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BARE FEATS LAB - real world Mac speed tests

GRAPHICS PREVIEW:
Intel Iris and Iris Pro Integrated GPUs
versus NVIDIA Mobile Discrete GPUs

Posted Tuesday, October 29th, 2013 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
Added two OpenGL tests on Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

In the past we sneered at the integrated GPUs and their puny performance. Not any more. The Intel Iris and Iris Pro are every bit the match or master of discrete NVIDIA Mobile GPUs -- at least when it comes to OpenCL acceleration.

GRAPH LEGEND
 GTX 780M = NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M discrete GPU in 2013 iMac rendering
GTX 680MX = NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX discrete in 2012 iMac rendering
GT 750M = NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M discrete GPU in 2013 Retina MacBook Pro 15"
GT 650M = NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M discrete GPU in 2012 Retina MacBook Pro 15"
Iris Pro = Intel Iris Pro integrated GPU in 2013 Retina MacBook Pro 15"
Iris = Intel Iris integrated GPU in 2013 Retina MacBook Pro 13"
Intel 5000 = Intel HD 5000 integrated GPU in 2013 MacBook Air
Intel 4000 = Intel HD 4000 integrated GPU in 2012 Retina MacBook Pro 15"

LuxMark 2.1 is an OpenCL benchmark that renders scenes of various complexity. For this round we used the default Sala scene (488K Triangles) and rendered using GPU only. (LARGER number means FASTER in Thousands of Samples per Second.)

GPUTest 0.6.1 is a collection of OpenGL benchmarks. Here are two of our favorites. (LARGER number means FASTER in Frames per Second)

REACTION
The Iris Pro combined with OS X Mavericks is a formidable OpenCL 'engine.'
The addition of OpenCL support to integrated GPUs is evidence of the priority Apple places on OpenCL acceleration for apps like iMovie, Final Cut Pro X and Motion. Adobe has joined the party providing OpenCL support in Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC.

However, when it comes to OpenGL, the Iris Pro and other integrated GPUs still lag behind the discrete NVIDIA GPUs with dedicated GDDR5 VRAM. See further evidence in Anandtech's test of the 2013 iMac 21.5 inch with the Iris Pro where they benchmark some OpenGL games on page 3.

This page is just a teaser. The real world testing has just begun on the 2013 Retina MacBook Pros. Stay tuned for expanded coverage of CPU, GPU, and storage performance gains.

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WHERE TO BUY APPLE PRODUCTS
USA readers can help us earn a commission by using this Apple Store USA link or by clicking on any Apple display ad on this page. Students and Educators can save up to $200 on a new Mac by clicking HERE.

WHERE TO BUY FACTORY REFURBISHED MACS
Apple Store USA has refurbished Macs with 12 month warranty that can be extended to 36 months with AppleCare. Pay attention to the GPU it comes with. Check with PowerMax, too, for used and refurbished Macs. They will even give credit for your trade-in.

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copyright 2013 Rob Art Morgan
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
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