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Balli

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I know that ATI's and Nvidia's current powerful graphics cards are too hot / big / power consuming, to fit into Apple's 1" beauty, but there must be some information on a upcoming graphics cards that are thin, cool, and power efficient? (Preferably with DirectX 10 support).

I know the X1600 is a good card, but the MacBook Pros deserve something cutting edge!
 

Carguy172

macrumors member
Oct 8, 2006
93
0
They will probably be getting the x1700 when they upgrade to santa rosa in the spring.

But whats with all you people bashing the x1600 thats a very powerful card you would know that if you would actually look at the specs.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Carguy172 said:
They will probably be getting the x1700 when they upgrade to santa rosa in the spring.

But whats with all you people bashing the x1600 thats a very powerful card you would know that if you would actually look at the specs.

seriously... perhaps only like 5 percent of people here actually use the card to its max extend...
 

Balli

macrumors 6502
Original poster
bearbo said:
seriously... perhaps only like 5 percent of people here actually use the card to its max extend...

But what with games like Gears of War, Half-Life Portals, Alan Wake, Project Offset (to name but a few), all coming out next year, you have to forgive me for trying to future proof my computer, (at least for the next 2 years).
 

Dont Hurt Me

macrumors 603
Dec 21, 2002
6,055
6
Yahooville S.C.
Balli said:
But what with games like Gears of War, Half-Life Portals, Alan Wake, Project Offset (to name but a few), all coming out next year, you have to forgive me for trying to future proof my computer, (at least for the next 2 years).
Those will all have a directx 9 versions plus there just isnt any dx10 cards and wont be for another couple months. You wont see any new cards in macbook pro for at least 143 days.;)
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Balli said:
But what with games like Gears of War, Half-Life Portals, Alan Wake, Project Offset (to name but a few), all coming out next year, you have to forgive me for trying to future proof my computer, (at least for the next 2 years).

2.5 yrs ago i bought a thinkpad with one of the best video card then, with 64mb vram... and half yr ago, i can barely play any of the new releases...

my point is, no video card produced today can sustain games out 2 yrs from now... even at lowest setting you'll struggle.
 

DXoverDY

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2005
810
0
bearbo said:
2.5 yrs ago i bought a thinkpad with one of the best video card then, with 64mb vram... and half yr ago, i can barely play any of the new releases...

my point is, no video card produced today can sustain games out 2 yrs from now... even at lowest setting you'll struggle.

Correction. No Laptop videocard can sustain games for 2 yrs. Desktop video cards tend to play a bit nicer. I was still able to play Half-Life 2 on my 4 year old card at around 640x480 or 800x600 if i turned settings down a bit. Doom 3 even played on the GeForce 4 4400 Ti.

Repeat after me. Laptops are not gaming machines... Laptops are not gaming machines. Laptops are not gaming machines. Got it? Good.
 

BlizzardBomb

macrumors 68030
Jun 15, 2005
2,537
0
England
Mobile DX10 graphics cards aren't going to be out until late into 2007.

However, I'm pretty sure it's possible to squeeze a Mobility Radeon X1800 or GeForce Go 7800 into the MacBook Pro. We'll probably have to wait another 6 months for a graphics card update though.
 

KingYaba

macrumors 68040
Aug 7, 2005
3,414
12
Up the irons
BlizzardBomb said:
Mobile DX10 graphics cards aren't going to be out until late into 2007.

However, I'm pretty sure it's possible to squeeze a Mobility Radeon X1800 or GeForce Go 7800 into the MacBook Pro. We'll probably have to wait another 6 months for a graphics card update though.
Watch the rumors pop up, GeForce MBP! I know it's coming on Tuesday!
 

JohnMC

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2006
386
1
Duluth, MN
Ban on MacBook Pro Rumors!!!

I think we should have at least a two month ban on all MBP rumors. After that two months all rumors are fair game again (just before MWSF). Just a though for all the masses traumatized by C2D MBP rumors. LOL
 

4np

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2005
972
2
The Netherlands
Balli said:
But what with games like Gears of War, Half-Life Portals, Alan Wake, Project Offset (to name but a few), all coming out next year, you have to forgive me for trying to future proof my computer, (at least for the next 2 years).

I agree; I would also like to be able to play all these games (and UT2007) on my MacBook Pro and kick my desktop pc out...

