External Graphics Card (Macbook Pro)?

[turtlebunnie]

I currently have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch. I have Windows 7 on bootcamp and I am looking for a way to raise my FPS on games like Borderlands 2


Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm


Is there such a thing out that can raise my graphics? Or do I need to upgrade something else?

Thanks in advanced

[slu]

No.

[Pakaku]

Yes there is: a new laptop. Maybe consider a non-MacBook or even a tower if you want a proper graphics card...

[pedromartins]

Originally Posted by turtlebunnie

I currently have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch. I have Windows 7 on bootcamp and I am looking for a way to raise my FPS on games like Borderlands 2


Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm


Is there such a thing out that can raise my graphics? Or do I need to upgrade something else?

Thanks in advanced

Yes, obviously.

Since the intel hd 3000 shares ram, use 8gb of ram instead of 4.
The result? 512mb intel hd3000.
You can even put 16gb ram, although I believe 512mb for the iGPU is the maximum.

Bro tip: Buy and install an SSD for much faster overall performance (like 10x faster). This has nothing to do with FPS, but it will load everything much faster (like games), boot much faster, give better battery life, less heat, less failure rate, etc. Inform yourself about this.

Ignore those ignorants before my post that didn't even tried to help you.

[slu]

Originally Posted by pedromartins

Yes, obviously.

Since the intel hd 3000 shares ram, use 8gb of ram instead of 4.
The result? 512mb intel hd3000.
You can even put 16gb ram, although I believe 512mb for the iGPU is the maximum.

Bro tip: Buy and install an SSD for much faster overall performance (like 10x faster). This has nothing to do with FPS, but it will load everything much faster (like games), boot much faster, give better battery life, less heat, less failure rate, etc. Inform yourself about this.

Ignore those ignorants before my post that didn't even tried to help you.

While you are not technically wrong (albeit a bit rude), what you suggest will increase overall performance, but nothing you suggested will raise his FPS, which was the OPs orginal question. So your suggestion will cost significant money and likely decrease the overall amount of storage available on the machine and won't solve his problem.

[Yebubbleman]

Originally Posted by turtlebunnie

I currently have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch. I have Windows 7 on bootcamp and I am looking for a way to raise my FPS on games like Borderlands 2


Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm


Is there such a thing out that can raise my graphics? Or do I need to upgrade something else?

Thanks in advanced

Thunderbolt can only provide PCIe 4x support. This doesn't really help when most graphics cards are PCIe 16x. So, no on external graphics cards, at least not today and not with what you have.

Otherwise, yeah, as far as graphics go, your only option is to replace that computer with another one (that has discrete graphics) or to get another computer that you use for gaming. What I'd do in your situation, if I had the money, I'd build a gaming machine. Doesn't have to be balls to the wall; you can get away with spending $800, and you'd end up with something that will likely give you more oomph than your 13" Early 2011 MacBook Pro would've been even if it had discrete graphics.

Really, your 13" MacBook Pro is new enough that it still has a lot of life left in it, barring gaming and higher-end graphics stuff, and unless there are non-gaming things that you want to be able to do in OS X, it really will serve you for quite some time before you'll want a replacement. For any kind of gaming, you don't get better than a desktop PC that you build yourself. It'd be a pretty killer combo, if you ask me.

[Anonymous Freak]

There are such devices, and they work reasonably well (PCIe 2.0 x4 is actually plenty fast for all but the absolute highest-bandwidth-needed applications,) but they're expensive. You're looking at $600+ for the external chassis itself! Sonnet Echo Express, Magma ExpressBox 3T.

Then, on top of it, OS X doesn't properly support video cards connected through Thunderbolt.

[pedromartins]

Originally Posted by slu

While you are not technically wrong (albeit a bit rude), what you suggest will increase overall performance, but nothing you suggested will raise his FPS, which was the OPs orginal question. So your suggestion will cost significant money and likely decrease the overall amount of storage available on the machine and won't solve his problem.

couldn't you read the 8gb ram upgrade?

That will make the iGPU share 512mb instead of 384, for better gaming performance (more FPS).

[Anonymous Freak]

Originally Posted by pedromartins

couldn't you read the 8gb ram upgrade?

That will make the iGPU share 512mb instead of 384, for better gaming performance (more FPS).

Merely moving from 384 MB to 512 MB of graphics RAM will not noticeably increase the framerate. It may allow you to play with higher quality settings at reasonable framerates, but it won't make a game that was at 30 fps all of a sudden do 45 fps, much less 60.

[slu]

Originally Posted by pedromartins

couldn't you read the 8gb ram upgrade?

That will make the iGPU share 512mb instead of 384, for better gaming performance (more FPS).

Still rude and still wrong. Thanks for playing though.

[TheSpeaker]

Originally Posted by slu

Still rude and still wrong. Thanks for playing though.

Pot, meet kettle.