6490m.

[Mirai 11]

Now, a lot are complaining about this, and from the links and google searches i've seen, there's been no actual benchmarks. Can anyone please base their reasons for why this isn't a great GPU for games?
I'd only want to play Portal 2 and a few 2005-ish games with a retro collection too, so its not going to bother me.
Who really is going to shell out more money to play Black Ops on a ultra high setting? The main majority of games on the Mac App Store will run perfectly, so I don't understand the massive issues regarding this.
If you want a games machine, buy an XBOX, or play good games on an iOS device
But that's just my opinion, i'd love to hear some good legitimate reasons against this.

 

[Sarngate]

Or, you know, you could buy a desktop PC for $600 which will max out most games on the market.

 

[Mirai 11]

Exactly though, Macbook Pro's are not mainly built for games, only productivity

 

[TMRaven]

I think the majority of the people who complain are hardcore mac addicts who are too stubborn to build their own dedicated pc tower just for gaming. It really isn't all that expensive, and it's not like running windows 7 is a cancerous activity. Windows 7 is actually rather nice as an operating system.

 

[2contagious]

The new 1GB GPUs must surely be faster than the previous ones?

 

[leetlamer]

Exactly though, Macbook Pro's are not mainly built for games, only productivity

Thats a ******** reason. If I'm going to pay two thousand dollars for a premium computer, I expect I should get better performance than a $1200 cheapo pc laptop.

The whole "Macs are different" is ******** from a technical viewpoint. The actual computer hardware is pretty much identical with regular PCs, so it is fair to compare with PCs. The fact that you can run Windows on a Mac with boot camp proves this.

 

[Sti-R]

A lot of people are saying that the previous generation of Macbook pros (the ones with 330m) are actually faster.

 

[leetlamer]

I think the majority of the people who complain are hardcore mac addicts who are too stubborn to build their own dedicated pc tower just for gaming. It really isn't all that expensive, and it's not like running windows 7 is a cancerous activity. Windows 7 is actually rather nice as an operating system.

Huh? People are complaining because they are so expensive yet don't offer good hardware compared to cheaper PCs.

I love building desktop PCs, but I also want good performance on my notebook. I'm in college and can't exactly bring my desktop, so my Mac is all I have.

 

[TMRaven]

330m is a more powerful card, yes. However, 330m is significantly slower than the mobility 6750 that's in the higher end 15 inch and 17 inch of the new mbps. The mobility 6750 even outperforms the mobility 5730 that's in the middle grade iMacs.

 

[thedarkhorse]

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out just to be a lower clocked 6570. That tends to be an apple move, downclocking gpus that you see in windows machines(mostly to keep performance while controlling heat).

Still hard to say whether it's a worthwhile upgrade. If the new final cut pro takes advantage of ati gpus then it will make sense. Right now apple screwed CS5 hopefuls that rely on Nvidia CUDA tech

 

[Mirai 11]

You're right, but the 2k isn't just because of its hardware like other manufacturers, its the Software and design of the laptop itself that you are giving your money to Apple for, its more of a luxury to achieve tasks on it than to play Black Ops online on ultra high graphic settings.

 

[jbg232]

Here's the differences:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units

 

[TMRaven]

Huh? People are complaining because they are so expensive yet don't offer good hardware compared to cheaper PCs.

I love building desktop PCs, but I also want good performance on my notebook. I'm in college and can't exactly bring my desktop, so my Mac is all I have.

That has been the argument against macs for years now though, so there's nothing really new or special in complaining about these new mbps with their gpus. Apple picks their components based on what they think will perform best for a computer. In this case they're sacrificing some gaming performance to provide you with better battery life and cooling for their already slim and hot form factors. The only possible way you'd complain about a gpu so much would be if you game a lot, and in which case there's nothing wrong at all about saying that macbook pros are not marketed as a gaming machine. You'd be better off buying your alienware with 30minute battery life.

 

[Mirai 11]

That has been the argument against macs for years now though, so there's nothing really new or special in complaining about these new mbps with their gpus. Apple picks their components based on what they think will perform best for a computer. In this case they're sacrificing some gaming performance to provide you with better battery life and cooling for their already slim and hot form factors. The only possible way you'd complain about a gpu so much would be if you game a lot, and in which case there's nothing wrong at all about saying that macbook pros are not marketed as a gaming machine. You'd be better off buying your alienware with 30minute battery life.

You're spot on, I mean I play the occasional retro games and Jedi Academy with no slowdown on this 5 year old iMac, so with this Macbook 2011 model, it shouldn't even break a sweat with it! I can't understand the moaning for it.

 

[Mirai 11]

Excuse the double post, but i'd really like to know if anyone's managed to purchase the base 15 inch model, and what their real life results are with the 6490. I'm not going to be doing hardcore gaming, but its making me...curious.

 

[Evil Spoonman]

Now, a lot are complaining about this, and from the links and google searches i've seen, there's been no actual benchmarks. Can anyone please base their reasons for why this isn't a great GPU for games?

Because it's a crappy GPU. Full stop. Does anybody need a better reason than that?

Exactly though, Macbook Pro's are not mainly built for games, only productivity

It's a crappy GPU for that too.

The new 1GB GPUs must surely be faster than the previous ones?

The 6750M that was just released is substantially better than the GT 330M from the previous generation. The 1GB of GDDR5 is very much welcome to professional users.

