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Do MacBook Pro's have graphics card or chip?
- Thread starter OS X Dude
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No, it's not upgradable. It's a chip. All cards are also chips. This chip just happens to be an irreplaceable part of the logic board.
The macbook doesn't have a dedicated graphics chip: it's integrated into the Intel chipset and uses System RAM giving poor graphics performance. The MacBook Pro has a 8600 GT Mobile with dedicated graphics RAM. This is surface mounted on the Logic board. This is the same chip that could be on a card, but it's not. It gives much better performance that the MacBook but cannot be upgraded.
Even other laptops that can of other brands, it's usually more expensive to upgrade the video card anyway then it is to just sell and buy a newer one
So the 8800GT should be replaced by the 9800GT by the same token?
I wonder how futureproof the graphics are, i mean it should still run the latest games at playable res/frame rates 2/3 years down the line?
Its really going to come down to how picky you are about quality. If you took a first revision MacBook Pro 1.83/2ghz and put it up against UT3, I'm thinking it could play it.. but probably at 800x600 with everything set very low.
Huh?
Funny, if it's been replaced as you've cited.
How come the Apple site still enlist the 8600M GT chip on it's MBP specs?
Did Apple forget to update their site? Or is someone telling porkies?
Huh?
Funny, if it's been replaced as you've cited.
How come the Apple site still enlist the 8600M GT chip on it's MBP specs?
Did Apple forget to update their site? Or is someone telling porkies?
Slow down a bit - I think he just meant it's the 8600's *general* successor, not that it's in Apple hardware already.
Huh?
Funny, if it's been replaced as you've cited.
How come the Apple site still enlist the 8600M GT chip on it's MBP specs?
Did Apple forget to update their site? Or is someone telling porkies?
Unlike CPU's, GPU's will often have 2 or 3 family's being made at once, so the 8600GT is still being made.
Im hoping the next MBP update (WWDC Please Steve!) Will bring the 9600GT, which is almost as powerful as an 8800GT
In case you can't figure out, NO CURRENT LAPTOPS would be able to play games 3 years from now, at full resolution and full settings.
For example, very few desktops can even play Crysis with everything turned on.
I highly doubt it can run games 2/3 years from now at good res... considering that Crysis came out a month after my MBP purchase, and it doesn't run acceptable at all. And I don't blame my MBP.
2 years down the road? I doubt it.
It will play current games (HL2/CoD4) on medium quality and get good fps. Anything past that and you would need a desktop
The GPU is soldered on the logic board, so unless you can desolder it, you won't be able to upgrade it. The MB graphics is called integrated because it's physically integrated in the Northbridge.
As with graphics, 2/3 years down the line you won't be able to play them; just test the graphics card with 3DMark 06; it's pretty much a graphics in 2/3 years later kind of test; the SLI/Crossfire 9800GTs get barely playable frame rates, so don't expect so much from the 8600GT.
On the MBP it's still the 8600GT.
Sorry, still the 9800
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
On the desktop the 8800GT is dual slot. Laptop with 8800M GTs are like 5-inches thick and weight 20 pounds.