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Best for BF3?

J

jesushavemercy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 6, 2011
33
0
Hi

I have a macbook pro 13 2011 standard low end, I wish to play bf3 after release date. However, I dont think that it will work with this computer.
Will we see a vidock for thunderbolt soon ? Or should I wait for the next gen imac and be a little bit late?

Thank you.
 
Macs are not for serious gaming.
Laptops are not for serious gaming.

No, this double negative does not equal a positive.

BF3 is a serious game. (hardware wise)
 
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Battlefield Fan said:
macs are not for serious gaming.
laptops are not for serious gaming.

No this double negative does not equal positive.

BF3 is a serious game. (hardware wise)
Click to expand...

Lets say.. medium graphics and full resolution on the next gen imac, shouldn't it perform well enough for bf3?
 
jesushavemercy said:
Will we see a vidock for thunderbolt soon ?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Nothing on the serious side. I forget exactly but ThunderBolt, even as high tech as it may seem, lacks the proper bandwidth(?) so you would not see a powerful TB external GPU.

jesushavemercy said:
Lets say.. medium graphics and full resolution on the next gen imac, shouldn't it perform well enough for bf3?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say what the next gen iMac will contain. Intel hasn't updated their CPU's and AMD hasn't announced their 7000 series GPU's. The current iMac was the Tick (the big upgrade) in the Tick-Tock phase.

Also, are you talking about the 21" or 27"? The 27" has way more pixels and will need something wayyy more serious to drive it in terms of the GPU.
 
Better luck buying a mac pro if you want to game. You will be able to upgrade down the line when more demanding games come out.
 
if the heat is too much, get liquid cooling. this will also fix your noise issue. liquid is silent. Size honestly shouldn't matter. it is a desktop and greater size equals better cooling. if you don't want to go liquid cooling, go with high diameter fans so even if they spin at lower speeds, they will still cool more. if you still want to sell your gaming pc,then buy a console. you can't expect to even open up the main menu of BF3 on a 2011 13" macbook pro. it has integrated gfx and just won't happen.

VeganHipster said:
Better luck buying a mac pro if you want to game. You will be able to upgrade down the line when more demanding games come out.
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no point in splurging for a mac pro just to game. he already said he has a gaming pc. what would buying a mac pro exactly accomplish?
 
wywern209 said:
no point in splurging for a mac pro just to game. he already said he has a gaming pc. what would buying a mac pro exactly accomplish?
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He said he was selling his gaming pc so I suggested that. You can get Mac Pros for really cheap on ebay and craigslist. He was already thinking of spending $1600+ for an iMac, so spending $1000 or so for a 2010 Mac Pro and a GPU is already better than an iMac and cheaper, considering upgrade costs and how you won't have to replace the whole machine when new games are coming out.
 
VeganHipster said:
He said he was selling his gaming pc so I suggested that. You can get Mac Pros for really cheap on ebay and craigslist. He was already thinking of spending $1600+ for an iMac, so spending $1000 or so for a 2010 Mac Pro and a GPU is already better than an iMac and cheaper, considering upgrade costs and how you won't have to replace the whole machine when new games are coming out.
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yes, would it not be even less of an hassle to not sell the pc in the first place? and as far as heat issues, i doubt a mac pro would really fix those. I suggest looking into water cooling for his gaming pc to reduce noise and heat as those were his main complaints.
 
wywern209 said:
yes, would it not be even less of an hassle to not sell the pc in the first place? and as far as heat issues, i doubt a mac pro would really fix those. I suggest looking into water cooling for his gaming pc to reduce noise and heat as those were his main complaints.
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I agree with you on it being less of a hassle to not sell the PC. He seemed set on it though, I just recommended the Mac Pro, assuming he was still selling his gaming PC.
 
Thanks for the answers! I will think a little bit more about it.. I was thinking about the 21 inch anyway.

Thanks
 
jesushavemercy said:
Thanks for the answers! I will think a little bit more about it.. I was thinking about the 21 inch anyway.

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you bought today I would recommend buying the $1,499 21" iMac since it has the faster GPU. You can upgrade the RAM in it at a later date for another bump in performance.
 
