(Archived) Evernote activates NVidia GPU on Macbook

[HossBud 0]

I installed a program on my Macbook 15" that monitors which GPU is active, and I found that launching Evernote switches on the discrete GPU when it is running. The clipper doesnt seem to need it, but I was curious why Evernote would require the extra horsepower to just sit there holding text and a few images.

The only reason I ask is that it affects battery life for us Macbook Pro users.

[jefito 5,589]

If it's generating thumbnails, a GPU might come in handy.

[HossBud 0]

I did a little experiment and it seems to work just fine with the Intel graphics forced. This can help your battery life a good bit if you're going to be away from power for a while.

The program I found that allows this control is call gfxStatus and you can find it here. The program is free, but he does accept donations if you like it. http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus

[JMichaelTest 19]

I did a little experiment and it seems to work just fine with the Intel graphics forced. This can help your battery life a good bit if you're going to be away from power for a while.

HossBud, can you quantify just how much Evernote is using the GPU, and what is the impact of this on battery life?

I have a MacBook Air and I have not noticed any significant decrease of battery run time.

[HossBud 0]

Okay, I'll try this again, hopefully I didn't double post.

I checked on the specs for the MacBook Air and it does not have the dual GPUs built in, so you don't have to worry about the computer switching, yours will always use the NVIDIA GeForce 320M.

The only machines that have the dual GPUs are the MacBook Pro 15" and 17" from what I understand.

I am going to look for something that allows me to directly view the current draw on the MBP battery with the NVIDIA GPU on and off and I'll post the results if I can figure it out.

[HossBud 0]

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but I thought I would post an update. I bought a program called iStat Menus (I bought it in the Bodega app store, also at http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/) that is able to show real time sensor readings and battery information on Mac computers.

I'm not an expert on these things, but when I use gfxCardStatus to force the computer to use just the integrated Intel graphics, I see my battery use drop close to 40% with Skype, Evernote and Clips running. All of the programs seem to run fine (I havent tried a video call on Skype, but text chat and audio only calls work well). The only downside is viewing video on sites, which I don't do a lot of.

The real time battery life estimate jumps from 3 hours 40 minutes to almost 6 hours on integrated only. These seemed like crazy numbers to me, but it is what the computer is telling me, so I can't really argue.

Just thought I would follow up if anyone was interested. I'm heading to http://codykrieger.com/gfxcardstatus to make a donation to the guy for a great little add-on to my Mac.

-By the way, I'm not affiliated with the guy at all, I just think he deserves some credit for his work.