The GT 330M is better than the 9600M GT, but the higher resolution display decrease the advantage you would have gotten if the resolutions were the same.
I can't compare to 9600 GT... BUT I have the i7 with standard glossy 1440 x 900 and played under bootcamp Assassin's Creed II and GTA: EFLC. I wouldn't go any further with resolution as AC was fine with occasionally hiccups and GTA is around 30 fps at medium settings. Those games are NOW, think about TOMORROW's games 😉
Extra resolution doesn't affect gaming performance all that much at all. Higher resolution in general doesn't hog up gpu bandwidth as much as say higher textures or anti-aliasing does. Higher resolution combined with lots of AA will tax the gpu a bit, but not too much.
The 330 will beat out the 9600 any day, regardless of upped resolution.
Can someone confirm this?
I absolutely agree,
I have a new MBP with the 330, and even going from 1680 to 1050 on the MBPs screen to 1920 1200 on my LED cinema display the fps drop by about 3-4 FPS negliable, in quake 4 they dont drop at all.