Cnet reviewed new mbp's, and looks like were getting better fps for games

[madmartigan]

this is taken from the website

"The Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card allows for some basic gaming--although if you plan on playing games on the MacBook Pro, you'll probably want to install Windows on a separate partition through Boot Camp. Running Quake 4 at 1,024x768, we got 88 frames per second, compared to only 65 frames per second from the 2007 version of the MacBook Pro. Both systems had identical graphics cards, so we credit the CPU.

also they talk about a superior battery life


http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-2008/4505-3121_7-32868776.html?tag=bubbl_1

 

[valvehead]

I can't believe they complained about the lack of media controls. Are they blind? Did they not look at the function keys? What else do you need besides play/pause, track fwd/back and volume controls?

I have to say "meh" to the comment about the lack of an SD slot. To include that would be unfair for compact flash and memorystick users. If it's that important, get an expresscard or USB reader.

 

[shoulin333]

Cnet < AOL hah


anyways... ya i do notice an increase in fps from my 3rd gen 256mb model to this 4th gen with the same 256mb card


probably an average of 10-15fps in tf2.... but then again drivers have been updated since i had my 3rd gen so i donno...

and on top of that they are testing a 512mb version, that didnt exist in the MBP before.

 

[ChrisN]

First off thanks for the link and secondly, I have been doubtful of what cnet does because of the whole gamespot thing (cnet owns gamespot)so I haven't been going there lately. Also, I really don't care about media card slots and I really don't know anyone that does so meh. Yet it still got a pretty good 8.2 score so that is good.

ChrisN

 

[spaceballl]

I have to say "meh" to the comment about the lack of an SD slot. To include that would be unfair for compact flash and memorystick users. If it's that important, get an expresscard or USB reader.

I second that statement. There's really no use in Apple "taking sides" with a certain memory card format. Most people use USB to hook their cameras up anyways and the long term trend is moving to wireless so adding it now seems a bit silly. I'd rather have my computer slightly thinner than have an extra slot or something.

 

[Michael CM1]

That stupid whine about the lack of an SD reader made me cringe as well. It was obviously done by some idjut who doesn't know that professional photographers probably don't use SD cards. The SLR camera I have uses CF and some other format, so having an SD reader would be a waste of space. At Fry's Electronics, you can find a 500,000-in-1 USB card reader for *maybe* $15. I could give a rat's patoot if HP puts it on theirs. I wouldn't look at HP for any advice when it comes to computers

</rant>

 

[tanjacob]

No matter how good something is, CNET can always find something "bad".

A tiny MP3 player 2" long and 1" wide that supports video on its 1.3" screen has a "bad" point that "screen is too small for photos and video". And for me, 8600GT is a decent card for games. Macs are not the rigs of choice for gaming and 8600GT can play games decently as long as expectations are kept reasonable (no Crysis at max settings, etc.)

Conclusion: Don't trust CNET reviews.

 

[zgnoud]

i run team fortress 2 at 1200 resolution, all high settings + motion blurs + 4AA, get an average of 30~40 frames so yeah quite pleased. the 512mb vid ram really helped with the textures setting which i maxed out. planning to test call of duty 4 in a couple days time

 

[durant0s]

i run team fortress 2 at 1200 resolution, all high settings + motion blurs + 4AA, get an average of 30~40 frames so yeah quite pleased. the 512mb vid ram really helped with the textures setting which i maxed out. planning to test call of duty 4 in a couple days time

did you upgrade your ram? or is running like that with 2 gigs? Either way those are pretty sweet numbers, especially sents its sitting in your/my lap.

 

[coreguy]

is it true that merom mbp has a significantly inferior performance even compared to new macbook, according to the review?

 

[wgilles]

I really don't care about card readers, I don't get why everyone gets in such a fuss over them. If you need it that bad, buy an external one, otherwise do what 50 million other people and plug the camera in...or get a USB drive, keyword in USB is "Universal"
nuff said.

 

[zgnoud]

did you upgrade your ram? or is running like that with 2 gigs? Either way those are pretty sweet numbers, especially sents its sitting in your/my lap.

nah man those were the stock 2gb ram, ordered 4gb expecting it to arrive on monday, but i doubt it will do much. game performance are generally attributed the graphics card, dont think most pc games have any use for more than 2gb anyway? could be wrong but yeah, quite nice performance i thought... the 512mb vram really shines when you have game + textures are invovled

 

[burningrave101]

i run team fortress 2 at 1200 resolution, all high settings + motion blurs + 4AA, get an average of 30~40 frames so yeah quite pleased. the 512mb vid ram really helped with the textures setting which i maxed out. planning to test call of duty 4 in a couple days time

The 8600M GT has a 128-bit memory bus so due to the lack of bandwidth it can't really make use of 512MB of video memory. Benchmarks show very little difference between the 256MB and 512MB model. If anyone has test comparisons between the two cards though I'd like to see them.