15inch for gaming

[apolloa]

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.

Cool, tell ya what, go and search the geekbench scores then come back mate.

 

[mark28]

Cool, tell ya what, go and search the geekbench scores then come back mate.

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/388692

Seems to score around 11000. But this test doesn't use the 555m which is alot better than the ATI 6750m.

 

[HBOC]

The only game I have a slight problem with is BlackOps, but it is just a tearing issue. I had lag as well, so it compiled both problems. I fixed that by changing the steam settings; they had my default internet speed at 750K>DSL and my location server in San Jose. I changed mine to the fastest internet speeds and changed my location to Seattle, as it is only 180 miles away. I also port forwarded my Airport Extreme and this helped a TON. Going to test this with my MDP>HDMI cable I got a few days ago, and see if it helps with the tearing..

Other thant this, Borderlands and NBA 2K11 play fine at the highest settings. I have no other games at the current moment.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

17" 2011 MAP 2.2 quad core I7 SB - good enough for my aming needs

 

[patorioto]

if you bootcamp windows you should be able to play recent games with the high end 15. i've got sc2 on almost all ultra running at 30fps, and there are plenty of videos showing crysis 2 etc.

it's not going to run every new game at the highest settings but if you run windows you should be good.

the low end 15 might not be up to snuff though.

 

[striker33]

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.

You do realise that the PSU only outputs 85W of power, and a 15" high end MBP consumes around 15W or so (just esitmates) over that?

Many topics have stated this, due to so many people being confused about why their batteries had drained after a lengthy gaming session.

After playing RIFT for roughly 5-6 hours mine had drained 5%, so it really is a non issue.

 

[superericla]

My base 15" MacBook Pro is more than capable of suiting my gaming needs. I don't need high settings or the ability to play the latest and greatest games. I'm just a casual gamer. I can play Portal on the highest settings available with a smooth framerate which is more than I need.

 

[apolloa]

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/388692

Seems to score around 11000. But this test doesn't use the 555m which is alot better than the ATI 6750m.

That's why I said it won't truly show the GPU power but it DOES show you how good Sandy Bridge is..... and as the ATI is a decent card, for a Mac, then the MB Pros can game happily and spank the Core Alienwares in the geekbench scores. So if you have a Sandy Bridge core extreme Alienware and a high end card then it should cope well enough with games and would spank a MB Pro as it should for a core extreme.

You do realise that the PSU only outputs 85W of power, and a 15" high end MBP consumes around 15W or so (just esitmates) over that?

Many topics have stated this, due to so many people being confused about why their batteries had drained after a lengthy gaming session.

After playing RIFT for roughly 5-6 hours mine had drained 5%, so it really is a non issue.

Oh right, I only know what watt my PSU is, but it's obviously not anything to worry about if it only drains that much. Thanks for the info.

 

[aznguyen316]

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.

The AW 14 is not available yet, and although evidence shows it will exist, Dell has not announced it yet. The 555m will certainly be better than the 6750. The 6750 is better than a 540m though. The AW14 sounds nice, but if we are to believe the manual of this unreleased product, upgrade res is up to 1600x900 and CPU starts at i5 up. And knowing Alienware getting the screen upgrade (better hope it's RGB as well) plus max CPU it'll probably easily hit $2,000.

I'm paying for more than just the CPU/GPU for my MBP. Battery, screen quality, trackpad, OSX, and customer support are a few reasons I went MBP 15. Plus I game as a hobby, so this will do just fine =)

 

[Macsavvytech]

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.

In teems of CPU it probably would, the only thing that isn't powerful enough for a true gamer is the GPU, the CPU in the MBP is very common in $2k+ gaming laptops. Also I doubt a 540m would "destroy" the HD 6750M. Better but I don't know about destroy especially with a weak CPU.

EDIT: My suspicion was confirmed by the above poster that the 6750 is actually better them a 540m

 

[Macsavvytech]

Just to add the AMD 6750 is actually 30% faster then the Nvidia 540M

 

[ninja2000]

plus the 6750 is a great overclocker in bootcamp. mine easily manages over 800 on the core and 1000 on the memory. I game at 780/900 to be safe.

At these settings I can play all my games at 1920x1200 with high settings.
Games I am playing:
Shogun 2
BFBC2
MOH2010
SC2
COD BO
SupComm2

Before I switched to macbooks I had an envy 14 with 5650 (underclocked to 450/800) and I couldnt play most of the above at 1600x900 with high settings so had to lower it to 1280x720 so the 6750 is a massive step up (I am guessing due to the DDR5's extra bandwidth)

 

[Macsavvytech]

Before I switched to macbooks I had an envy 14 with 5650 (underclocked to 450/800) and I couldnt play most of the above at 1600x900 with high settings so had to lower it to 1280x720 so the 6750 is a massive step up (I am guessing due to the DDR5's extra bandwidth)

How did you get DDR5. Don't you mean GDDR5

 

[DarwinOSX]

I use my PS 3 alot these days but the 2.2 ghz MBP with 6750 is just fine for most games unless you run at extremely high resolutions. Its a crock by people who haven't tried it to say otherwise. I do find that many games that are available on both Windows and Mac run much better under Windows since that was their original target platform. 20 to 30% faster is not uncommon. Also a Boot Camp Windows installation on an SSD makes it trivial to reboot into Windows quickly and easily to run a game and go back to OS X when you are done.

 

[NickZac]

Umm, they work just fine for most games....

