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Macbook Pro and gaming.
- Thread starter robwithtoast
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A few years back I bought a (non-apple) laptop and decided to ditch my desktop since I never used it and the laptop was a worth replacement. A couple years afterwards I thought maybe a desktop would be nice again only to buy one, hook it up, and see all the space it took up and all the wires I had to deal with. Went back to laptop (MacBook)
Macs are expensive and I would say you kinda do get what you pay for but some people don't care about aesthetics, build quality, OS X, bluetooth and gigabyte LAN, etc.
The Alienware m11x is nice, but it's blue LEDs and overall boxy look look kinda dated. Plus its netbook-sized screen but that might appeal to certain people. It'll certainly play games better than a 13" MacBook, but according to notebook check the framerates are still in the same ballpark held back by the use of ULV processors to keep the heat/battery down. Yeah it uses i5 but it's ULV. WoW has an outdated engine that will run fine on the MacBook
I've done some extensive gaming tests with my MacBook Pro 13" with the 320m (I regularly play Fallout 3 and Modern Warfare 2, both which are on par with the console releases and better in many instances) and it's fine unless you need the best graphics card out there. Most people seem to forget that it's slim pickings when it comes to games on PCs and the ones we get are generally 360/PS3-based so they scale down to older PC gaming hardware well. A dual GTX 460 desktop setup with the best Xeon CPU might be something to brag about 3dmark scores with, but the 2-year-old crysis is still one of the only games that takes advantage of such power and even it is a mediocre shooter whose sequel is going to be 360-based meaning the PC version will likely scale better on older hardware than it's predecessor!
Macs are expensive and I would say you kinda do get what you pay for but some people don't care about aesthetics, build quality, OS X, bluetooth and gigabyte LAN, etc.
The Alienware m11x is nice, but it's blue LEDs and overall boxy look look kinda dated. Plus its netbook-sized screen but that might appeal to certain people. It'll certainly play games better than a 13" MacBook, but according to notebook check the framerates are still in the same ballpark held back by the use of ULV processors to keep the heat/battery down. Yeah it uses i5 but it's ULV. WoW has an outdated engine that will run fine on the MacBook
I've done some extensive gaming tests with my MacBook Pro 13" with the 320m (I regularly play Fallout 3 and Modern Warfare 2, both which are on par with the console releases and better in many instances) and it's fine unless you need the best graphics card out there. Most people seem to forget that it's slim pickings when it comes to games on PCs and the ones we get are generally 360/PS3-based so they scale down to older PC gaming hardware well. A dual GTX 460 desktop setup with the best Xeon CPU might be something to brag about 3dmark scores with, but the 2-year-old crysis is still one of the only games that takes advantage of such power and even it is a mediocre shooter whose sequel is going to be 360-based meaning the PC version will likely scale better on older hardware than it's predecessor!
in case i purchase a mac book pro. I just plan to use it for video editing. I prefer using the pc for gaming.
haha well after spending several hours in the past 2 days with my new 15" MBP on star craft 2 i can assure it all it was a very gratifying experience, did i mention that the batteries are amazing? i just finished watching a movie chillin in bed and after 2 hours with the screen on full i has dropped to 85% and i have yet to calibrate this battery, and i could not believe the difference moving from the 4 year old plastic macbook to the unibody aluminum how solid it feels, i was getting out of my blankets holding it in the air by one side and it was solid =D, i do not recommend the macbbook over the pro, the aluminum case and backlit keyboard are alone worth it, plus the sd card slot is SO fast. for the couple of bucks its SO worth it, i am the type of person i like to keep a computer 4 years so i got the fastest one i could in the 15" without the crazy SSD upgrade ofc so this computer will be rockin for years to come =D although they say the games run better on pc and people prefer it on pc when you are in game you would never kno the difference unless you are staring at the fps the entire game and noticing it 2 lower here and there, lol i gave my old macbook to my sister in law and not my mother because all my mother does is play cards, and i am a believer if its a game worth playing they put it on a mac =D haha
What happened to this thread? Bro I already answered your questions, bottom line if u want a gaming laptop do not in any way get a MBP and expect it to be up to par with the best of em. If you favor OS X, great build quality and great design, by all means get the MBP. Otherwise, skidaddle. Thx
Like i said all i want to do is be able to play wow. So I think a mbp might be alright for that.
Bro seriously in that case, you might as well get a 3 year old Dell or HP, itll run wow just fine. If you use it for other stuff too and want a nice laptop with the features i stated above, I'd still probably say the 15' because itll handle the new expansion better and also has more screen real estate which is hugely important to a large portion of competent gamers.
i just got macbook pro 13" 2.4ghz and razer orochi. tested cod4, css, tf2, sc2 and they all run nice. graphics are mid-high and its all smooth. BUT the only problem is this stupid osx mouse acceleration which makes fps games unplayable! i tried few different utilities to turn it off, but they dont really do anything good. they make mouse feel different, but some kind of acceleration is still there.
FWIW I had the 17" MacBook Pro from late 2009 (2.8GHz C2D) and it was able to tackle games quite nicely. Onboard video isn't great for gaming, but it will be able to handle basic games. I would say go for a discrete video if you want better performance.
Bro, what is your problem? Your far from a definitive source. I game on my i7 MBP all the time, and it's awesome for the purpose. I play Star Trek Online in the native resolution with everything turned on high (8x anti aliasing!) except for shadows that are turned on low. It isn't silky smooth but its more than playable.
I've actually found that STO is actually easier to play on a laptop thanks to the proximity of the trackpad to the keyboard. I can have both hands on the keyboard while using my thumbs for the trackpad. I've become so spoiled I actually can't play using a regular keyboard/mouse setup, as this particular game requires constant attention to both the keyboard and trackpad/mouse to be played anywhere close to competitively.
This. The i7 15" is a great machine! Nobody is a definitive source, you're right it is totally just his opinion. I think the MBP is fine for occasional gaming and is a solid system that will last you years and still have great resale value when you decide to get rid of it.
I don't get why people have such a huge problem with OS X's mouse acceleration. I play FPS games under both operating systems and have absolutely no trouble switching.
My buddy just got a 15" i7 and he absolutely hates the acceleration on the Mac side. He says he can't micromanage units in Starcraft 2 due to the acceleration. I personally don't see it as I have no issue playing SC2 in OS X, but each to their own.