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demonicgman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2008
24
0
So when COD4 comes out for Mac, i wanted to get it but noticed my 13inch white 2.4gz Macbook has the worst video/graphics card i have ever seen. Is it possible for me to put a new one in or not? Cause i am going to upgrade my ram from 2gb to 4gb in the hope that will help somewhat...
 

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
No. You can't upgrade the video card. Upgrading the ram will help somewhat, but probably not to the result you're expecting.
 

scienide09

macrumors 65816
May 5, 2007
1,385
0
Canada
The MacBook has an integrated graphics chip. It's part of the logicboard. It can't be replaced.

Even the GPUs in the MBPs are not upgradeable, as they are soldered to the logicboard.
 

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
and now i am questioning why i got a mac...

Only some PC laptops have upgradable video cards. Mostly Dell that provide upgradable cards. But even then, you're restricted to how far you can upgrade. Plus and upgrade would cost an excess of 400 bucks just for the card alone.

Not to mention, if this situation was on a PC, you still can't upgrade because you got an integrated chip. Even on models that have upgradable cards, your integrated model won't work since there is no connectors for the dedicated cards.

And no, you can't go out to Best Buy and buy a card because those are for desktops, not laptops.
 

kkat69

macrumors 68020
Aug 30, 2007
2,013
1
Atlanta, Ga
woah woah...get off my nuts. maybe i didn't have enough graduation money.

Well let me ask you this then, how many common laptops have video cards you can upgrade? AND if they can how many OF those laptops which can be upgraded can be upgraded inexpensively, meaning cheaper than buying the better one to start with.

I bet the first question will pretty much prove the unspoken point here.

Laptop and upgrade really don't go together, at the very least the most common of parts are hard drive and memory.

VERY few laptops allow for video card upgrading. (ok let's start the "your wrong, XXX can be upgraded, XXX can be upgraded) BAH! which is why I said very few meaning "there are some that can be"

But it's a pretty good rule of thumb that when you shop for a laptop, you'll get what you get in the specs.

If you wanted true upgradability, you need a desktop.
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
woah woah...get off my nuts. maybe i didn't have enough graduation money.

You didn't bargain for more? I would have offered a guaranteed good grades in exchange for enough to get a refurbished MBP. The last gen 2.2 is great.
 

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
You didn't bargain for more? I would have offered a guaranteed good grades in exchange for enough to get a refurbished MBP. The last gen 2.2 is great.

Agreed. Refurbished systems are great. My dad's iMac is a refurbished and it came with no scraches, dents, dings, whatnot. It still works great too. Furthermore, you could've used your education discount (if you're going to college) and save 200 bucks off the MBP.
 

demonicgman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2008
24
0
shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn't know about the graphics card before hand. And the Mbp, quite expensive, parents not willing to spend their own money..those cheap...you know whats.
 

Mpulsive81

macrumors 6502
Jun 7, 2006
401
0
McKinney, TX
Don't let the rest of the responses here get you down. You got a pretty great machine, Macbooks just aren't widely known for their gaming abilities. When it comes to gaming I'm not one to really look at production computers. If you want to game, slowly piece together a respectable PC. You don't have to be a baller to get your game on. Unless you're trying to play Crysis, a dedicated gaming machine shouldn't cost more than $300-400 to build, sometimes even less if you look hard enough and be patient. Granted, that's not retail prices, that's straight used eBay & craigslist stuff but if it works, who cares where ya got it. I'd say get a year or two old components for cheap and get yourself a bad lil setup. Here's a quick off the top of my head idea:

256Mb vid card (this is where the bulk of your money is gonna go)
2 gigs of pc2-5300 or pc2-6400 ram (4 would be ideal, especially since it's so CHEAP these days)
Intel Core Duo or Dual Core processor (ain't always cheap either. again, used used used used is the way to go!)
abit or asus motherboard

