New MBP Intel HD GPU support in Windows

[JasonClint]

Hi there,

It was mentioned to me yesterday that the Intel HD GPU included in the new MBP lineup (15" and above) is not supported by Windows and so when running Windows in Bootcamp mode the 330M GPU will be used exclusively, which therefore has a significant drain on battery life reducing it to the region of 1-2 hours per charge...

Does anyone know if this is the case or even better can anyone substantiate?

Many Thanks,

Jason

[chscag]

Since the Intel HD GPU is new with the release of the MBP 15" and 17" models, we'll have to wait and see if Apple publishes an update to Boot Camp that would include drivers. The latest BC update is 3.1 which was recently released in order to provide drivers for Windows 7.

Note that the Intel i5 and i7 which includes the HD GPU on board is fully supported in Windows 7 as stated plainly by Intel: LINK so it's entirely up to Apple to provide drivers for their hardware.

Regards.

[JasonClint]

Thanks! I understand that Apple's mux is a hardware switch between the two cards dependant on the requirements of the application running, but I guess the question is really whether that mux can detect the applications in Windows as well as OSX...

[JasonClint]

Hopefully this is a sign of GPU power management supported by Windows in bootcamp mode...

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives...anagement.html

[chscag]

The link you gave.... those were implemented with the Boot Camp 3.1 update that was released several months ago. It took Apple quite some time to improve upon the drivers and power management. And I expect it will be another long period of time before auto switching of the GPU in Windows is supported.

Assuming you have a new MBP 15" or 17" model.....

You can do some testing yourself to determine which GPU is being used when in Windows: Boot to Windows 7, (using Boot Camp not a VM) and open Control Panel, System, Hardware. Expand the tree and see what it says for graphics. If it calls out the Intel HD, that's great.

Regards.

[JasonClint]

It looks like my question has been answered officially...

New 15-Inch and 17-Inch MacBook Pro Restricted to Discrete Graphics in Windows - Mac Rumors

[chscag]

Thanks for the link Jason. It's too bad that Windows defaults to the nVidia GPU rather than the on board Intel HD. I realize it's hardware dependent, but you would think that since the Intel CPU and chipset used in the MBP 15" and 17" models is identical to the ones used in some Windows notebooks, it would be supported. Also, from the info supplied by Intel, there's no reason why it can't be...

Regards.

[SammySlim]

At least it defaults to the better graphics. If it defaulted to the integrated chip, then everyone would be complaining "gee this sucks because we only get integrated graphics" under windows. This is much better for gamers, although it does affect battery life. If they had to make a choice, at least they chose the higher performance option. That's my two cents.

[chscag]

I don't know..... My understanding is that the on board Intel HD GPU provides better high definition and clearer graphics - and uses the on board memory cache of the CPU. I'm not a gamer and I currently have no desire to purchase a new MBP to test the difference.

I would like to see some stats on speed and rating. Should be some comparison information somewhere. I just haven't seen anything official yet, have you? Maybe PC Mag or PC World?

I'm sure MacWorld will cover the new machines in their May issue, at least I hope so.

Regards.

[SammySlim]

I haven't looked for it actually, for the same reasons as you. However, my general view is that the discrete NVidia cards will provide better graphics than the integrated chips - that has been the case historically, certainly. Not sure Intel really upped the ante this time but I am sure somone on the forum knows the answer. Cheers

[metatech]

Hi there,

It was mentioned to me yesterday that the Intel HD GPU included in the new MBP lineup (15" and above) is not supported by Windows

Hi,

The Intel integrated GPU on Core i3/5/7 can normally be enabled in BIOS mode with the following line in grub.cfg :
setpci -d 8086:0044 54.b=0b
You may need to customize to your CPU PCI ID, which can be obtained with "lspci"

metatech

[chscag]

Unfortunately, Mac computers do not use a BIOS.

[metatech]

They do not have a BIOS as on PCs (with menu options etc) but they they have a BIOS emulation mode, so that Windows can be run.
The Mac is either started in "BIOS" mode or in "EFI" mode.
In (U)EFI mode the Intel GPU is enabled, but in BIOS mode the Intel GPU is disabled.
The command mentioned allows to enable the Intel GPU in BIOS mode.

[chscag]

That's all well and good except the command you posted is for Linux, not Mac OS X. There is no "grub.cfg" file in OS X since neither OS X nor Windows uses the Grub boot loader.

[metatech]

Indeed you would normally need a Linux partition with "grub" on it, but "grub24dos" should also work for a pure Windows partition :
SourceForge.net: grub24dos