Hi all. I got my early 2011 15" MacBook Pro with the 6490m just a couple weeks ago and I am just here to clear up some questions about how it performs.
In Skyrim I can play with high textures and everything else set to medium with a resolution of 1440x900 at around a stable 25+ FPS. This is very playable for me.
BF3 gets about 25 average with everything set to LOW. This is still very playable and I only tested it on the opening level (which even lags a bit on my gaming desktop). I have yet to test it on the multiplayer maps which are much better optimised so you will probably expect 25+ FPS.
I haven't upgraded my graphic drivers yet! Which means when I work out how to do it, I might even get BETTER performance still!
This basically means that I am set up for gaming even on the low end. I was a bit worried about whether I could play my two games of the year (BF3 is probably my game of the next 5 years), so it's great that I can play them without lag issues.
The lack of VRAM doesn't seem to be an issue. I am actually surprised at how well this little beauty runs my games. Portal 2 is flawless too.
So if you want a refurbished/2nd hand MacBook Pro, the 6490m model isn't actually as bad as most people say it is. I can run BF3 FINE!
In Skyrim I can play with high textures and everything else set to medium with a resolution of 1440x900 at around a stable 25+ FPS. This is very playable for me.
BF3 gets about 25 average with everything set to LOW. This is still very playable and I only tested it on the opening level (which even lags a bit on my gaming desktop). I have yet to test it on the multiplayer maps which are much better optimised so you will probably expect 25+ FPS.
I haven't upgraded my graphic drivers yet! Which means when I work out how to do it, I might even get BETTER performance still!
This basically means that I am set up for gaming even on the low end. I was a bit worried about whether I could play my two games of the year (BF3 is probably my game of the next 5 years), so it's great that I can play them without lag issues.
The lack of VRAM doesn't seem to be an issue. I am actually surprised at how well this little beauty runs my games. Portal 2 is flawless too.
So if you want a refurbished/2nd hand MacBook Pro, the 6490m model isn't actually as bad as most people say it is. I can run BF3 FINE!