Run XP pro on it and you're ready bro. You'll have the best of both worlds, a gaming PC for the house and a Macbook for portability and everything else you could need :cool:
 

txhockey9404

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2008
548
1
Don't let the rest of the responses here get you down. You got a pretty great machine, Macbooks just aren't widely known for their gaming abilities. When it comes to gaming I'm not one to really look at production computers. If you want to game, slowly piece together a respectable PC. You don't have to be a baller to get your game on. Unless you're trying to play Crysis, a dedicated gaming machine shouldn't cost more than $300-400 to build, sometimes even less if you look hard enough and be patient. Granted, that's not retail prices, that's straight used eBay & craigslist stuff but if it works, who cares where ya got it. I'd say get a year or two old components for cheap and get yourself a bad lil setup. Here's a quick off the top of my head idea:

256Mb vid card (this is where the bulk of your money is gonna go)
2 gigs of pc2-5300 or pc2-6400 ram (4 would be ideal, especially since it's so CHEAP these days)
Intel Core Duo or Dual Core processor (ain't always cheap either. again, used used used used is the way to go!)
abit or asus motherboard

Run XP pro on it and you're ready bro. You'll have the best of both worlds, a gaming PC for the house and a Macbook for portability and everything else you could need :cool:

I second that idea. You can use your new PC as a processing powerhouse, and use the Macbook for general use. Good luck trying to find XP though. I think Vista isn't that bad, but it is bloated. Definitely go for 4 GB, IF you get a 64bit OS, because if not, your OS will not recognize much more than 3GB. If you are going to get XP, go for an OEM XP Pro or OEM XP Media Center (Home is NOT 64bit). You can also build it exactly how you want it, from the ground up, which seems to be what you wanted with a Macbook. If you wanted games, you have to get at least an iMac.
 

polar-blair

macrumors regular
Apr 20, 2008
239
0
Games+Macs dont really go together very well everyone knows this, the MBP is good but generally the two dont go together as the PC market for games is so much bigger. Personally I dont get the whole PC gaming thing, Ok some PC games a great like Spore, but I rather playing games on a console, but thats my opinion.

I say get an xbox if you want to play COD4, cheaper than getting a new PC or a MBP.
 

demonicgman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2008
24
0
already have a 360 brah', but parents didn't let me take it up to school, but i am going to go home and just take it. I have another question!!! If i download a graphic drive or w/e does that increase my graphics? Or do i have to have that drive already and it is just an upgrade? Thanks!
 

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn't know about the graphics card before hand. And the Mbp, quite expensive, parents not willing to spend their own money..those cheap...you know whats.

You get a job and buy stuff yourself. I was in your position too, parents won't get anything above 1000 for a laptop. Got myself a job, bought the Air, sold it for MBP.

already have a 360 brah', but parents didn't let me take it up to school, but i am going to go home and just take it. I have another question!!! If i download a graphic drive or w/e does that increase my graphics? Or do i have to have that drive already and it is just an upgrade? Thanks!

Driver upgrade won't do much at all. Its not worth the effort. You'll get maybe +/- 1FPS.
 

demonicgman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2008
24
0
yeah i had a job and it paid really badly lol, saved up some money but i think my parents want me to just keep it in the bank, ugh! Thanks for your help though guys.
 

motresmagoo

macrumors newbie
Mar 15, 2013
1
0
I second that idea. You can use your new PC as a processing powerhouse, and use the Macbook for general use. Good luck trying to find XP though. I think Vista isn't that bad, but it is bloated. Definitely go for 4 GB, IF you get a 64bit OS, because if not, your OS will not recognize much more than 3GB. If you are going to get XP, go for an OEM XP Pro or OEM XP Media Center (Home is NOT 64bit). You can also build it exactly how you want it, from the ground up, which seems to be what you wanted with a Macbook. If you wanted games, you have to get at least an iMac.

Windows are NOT true 64 bit operating systems. They never have been and never will be. Only Mac has a true 64 bit operating system. Windows is just a 32 bit OS running on top of a 16 bit shell, besides, Mac's download things faster and better no matter what.
 
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
Windows are NOT true 64 bit operating systems. They never have been and never will be. Only Mac has a true 64 bit operating system. Windows is just a 32 bit OS running on top of a 16 bit shell, besides, Mac's download things faster and better no matter what.

And that is the reason you registered here, to post in a five year old thread and probably never return?
 
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