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Any regrets with the new intel 3000HD graphics?

Y

Yizhimao

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
30
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I've been looking around for the limitations to the intel 3000HD graphics.. I've seen a couple of benchmarks but I'm kinda clueless as to what they means.. Anyone out there who can kindly explain how does the graphics card affect the computer in terms of real life experience and exactly how bad is the new intel 3000HD graphics??
 
People are making it out to be the worst thing ever, but the only time you would ever notice it being on the lower end (it's really not even that bad) is in gaming, which it still does respecatbly
 
depends, what do you want to use it for? It's not bad, but it's not great either, but it all depends on your needs. Just do youtube? Don't game? it's great. Want to play games at max settings, not any good.
 
If you're intent is to play games then you probably want something else.

Personally I like the HD3000 and think it's great for general usage. I don't need to add the complexity of the GPU switching with a discrete option.
 
im not a gammer so its great for me. it can handle bluray movies and thats the most graphic intensive stuff i do
 
Yizhimao said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148a)Anyone out there who can kindly explain how does the graphics card affect the computer in terms of real life experience and exactly how bad is the new intel 3000HD graphics??
Click to expand...

I have the base 13" MPB. While gaming is somewhat limited with any Mac OSX, I have not come across any real issues. Sure, it's not going to be screaming fast. You won't be playing recently released games on high settings. But you can game on Medium. You can stream 1080P video without a hiccup. In fact, I stream a couple 1080P videos from Justin.tv without a problem. I'm new to Mac, but I've been able to configure and play COD4 (Medium Settings), Bioshock 1 (High Settings) and Amnesia (Medium Settings) with adequate frame rates.
The 13" is not designed to be a gaming system. In fact, the 15" isn't really meant to game, either. But it does the job.

Here's a video I made of the performance of my 2011 13" MBP playing COD4 with high settings. And video capture software. You be the judge.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on 13" 2011 Macbook Pro
 
Yizhimao said:
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I've been looking around for the limitations to the intel 3000HD graphics.. I've seen a couple of benchmarks but I'm kinda clueless as to what they means.. Anyone out there who can kindly explain how does the graphics card affect the computer in terms of real life experience and exactly how bad is the new intel 3000HD graphics??
Click to expand...

No regrets, i find the graphics very good compared to my other MBP(2009) and other laptops with a 512mb GPU - my wish list would have included a higher resolution screen tho.
 
The previous generation 15 and 17 inch Intel HD graphics sucked big time. I owned a previous generation i7 2.66 but after replacing it 3 times due to cosmetic damages and Intel HD graphics failure over time. I am also looking forward to buy the 13 inch i5 but skeptical to buy it as this GPU(HD 3000) is a upgraded version of previous generation Intel HD graphics.
 
Once external GPU's that use the thunderbolt port start hitting the market, this will become a non issue.
 
Wow.. Thanks guys.. I was really gonna pull the trigger and get myself a MBP 13".. All these articles on how bad it is kinda hesistated me to do it.. I'm using it for school and probably do some gaming like SC2 and if possible, the upcoming Diablo 3... Since they haven't released the system requirements for d3, I just wanna have a comp with decent enough graphics to play it.. Not sure if I wanna get the higher end 15" since to me, it's a lil pricey:( I would if i had the money though!:D
 
My 13" 2011 machine ran FM2011 (with the simple 3D rendering) without any lag or whatsoever. It was an immense upgrade from my previous Nvidia 9400 series.
 
Yizhimao said:
Wow.. Thanks guys.. I was really gonna pull the trigger and get myself a MBP 13".. All these articles on how bad it is kinda hesistated me to do it.. I'm using it for school and probably do some gaming like SC2 and if possible, the upcoming Diablo 3... Since they haven't released the system requirements for d3, I just wanna have a comp with decent enough graphics to play it.. Not sure if I wanna get the higher end 15" since to me, it's a lil pricey:( I would if i had the money though!:D
Click to expand...

Not only is it pricey, but this is exactly what is wrong with the current 13" line. Everyone says people like you dont exist.

Look everyone... I was right!

Get off you greedy/lazy dufffs and address power users that want a 13" Apple.

I just bought a 15" 2.2 at a screaming deal because I want my OSX and power. Sad to say, after 48 hours, I will be selling it ASAP. To big for my tastes compared to other options. It just sucks that those options dont have OSX.

Hey Apple,

Way to steer away yet another buyer/switcher!
 
will the resolution be bad on a 40" 1080p tv? I would be using just to mess around surf the net, but also I do digital photography so im wonder if it will distort/pixelate my photos if I use it for a slide show. anyone know if this will work? I really want the 13 and as said above the 15 is kinda pricey
 
rjr84 said:
will the resolution be bad on a 40" 1080p tv? I would be using just to mess around surf the net, but also I do digital photography so im wonder if it will distort/pixelate my photos if I use it for a slide show. anyone know if this will work? I really want the 13 and as said above the 15 is kinda pricey
Click to expand...

