We commented on the new Optimus technology that NVIDIA prepared for notebooks in January, just before CES.
Now that the first notebooks based on it have started to appear on the market (and it will be 50 by the beginning of the second half), it is estimated that it is the solution that manufacturers like Apple expected to migrate their products to the latest Intel processors, without dispensing with the graphics chips they already use in exchange for the integrated GPU of the new Core i3, i5 and i7.
Optimus makes it possible for an integrated graphics solution from Intel to work alongside an NVIDIA GPU, automatically dealing with the exchange between one and the other according to the tasks performed by the user.
It assimilates, in some ways, with the current technology used in MacBooks Pro to switch between the GeForce 9400M (integrated) and the 9600M GT (dedicated), except that you don't have to deal with these changes manually although this option is available for use by manufacturers.
It is believed that this option is unfortunately used by Apple, as the automatic switching between GPUs depends on a verification process that is controlled via software by NVIDIA, something that may be provided only for Windows PCs.
Anyway, anyone who uses a MacBook Pro is already used to working with the graphics hardware that best meets their needs, making the change in System Preferences (System Preferences).
In addition to the dedicated graphics from NVIDIA, notebooks based on Optimus technology will have to use the own GPU provided by Intel with their recent processors as an integrated solution.
The problem is that, even offering longer battery life, it can be up to eight times slower than the dedicated models that may be GeForces from the 200M and 300M series, among others.
(via Gizmodo)
