Software help archive

A read-only archive of old serato.com help threads.

PD with dual graphics or macbook pro is better and why?

Product
Serato Video
Version
dont-know
Hardware
Numark NS6
Host
Serato DJ Pro
Version
1.3.0
Computer
PC
OS
Platform
-
Sanjay Bhuria 2:09 AM - 21 September, 2013
I purchased a Lenovo Y510P with dual graphics card and a blu ray drive. is this good for serato video or I must settle for macbook pro retina even though it has only one graphic card!

looking purely from Serato Video point of view. For audio I have another laptop
Sanjay Bhuria 2:11 AM - 21 September, 2013
sorry for typo I meant PC not PD :-)
Code:E 7:13 AM - 21 September, 2013
Well I'm glad you asked.

1st you need to understand why some computers have dual video cards. The reason they do is not for more video power. Dedicated video cards with their own ram use much more power than their lower powered counterparts. Laptop being all about preserving battery life have 2 installed so that for most things you do with it (like web browsing) that dont require big video power can switch to their lower power (both lower power consumption and processing power) cards to keep you going much longer.

Now you said that retains only have one. I need to correct you there. Only 13" MacBook Pros have 1 video card and it is the lower powered shared ram intel HD4000 card.

If you want todo video will tell you along with every pro users such as my self you need a 15"macbook pro because it has the dedicated video card. This is a quote right from the apple on on the 15" macbook pro retinas "Intel HD Graphics 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and automatic graphics switching"

Now for the generally agreed upon buying advice when looking for a new computer laptop to be used with Serato Video. I need to qualify this by saying this is the pro communities advice and not directly from Serato:

Yes please we beg you to not even consider any PC. Not because of anything todo with hardware, and everything to do with the OS they run. Mac OSX is far superior when it comes to graphics Visuals programs. Serato Video along with many other VJ/VA programs run much more stable in the OSX environment over the windows environment. OSX also opens the door to many pieces of software that are not available in windows. Syphon being one of the biggest advantages Mix Emergency being another massive one. Read here for more info on syphon. syphon.v002.info
As you asked if you must settle for a retina, the answer is no. in fact we suggest you not buy a retina and go for the non Retina Macbook Pro 15" model. The reasoning for this is, both 15" MBP's come with the same video card, the MBP Retina has a MUCH higher resolution screen and thus much more of the video power is dedicated to running that screen which is totally unnecessary. That power would be better spent processing effects and achieving higher FPS. Also some programs have had in the past and still do (including serato) have issues with the very high resolution screens on the Retina MacBook Pro's. Also to note Retina Macbooks Pros are not upgradeable which was a big fuck you from apple to the pro community.

What you should buy is a 15" NonRetina MacBook Pro, (store.apple.com) get the $200 upgrade to the 1GB video card which also gives you a little more CPU power. Upgrade the ram to 8gb from apple or consider going 3rd party and get 16gb of ram. And the Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display for an extra $100 will never hurt either. At this point your good to go. If you want more internal HD space. that is up to you to upgrade. I suggest you get at least the 1TB internal or the 512 SSD. In the non retina MBP's you can also remove the optical drive and add a second internal HD which helps eleimiate the need for buying a USB3.0 or thunderbolt external HD. Parts todo that are easily bought from www.macsales.com

I hope this helps to shed to light on your confusion.
Sanjay Bhuria 1:45 PM - 21 September, 2013
thanks for your help Code:E. I want to clarify the y510p has intel plus two NVIDIA 2 GB each graphic cards with SLI. I heard macbook pro heats up and has only 1 GB of 1 graphic card in addition to same intel card as PC.
Code:E 5:19 PM - 22 September, 2013
All laptops heat up. I have had heat issues one time. But if you read my thread about it. (DJ mother rig) there was good extra ordinary reasons. Ya I wish the mbp had more that 1gb video cards. But they are still sufficient. I'm at a f1 Grand Prix VIP after party. 4vjs. 7 MacBook pros between us. Not one pc.

Again it comes down to OS. Mac OS is just soooooooo much better at using Serato video and other video programs used for video djing.
Sanjay Bhuria 8:40 PM - 13 September, 2015
byw Code:E I wanted to come back and thank you. Your advise was perfect.

I have a MacBook 15 that works well with Serato DJ and video.

I also have the PC that works well. But I had to go for much much higher configuration to get it to work well.

Positively I saw the difference is primarily due to the OS.
Code:E 9:17 PM - 13 September, 2015
you are very welcome.
Shakie 5:42 PM - 27 September, 2015
Hi Code:E,

thanks for the detailed description of the pros of Mac. Could you give me a hint on the new MacBook Pro series (2015)?

Currently I'm using a Windows PC and it works for me so far. Serato Video is running on it. But i have the issue, that the buffer runs out after a while, without any cause. Maybe this is a bug. I'm analyzing the case with the Serato Support at the moment.

Meanwhile I play with the idea to go and buy me a MacBook Pro. But I'm not sure if the new MacBook Pro series works well with Serato Video.
They have either the "Intel Iris Graphics 6100", the "Intel Iris Pro Graphics" or the "Intel Iris Pro Graphics with AMD Radeon R9 M370X" built in. Will they work well with Serato Video?

Would this one be sufficient?
www.apple.com
WarpNote 6:19 PM - 27 September, 2015
Shakie, the intel graphics is built into the main cpu board, you want a dedicated graphics card like the AMD Radeon R9 M370X or similar. And you definitively want a bigger internal drive. Save up your money and get a higher spec... -> www.apple.com