It is way, way, way more than enough for general usage. I can watch full HD movies on my 1080p tv with a GPU less than half as powerful. So, yes, it will very easily run a 1080p tv.
 
Yizhimao said:
Wow.. Thanks guys.. I was really gonna pull the trigger and get myself a MBP 13".. All these articles on how bad it is kinda hesistated me to do it.. I'm using it for school and probably do some gaming like SC2 and if possible, the upcoming Diablo 3... Since they haven't released the system requirements for d3, I just wanna have a comp with decent enough graphics to play it.. Not sure if I wanna get the higher end 15" since to me, it's a lil pricey:( I would if i had the money though!:D
Click to expand...

It'll do SC2 fine. I had a 2011 briefly and it did SC2 very well. I thought it did it better than the 320m within OSX. No experience with bootcamp and SC2 though. but yeah the i5/i7 sandy bridges do a world of good in terms of SC2 over the C2D. Helps keep frames up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn_69xm1xc
 
Maven1975 said:
Not only is it pricey, but this is exactly what is wrong with the current 13" line. Everyone says people like you dont exist.

Look everyone... I was right!

Get off you greedy/lazy dufffs and address power users that want a 13" Apple.

I just bought a 15" 2.2 at a screaming deal because I want my OSX and power. Sad to say, after 48 hours, I will be selling it ASAP. To big for my tastes compared to other options. It just sucks that those options dont have OSX.

Hey Apple,

Way to steer away yet another buyer/switcher!
Click to expand...

For every person that is "steered away", they probably gain 3 more just by the OS and the build quality alone. If the 13" doesn't meet your needs then by all means by something else. Speak with your wallet. I'm just saying that for about 90% of the users out there, the 13" does what it's supposed to do and does it very well.

rjr84 said:
will the resolution be bad on a 40" 1080p tv? I would be using just to mess around surf the net, but also I do digital photography so im wonder if it will distort/pixelate my photos if I use it for a slide show. anyone know if this will work? I really want the 13 and as said above the 15 is kinda pricey
Click to expand...

The resolution will be 1080p. So no, it will be fine. Just make sure you get an external keyboard and mouse so you can run the MBP in clamshell mode.
 
Awesome thanks for the help, think I will pick up the 13" tomorrow anything else that is a must have? long time pc user this will be my first mac since around '95. will I need to buy boot camp or something to dual boot linux?
 
Maven1975 said:
Not only is it pricey, but this is exactly what is wrong with the current 13" line. Everyone says people like you dont exist.

Look everyone... I was right!

Get off you greedy/lazy dufffs and address power users that want a 13" Apple.

I just bought a 15" 2.2 at a screaming deal because I want my OSX and power. Sad to say, after 48 hours, I will be selling it ASAP. To big for my tastes compared to other options. It just sucks that those options dont have OSX.

Hey Apple,

Way to steer away yet another buyer/switcher!
Click to expand...

i completely agree!!!!! i understand that the MACBOOK isn't a power house machine but the MACBOOK "PRO" should be! i mean it IS in the professional line of computers. I think apple doesn't understand some people want a powerhouse computer with a small screen. I opted for a 2.2 15. but if i could have gotten this in a 13i would have pulled the trigger without a doubt. however, i am loving my 15 screen:D vie had 3 13 inches and i finally made the leap, no complaints here at all. but i would have taken the 13 had it had more power. especially if it had the AIRS resolution!
 
I did notice that the air's resolution was better and I assume that video card would be about the same as this one, so how much better is the i5 compared the c2d
 
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Man.. Now you guys are making me consider the MBA.. well, it did occur to me to get it.. It fits my needs perfectly.. The only problem now is the waiting time for the 2011 MBA to come out.. I'm in no hurry to get a laptop now so I'll probably wait.. Once it's out, I'll probably do a MBP vs MBA comparison before pulling the trigger:)
 
If your not doing a bunch or video editing or raw number crunching, the loaded 13" Air is slick.

Mac App store gives you basic games. Emu's will give you a ton other. MW2 runs good under bootcamp too.

Air has no thunderbolt, backlight keyboard and a slower CPU. But the weight, resolution, SSD and size are more important when comparing the two. Now, if the 13" MBP had a dedicated GPU, it would be a totally different story.

Thats where I would stick my cash.
 
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The current MBP 13" is good except for the graphics...
 
I forgot to switch to the discrete graphics in my 17" before I started WoW yesterday (using gfxCardStatus), and it managed to play it on High settings pretty good I must say. I was surprised. Granted the CPU temperatures got higher, but it was still not that obsolete as I thought.

The better CPU in my 17" maybe made it better than it would have been in 13", but for me the 3000HD works quite good.
 
iMackPro said:
im telling you man the ultimate 14 air is perfect for you. trust me!
Click to expand...

I know!! but my bro has it.. My school starts in august which is a couple of months before they release the 2011 MBA.. That's why I wanna wait:)
 
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