Looking for info on Nvidia GPU and intel i7 HD graphics OSX support

[rexineffect]

Hello all!

I have been around the forums forever it seems like and I am finally ready to buy. Here are my questions.

I am pretty sure I found the laptop I want, a MSI gaming laptop, and I think the only problem is the Haswell i7 Intel HD graphics and the dedicated Nvidia GPU it has in it. Am I ever going to be able to get the Nvidia graphics card it has dedicated in it to work? I have heard there is a problem with OSX and having a dedicated card and Intels graphics that come with the processor.

Is there any laptop that can use a dedicated graphics and OSX?

Thank you for your help, any and all info is helpful.

Even if someone just knows a place i can go read about making dedicated GPU work with OSX?l

 

[RehabMan]

Hello all!

I have been around the forums forever it seems like and I am finally ready to buy. Here are my questions.

I am pretty sure I found the laptop I want, a MSI gaming laptop, and I think the only problem is the Haswell i7 Intel HD graphics and the dedicated Nvidia GPU it has in it. Am I ever going to be able to get the Nvidia graphics card it has dedicated in it to work? I have heard there is a problem with OSX and having a dedicated card and Intels graphics that come with the processor.

Is there any laptop that can use a dedicated graphics and OSX?

Thank you for your help, any and all info is helpful.

Even if someone just knows a place i can go read about making dedicated GPU work with OSX?l

If it has both Intel and Nvidia, then it is not dedicated (but "switched"/optimus). Which is it?

http://www.tonymacx86.com/laptop-compatibility/106791-laptop-compatibility.html

 

[rexineffect]

It is the switched, Optimus.

 

[RehabMan]

It is the switched, Optimus.

Then you should be aware that the nvidia part is not supported in OS X. You can disable it with DSDT/SSDT edits and still use it in Windows, but in OS X, you'll be using only Intel integrated (HD4600?).

 

[rexineffect]

So is that just the way it is if I buy a laptop with optimus, is there no fix for this? IS there any way at all I can go about making a fix for it?

If I buy a laptop with a Nvidia card in it that does NOT use optimus switching like that can I use the Nvidia card with OSX?

If I find a laptop that has the capability to turn of optimus or the integrated graphics from bios or something is it possible to get it working?

Has anyone you know of had any luck at all with this? Is there anythging looking promising with getting GPU to work with optimus in the future?

I really just want to find a real nice gaming laptop like these MSI GT70's that work great with OSX and windows dual boot, do you have any other ideas maybe I should be looking into?


I really appreciate the help its hard to find some of these answers on laptops, desktops are covered but laptops are just a little harder it seems when it comes to documentation on how to get it working.


Thanks!

 

[RehabMan]

So is that just the way it is if I buy a laptop with optimus, is there no fix for this? IS there any way at all I can go about making a fix for it?

No fix that I know of. In order to fix yourself, you'd need the skills to reverse engineer Apple's GMUX software interface and provide a replacement driver and/or patches to existing drivers to make it work the "PC way." Familiarity with the internals of OS X, GMUX device on Apple's computers, and switching graphics in ACPI/Windows would be necessary. Even then, it may not be possible...

If I buy a laptop with a Nvidia card in it that does NOT use optimus switching like that can I use the Nvidia card with OSX?

Assuming the graphics device is supported by OS X and you can make it work.

If I find a laptop that has the capability to turn of optimus or the integrated graphics from bios or something is it possible to get it working?

If your BIOS provides for the ability to disable optimus and enable either one of Intel/nvidia independently, and the device is supported (see above), then you could use nvidia.

Has anyone you know of had any luck at all with this? Is there anythging looking promising with getting GPU to work with optimus in the future?

Laptops with Optimus work just fine with OS X -- you simply use the Intel GPU part instead of the nvidia part.

I really just want to find a real nice gaming laptop like these MSI GT70's that work great with OSX and windows dual boot, do you have any other ideas maybe I should be looking into?

If most of your gaming is on Windows, having Optimus and using only Intel on OS X is not so bad.

I really appreciate the help its hard to find some of these answers on laptops, desktops are covered but laptops are just a little harder it seems when it comes to documentation on how to get it working.

Laptop hardware configurations vary widely and there are unique DSDT/screen/audio/wifi/BIOS locks/BIOS whitelist/other issues that are not present on desktops. In addition, it is more difficult to replace incompatible hardware on laptops.

 

[rexineffect]

Thanks for all the great help. Im looking into MSI asking them if they have any of their gaming laptops that do have an option to completely disable the optimus switching, which they probably dont.

Do you know any good gaming laptops that I can get the nicer GPU working witth OSX?

Do you know how hard would it be for me to create the driver? I know some bash from linux, I know some python, I am very computer literate and I tend to catch one quick. Is there a big support place if I were to try this out for help? Is this a reasonable fix for someone that is dedicated to getting the laptop working? I could leave it with HD integraded graphics have it all installed and all and just work on the driver in my off time huh? I mean with HD integrated it would still work out fine, right? Even thoose are pretty good I hear with the new Haswell.

 

[RehabMan]

Thanks for all the great help. Im looking into MSI asking them if they have any of their gaming laptops that do have an option to completely disable the optimus switching, which they probably dont.

Do you know any good gaming laptops that I can get the nicer GPU working witth OSX?

Not a gamer, so I don't seek those kind of laptops.

Do you know how hard would it be for me to create the driver? I know some bash from linux, I know some python, I am very computer literate and I tend to catch one quick. Is there a big support place if I were to try this out for help? Is this a reasonable fix for someone that is dedicated to getting the laptop working? I could leave it with HD integraded graphics have it all installed and all and just work on the driver in my off time huh? I mean with HD integrated it would still work out fine, right? Even thoose are pretty good I hear with the new Haswell.

You probably do not have the skills required.

Integrated Intel HD is pretty good for most purposes.