Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Gaming on macbook?

freediro

freediro

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 25, 2009
49
0
Long Beach but come from the BEANTOWN!
i am planning on getting the 2.4 alluminum macbook. I don't game to much but there are a few titles, that are only on computers that i would like to play. How does the macbook hold up as a gaming machine?

i don't need it to display the best graphics just have it run and play smoothly. I really don't want to fork up the extra cash for a macbook pro.

thanks
 
Now that it has the nVidia graphics card, it's not as bad as it used to be. It's an average mid-range laptop graphics solution that will run all of the old stuff you throw at it without any problems, currently popular games may introduce some slight problems, especially the gfx-intense ones and the ones that aren't out yet will run below-average.

If the games you're trying to play are already out, check out benchmarks done with them and compare their recommended configurations with the MacBook. It also largely depends on your demands - casual gamers may say 30 FPS is very enjoyable while any true first person shooter fan will tell you anything below 60-80 FPS is unplayable.
 
freediro said:
i am planning on getting the 2.4 alluminum macbook. I don't game to much but there are a few titles, that are only on computers that i would like to play. How does the macbook hold up as a gaming machine?

i don't need it to display the best graphics just have it run and play smoothly. I really don't want to fork up the extra cash for a macbook pro.

thanks
Click to expand...
it'd be better if you could tell us specifically which titles you wanted to play.
 
I suggest listing the titles you wish to play. For the most part, anything that was released up until 2006 should run sufficiently enjoyable, and I speak from experience.

My system will run:
Left 4 Dead, CoD4 and WaW, WC3, WoW, Red Alert 3, Tom Clancy's Hawx, Lunia, FEAR, Need for Speed Undercover all at a minimum of 30 FPS. and this list goes on.
 
CoD 4, Warhammer, WoW, and LoTRO run very well on my Unibody Macbook.

If gaming is all you want to do, get a Pro and/or a Windows Lappy with a discrete graphics card.
 
You can find some 9400m benchmarks here. From what I can see, newer (mid-2007 and later) games like Crysis (1024x768 medium - 13.2 FPS), World in Conflict (1024 x 768 medium - 11 FPS) and CoD4 (1280x800, optimal - 24 FPS average, drops to 11 in heavy scenes) are giving it some problems, while slightly older titles (2005-2006 and earlier) like Quake 4 (1024×768, maximum settings: 38.7 FPS), WoW, Team Fortress 2/HL2 (1280x800, max settings, AA 2x - around 35 FPS) are decent.

I think it's good to count on benchmarks in these situations. E.g. Kalison mentioned CoD4 runs very well in his opinion, while I wouldn't agree 25 FPS average with occasional dips to ~10 FPS is enjoyable. What's smooth for someone may be choppy for someone else, luckily benchmarks can give you objective data to decide for yourself.
 
Most definitely. There is only a small number of games for OS X, they are usually released later then Windows versions and you will get slightly better performance in Windows.
 
I've played Fallout 3 perfectly fine (I can't remember the resolution, but it was something like 950x650).
 
I installed bootcamp with xp on the previous macbook I had and it played source games acceptably, albeit with a very hot case !
Haven't put it on my new one yet as waiting for the Windows 7 RC to go (legitimately) public to mess around with.
 
I play Combat Arms on Windows XP on my MacBook 2.4GHz (alu) flawlessly.
 
Playing games on a macbook is alright.

I have:
-BF2142, it plays fine on medium settings offline, online it is **** for no reason, i have no control and my soldier keeps turning in random directions.
-Diablo II, plays well, since the game is not too demanding.
-RA3, it plays fine on medium settings with a resolution of 1024*780 (i think)
-TF2, which i installed using crossover, works very well, no problems, but i don't remember what resolution and settings i have it with.
-World of goo, works well (no duh)
-Halo, works well don't remember the settings, probably medium-high

I have seen my friend play:
-Spore, works fairly well on medium
-Sims 2, dont know what resolution but worked well

If you want more games that work just go on the suggested games for macbook on http://www.apple.com/games/hardware/

+ considering that my pc had a weaker processor and these games worked (WoW, STALKER Clear Sky, STALKER Shadow of Chornobyl, Cossacks (all expansions), Cossacks 2, Counter-Strike Condition Zero, Counter-Strike Source, Prince of Persia 4, NFS Undercover) they should work in Bootcamp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back