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msavwah

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 5, 2010
394
1
Oahu
I would like to find or create a good Mac for gaming guide that relates games by their specs to the gpu req to the macs they are in. So I can get a big picture of what macs can play what games and what gpu is under the hood in each case.

I will start with my Mac that will not play much of anything if at all. I'm looking to upgrade this year for a decent gaming Mac now that steam is here.

Mid 2007 Mac mini
Graphics-
shared with main memory
Intel GMA 950 using 64 MB of DDR2 SDRAM


Please add your info and what you know
or any games you know that will run on my model since my submission is incomplete without them.
 

msavwah

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 5, 2010
394
1
Oahu
Also would like to break down into categories:

Macmini
MacBooks
iMacs
Macpros

To identify three tiers in each category, entry, mid, and top.
 

Yvan256

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2004
5,080
991
Canada
That's something that should be added to Steam, given the fact that there's not millions of GPU options for intel Macs.

Maybe CPU/GPU/RAM icons, in green or red if your computer has the required minimum specifications or not.

Starcraft II! Yeah! Oh, not for GMA950. :(
Diablo III! Yeah! Oh, not for GMA950. :(
Steam! Portal! Yeah! Oh, not for GMA950. :(
etc... :mad:

P.S.: Yes I know the GMA950 is really weak, but tell that to Apple. Hopefully they'll soon release a new Mac mini with the NVIDIA GeForce 320M.
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
98
London, United Kingdom
P.S.: Yes I know the GMA950 is really weak, but tell that to Apple. Hopefully they'll soon release a new Mac mini with the NVIDIA GeForce 320M.

the mac minis have the 9400M though now :p so you should upgrade!

the 320M cant be used in the mac mini, or for any of the laptop models (involves adding in another discrete card etc). the 330M maybe ;) that would be amazing!
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
98
London, United Kingdom
The 320 is now in the MacBook and 13" MacBook pro no?
nope its not.

:confused: 320M is an integrated GPU currently used in the MacBook. It WILL be in the mini, one day.

The current 9400M is about = to the X1600 discrete GPU of old. It plays most games on low settings.

talking to HellHammer and Edorian - its not possible to get the 320M into it. i am not sure of specifics, sorry.
 

flopticalcube

macrumors G4
nope its not.



talking to HellHammer and Edorian - its not possible to get the 320M into it. i am not sure of specifics, sorry.
The 320M is most certainly in the 13" notebooks already. The GT 320M and the 330M are discrete. The 320M is integrated. Look at the MacBooks spec page.

Apple said:
* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR3 memory
* 250GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
* Built-in 10-hour battery2
* Polycarbonate unibody enclosure
 

peskaa

macrumors 68020
Mar 13, 2008
2,104
5
London, UK
nope its not.



talking to HellHammer and Edorian - its not possible to get the 320M into it. i am not sure of specifics, sorry.

The 320M is going to be the next GPU for the Mac Mini - Minis have always been copies of the MacBooks, though usually lagging behind, and the 320M is in the current MB model. It definitely has the right thermal properties and TDP to go in the Mini, so there is nothing stopping it.

The only thing it means for the Mini is that it will stay with C2D chips rather than moving to i3 or i5 dual cores as the i-series has the Intel onboard GPU which is rubbish and also takes up too much space on the board. Apple could add a dedicated GPU to bypass this issue, but it is unlikely.
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
98
London, United Kingdom
The 320M is going to be the next GPU for the Mac Mini - Minis have always been copies of the MacBooks, though usually lagging behind, and the 320M is in the current MB model. It definitely has the right thermal properties and TDP to go in the Mini, so there is nothing stopping it.

The only thing it means for the Mini is that it will stay with C2D chips rather than moving to i3 or i5 dual cores as the i-series has the Intel onboard GPU which is rubbish and also takes up too much space on the board. Apple could add a dedicated GPU to bypass this issue, but it is unlikely.

aahhh! YES! thats what it was.

the 320M cannot be used with the i3/i5 chips. so yes C2D it is. which apparently will remain available (stock wise) for a while to come. :)
 
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