NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

[LTD]

My next comp will be a Macbook or Macbook Pro.

I've got a sweet 24-inch Samsung display, recently bought, so no need for an iMac.

I'm not a big gamer, but when I do play it's usually EVE Online. Currently the ATI X1600 in my iMac does the job fine (not highest settings), although it's rather dated.

So what's the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M in the Macbook like? I know it's integrated, but it's apparently supposed to be the best iteration of integrated graphics tech thus far.

How does the 9400M fare with today's games? Or should I just go for the MBP?

[NienorGT]

As far as I know, it's not integrated, it's really a dedicated card with 256-512MB.

But I can be wrong, I'm also looking on info on new MacBooks :)

Edit: Bleh, It look like it's really a chipset... where is the nForce Name?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9400m_g_us.html

Edit 2: REVIEW!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2332519,00.asp

http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=219447,00.asp

3D benchmarks topped the competition because Apple has moved away from Intel's integrated graphics. Apple and nVidia is claiming up to five times the improvement over the previous integrated set. It's more like 3 to 4 times improvement, depending on the resolution used in these games. At low resolutions (1,024-by-768), 3DMark '06 scores easily topped the Studio 15 and the Pavilion dv2800t. The Macbook basically won in every gaming category, which included Crysis and World in Conflict demos.

Edited October 16, 2008 by NienorGT

[DigitalE]

The 9400M in the new MacBook is surprisingly powerful. I tried the OSX EVE client, which ran flawlessly. I also tried some Source games under Windows Vista, which ran with no noticeable stuttering on high settings at 1280x800. Although I'm sure some newer games like Crysis would not run quite as well.

[Mercellus]

I have found that the GeForce 9400M found in the MacBook and the MacBook Pro is quite adequate for every day usage, even under load with graphically intensive applications. The only time I find myself needing the extra power of the GeForce 9600M GT is when I'm doing some really heavy work.

[Guest jgrodri]

sorry to hijack like this, but can someone confirm that it draws memory from the ram pool?

[Mercellus]

sorry to hijack like this, but can someone confirm that it draws memory from the ram pool?

I checked in the Activity Monitor and it shows all 2 GB so I would imagine it draws memory on a need-to basis. I'll have to take a look in a bit and see if the numbers add up to having a 256MB hole or not.

[Guest jgrodri]

Thanks marcellus. i'd appreciate knowing this before I jump on that boat.

[LTD]

The 9400M, after some research, seems pretty good for what it is.

It does share RAM when needed.

AFAIK, it performs about on par with an ATI Radeon X1600.

[Guest jgrodri]

I figured it would share ram. The thing is, 256 mb is a decent chunk out of the 2 gb stock, it almost warrants by itself an extra gig of ram.

[Mercellus]

I have just added up the numbers and it looks like it does indeed share 256MB of RAM, but it doesn't seem to do so in a way that directly affects the performance of other applications on your computer. I haven't had any page outs and my Mac has been booted up for 21 hours so far (I have only had this machine since yesterday). It performs quite well for an integrated graphics card in my opinion and I don't think the shared memory usage should really be a concern.

[Guest jgrodri]

thats nice to know. Thanks!