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Is the Mac book pro right for me?

K

kiznar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2012
9
0
Well I'm considering 2 options. I want to get back into Web design. I also play games such as world of warcraft, Diablo 3, league of legends, Shyrim. Can the Mac book pro 17 inch handle these games? I also drive a truck for a living will vibration really hurt the laptop? Sorry for spelling I'm on my phone.
I'll go with the solid state drive no moving parts.
 
kiznar said:
Well I'm considering 2 options. I want to get back into Web design. I also play games such as world of warcraft, Diablo 3, league of legends, Shyrim. Can the Mac book pro 17 inch handle these games? I also drive a truck for a living will vibration really hurt the laptop? Sorry for spelling I'm on my phone.
I'll go with the solid state drive no moving parts.
Click to expand...

I don't play games, so I can't answer about that. But if you want an SSD, you're better off purchasing one separately and installing it in the MBP yourself. Installing an SSD is easy, you'll save a nice amount of cash, and you can either put the HDD in an optibay to replace the optical drive (if you don't need it) or use it as an external drive.
 
The 17 can definitely handle these games since the 15 in handles them well. Maybe upgrade the ram to 8gb or 16.
 
Yes they can handle them.
However, in a low to medium quality.
Especially for Skyrim, the 17in wont be able to handle it either.
If you're really into gaming, buy a gaming PC.

The vibration should be fine but drops inside the vehicle can still hurt.
Put it inside the Speck SeeThru case and a soft sleeve when inside the car.
 
I'd definitely wait for the refresh. The graphics cards are bound to get an upgrade.

Also configure the cheapest model you can as far as ram and hard drive. Install your own parts to save money.
 
Playing games no a pro is hard, the processor peaks, the fans blow full blast and you have to use low settings. By the time your done playing you can fry an egg on it.
 
Thank you for the information. For 2800 I don't want my games on med to low settings. I'll take my business else where. Pity I think there they most attractive laptops too. I really don't understand apples market point if you spend that kind of money you expect more perfection. I don't know maybe just bitter that I can't own one I kinda want to replace my desktop due to LANS that I attend to sick of carrying my desktop around. I really wanted OSX too
 
kiznar said:
Thank you for the information. For 2800 I don't want my games on med to low settings. I'll take my business else where. Pity I think there they most attractive laptops too. I really don't understand apples market point if you spend that kind of money you expect more perfection. I don't know maybe just bitter that I can't own one I kinda want to replace my desktop due to LANS that I attend to sick of carrying my desktop around. I really wanted OSX too
Click to expand...

Apple isn't really targeting serious gamers. If they included high end gaming laptop GPUs in their laptops, it would be a poor experience (extra heat, thicker laptop, lower battery life) for those who don't play games on their laptop.

Other companies have laptop lines specifically for gamers. Apple doesn't seem to want to go after that market, and I doubt it would be very profitable for them if they did.

Anyway, I actually think that an up to date Macbook Pro will handle those games just fine. Skyrim is a bit intensive, so you might not be able to max everything out completely, but the other games you listed should be no problem with the GPUs that Apple uses.
 
You would be able to run Diablo 3 and WoW on high settings. Not sure about the other games. Skyrim probably medium settings, but I'm not sure any laptop could run that on high (and not many desktops).

As for the fans, they're supposed to be running full blast when doing anything intensive. Yes, the computer gets hot in certain areas, but if it ever gets "over" heated, the computer will shut itself down to protect itself. I've played SWTOR for 8+ hours straight on my 15" MBP and it's been fine. I usually play with headphones on so I don't hear the fans.
 
Currently until hardware catches up your only choice for a super powerful gaming laptop is a Windows machine.

Some of the gaming machines are very good build quality. Look at the new Asus gaming laptops, made of plastic but has an excellent cooling system.
 
That's what I'm doing.

