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WoW + MBP + External Monitor = ??

T

TheSith

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
106
0
Quick question - I have a MBP C2D 2.33GHZ w/256MB VRAM / 2GB RAM. I'm interested in purchasing an external monitor around 22-24". I'm really interested in the ACDs although I may wait to see if they get updated soon. Anyways, I play WoW frequently on my MBP (on OS X) and get around 60-70 FPS, sometimes more.

By switching to a larger external monitor (it would be my primary/only display), I would be running at a higher resolution. How large of a FPS hit will my gaming take? I don't want to buy an $800 monitor and find out that WoW (or other games) take a significant FPS loss.

Any advice/experience? Thanks.
 
K

kb1200

macrumors newbie
Apr 11, 2007
9
0
Im not sure exactly how many frames you will lose but in my past experience of doing this before, it is a significant and noticeable one. A 22-24 inch screen is pretty big and to run on the native or max resolution in that will really stress out the card. I have the same computer as you and i can't even run CS:S on its highest res with this screen(17 inch) without a significant frame rate drop so i dont even want to think of how it will run on a 22-24 inch screen and max res! I don't know whether WoW would be close to the same graphics as CS:S because they look so much different but i have WoW as well and the fans are going off and the thing gets really hot just powering this 17 inch.
 
EvryDayImShufln

EvryDayImShufln

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2006
1,094
1
I would recommend that if you do this, you should use only the external display and not the internal. You can do this by having your computer sleep with your keyboard or whatnot plugged in and the LID CLOSED. Then plug it in to your external monitor. Then click a button on your usb keyboard, usb mouse, etc, anything to wake it up while the lid is closed.

So now your desktop will be only on the external monitor. You can open the laptop lid now to keep it cooler as it runs the game.

I don't think the difference is as huge as kb1200 said, I've played civ4 on my external monitor which has a resolution of 1600x1200 compared to my MBPs of 1400x900, and there was not a very big difference. Maybe WoW is more power intensive than civ4, but still I don't think there will be a too significant drop in FPS (I think it will still be playable).

Anyhow you may want to try this on a friends monitor or something before purchasing the ACD to see how it is. Tell us how it goes!
 
Mr B

Mr B

macrumors member
Oct 16, 2006
62
0
Washington DC
f1400 said:
I would recommend that if you do this, you should use only the external display and not the internal. You can do this by having your computer sleep with your keyboard or whatnot plugged in and the LID CLOSED. Then plug it in to your external monitor. Then click a button on your usb keyboard, usb mouse, etc, anything to wake it up while the lid is closed.

So now your desktop will be only on the external monitor. You can open the laptop lid now to keep it cooler as it runs the game.

I don't think the difference is as huge as kb1200 said, I've played civ4 on my external monitor which has a resolution of 1600x1200 compared to my MBPs of 1400x900, and there was not a very big difference. Maybe WoW is more power intensive than civ4, but still I don't think there will be a too significant drop in FPS (I think it will still be playable).

Anyhow you may want to try this on a friends monitor or something before purchasing the ACD to see how it is. Tell us how it goes!
Click to expand...


I play wow on my MBP c2d, and have a 23' display. Sometimes I play with the display, sometimes without. I haven't noticed any difference really. Also, you shouldn't have to open the lid. It is my understanding that heat is dissipated differently than it used to be, and won't mess up the display. When using my external, only play at 1600x1200 although I could play at 1900, so that might make a difference. The reason I do that is because my addons and bars move too much when switching from 1400 (just using laptop display) and 1900 on external.
 
T

TheSith

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
106
0
Do you happen to have an average FPS? Getting closer to buying one..

Any other experiences? =]
 
R

Rhyle

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2007
2
0
Running a MBP Core Duo 2.16ghz, 1gb 667 DDR2 SDRAM, Radeon x1600 256mb with a 20" Apple Cinema Display at 1680x1050.

World of Warcraft: *Edit* Forgot to mention this is running WoW at max settings.
Full Screen on the ACD alone average of 30 FPS

Windowed Mode at 1680x1050 with the window shrunk to minimum allowable window size (witch i think is about 65% of full screen) average of 50 FPS
 
EvryDayImShufln

EvryDayImShufln

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2006
1,094
1
Mr B said:
I play wow on my MBP c2d, and have a 23' display. Sometimes I play with the display, sometimes without. I haven't noticed any difference really. Also, you shouldn't have to open the lid. It is my understanding that heat is dissipated differently than it used to be, and won't mess up the display. When using my external, only play at 1600x1200 although I could play at 1900, so that might make a difference. The reason I do that is because my addons and bars move too much when switching from 1400 (just using laptop display) and 1900 on external.
Click to expand...

It's true that you dont have to open it, but if you do it will run significantly cooler. I prefer opening it because it puts less stress on the fans (not so much because of the screen for me) but it's up to personal preference I guess. It looks a hell of alot nicer closed lol.
 
T

TheSith

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
106
0
Thanks Rhyle, appreciate it - looks like I'm going ahead with the purchase. :)

Is there an FPS loss when having the ACD as the main display and then using the MBP's screen to browse thottbot, etc.?
 
R

Rhyle

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2007
2
0
I usually run my dual screen and haven't noticed an FPS difference using a web browser on the second screen, but if your running something on the laptop screen graphics heavy it may have an impact just due to the vid card being taxed.
 
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