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Macbook Pro and gaming.

robwithtoast

robwithtoast

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 1, 2010
137
28
Florida
Ok I'm looking into getting a macbook pro 13 inch. But I am game currently the only games I play are world of warcraft and League of Legends. I'm not to sure what I want to do. If I want to buy a desktop PC with a lot more of everything or a macbook pro. I don't want to be left in the dust if a game comes out and my macbook pro cannot run the game. So my question is should i get a macbook pro or a desktop.
 
Desktop. A MacBook Pro isn't really designed with gamers and gaming in mind. Yes it will play games, but not many games are out for Mac (unless you have windows on it too). A desktop will be superior to a laptop just about every day of the week. (In most cases)

a 13" pro is the most basic model as well. If your really set on getting a MBP your going to want a bigger screen like the 17" with an i7.

I will phrase a question back at you... What makes you want a MacBook Pro?
 
Well I need a new computer my desktop is just getting old. I want something I can use for school,games and the basic everyday use. And the mac Os looks great.
 
if your a casual or semi hardcore gamer the MBP should do nicely, I used to be semi-hardcore, just casual now though. and I don't have windows, never had.
 
i think as long as you have a good bit of ram you should be fine, it won't run WOW on insane settings but it should run it pretty smooth.i just got my 15" with the 330m 512 MB and star craft 2 looks AMAZING i am not on insane or anything just preset to hugh for everything, and it looks and feels SO good i love it =D
 
I say get the computer that makes sense for your intended use. The current macbook can play most of the games out there today, especially if you plan to put windows on it. But obviously if gaming is your only concern then this is not the preferred path for you.

Think about how long you plan to have this computer before you will feel the need to upgrade. By deciding to get a laptop you basically commit to a longer upgrade path as aside from hard drives and ram, you pretty much have to start over each time. It's an expensive way to go. The same could be said for the imac but at least there you are getting more computing power for your dollar (and you get OS X too) so your upgrade path can stretch out longer. Some other nice things come with the imac too, such as a vastly larger screen. Might not be too bad if you only use your computer at home.

The generic PC route really only works if you want to get a cheap start on something and are proactive about constantly upgrading as parts go on sale. It might be the right choice for you, depending on your taste for computer maintenance, etc. If you are careful about your part selection you can even get OS X working on it - google for more, I've seen it done but am not the one to ask for details.

Oh, and you could search the forum as well. The 'macbook and gaming' thread pops up about every month or so... past threads have even reported performance benchmarks for specific game titles - you might find that info useful.
 
robwithtoast said:
Well I need a new computer my desktop is just getting old. I want something I can use for school,games and the basic everyday use. And the mac Os looks great.
Click to expand...

ah got ya now, I didn't see it saying for school too in the original post. Maybe you didn't say that, or I just skipped over it haha

I would recommend the 15" still. That's what I run but with the little older C2D rather than the i5/i7 one. Its not SOO much bigger and heavier, but it would be nicer for games, as well as overall graphics. Plus being able to have at least the i5 would help too.

PS: for gaming... You might want more than 4GB of RAM... 8GB is cheap on Newegg.
 
CW jones has some good points, i have a 13" macbook beside that i ran for 4 years and i got my 15" yesterday and it feels massive!!!!! in comparison but when i set my old macbook on top of the new macbook pro, it is 1 inch wider and 2 inches longer, so its very very little i think it weighs 1 more pound, and it runs ALOT quieter having the 2 fans vs 1. And also note that my 15" feels bigger then my brothers brand new 17" HP laptop, its funny how that works >_<, and the gt 330 m with 512 MB of vram means you really wont need to upgrade as soon as you would with the 13". And i have already noticed after having 1 GB more ram then i have ever in my life has i am left with like 500 MB while i am running star craft 2 alone, and with the 2 fans it runs at very very respectable levels, and i don't think i have yet surpassed 30% of my processor used yet so i will have to do my best to max that baby out =D

summary - i bought my 15" mbp fully loaded without the ram or ssd, with student discount and sold the free ipod to help with cost, and i am LOVING this it is an absolutely amazing machine.

p.s. i took a photo of them on top of each other i can post if you would like to see the size difference.
 