Also, the x1600 was in there when the first MacBook Pro was introduced; I would have expected a GPU upgrade as well. But maybe Apple first wants to have a look at how the new C2D MacBook Pro's are holding up after their latest upgrade...

I think I'm going to wait a little while longer until at least januari and perhaps march...
 

NewSc2

macrumors 65816
Jun 4, 2005
1,044
2
New York, NY
*reads title* *does a double take a double take*

anyways, it'll be out when it's out. it won't come out next week, or next month, and probably not even by January
 

Clydefrog

macrumors 6502a
Feb 24, 2006
593
0
Pittsburgh,PA
i think the reason they don't have a better chip is becuase of heat. I mean putting a x1800 or somthing equivalent into a MBP would create huge heat issues. Even if they would add a x1700 the upgrade will hardly be worth it.
 

Eraserhead

macrumors G4
Nov 3, 2005
10,434
12,250
UK
If you are a gamer you might as well get a Macbook (for portability) and a Desktop PC for gaming, that will be upgradable to a new graphics card in 2/2.5 years and will probably cost no more than an MBP.
 

Shadow

macrumors 68000
Feb 17, 2006
1,577
1
DXoverDY said:
Repeat after me. Laptops are not gaming machines... Laptops are not gaming machines. Laptops are not gaming machines. Got it? Good.
Correction-some laptops are good gaming machines-I know a guy who has a nVidia GeForce 7800GTX in his laptop.
 

Carguy172

macrumors member
Oct 8, 2006
93
0
What's the point of getting a laptop for games the only one that will last 2 years is the xps m1710 and your basically stuck by an outlet its so pointless. its not even a laptop if you have a high powered graphics card inside.
 

tipdrill407

macrumors 6502
May 26, 2006
373
0
ChrisG said:
Correction-some laptops are good gaming machines-I know a guy who has a nVidia GeForce 7800GTX in his laptop.

Yeah and it's as thick as the yellow pages right?
 

Eraserhead

macrumors G4
Nov 3, 2005
10,434
12,250
UK
tipdrill407 said:
Yeah and it's as thick as the yellow pages right?

And it probably cost £2000, you might as well get a Macbook for £800 and a desktop PC for £800, that gives you portability and gaming for less money.
 

Carguy172

macrumors member
Oct 8, 2006
93
0
The xps isn't that thick and it has a nvidia 7950 GTX with 512,mb of ram (not shared)and its only 1.6 inches thick
but I don't know what model his was.
 

BlizzardBomb

macrumors 68030
Jun 15, 2005
2,537
0
England
Carguy172 said:
The xps isn't that thick and it has a nvidia 7950 GTX with 512,mb of ram (not shared)and its only 1.6 inches thick
but I don't know what model his was.

Well the NVIDIA Go 7950 GTX anyway ;) That's the Dell XPS M1710, a 17 incher, and it's cheaper than the MacBook Pro, even after it's been specced up.

Eww... I sound like a Dell salesperson.
 

Sesshi

macrumors G3
Jun 3, 2006
8,113
1
One Nation Under Gordon
The XPS is quite a brick, although it's not significantly less 'portable' than the 17" MBP. Bearing in mind the furnace that is the MBP already, it's hard to squeeze a really decent GPU in there although undoubtedly Nvidia Go GPUs would be a better option heatwise.

The XPS is a better machine than the MBP in that you can actually use the performance it offers without problems - but damn it's fugly.
 

xfiftyfour

macrumors 68030
Apr 14, 2006
2,573
0
Clemson, SC
Eraserhead said:
And it probably cost £2000, you might as well get a Macbook for £800 and a desktop PC for £800, that gives you portability and gaming for less money.
Better yet, people ought to get whatever computer they want + a console for their gaming!
 

BlizzardBomb

macrumors 68030
Jun 15, 2005
2,537
0
England
Sesshi said:
The XPS is quite a brick, although it's not significantly less 'portable' than the 17" MBP. Bearing in mind the furnace that is the MBP already, it's hard to squeeze a really decent GPU in there although undoubtedly Nvidia Go GPUs would be a better option heatwise.

Well we're not asking for the top-of-the-range. Just something that ATI themselves don't class as a "Value" GPU.

Sesshi said:
The XPS is a better machine than the MBP in that you can actually use the performance it offers without problems - but damn it's fugly.

Agreed.
 
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