MacBook Pro for Graduate work and specific gaming

[hathornb]

Have a quick question. I'm getting my masters so I need to grab a MBP. I'm looking at the 15inch and up. I'm not concerned about it handling any of the data processing and modeling/simulation work that I will be doing but want to make sure that I get one that can handle the only two/three games that I really want to play - StarCraft 2, Civ 5, and Old Republic when it comes out. Which of the systems in the 15inch class can run these well enough so that I don't overpay on the MBP?

 

[motoracer1486]

You know there is a "buying tips and advice" forum here?

 

[miles01110]

Any of them will run them if you turn down the settings. Civ V bogs down in the late game, but short of buying a Desktop gaming PC you won't be able to avoid that.

 

[hathornb]

You know there is a "buying tips and advice" forum here?

I do and I looked at it. My question was more specificially directed among models of the 15 because they vary quite differently. The guide basically said - 'Get a 15 inch' ... was looking for more info than that though.

 

[hathornb]

Any of them will run them if you turn down the settings. Civ V bogs down in the late game, but short of buying a Desktop gaming PC you won't be able to avoid that.

Thanks for that. Quick question - is running games via BootCamp preferential at all in terms of performance? I'll have to be in Windows a good bit b/c some of my analysis/modeling software is Windows only.

 

[miles01110]

Thanks for that. Quick question - is running games via BootCamp preferential at all in terms of performance? I'll have to be in Windows a good bit b/c some of my analysis/modeling software is Windows only.

Not necessarily. Civ V, for example, might run better natively... but driver support for Windows is terrible on Apple hardware, negating any performance gain. Although it sounds like you could get a better-performing Windows machine for the equivalent amount of money you'd spend on the MBP.

 

[hathornb]

I have considered that, its just that I didn't want to buy a solely academic machine. Having it be able to interface with all of my OS/iOS stuff at home is ideal - but maybe not practical.

 

[motoracer1486]

I reread what I wrote above and thought it may have come off sounding bad over the internet. I didn't mean it negatively - I just thought you may get a better answer in that section.

 

[hathornb]

I reread what I wrote above and thought it may have come off sounding bad over the internet. I didn't mean it negatively - I just thought you may get a better answer in that section.

No problem. I didn't think you came across that negatively anyway. Who says there isn't civility in internet forums?!