A lot of people are saying that the previous generation of Macbook pros (the ones with 330m) are actually faster.

We really won't know the answer to this until we get reliable benchmarks on the cards. The memory bandwidth appears to be effectively identical (GT 330M uses GDDR3, but has twice the bus width). TDPs on the chips are similar, and the 6490M looks to actually have more processing power. Drivers play into this too, are Apple's AMD drivers better than their Nvidia drivers? I would not decide until all the facts are in. Certainly the small frame buffer is not a good thing.

 

[AltRhombus]

Excuse the double post, but i'd really like to know if anyone's managed to purchase the base 15 inch model, and what their real life results are with the 6490. I'm not going to be doing hardcore gaming, but its making me...curious.

I played SC2 last night on low/medium settings and it ran fine. If I set it to medium, the game would stutter every 9-15 seconds or so.

I can say for a fact that it runs better than the late 2010 13" MBP with a 330m that I used to have.

I was really considering trading this laptop in for the higher-end model, but I was reading that the higher-end card still only plays at medium settings. I wouldn't mind seeing a side-by-side comparison.

 

[prism]

I played SC2 last night on low/medium settings and it ran fine. If I set it to medium, the game would stutter every 9-15 seconds or so.

I can say for a fact that it runs better than the late 2010 13" MBP with a 330m that I used to have.

I was really considering trading this laptop in for the higher-end model, but I was reading that the higher-end card still only plays at medium settings. I wouldn't mind seeing a side-by-side comparison.

Errr, since when did the 2010 13" come with a 330m GPU???

 

[Commonmind]

You're right, but the 2k isn't just because of its hardware like other manufacturers, its the Software and design of the laptop itself that you are giving your money to Apple for, its more of a luxury to achieve tasks on it than to play Black Ops online on ultra high graphic settings.

This is exactly right, and, conveniently, the point most individuals that argue the price vs. performance angle seem to forget.

I'm a lover of cars, especially classics and European super cars. If I were to find a 1968 GTO in pristine condition alongside a 1968 in poor condition, but both had the same engine, I would buy the GTO with the better body. The fact of the matter is, the engine is only one component. And as with computers, generally speaking cars could be held to a strict performance standard, rather than a high aesthetic one, but yet we judge the book by its cover, as well as its contents. Why is it so difficult to apply this same logic to a personal computer?

Sure, I can grab the $1200 dollar model with the same processor and similar components as the $2200 dollar model (and perhaps the 1200 model has a slightly better GPU -- using the gaming metaphor here), but it's just not as pretty or (to split hairs) as rigid.

 

[strang]

Errr, since when did the 2010 13" come with a 330m GPU???

Never, he surely meant 320M.

 

[em.zarate]

another dissapointment

according to notebookcheck the 6490 is actually slower than the 330m GT.
i hope notebook check is wrong

if this is true, this aint an update -.-

 

[mrfoof82]

Someone run 3DMark 06.

A 320M equipped MacBook Pro would score ~4400.
A 330M equipped MacBook Pro would score ~6100.
A Radeon 4670 equipped 21.5" iMac would score ~6900.

So, someone run 3DMark 06 under Windows, and tell us the score.

I would do it myself, but my 15" is a CTO (hi-res glossy) and won't be here until next week. I have my 8GB of memory, Momentus XT, VMWare Fusion and Office 2011 sitting here, waiting for it. Hasn't shipped yet.

 

[impulse462]

If you want a games machine, buy an XBOX, or play good games on an iOS device

Really?
You spend ~2k on a brand new laptop and then you want people to buy an xbox on top of that? "Play good games on iOS" lmao, is that a joke?

Whatever the specs might be on the lower end version, that is really an idiotic statement

 

[Mirai 11]

Really?
You spend ~2k on a brand new laptop and then you want people to buy an xbox on top of that? "Play good games on iOS" lmao, is that a joke?

Whatever the specs might be on the lower end version, that is really an idiotic statement

It's not idiotic in the slightest, and here's why:
I'm a lad who has a PS3 in the living room, and probably will use it a few times a month to play Uncharted 2, Force Unleashed, and the rest of the times it'll be to play Blu Ray's, and if i'm on a bus or times when i'm bored, i'll fire up Infinity Blade or Tiny Wings on my iPhone 4.
I'm not one of those who will buy it for the main reason to play games, there are, other uses, specially for a Macbook Pro which i feel justifies it. The build quality, the total design, the hardware, the software, the multi-touch trackpad, and so on.
If you had read the other comments after, my next post says of how the 2k justifies it when it is Apple and their design beliefs on every product they make.
Do try to make a better effort posting something substantial next time.

 

[mark28]

I played SC2 last night on low/medium settings and it ran fine. If I set it to medium, the game would stutter every 9-15 seconds or so.

I can say for a fact that it runs better than the late 2010 13" MBP with a 330m that I used to have.

I was really considering trading this laptop in for the higher-end model, but I was reading that the higher-end card still only plays at medium settings. I wouldn't mind seeing a side-by-side comparison.

The 330m runs SC2 on high in OS X without stuttering. It's runs very smooth at 1680 x 1050. This just shows that the 330m is actually much better than the ATI 6490m which can't even run SC 2 on medium.

I highly doubt the ATI 6750 can only play it on medium.

edit: And the MBP with the ATI 6490m has even a Quad core.