Re:Mac SteamPowered Client (dmg)
by OrangeGuutan on Wednesday May 12, 2010 @05:28PM
(#1342326)
Isn't the switching over to discrete graphics a good thing? Who plays games on their computer "on-the-go?" Wouldn't you want the better performance?
I'm assuming the parent means that just running the steam client switches over to discrete graphics, which would severely impact battery life for no real performance gain.
Also, some games play fine on the integrated graphics, so switching over to discrete isn't necessarily something you always want.
I think they meant it's triggered by the presence of Steam itself, not a game you might launch from it. Steam takes the liberty of adding itself to your account's Login Items.
Though I'd guess the workings of this auto graphics switching mechanism are really Apple's responsibility.
Still, this is a first release, and the automatic graphics switching is still quite new. I trust that the UI / UX issues will be resolved in due course.
Edit: Upon rebooting my Mac, the Steam client did not trigger an integrated to discrete switch. However, according to gfxCardStatus, the "steam" process was keeping the discrete card engaged prior to the reboot.