My advice is don't skimp on processor and display though. I try to get the best display and the second best processor. Also wait a week before buying anything. Unless the refresh comes out than buy that. Just save me one! :p

Rizzn said:
I'd definitely wait for the refresh. The graphics cards are bound to get an upgrade.

Also configure the cheapest model you can as far as ram and hard drive. Install your own parts to save money.
Click to expand...
 
kiznar said:
Thank you for the information. For 2800 I don't want my games on med to low settings. I'll take my business else where. Pity I think there they most attractive laptops too. I really don't understand apples market point if you spend that kind of money you expect more perfection. I don't know maybe just bitter that I can't own one I kinda want to replace my desktop due to LANS that I attend to sick of carrying my desktop around. I really wanted OSX too
Click to expand...

OSX is not at all ideal for gaming. The people on this forum who play a lot of games seem to do so under bootcamp. Regarding aesthetics, Apple does tend to balance toward thin laptops. 17" gaming laptops tend to be thick and heavy with extremely hot gpus. The top imac uses one that's common in these types of machines. The 17" macbook pros run at 1920x1200 resolution. It's a lot of pixels to push around on a laptop and it's the same resolution commonly found on 24" desktop displays.

I wouldn't expect any non-gaming laptop that pushes around that many pixels to be ideal at high settings on recent games. It's not a huge factor for me, because I almost never play games. I just know people who do. If you really do want a mac, why not wait for the 2012 ivy bridge (as they should come with an updated discrete gpu) variant and check barefeats for performance. They have a couple benchmarks for the 2011 models which are still current. We should see 2012 models soon.

http://barefeats.com/mbps01.html
http://barefeats.com/mbps03.html

Note the links. I don't have one for specifically 1920x1200. It would be somewhere in between.


Stetrain said:
Apple isn't really targeting serious gamers. If they included high end gaming laptop GPUs in their laptops, it would be a poor experience (extra heat, thicker laptop, lower battery life) for those who don't play games on their laptop.

Other companies have laptop lines specifically for gamers. Apple doesn't seem to want to go after that market, and I doubt it would be very profitable for them if they did.

Anyway, I actually think that an up to date Macbook Pro will handle those games just fine. Skyrim is a bit intensive, so you might not be able to max everything out completely, but the other games you listed should be no problem with the GPUs that Apple uses.
Click to expand...

I'd say it's worth at least waiting for a 2012 version. I don't mean for ivy bridge cpus. I mean for a 7XXX AMD gpu as opposed to a 6 version. If the update is good, it should be close to the card in the top 2011 imac.
 
Mountain Lion does include Games Centre though, it leads me to believe they might target gamers a little more in this next refresh.
 
pragmatous said:
That's what I'm doing.

My advice is don't skimp on processor and display though. I try to get the best display and the second best processor. Also wait a week before buying anything. Unless the refresh comes out than buy that. Just save me one! :p
Click to expand...

I always buy the base processor of the model I want. Apple never gives value in the "high end" model. $300 for 100 MHz and something else I don't care about? That's a big "pass."

But this year I intend to get the high res matte option, whatever that will equate to in the new line.
 
I plan to use virtual machines heavily. In the current lineup the base CPU for 15" doesn't have VT-d support. You probably don't care but it's essential for virtualization now a days.

You make a good point tho for most users the base CPU is probably fine. So maybe base CPU and best display for most users heh.

Rizzn said:
I always buy the base processor of the model I want. Apple never gives value in the "high end" model. $300 for 100 MHz and something else I don't care about? That's a big "pass."

But this year I intend to get the high res matte option, whatever that will equate to in the new line.
Click to expand...
 
I don't know why people are saying you have to use low-med setting on diablo. I play it on mostly high settings and it runs perfectly. Yes the laptop gets hot but thats what cooling pads are for. Also, the noise from the fan is easily masked by increasing your game volume. I agree that a gaming pc might be a better choice, but for an all around amazing laptop, look no further.
 
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