 

[killilluminati]

i had a few driver issues with bootcamp but after a lot of faffing i currently run;-
Win 7 64bit 2011 mbp 2.2 ghz 17inch 1900 x 1200 8gb ram 1gb Gpu
geek bench 11k

Rift ultra setting native res 1900 x 1200 av 34 FPS
Team fortess 2 Maxed 1900 x 1200 40-50 fps
half life 2 ep1/2/ maxed 60-100fps
wow maxed including sunshafts av 50-60fps
warhammer online maxed 40 fps
eve online maxed 40fps
Sc 2 mix of ultra and high med shadows 40+ fps campaign, 50fps for pvp 2v2
This laptop is a gaming beast but requires a bit of trial and error/tinkering on drivers front.
I was surprised how smooth rift was even when i maxed ALL setting at native res 27-40fps
Well done Apple after initial shutdown problems which is now fixed this machines eats games for breakfast. Win 7 runs amazingly well better than my desktop pc. (ati 5870 quad core) p.s i have had 2 alienware laptops nothing but problems, overheat and break after 2years.

 

[Ian.C]

plus the 6750 is a great overclocker in bootcamp. mine easily manages over 800 on the core and 1000 on the memory. I game at 780/900 to be safe.

At these settings I can play all my games at 1920x1200 with high settings.
Games I am playing:
Shogun 2
BFBC2
MOH2010
SC2
COD BO
SupComm2

Before I switched to macbooks I had an envy 14 with 5650 (underclocked to 450/800) and I couldnt play most of the above at 1600x900 with high settings so had to lower it to 1280x720 so the 6750 is a massive step up (I am guessing due to the DDR5's extra bandwidth)

Hi mate

What did you use in bootcamp to over clock it?

Thanks

Ian

 

[Eidorian]

The drivers for the 6000M Series still appear to be hit or miss. Hopefully ATI will have some newer ones soon enough.

The AW 14 is not available yet, and although evidence shows it will exist, Dell has not announced it yet. The 555m will certainly be better than the 6750. The 6750 is better than a 540m though. The AW14 sounds nice, but if we are to believe the manual of this unreleased product, upgrade res is up to 1600x900 and CPU starts at i5 up. And knowing Alienware getting the screen upgrade (better hope it's RGB as well) plus max CPU it'll probably easily hit $2,000.

I find that very unlikely consider the starting price on the M17x R3. The older M15x is at $1,199 right now. The price should be similar if not slightly lower.

 

[aznguyen316]

I find that very unlikely consider the starting price on the M17x R3. The older M15x is at $1,199 right now. The price should be similar if not slightly lower.

Not unlikely considering I said max CPU upgrade + screen. If you look at the M15x, even starting at $1199, if you get the best CPU + screen upgrade (+$100) it goes to $2500. Although the max CPU is overkill, you bring it down to the next highest, which would be equivalent in tiers (not processing power) to the 2820qm sandy bridge of this generation, then it's pretty much at $2000 which is what I ball-parked. Can definitely see that happening with the M14x.

 

[Eidorian]

Not unlikely considering I said max CPU upgrade + screen. If you look at the M15x, even starting at $1199, if you get the best CPU + screen upgrade (+$100) it goes to $2500. Although the max CPU is overkill, you bring it down to the next highest, which would be equivalent in tiers (not processing power) to the 2820qm sandy bridge of this generation, then it's pretty much at $2000 which is what I ball-parked. Can definitely see that happening with the M14x.

I can imagine the display and Core i7 2820QM upgrades ballparking $600-750 over the stock price.

 

[Macsavvytech]

No real gamer buys that dell c*** any more. Alienware were once good Dell wrecked them, they are overpriced, weak and lacking many features of a Asus, Origin, etc.

 

[legreve]

Excluding SC2 since I never played it, I would say the other titles you've mentioned aren't what we have in mind when we say low-to-medium settings. AC2 runs exceptionally well with low fps (on Windows) and the others just aren't very graphically demanding compared to current titles. On the 330m AC2 was running high at 20 fps and I thought it was great, but then I saw what it was like to get 30 fps (busy areas) on the 6750 and remembered everything is subjective.

The 6490 is not crap. It's an improvement over the 330m. However, my suggestion still stands with going for the higher end, especially if future titles are a concern.

In regards to SC2... I've gotten used to play on lowest settings. Even with that the 2.2 (with reapplied thermal paste) will heat up pretty fast. I'm steady around 60 degrees c with smc running the fans at max speed.

In comparison, my old 2nd hand desktop pc 2.4, quad core with also 8gb ram and 750mb graphics ram will run SC2 on almost highest setting and run smoothely. Praise the universe that Im not a hardcore gamer, cause then the mbp would be severely insufficient.

 

[Eidorian]

The M14x is leaking out on international Dell stores. The few models I have seen start off with the Core i7 2630QM.

Prices do not translate well given the exchange rates and other nonsense. The upgrade to the 900p display should be under $100.

 

[ninja2000]

Hi mate

What did you use in bootcamp to over clock it?

Thanks

Ian

Sorry mate, missed your question.

I just use MSI afterburner to overclock. You will need a google search to enable overclock or just PM me and I will talk you through it.

 

[Worldofwarben]

My 15" Experience.

I have played everything from COD MW2 to World of Warcraft, while running video scripts to tape myself. Just get atleast 4GB Ram you'll be good. Keep the comp clutter free though. Surf the web and reset safari often. Try to keep large data files and other programs off. If you can take off iLife and other unnecessary stock items. GarageBand is a huge set of files. Hope it helps.