It solves the CPU/GPU problem by letting you test these components separately, but since LuxMark is a throughput benchmark, it also does a great job of testing GPU and CPU together. The LuxRender team packaged its raytracer into a convenient benchmark called LuxMark. It's fast, and the results are fantastic. I use the open source LuxRender as a raytracing back end for Blender 3D projects. Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro results are not directly comparable to Intel and AMD GPUs because a different shape is used, but do reflect relative performance. Notes: Thunderbolt MacBook Pro configured with AMD Radeon HD 6750M discrete GPU, Intel HD 3000 integrated GPU, 1600 by 1000 pixel window Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro configured with Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT discrete GPU, Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated GPU, 1440 by 900 pixel window Nehalem Mac Pro configured with AMD Radeon HD 4870 discrete GPU. Taking the screen shot lowers the frame rate by about 20 frames per second. The open source Displacement benchmark tests OpenCL and OpenGL performance by animating an irregular refractive shape.

I prefer pure GPU tests, and OpenCL, one of Apple's many patentable innovations made open instead, enables these findings. It's impossible to know how much of the load is being shouldered by the CPU and how much is off-loaded to the GPU.

These are enormous fun for reviewers, but they bring in so many variables that results are tough for others to reproduce. Instead, it's often best to try to push what you're testing to its limits and count the number of operations the target hardware can accomplish in a period of time. There's no such thing as a typical user, so it's almost pointless to try to create performance benchmarks that emulate user experience. Thunderbolt MacBook Pro: GPU performance All benchmarks are controversial. Notes: Thunderbolt MacBook Pro configured with 2.2GHz quad-core Core i7 CPU, 6MB 元 cache, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro configured with 2.8GHz dual-core Core 2 Duo CPU, 6MB 元 cache, 4GB 1067MHz DDR3 RAM Nehalem Mac Pro configured with two 2.93GHz quad-core Intel Xeon CPUs, 8MB 元 cache, 12GB 1066MHz DDR3 RAM. If you boot from an older Mac or image a new MacBook Pro from an old disk, you'll miss out on the drivers that unlock the architecture's potential. Incidentally, make sure you use the OS that ships with the new MacBook Pro systems.

Absent a custom-tuned OS with scheduling and power management that are fully enlightened about second-generation Core i7 and Core i5 features, it's just slightly faster silicon. While Intel should get loud applause for its second-generation Core CPUs, Apple deserves the credit for bringing a 2X speedup (Core i7 quad-core compared to Core 2 Duo) to market with a seven-hour battery life across all three models.

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