in the MOBA genre.