If you are going to game quite a bit then go with the high end 15" with the6750 GPU. Still not like a Windows based machine though.
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15inch for gaming
- Thread starter Arsenal09
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this is really not an issue, I played 4 hours of starcraft and it might have gone down 1 percent?
imo it's pretty good, overclock it and you will be able to run crysis 2 on hardcore i believe the setting is called. I"m stock and it defaults to hardcore, i set it to the next one down though for super smoothness.
You're all so wrong. I have the 2.2GHz 15" with 6750 overclocked to 780/880 and at 1440x900 all the games I play are amazing with maximum graphics (only AA pegged at x4): Crysis 2, BFBC2, all COD games from WaW onwards. 50fps+, this is simply an amazing gaming laptop.
I see you are playing COD on your machine. I have the same machine as you (I have the AG hi-res), and for the life of me cannot figure out why i get "frame-rate" issues playing Black Ops. I downloaded the Ati CCC program, and BOTH my screens (I had the glossy screen before Apple swapped me for the Matte) were stuck at 60HZ frame rate. I cannot change that. I ordered a MDP>HDMI port to see if hooking it up to a monitor/TV will remedy this problem.
All my other games I play ; NBA 2K11 and Borderlands, all play perfectly on highest settings. Only thing that affects the framerate of NBA 2K11 is the "smoke" mod file from moddingway.com that makes all the arenas look like fireworks had just gone off. Pretty cool mod, but some arenas slow down (even has a disclaimer on the mod file)..
I don't know what your frame rate issue is but 60Hz is just the LCD refresh rate which is pretty standard and not connected to your fps. Turn off v-synch because that can slow games down and Black Ops had some early Steam issues, partly cured if I remember correctly by right-clicking on the game in the Steam Library view and de-selecting any steam integration.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
i had the lowend 2010 MBP with the nvidia 330 GPU and it pretty much handled my 2-3 year old games ok..
i decided to sell it and get a 2011 17" model since it jad TB, sata 3 and far better for gaming 0 well for my needs
I live in a smallish apt, and wouldnt want to clutter my valuable space with a windows laptop -bootcamp is fine
i decided to sell it and get a 2011 17" model since it jad TB, sata 3 and far better for gaming 0 well for my needs
I live in a smallish apt, and wouldnt want to clutter my valuable space with a windows laptop -bootcamp is fine
How do I disable v-sync? I have been longing for this answer ever since I bought BOPS a few weeks ago... There is no option in the BlackOps menu, but in Crysis 2 I have read there is..
Interesting topic here.
Been thinking about replacing the MBP (june-2009, 15", 4GB RAM with 256MB 9600GT-M) and Mac Pro (early-2008, single quad-2.8GHz, 6GB RAM with 1024MB 5870) for a new 2011 MBP 15" with hi-res screen and 2.3GHz i7.
On the MBP I don't do a lot, had the intention but just didn't. So mostly IRC, IM, internet browsing. Nothing special.
On the Mac Pro I do some gaming. Mainly World of Warcraft on a 27" 1920x1200 monitor.
Obviously the 2011 MBP will be fine for the general stuff. It's the gaming thing I am a bit worried about.
I know the benchmark from Barefeats, but that imo does not reflect 10/25 man raiding with a bunch of addons enabled, on a 1920x1080/1200 monitor.
So, I can't have the framerate drop below 20fps during heave fights. Preferably not below 30fps, using at least medium graphics settings. For 5 man instances I'd like to use high graphics settings.
So, main question of the day: has anyone tried the above scenario?
I see the 6750M is quite fast for a MBP videocard, just wonder if it will satisfy me.
Been thinking about replacing the MBP (june-2009, 15", 4GB RAM with 256MB 9600GT-M) and Mac Pro (early-2008, single quad-2.8GHz, 6GB RAM with 1024MB 5870) for a new 2011 MBP 15" with hi-res screen and 2.3GHz i7.
On the MBP I don't do a lot, had the intention but just didn't. So mostly IRC, IM, internet browsing. Nothing special.
On the Mac Pro I do some gaming. Mainly World of Warcraft on a 27" 1920x1200 monitor.
Obviously the 2011 MBP will be fine for the general stuff. It's the gaming thing I am a bit worried about.
I know the benchmark from Barefeats, but that imo does not reflect 10/25 man raiding with a bunch of addons enabled, on a 1920x1080/1200 monitor.
So, I can't have the framerate drop below 20fps during heave fights. Preferably not below 30fps, using at least medium graphics settings. For 5 man instances I'd like to use high graphics settings.
