Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New MBP, COD4, XP?

nope7308

nope7308

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 6, 2008
1,040
537
Ontario, Canada
I just ordered the new MBP (2.53G, 4GB RAM, 512 vRAM) and I'd like to get back into casual gaming (current computer can't handle it).

Here are my questions:
- Can this new MBP comfortably run COD4 on max settings?
- Is there a performance difference running the game under Leopard as opposed to XP?
- Is it advisable to install XP via bootcamp for gaming? I'd rather keep XP off the machine entirely unless it makes a performance difference. I'll probably be playing 3 games at the most (i.e. I can wait for Mac releases).

My favourite game of all time is 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein', so I want a few games similar to that (hence COD4). If installing XP is advisable, then I may hold off COD4 and just buy COD5 when it comes out in Nov. Any idea why COD5 isn't being released for Mac?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the noob questions!
 
T

t19880821

macrumors regular
Sep 1, 2008
117
0
- Can this new MBP comfortably run COD4 on max settings?
Play? Yes. Comfortably? It depends what you mean by that.. but if you mean will it play as smooth as you would see it on a console? No.

- Is there a performance difference running the game under Leopard as opposed to XP?
Depends. Cider ports (like Spore..) have significant performance issues under OSX. But for non-cider ports, there are minimal differences. For the most part, however, games will play smoother under Windows.

- Is it advisable to install XP via bootcamp for gaming? I'd rather keep XP off the machine entirely unless it makes a performance difference. I'll probably be playing 3 games at the most (i.e. I can wait for Mac releases).
Yes. Boot Camp will not kill your notebook (that I have heard of) and will not give OSX any viruses. It's easy to install as well. If you're only planning to play 3 games at the most under Windows, than a 50-60GB partition would do.
 
palebluedot

palebluedot

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2008
738
91
You can try Crossover Games for windowsless gaming on OS X.

Also Enemy Territory Quake Wars is an amazing game that runs well under OS X - be sure to pick it up
 
S

siorai

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2007
321
2
Do yourself a huge favor and play CoD4 in XP via Bootcamp. The Aspyr port sucks. Huge. With a few things turned down and no AA, I can get a solid 40fps in OSX. Reboot into XP, turn everything up and turn on 4xAA and I get 60+fps. Oh and if I turn on 2xAA in OSX? Framerates drop to below 20. :(

People say that we should support the Mac gaming industry. That we should buy ports so that the industry sees that Mac gamers are here. Well... If they make a port worth playing, I'll buy it. Until then, Bootcamp all the way.
 
T

t19880821

macrumors regular
Sep 1, 2008
117
0
siorai said:
Do yourself a huge favor and play CoD4 in XP via Bootcamp. The Aspyr port sucks. Huge. With a few things turned down and no AA, I can get a solid 40fps in OSX. Reboot into XP, turn everything up and turn on 4xAA and I get 60+fps. Oh and if I turn on 2xAA in OSX? Framerates drop to below 20. :(

People say that we should support the Mac gaming industry. That we should buy ports so that the industry sees that Mac gamers are here. Well... If they make a port worth playing, I'll buy it. Until then, Bootcamp all the way.
Click to expand...

only difference is that you have a mac pro. 9600m GT, you have to turn AA off.. and settings down to get 60+ FPS.
 
M

motoxpress

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2006
326
0
I have found that indeed most games run better under WindowsXP via bootcamp. WoW and Halo do for me on my MBP.

-mx
 
nope7308

nope7308

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 6, 2008
1,040
537
Ontario, Canada
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! I guess I'll make my decision when the notebook gets here... I just really, really, hate XP (I won't even look at Vista).
 
nope7308

nope7308

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 6, 2008
1,040
537
Ontario, Canada
After thinking about it for another 5 minutes, I should just ask this simple question:

As someone who know nothing about gaming, will I be dissapointed if I play COD4 under OSX?

This will be the most demanding game I'll play for sure, so I'm not worried about performance issues associated with the newer games (Return to Castle Wolfenstein will be game #2). I really would like to get COD5 when it's released, but why is it not being released for Mac?

After all the issues/crashes that has happened with XP, I really want to avoid that OS at all costs (mostly out of spite). I'm not worried about XP affecting OSX, I just don't want to deal with the issues associated with XP (e.g. scvhost.exe + high CPU).

Thanks again.
 
U

uhongia

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2008
11
1
nope7308 said:
After thinking about it for another 5 minutes, I should just ask this simple question:

As someone who know nothing about gaming, will I be dissapointed if I play COD4 under OSX?

This will be the most demanding game I'll play for sure, so I'm not worried about performance issues associated with the newer games (Return to Castle Wolfenstein will be game #2). I really would like to get COD5 when it's released, but why is it not being released for Mac?

After all the issues/crashes that has happened with XP, I really want to avoid that OS at all costs (mostly out of spite). I'm not worried about XP affecting OSX, I just don't want to deal with the issues associated with XP (e.g. scvhost.exe + high CPU).

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I just got CoD4 for OS X from the Apple Store last week. It runs fine on my month old iMac. I'm pretty sure your new MBP will run it w/o any issues. You won't be disappointed. It's a great game!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom