New MBA Graphics

chscag

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Just some information for those who might be wondering what the capabilities of the new MacBook Air Haswell Intel chipset are, especially the GPU. The Haswell uses the Intel HD 5000 GPU which purportedly is much faster than the previous HD 4000.

Anyway, if interested, you can read about it here.
 

pigoo3

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Thanks Charlie. I was wondering how the HD 5000 graphics compared to the older stuff.

It will be interesting to see the full reviews of the new models once they are out (the reviews)!:)

- Nick
 
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Here is a gen-u-wine, if amateur, review. I just got the new 2013 Air to replace my perfectly satisfactory 2011 Air. Since I don't deliver the old one to the new owner till tomorrow, I can set them side by side and do a comparison.

First off, they are so alike that I almost wanted to put a sticker on the new one so I wouldn't sell it by mistake.

Second, the new version is most definitely faster - just processor-wise. I had to compile some *nix utilities for the new one, so I thought it would be fun to do it at the same time on the old laptop before I formatted it. All command line stuff.

The difference between them was from 30 to 60 percent, which I don't understand since the procedure was the same in all but one case - just a straight 'make' of downloaded modules from Cpan. Why different source files would cause such a difference on a routine non-graphical task I have no idea.

The 'one' case...
Perl TK has a very extensive test function that builds and destroys screen widgets by the hundreds and very fast. That one completed far faster on the new, which makes sense because of the huge difference between the graphics engines. That one had a difference of almost 200 percent.

One definite difference - the old Air cranked the fan to high in just a few seconds. I have yet to hear the fan on the new one.

I like it.
 

bobtomay

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Oh man...





I thought my '11 MBA was just fine til I read that.
 
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Oh man...

I thought my '11 MBA was just fine til I read that.

It IS just fine. My '11 was/is perfectly suited to what I used it for. I have a high end Mini with a TB display for desktop/programming use, but for meeting the guys at the Internet cafe, or a bull session at night, the Air is great - light, lots of battery and plenty of horsepower for mobile use.

I just got a new one because... well, nobody buys me birthday presents of any use, so I have to buy my own:)

I certainly can't justify a need to replace one perfectly good machine with another for the minor uses that I have for a laptop.
 
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chscag

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I just got a new one because... well, nobody buys me birthday presents of any use, so I have to buy my own

:) At my age, I don't need no more "stinkin" birthdays! But I sure like the gifts.... Speaking of which, my son sent me an Apple gift card for Father's Day to buy an iPhone. Now all I have to do is get it away from my wife....;P
 

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So, I'll be the first to admit that the considerably slower processor speed of the MBA really holds me back from the point of consideration. I realize that the slower clock speed is offset partially by the flash memory but for those of you who own one and an MBP, is the MBA able to hold its own? I don't need tremendous clock speed but I do enough video encoding and compilation (especially as of late) that I don't want to be waiting around for my machine to finish.
 

bobtomay

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Have always built and still use a custom built Win box for moving video from disc to disk and all video encoding tasks.

For everything else, my '11 i7 1.8 MBA has been fully up to the task.

imho, there's not a notebook on the market that should be used for video encoding.
Unless you just have the time to sit around and wait for it to finish.
 
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So, I'll be the first to admit that the considerably slower processor speed of the MBA really holds me back from the point of consideration. I realize that the slower clock speed is offset partially by the flash memory but for those of you who own one and an MBP, is the MBA able to hold its own? I don't need tremendous clock speed but I do enough video encoding and compilation (especially as of late) that I don't want to be waiting around for my machine to finish.

I also have done a ton of video encoding in the last few years, but not on my Air. For one thing, the old one (2011) was quite a bit slower than my mini in the processing, but the main problem is that it would get red hot in the process. And I mean almost too hot to hold in my lap and with the fan howling. I don't know if it would get damaged with continued video processing, but I learned a long long time ago that heat is the enemy of electronics. Besides, that isn't what an Air is for - its long suite is portability.

So I got a Pro for just that use and it eats videos like a kid eats peanuts.

Other than that, I have to say that I never had a problem with the MBA being too slow for anything. It does video playback just fine, light compiling (I wouldn't compile a kernel with it - that might take a while) and some times light graphics. Another way of putting it is that I never had a program, other than Handbrake or the like, that didn't run satisfactorily from a speed aspect.
 

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I don't have the money for multiple machines so I need a "one size fits all approach." That, and I rarely do any encoding or compilation (except, as I note, as of late). I mostly do word processing, email and web browsing which would be fine but part of me keeps saying "you're getting less power and it's costing you more."
 
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chscag

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I don't have the money for multiple machines so I need a "one size fits all approach."

Why don't you hang on for a few more months for the next MBP 13" models to be introduced? They'll have the Haswell chipset along with the HD 5000 but will have better and faster clock speeds. And probably for around the same price as a 13" Air.
 

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