So, main question of the day: has anyone tried the above scenario?
I see the 6750M is quite fast for a MBP videocard, just wonder if it will satisfy me.
I have a 2.2 2011 MacBook Pro and have been mainly playing CivV at night with business productivity during the day. The Mac has no problems playing Civ on high settings though it occasionally gets a little jerky when the game is at the stage where the game world is large but it's still playable.
The negative is that when the graphics card kicks in the Mac sounds more like a 747 taking off
The negative is that when the graphics card kicks in the Mac sounds more like a 747 taking off
The PSU can't provide enough power!!!!! Yeah, got any factual proof of that or did you just read it somewhere?
In ALL the reviews I have read of the 2011 MB Pro not ONE stated anything about the PSU not being powerful enough.
As for all the comments stating the MB Pro is no good for games, well just ignore them. My Mac can game just fine and the new ones have twice the scores in geekbench that my 2010 gets.
I have to adjust settings and res sure but I can play games.
In fact if you want proof of the MB Pro's power, just search the geekbench website for results of Alienware laptop's versus MB Pro's. Sure it won't give true graphics performance, but the Macs destroy them in the scores. That's mainly down to the Sandy Bridge CPU's but it goes to show how powerful they really are.
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I was going to say...the new 15" and 17" MBPs are fine gaming laptops, especially if tricked out a little.
No they won't match a dedicated gaming tower (or high end Alienware laptop) but with the specs and feedback (i don't have one yet but should soon), they make suitable gaming rigs (if you care most about playing than having all the bells and whistles flashing).
Bootcamp and Windows performance should be good.
With that said, gaming = heat and likely a heavy dose will lessen the life of the internals.
I know I've gone through 2 Asus G71G gaming laptops in the last 2 years due to thermal issues.
No they won't match a dedicated gaming tower (or high end Alienware laptop) but with the specs and feedback (i don't have one yet but should soon), they make suitable gaming rigs (if you care most about playing than having all the bells and whistles flashing).
Bootcamp and Windows performance should be good.
With that said, gaming = heat and likely a heavy dose will lessen the life of the internals.
I know I've gone through 2 Asus G71G gaming laptops in the last 2 years due to thermal issues.
And how do you place your laptop while gaming, on a stand of simply on the table? I believe putting it on a stand will help a bit to relieve the heat though not doubt it still makes the noise of a 737 by then
I have a cheap laptop tray purchased from Argos (UK retail store). If the graphics chip doesn't kick in, the laptop runs quiet and warm (but not hot). When the chip does kick in the heat is too much for skin (e.g. shorts) and the noise is annoying - you actually have to turn the TV up a little if I'm in the living room. Although I really like the MacBook, the noise for me is probably the biggest negative.
Just to through my 20 cents in, I found that my 2010 MBP 2.66Ghz i7 GT330M; was able to play black ops at ~50 FPS on native resolution with only shadows, anti aliasing and a few others things turned off. MBPs may not be gaming machines but can play most modern games at medium-high at reasonable FPS at native resolution.
I use headphones whenever I game, wow or whatever and even though theyre open air i can't hear the fans.
As many have stated here Macbooks are not great gaming machines. They are wonderful productivity and work machines though! The reason is the adequate GPU selection but only on the highest end models.
Other manufacturers (Acer, Dell etc) offer 1GB GPUs with optional 2GB for their upper class machines, much more suited to making sure you can play modern games for a couple years. (and cheaper). Of course you get what you pay for (cheaper build etc) but it all depends on what you need.
Other manufacturers (Acer, Dell etc) offer 1GB GPUs with optional 2GB for their upper class machines, much more suited to making sure you can play modern games for a couple years. (and cheaper). Of course you get what you pay for (cheaper build etc) but it all depends on what you need.
I don't know what everyone else is talking about, but I just got done playing Bioshock 2 for an hour or so in Bootcamp on high settings with nothing turned off at native (1680x1050) resolution, and it was great. Sure, the fans turned on, but I didn't notice over the sounds of the game, and even without sound, the fas really aren't that loud.
+1
Don't believe what you read, maybe the 6750M won't play Crysis 2 on Max settings at 60 FPS, but then again, almost NO GPU will - I have the 6750M and it has taken anything I've thrown at it with ease and the highest settings ...
You mean the old Alienware laptops that Dell sells?
Dell has new Sandy Bridge laptops with the Nvidia 555m. A MBP won't destroy that laptop. And I doubt the MBP would destroy a cheapo Sandy Bridge Asus with the 540m.