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The Final Cut

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 5, 2009
378
0
So I am about to pull the trigger on a base 17" macbook pro. In terms of gaming, I deciding between this and a laptop with a 1GB 335M (the laptop has a lower native res and much worse cpu, so please take that in consideration.


I have around 50 games, most are older which I know would be fine. However there a few games that I am skeptical about. I consider maxed... Native res, 2XAA 2AF, 75% effect turned on, all texture settings on high (not ultra). If they won't even come close to my expectations above, can you let me know how far up your running them .After looking at benchmarks on this laptop model for hours, I can't find proper tests, or videos which relate specifically to this. (Trust me I have seen everything)

Games In question:

Modern Warfare/ Modern Warfare 2
Batman Aslyum
Left 4 Dead 2
Street Fighter 4
Splinter Cell Conviction
Fallout 3
Far Cry 2
Mass Effect 2
Tropico 3
Star Wars Unleashed

I also would be interested in finding out how long you expect apple to stick with the 330m, and how you think the MBP will hold up for the fall releases (chiefly mafia 2, fallout vegas, etc)

Thanks
 

TMRaven

macrumors 68020
Nov 5, 2009
2,099
1
Most mobility chips with low bus widths and non GDDR5 memory don't even have the necessary bandwidth to take advantage of 1gb of dedicated memory.

The 335m is just one such example.


With the only so slightly better 335m card and a lower native resolution, I'd expect only like 5-10 more fps on average.


You can use notebook check to give you benchmark tests with a lot of modern games. The results won't exactly be the same as you can expect with the macbook pros, but are pretty close.
 

Icaras

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2008
6,343
3,380
So I am about to pull the trigger on a base 17" macbook pro. In terms of gaming, I deciding between this and a laptop with a 1GB 335M (the laptop has a lower native res and much worse cpu, so please take that in consideration.

Looks like you pulled the trigger on the Mac Pro thread ;)
 

cluthz

macrumors 68040
Jun 15, 2004
3,118
4
Norway
Are you gonna game at native resolution or on external screen?
Barefeats did test the 256mb vs 512mb and there was no differences at all untill you hit 2560x1200 res.

(link: http://barefeats.com/mbpp22.html )

The amount of video memory is usually a marketing feature, and unless you buy a really high performance card (nvidia 275/ ati 4870 minimum) you will have no advantage with more than 512mb anyway.

There are only a very few select laptops that have any use of 1GB, those are desktop replacements and aren't portable at all.
 

nconnella

macrumors regular
Nov 1, 2008
204
43
I'm running MW2 wonderfully at 1650x1050 on the 512mb, everything on max except for AA is on x2. I don't know how to check my actual FPS but it seems great to me. Can't say for any of the other games. I'd like to know how Mass Effect 2 holds up as well.
 

SHeLL9840

macrumors newbie
Apr 20, 2010
8
3
I would also be interested in 330 512mb benchmarks (and subsequently i7) for either 15" or 17" for any of those games, especially Mass Effect 2.
 

senor ding dong

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2010
30
0
I would also be interested in 330 512mb benchmarks (and subsequently i7) for either 15" or 17" for any of those games, especially Mass Effect 2.

hey guys, i have the 15" i7 MBP and i have crysis, mass effect 2 and BFBC2. i only tried ME2, which in my opinion looked great - only thing bothering me is the constant noise of the fans.

if you tell me how exactly i can do a benchmark, i'll try my best to give you a few results.
 

MasterTaco

macrumors newbie
Apr 14, 2010
3
0
The previous poster already mentioned Mass Effect 2 but just figured I'd chime in and say that it runs beautifully on my 15" i7 8GB

The only major problem is that I am running Windows XP 32-bit on my boot camp partition, so it can only access 2GB of RAM.
Even so, I am getting a very playable experience, hope that helps! :D
 

grahamnp

macrumors 6502a
Jun 4, 2008
969
4
Well Barefeats showed that the difference between 512 and 256mb was negligible and not always in the 512mb's favour at 1920x1200 if that helps you out.
 

kreidel

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2009
31
0
I'm running MW2 wonderfully at 1650x1050 on the 512mb, everything on max except for AA is on x2. I don't know how to check my actual FPS but it seems great to me. Can't say for any of the other games. I'd like to know how Mass Effect 2 holds up as well.

I would love to know what frames per second you get with that setup? If I find a way I will post it.
 

The Final Cut

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 5, 2009
378
0
this is great but I was hoping to hear about actual settings for each games/ and average fps. Regardless I am getting the laptop, after seeing the alienware m11x, at a local best buy, I felt like a fool for almost betraying apple:eek: screen, materials, overall package could NEVER compare. I then went over to 17" i5 model and almost wanted to make love to it right in the store.
 

neteng101

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2009
1,148
163
A serious gamer would stick to a desktop for gaming! ;)

That said - the lo-res 15" i7 MBP is by far the best MBP option for gaming, lower native resolution = faster frame rates.
 

Mystikal

macrumors 68020
Oct 4, 2007
2,440
0
Irvine, CA
A serious gamer would stick to a desktop for gaming! ;)

That said - the lo-res 15" i7 MBP is by far the best MBP option for gaming, lower native resolution = faster frame rates.

Ive been playing l4d2 and tf2 on this bad boy and everything runs amazingly. The only lag ive had has been due to networking issues. Since my desktop is 4+ years old this MBP is my new gaming rig :D.
 

kayloh20

macrumors regular
Apr 8, 2010
134
23
Chicago, IL
The card is decent. I think I'm losing most of the FPS to the fact that the screen is 1920 x 1200 native. If you got the 15" non-high res, you'd probably get good performance from it.
 

ozreth

macrumors 65816
Nov 5, 2009
1,362
97
The card is decent. I think I'm losing most of the FPS to the fact that the screen is 1920 x 1200 native. If you got the 15" non-high res, you'd probably get good performance from it.

This really bums me out, I've been hoping for somebody to come in here and say that the resolution bump is only changing their fps by 4 or 5 but it seems pretty bad : /

I don't wanna exchange for a glossy!
 

SHeLL9840

macrumors newbie
Apr 20, 2010
8
3
Could you be specific about the settings you two are running ME2 on? I feel like if I'm spending enough money I want something with at least comparable performance to my 5 year old gaming rig. Cheers.
 

nemods

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2010
8
0
Just got my 17" i5 yesterday.

Playing MW2 in bootcamp with Windows Ultimate x64.
Using an external 24" monitor 1920x1080, all video setting up(might have taken shadows off) and x4 multisampling.

And the game is running smooth in Multi-player :)

Ill try to do some more testing later today and get back to you
 

wisty

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2009
219
0
Use a lower-res external monitor.

1920x1200 is pretty high resolution. You are better with a bigger monitor and fewer pixels if you want to see pretty explosions.
 

nemods

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2010
8
0
Pretty MW2 don't have any build in fps measurer, I don't want to start installing all kind of programs to find out.
All I can say is that its running smooth without in lag(hardware lag).
 

DesmoPilot

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2008
1,185
36
Well Barefeats showed that the difference between 512 and 256mb was negligible and not always in the 512mb's favour at 1920x1200 if that helps you out.

No he truly didn't; he "tested" using games that were -for the most part - over half a decade old; or based on engines half a decade old plus. barefeats "test" is totally pointless in testing 256 vs 512.
 
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