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APPLE FOR GAMING!

Rob587

Rob587

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I am deffinatly attracted to the 12" powerbook now more than ever and will most likely get it for college. (depending on the response to this) If I get a maxed out 12" pb: 1.5Ghz , 1.256GB ram, 100GB 5400rpm HD, 64mb nvidia graphics card... will it be ok for some occasional gaming on my external moniter? Everything about it seems great, but the graphics card worrys me. How will it effect the game if at all?

also, what kinda sound cars are in the pb's?
 
It'll definitely be able to handle most gaming needs you would have. But let's be frank, the GeForce 5200 FX Go blows. You won't be able to crank up the settings for the newer games, and the latest and greatest (such as Doom 3 to be released in March) probably won't run too stellar on the 12". If you don't care about that, and only play the occasional game, then the 12" will handle it fine.
 
thats so upsetting, I really just want to play some battlefield and some call of duty and I really want the 12" pb cuz I thiks its a waste to get a 15" pb and only get a 20" external moniter.
 
It'll handle Battlefield 1942 just fine. Ditto Call of Duty. I played Battlefield 1942 at minimum settings on a Radeon 7500, and though it's a bit slow, it's entirely playable. That 5200 is MUCH better than the 7500 I have, so I figure you'll be quite happy with BF1942 performance. I can't say the same for Call of Duty, as that's a more demanding game. But I've seen people here post about how they play Call of Duty on that card with no problems.
 
Raven VII said:
...so I figure you'll be quite happy with BF1942 performance...
Click to expand...
Happy, perhaps not. Satisfied? Maybe.

I can just run 1942 single player at reasonable speed. Netplay is fine, well, 30-40fps. I have the last gen 12" Powerbook with the same sucky video card.
 
Don't get the external monitor. Buy a 15" from the edu store with the 128MB Radeon 9700. That will run the games you need to play. That is what I would buy. Its $2100 from the edu store!
 
well, I think the 15" is too small.... it needs to be a desktop replacement for me. and I cant see myself getting the 17" because i wolnt be able to take that monster to class.
 
People are always down on the Mac for their video cards, but I've seen similarly priced laptops to Macs from other companies, and their video cards aren't much better.

Don't game on a laptop, especially not a Mac laptop. At least games are optimized for PCs, even if PCs aren't necessarily "faster", particularly in other areas.
 
Rob587 said:
also, what kinda sound cars are in the pb's?
Click to expand...

really small ones that go "vrooom...vrooom".

Sorry, couldn't help myself. There are a multitude of these threads, which you can search for, but the general gist is that the PB is a fine machine and an adequate game-player for occasional gamers. You will probably not acheive the frame-rate that you might on a PC, but most games will be playable. In return, however, you get a beautiful laptop with an excellent OS. Your call...
 
dude, trust me, as a current college student you don't want a giant desktop in your room. Get a 15" powerbook, the screen is more then big enough, my roommates 15" powerbook has as much screen real estate as my 17" CRT. Not to mention, the 15" powerbook has great great viewing angles. Plus the 128mb Radeon 9700 is a kick ass video card.
 
Rob587 said:
well, I think the 15" is too small.... it needs to be a desktop replacement for me. and I cant see myself getting the 17" because i wolnt be able to take that monster to class.
Click to expand...

Well, its not that big... I take mine everyday with me 😎
 
The 15 inch PB is a nice desktop replacement. I don't feel that I need a larger monitor. Also it is very portable. I use to have a 12' iBook.
 
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