Macbook Pro Retina graphics issue

[Anonymous]

I just replaced a stolen laptop with a new one with nearly identical spec, a 15 macbook pro retina 2.2 ghz with intel Iris Pro graphics. The real time open GL navigation is much more choppy than on the previous machine. almost unusable. Are there any settings I should try changing to optimize smoothness?

[Jacques Toerien]

svenl wrote:
with intel Iris Pro graphics

This is your issue. The Iris Pro is not very good with OpenGL. While it's OK for lightweight work on a non-retina display, it's not going to give you great results on a retina display.

If you can return and swap the unit out get the Macbook Pro 2.5Ghz with the GT 750M Gfx processor.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I'm just barely within the return window and have ordered the one with the GT 750M

[Anonymous]

I just received the new laptop and set it up. The GT 750M card is indeed much more capable. Still not as smooth as my Pro with ATI Radeon HD 5770 (amazing for an older, lower end card). But a huge improvement.

[Jacques Toerien]

svenl wrote:
I just received the new laptop and set it up. The GT 750M card is indeed much more capable. Still not as smooth as my Pro with ATI Radeon HD 5770 (amazing for an older, lower end card). But a huge improvement.

Yeah, part of the problem is AC's code base is pretty old, also retina display takes a huge amount of bandwidth and requires the GPU to push around 2x - 2.5x the amount of pixels. Consider you also need to move all the extra textures, shadows etc and it all ads up.

I'm just really glad I've not gone down the Retina route, such a hassle! I'm quite happy with my 1920x1200 monitor thank you!

[Laszlo Nagy]

Jacques wrote:
Yeah, part of the problem is AC's code base is pretty old, also retina display takes a huge amount of bandwidth and requires the GPU to push around 2x - 2.5x the amount of pixels.

What brings you to the conclusion that ArchiCAD's code base is pretty old? Could you explain? And how does a code base relate to this question which is about graphics card (not application) performance?

[Jacques Toerien]

Because we still don't have any advanced OpenGL features. Where is the tessellation, different AA methods, different texture renderers. Where is the on the fly ambient occlusion? Are we using the latest OpenGL features? No.

When last was AC's code optimised for display drivers in OS X? Why hasn't app nap been designed in yet, it's been out for a couple of years now?

The code is old. Maya got Viewport 2.0 a while ago which really pushes GPU's. Blender gets a code overhaul every couple of years (maybe because it's open source?)

Why is AC's 2D redraw speed so painfully slow on a DX 11 / OGL 4 GPU with 2GB ram? Maybe because it's rendering with the CPU? If you pan across a drawing you have to wait a second before your text and dimensions appear... it's been like this since V6.

Companies like Pixar are at the forefront of GPU / GFX integration. I would have thought a GS would be the same considering they develop visual tools.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Well, many of the things you mention here are available in the Rendering Window. This sounds to me like you want (near) final rendering quality within the OpenGL mode so you don't even have to do Rendering?
I don't know if this is true but maybe this is not a priority for Graphisoft to provide such advanced features for the OpenGL mode.

Maybe you could make a wish about these advanced OpenGL functions and also state the reason why you think these should be in ArchiCAD. Then we can also see how much support the wish gets. At the moment I am neutral about the necessity of such features.

[PB]

App nap is available for ArchiCAD, as far as I can tell: I recall reading somewhere (probably on this forum) that it is better to disable it (in 'get info' panel for AC application) so that AC can cary out its background tasks without interruption.

[PB]

Also, with the independent graphics card in the MacBook Pro, you may wish to turn off "Automatic graphics switching" in the 'Energy saver' control panel (system preferences) to ensure that you are not inadvertently using the less powerful GPU.