If only you could slap the 27" Radeon 6970 into a 21" iMac, you'd have a pretty viable Mac gaming rig at a decent price for now and the future.

The 6770, though, should run things at Medium details fairly well, based on its benchmarks for current 2011 games.
 
Minimum Hard Drive Space: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7 Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz RAM: 2GB Video Card: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card

Recommended Hard Drive Space: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version OS: Windows 7 64-bit Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU RAM: 4GB Video Card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850
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27" iMac would probably not be a good idea because anything lower than native looks crummy and I'm not sure the 6970M (unless you get the 2GB) would be able to drive the screen at max. You could probably get away with medium to high though..

I'm sure you'd be fine with a 6770M iMac or 6750M MacBook Pro at medium.
 
Battlefield Fan said:
If you bought today I would recommend buying the $1,499 21" iMac since it has the faster GPU. You can upgrade the RAM in it at a later date for another bump in performance.
Click to expand...

The low end 21.5" 2011 that I have runs Crysis via Bootcamp at medium settings with AA off pretty well. BFBC2 runs good too at medium to high settings, but with BF3 and the new Frostbite engine, I am inclined to say that you should get a gaming rig for it.
 
Honestly, why is this even being discussed? Macs are not for intensive gaming period. If gaming is what you want to do on your computer you're better off upgrading your PC with better parts, and using water cooling to reduce noise. If you absolutely must have a Mac, then buy a console and purchase BF3 for it when it comes out.
 
jesushavemercy said:
You didn't read the first post, right?
Click to expand...

You didn't read my response did you?

I went through the trouble of finding the article that talks about this and even made the exact words bold for you to easily find.

The possibility of such an external GPU has been discussed many times on our forums, and Sonnet previously announced an external PCIe 2.0 expansion chassis that would allow customers to add PCI expansion cards over Thunderbolt. It has been pointed out however that Thunderbolt's available bandwidth is much lower than required by high end video cards, so this will only help in certain scenarios. Still, this shows some possibilities for expansion docking products for the MacBook Air or Mac mini after they get upgraded to Thunderbolt.
Click to expand...

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/27/example-of-an-external-dock-and-gpu-over-thunderbolt-technology/

Even in the Sony example it only allows a 6650M which is a mobile GPU that is already trumped by many of Apple's selected GPU's.

Sonnet's device, as mentioned on their webpage is really only for expansion cards. Plus it can only provide a limited amount of power to these devices; eliminating any high end graphics card that would require an actual power supply.
 
Battlefield Fan said:
You didn't read my response did you?

I went through the trouble of finding the article that talks about this and even made the exact words bold for you to easily find.



https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/27/example-of-an-external-dock-and-gpu-over-thunderbolt-technology/

Even in the Sony example it only allows a 6650M which is a mobile GPU that is already trumped by many of Apple's selected GPU's.

Sonnet's device, as mentioned on their webpage is really only for expansion cards. Plus it can only provide a limited amount of power to these devices; eliminating any high end graphics card that would require an actual power supply.
Click to expand...


Hm .. I was afraid of that. Well I think it stands between the current imac or the next macbook pro.
 
ColdFlame87 said:
Honestly, why is this even being discussed? Macs are not for intensive gaming period. If gaming is what you want to do on your computer you're better off upgrading your PC with better parts, and using water cooling to reduce noise. If you absolutely must have a Mac, then buy a console and purchase BF3 for it when it comes out.
Click to expand...

WOW, what a definite answer! Pity it is sooooo wrong. I have an early 2011 Macbook Pro 15" maxed out with all the trimmings. I play Battlefield Bad Company 2 exclusively on this machine, with a game rig I bought last year sitting gathering dust upstairs. This machine runs BFBC2 with most settings on High and some on Medium, running 1680 screen res. As most forums I have read say that if your machine runs BFBC2 then it will run BF3 with slightly lower settings.

Why on EARTH would you say that Macs are not for gaming? NOT well informed.

However, a 13inch MBP would probably struggle.

COME ON BF3!

http://www.newmacbookpro2011.org/macbook-pro-2011-17-gaming-battlefield-bad-company-2-must-see/
 
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