Yeah the thing is the 13 inch is about my spending limit. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do its a hard choice :(
 
robwithtoast said:
Yeah the thing is the 13 inch is about my spending limit. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do its a hard choice :(
Click to expand...

Honestly... I would try and save up a little more. I am sure the 13 would make you happy, but the 15 would be significantly better. Its obviously your choice, but I waited a little longer to get the 15" 2.66GHz rather than the baseline 15" or 13"
 
I was having a bit of a dilema on deciding which MBP to pick up for my work and gaming in the evenings (finally ordering this weekend). I play WoW too and a little TF2. I basically just went to youTube and looked at examples of the games I was interested in running on each setup. It helped me decide what kind of settings I could live with. WoW is pretty scalable and will play on some ancient machines but if you don't want to play on lower settings my advice would be to save a little longer.
 
Honestly, go for the 13". If cash is tight, get the non-pro white one, it has the same cpu and gpu and you can upgrade the ram and hard drive the same way. It's the most bang for the buck right now if you really want a laptop.

I game on the 13" extensively. It represents about half of what I do on this thing and I play modern shooters no problem. The recent OS update really helped in OS X for gaming performance, but for even better numbers framerate wise, install windows on it.

While the 15" is nice, like you said it exceeds your budget. You can still get lots done with the current crop of 13" laptops.
 
Yeah its a hard choice. I can get a desktop with an i7 and 6 gigs of ram with a dedicated card for 900$ or so. But macbook pros are really nice and mac osx just seems sweet. So I'm not sure =(
 
Good call, I have a custom built PC that has been started... and it boots to the apple loading screen.... then does nothing lol

Its a real paint to get to work I have heard!
 
hey no worries, neither did I. THEN I discovered a wonderful thing.... the student loan :D

I'll worry about it in a few years haha
 
Sad thing is... I considered it :) and might have to re-consider it for a G5 Pro with 16GB of RAM.
 
Yeah I have like this thing in the back of my head telling me to get a 13 inch macbook pro when I think of buying a desktop lol.
 
Dude honestly windows 7 is just as good if not better than OSX. Having said that MBPs have the best hardware/design out of any laptop out there so if that is a major factor for you go with it. You could get a better equipped PC laptop that is going to be faster than the MBP (check out the Envy 14). OSX is a good OS but windows 7 is most likely better considering the cost.

In summary:

Do you care about looks/hardware? Get the MBP.

Do you absolutely need OSX? Get the MBP.

Do you need a good value laptop? Get the Envy 14.

Do you want to play more games at a high settings level? Get the envy 14.

Do you want more bang for your buck? Envy 14.

So basically that's it.
 
thecarrot said:
Dude honestly windows 7 is just as good if not better than OSX. Having said that MBPs have the best hardware/design out of any laptop out there so if that is a major factor for you go with it. You could get a better equipped PC laptop that is going to be faster than the MBP (check out the Envy 14). OSX is a good OS but windows 7 is most likely better considering the cost.

In summary:

Do you care about looks/hardware? Get the MBP.

Do you absolutely need OSX? Get the MBP.

Do you need a good value laptop? Get the Envy 14.

Do you want to play more games at a high settings level? Get the envy 14.

Do you want more bang for your buck? Envy 14.

So basically that's it.
Click to expand...
Good point. Any other suggestions on desktops or laptops for gaming?
 
I honestly don't know too much about the desktop world but you could definitely get a VERY WELL equipped desktop for a much cheaper price than the MBP. Other gaming laptops would be the Alienware M11x, I think MSI has a good one out there, Lenovo actually does too if you max it out. Basically though if you are wanting to game at high settings on a laptop for years to come, you need a PC laptop. Its not even close in terms of graphics capabilities. For you I'd honestly recommend the Envy 14, you could get it up to some nice settings for the same price as the MBP 13 inch, and it actually looks kinda similar
 
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