Gaming on macbook?

[freediro]

i am planning on getting the 2.4 alluminum macbook. I don't game to much but there are a few titles, that are only on computers that i would like to play. How does the macbook hold up as a gaming machine?

i don't need it to display the best graphics just have it run and play smoothly. I really don't want to fork up the extra cash for a macbook pro.

thanks

[bobriot]

I'd say get one, you can game enough on these baby's

[Matek]

Now that it has the nVidia graphics card, it's not as bad as it used to be. It's an average mid-range laptop graphics solution that will run all of the old stuff you throw at it without any problems, currently popular games may introduce some slight problems, especially the gfx-intense ones and the ones that aren't out yet will run below-average.

If the games you're trying to play are already out, check out benchmarks done with them and compare their recommended configurations with the MacBook. It also largely depends on your demands - casual gamers may say 30 FPS is very enjoyable while any true first person shooter fan will tell you anything below 60-80 FPS is unplayable.

[steve31]

I have played COD4 and all was good.

[Illicit]

i am planning on getting the 2.4 alluminum macbook. I don't game to much but there are a few titles, that are only on computers that i would like to play. How does the macbook hold up as a gaming machine?

i don't need it to display the best graphics just have it run and play smoothly. I really don't want to fork up the extra cash for a macbook pro.

thanks
it'd be better if you could tell us specifically which titles you wanted to play.

[Illicit]

I suggest listing the titles you wish to play. For the most part, anything that was released up until 2006 should run sufficiently enjoyable, and I speak from experience.

My system will run:
Left 4 Dead, CoD4 and WaW, WC3, WoW, Red Alert 3, Tom Clancy's Hawx, Lunia, FEAR, Need for Speed Undercover all at a minimum of 30 FPS. and this list goes on.

[Kalison]

CoD 4, Warhammer, WoW, and LoTRO run very well on my Unibody Macbook.

If gaming is all you want to do, get a Pro and/or a Windows Lappy with a discrete graphics card.

[Matek]

You can find some 9400m benchmarks here (http://optimitza.cat/news/2008/10/16/nvidia-geforce-9400m-benchmarks/). From what I can see, newer (mid-2007 and later) games like Crysis (1024x768 medium - 13.2 FPS), World in Conflict (1024 x 768 medium - 11 FPS) and CoD4 (1280x800, optimal - 24 FPS average, drops to 11 in heavy scenes) are giving it some problems, while slightly older titles (2005-2006 and earlier) like Quake 4 (1024×768, maximum settings: 38.7 FPS), WoW, Team Fortress 2/HL2 (1280x800, max settings, AA 2x - around 35 FPS) are decent.

I think it's good to count on benchmarks in these situations. E.g. Kalison mentioned CoD4 runs very well in his opinion, while I wouldn't agree 25 FPS average with occasional dips to ~10 FPS is enjoyable. What's smooth for someone may be choppy for someone else, luckily benchmarks can give you objective data to decide for yourself.

[J&JPolangin]

...would it be better to use bootcamp into winXP for gaming on the MB?

[Matek]

Most definitely. There is only a small number of games for OS X, they are usually released later then Windows versions and you will get slightly better performance in Windows.

[Jeffrosproto]

I've played Fallout 3 perfectly fine (I can't remember the resolution, but it was something like 950x650).

[dvince2]

Like everyone has said, you can play games on a macbook, but i wouldn't classify it as gaming.

[Sareth]

I installed bootcamp with xp on the previous macbook I had and it played source games acceptably, albeit with a very hot case !
Haven't put it on my new one yet as waiting for the Windows 7 RC to go (legitimately) public to mess around with.

[Doju]

I play Combat Arms on Windows XP on my MacBook 2.4GHz (alu) flawlessly.

[pw1388]

here is some of my gaming video done on the macbook.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4ABDCCA05FF04E38

[Ol3s]

Playing games on a macbook is alright.

I have:
-BF2142, it plays fine on medium settings offline, online it is **** for no reason, i have no control and my soldier keeps turning in random directions.
-Diablo II, plays well, since the game is not too demanding.
-RA3, it plays fine on medium settings with a resolution of 1024*780 (i think)
-TF2, which i installed using crossover, works very well, no problems, but i don't remember what resolution and settings i have it with.
-World of goo, works well (no duh)
-Halo, works well don't remember the settings, probably medium-high

I have seen my friend play:
-Spore, works fairly well on medium
-Sims 2, dont know what resolution but worked well

If you want more games that work just go on the suggested games for macbook on http://www.apple.com/games/hardware/

+ considering that my pc had a weaker processor and these games worked (WoW, STALKER Clear Sky, STALKER Shadow of Chornobyl, Cossacks (all expansions), Cossacks 2, Counter-Strike Condition Zero, Counter-Strike Source, Prince of Persia 4, NFS Undercover) they should work in Bootcamp.