MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper
  • Robbie the Robot
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    MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper

    by Robbie the Robot » Wed Oct 09, 2019 6:35 am

    I want to buy an older MacBook Pro to have as a backup in case my main one suddenly dies before a show.I can't spend a lot of money so I'm looking for one that will give me a good balance between price and performance for running MadMapper. I'm wondering if I should be focusing on having a good discrete graphics chip vs. having a lot of RAM vs. fast CPU. Currently I'm looking at a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro 2.6GHz i7 cpu with 16 GB of RAM and Geforce GT 650M graphics (1GB of VRAM). Would this be enough power to handle a project with 3 HD projectors and heavy use of mesh warping and generators?
  • Robbie the Robot
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    Re: MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper

    by Robbie the Robot » Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:42 am

    Update:
    I went ahead and bought the 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro and I'm happy to report that it seems to work quite well with my MadMapper projects, although it does run quite hot. I haven't tested it with 3 projectors yet, but I have seen some YouTube videos of the same model running 3 high-resolution displays. Anyway, as I said, this will be my backup computer in case my main laptop (a pimped-out 2016 15" MacBook Pro) suddenly fails before a show.
  • Benoit
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    Re: MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper

    by Benoit » Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:05 am

    hi Robbie,

    great news! I do think that with a 2012 / 2013 MacBook Pro you will be limited especially when you say "heavy use of mesh warping and generators".

    Because those models got a decent CPU but a (weak) gpu. I got a MBpro 15 retina from late 2013 and I do struggle for heavy operations. (But I use this one mostly for video editing though)

    Like you say, it's a backup one so I guess you'll be fine.

    When the computer is getting hot (+ that vacuum noise) it's usually due to the CPU activity. With apps such as iStat menus you can confirm that at a glance
  • Robbie the Robot
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    Re: MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper

    by Robbie the Robot » Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:03 am

    I realized soon after posting my question that I was being too optimistic about finding an old mac that can keep up with a CPU-intensive MadMapper project. I lowered my expectations and decided that this 2012 model would work for most of what I do. As a compromise, I plan to render out any scenes that would be too taxing for it and import them back in as a single movie file. It's a bit of a hassle but a small price to pay for the security of having a backup.
  • franz
    madMapper master
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    Re: MacBook Pro advice for running MadMapper

    by franz » Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:51 pm

    FYI MadMapper is not CPU intensive, but GPU intensive. Always favor a laptop with the most powerful gfx card.

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