2 Important Questions

[goretex 4411]

1) Im comparing the graphic cards of an Apple macbook with an Acer notebook. Macbook: Nvidia GeForce 9400M Acer: Nvidia GeForce 310M. Which graphics card is better for cad softwares?

2) Can a macbook's factory 250GB hard drive be replaced with one that has a capacity above 500GB. Im looking at a 640GB @ 5400RPM, Western Digital hard drive to replace the stock hard drive. Will the macbook work with the new 640GB hard drive?

Thanks guys

 

[TattooedMac]

Not a gamer or 3d worker so cant help with the 1st question, but 2 Yes you can replace the HD very easily. But if your doing CAD wouldnt a 7200RPM HD be of more benefit to you ?? I havnt seen a 640GB at OWC ~ MacSales but there plenty of 500GB @ 7200RPM ...

Just a thought ...

 

[goretex 4411]

Won't a 7200RPM HD be hotter than 5400RPM coz its spinning faster. Plus i guess it will drain the battery more right coz its spinning faster? Im want reliability..

 

[TattooedMac]

Yes and yes .... But at the end of the day the 7200 would be reliable. Its the battery life that want be reliable as such ...
Google 7200rpm Vs 5400rpm and see the differences .. With the battery it all depends on what you are running (apps) wise as well.
If your in the environment use the power cord
And the hottness is negligible as long as its ventilated and your fans work properly.
You can dl smcFanControl and have the fans running @ 6000rpm and you should be fine.

 

[chas_m]

640GB laptop drives are pretty "unproven" at the moment, so if you're looking for reliability I'd stick with 500GB.

Doing CAD I really can't see any advantage to using 7200rpm drives at all. The speed difference is likely to be negligible at that size.

Finally, a faster drive will chew up your battery for no apparent gain, and adding smcfancontrol (really not necessary btw) will only ADD to that battery drain.

As for the 9400M vs. the 310M, the spec sheets from Nvidia indicate that they are essentially the same card.

 

[Jamie-Jamie]

My dad does CAD work for civil engineering and the video card doesn't matter that much. As long as you have accelerated 2D graphics, then you're fine. CAD's need for power is in crunching numbers and not so much in needing super-fast graphics. If you work in more than two dimensions, though, nothing of what I just said matters.

 

[redwolf4k]

Before I switched to Mac I built my own Pc's. Proud to say Ive never purchased a name brand PC.

I USED to be an avid gamer...

All i play now is World of Warcraft, every now and then. I will tell you the 9400m in my unibody macbook is very impressive for an on board graphics card. I get around 40-70fps, at mid-settings, with the monitors native resolution. In graphically heavy and populated areas, the frame rates never really drop below 40, which to me, is very very impressive for an on board card.

Reviews confirm that the 9400m is pretty quick for being an on board graphics card.

As far as comparing the two, i have no experience with the other card.

 

[Tarmac_Ninja]

640GB laptop drives are pretty "unproven" at the moment, so if you're looking for reliability I'd stick with 500GB.

Doing CAD I really can't see any advantage to using 7200rpm drives at all. The speed difference is likely to be negligible at that size.

Finally, a faster drive will chew up your battery for no apparent gain, and adding smcfancontrol (really not necessary btw) will only ADD to that battery drain.

As for the 9400M vs. the 310M, the spec sheets from Nvidia indicate that they are essentially the same card.

to the unsuspecting eye they are the same cards. yes they do both have 16 shader lines but if you notice them memory bandwidth supported on the 310 is significantly lower than the 9400. also the 310 has only a 64 bit
memory line vs. the 128 bit for the 9400. the 9400 supports ddr3 1066mhz vs. 310 @ 800mhz. so if you do want to game a little then stick with the 9400.

 

[goretex 4411]

Thanks guys.

I've made my decision and i'll buy a macbook unibody for school

Still have not decided whether to use a 500GB HD or 640GB HD (both 5400RPM)....

Any advice guys?

Thanks

 

[TattooedMac]

Thanks guys.

I've made my decision and i'll buy a macbook unibody for school

Still have not decided whether to use a 500GB HD or 640GB HD (both 5400RPM)....

Any advice guys?

Thanks

Yep would follow this advice

640GB laptop drives are pretty "unproven" at the moment, so if you're looking for reliability I'd stick with 500GB.

 

[toMACsh]

Any advice guys?

Yes, about your post's title, not about its content. This is intended to be friendly advice.

Please identify the basic subject of your post in the title. It really helps those of us who want to help you. Thanks!

(And it's one of the forum's "rules" of etiquette.)