Gaming on a MacBook Pro GPU (Integrated)

[Dark Void]

Hi,

I really want to dual-boot my MacBook Pro for some Windows 7 gaming, but one thing has me really questioning it, and that is that I believe it will reduce the longevity of my laptop.

I've had a few gaming desktops in the past, and I mean I did a lot of gaming on them, but the graphics card always seemed to be the only component that I found myself having to replace after every couple of years.

I'm admittedly worried that even moderate gaming on my MacBook Pro will considerably reduce the life of the GPU, and a fried GPU means no more laptop, essentially.

I'm running on an integrated chip and I feel like even moderate gaming over time will make the search for a new laptop come much quicker than I want it to. I've gamed on it before, but perhaps I've already done enough "damage." I realize that a GPU is designed to perform such tasks, but doesn't bogging it down (even in the sense that a game is running smoothly, it's still putting it to work) basically mean that it won't live as long?

Am I overreacting? What kind of life can I expect out of a MacBook Pro that is used for some moderate (subjective, I know) gaming? Any experiences or Macs still running strong?

 

[Hansr]

Hi,

I reallyI believe it will reduce the longevity of my laptop.

You are mistaken.

I'm admittedly worried that even moderate gaming on my MacBook Pro will considerably reduce the life of the GPU, and a fried GPU means no more laptop, essentially.

Buy Apple Care if you are worried about the GPU breaking down. But I can confirm. The airflow in Windows is generally good enough to keep the GPU consistently low enough to not cause any problems. Are you mixing up a broken GPU vs an outdated GPU?

Am I overreacting?

Yes

What kind of life can I expect out of a MacBook Pro that is used for some moderate (subjective, I know) gaming?

Depends on how long you feel confortable using it, in 2-3 years even the 2.2GHz current MBP will be starting to be dated with the graphics for the latest games.

Any experiences or Macs still running strong?

Have a 2007 MBP which still works fine and I played a lot of games on it in both MacOS and Windows, wound up getting a new 2.2GHz though because as above it was getting dated w.r.t. GPU power.

 

[Dark Void]

Oh, I already have Applecare, I was thinking that maybe it would last something like 3 years with putting strain on the GPU as opposed to maybe 4 or 5 without doing so.

I just feel like it would reduce the life of it the more I push it, but apparently not.

Thanks for the reassurance.

 

[senc01a]

You knd of reduce tge life a bit, lets be honest here. Buy appkecare if you are so worried, but i doubt tgat youll be able to play decently any of the games that come out in 2014 with tgat intel vga...

 

[Hansr]

You knd of reduce tge life a bit

Not unless something is wrong with the cooling mechanics. Don't tout things of a whim, give proof.

 

[Ace134blue]

You knd of reduce tge life a bit, lets be honest here. Buy appkecare if you are so worried, but i doubt tgat youll be able to play decently any of the games that come out in 2014 with tgat intel vga...

lern 2 spel.

 

[Dark Void]

I'm not going to be using it for anything unreasonable like running recent games on high with max AA and what not, I am mainly just looking to play older games.

I'm going to try to be less paranoid about it and just game on it like I used to. I'm way too delicate with this thing lately. :\

I have Applecare after all.

 

[doh123]

if you start gaming.. it'll probably last 0 to 15 years... if you are nice to it and never push it or use it hard.. it'll probably last like 0 to 20 years.... either way it could die in the next 3 seconds, or last 15 years.

 

[edddeduck]

I have spent the last 8 to 10 years working for a Mac gaming company and I have always been running a Mac laptop, and we also have quite a few in the office for testing. These laptops have been subjected to severe testing running games 9 to 5 most days of the week and also stress testing of running a time demo constantly for 48 hours at a time!

The only GPU failure we have seen was on a NV8600 which is a well documented manufacturing fault (by Nvidia) that is covered for free (even if you don't have Apple Care and are out of warrenty) so I would not worry at all about GPU failure it is highly unlikely.

The only thing I would say is when playing games don't have your laptop lying on your bed or sofa as soft materials can wrap round the laptop slightly and that makes the laptop get hotter than if it was sat on a flat surface like a table.

Edwin

 

[Dark Void]

Ah absolutely, any gaming done by me is on a desk or table with proper ventilation.

Thanks for the replies everyone.