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teejusb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 18, 2010
16
0
So I've decided to get a 15" MBP and upgrading to the 2.8 GHz Processor. I am surely going to install Windows 7 on it via Boot Camp mainly because I've heard that the gaming performance gets a boost as no resources are being used by the Mac OS. So I was wondering, how does the gaming fare, fps rates, resolutions you play on, graphics quality etc. I'm mainly looking into Call of Duty, SC II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and other high end games. I know that the MBP is not a gaming laptop, but I would at least like to play these games without any (or minimal) lag.
 
So I've decided to get a 15" MBP and upgrading to the 2.8 GHz Processor. I am surely going to install Windows 7 on it via Boot Camp mainly because I've heard that the gaming performance gets a boost as no resources are being used by the Mac OS. So I was wondering, how does the gaming fare, fps rates, resolutions you play on, graphics quality etc. I'm mainly looking into Call of Duty, SC II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and other high end games. I know that the MBP is not a gaming laptop, but I would at least like to play these games without any (or minimal) lag.

On the Anti-Glare screen ( 1680 x 1050 ):

SC II = High
Assassin's Creed = high ( it's also playable on maxed but I prefer high for being a bit smoother )
Call of Duty = high

Crysis 2 will be horrible on a MBP though, since Crysis 1 runs horrible on it. It runs only on medium at 1680 x 1050.
 
On the Anti-Glare screen ( 1680 x 1050 ):

SC II = High
Assassin's Creed = high ( it's also playable on maxed but I prefer high for being a bit smoother )
Call of Duty = high

Crysis 2 will be horrible on a MBP though, since Crysis 1 runs horrible on it. It runs only on medium at 1680 x 1050.

how many fps are you getting
 
how many fps are you getting

At those settings.

SC2 = 30-60 fps ( on 8 player maps it's around 30 )
Assassins creed = no idea, but it's very smooth without lagging.
Crysis = 15-25 fps
Call of Duty = no idea, but I think it's around 30-60? It's extremely smooth.
 
CoD you can get 200FPS

After some extensive tweaking in cod4 i got 215FPS, in CoD6 i got 185FPS and black ops only 50FPS but thats not because of the game its just black ops its poorly optimized for any computer at the moment
 
At those settings.

SC2 = 30-60 fps ( on 8 player maps it's around 30 )
Assassins creed = no idea, but it's very smooth without lagging.
Crysis = 15-25 fps
Call of Duty = no idea, but I think it's around 30-60? It's extremely smooth.
so just barely playable then
 
so just barely playable then

What do you expect, 200 fps on SC 2? There is no ATI 5970 in the MBP :D

It's no gaming laptop, but you can play most modern games.

Btw, if you want to play Crysis or GTA 4, you need a desktop. There exist no laptop GPU that can max Crysis, not even the ATI 5870m :)
 
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What do you expect, 200 fps on SC 2? There is no ATI 5970 in the MBP :D

It's no gaming laptop, but you can play most modern games.

Btw, if you want to play Crysis or GTA 4, you need a desktop. There exist no laptop GPU that can max Crysis, not even the ATI 5870m :)

I would think the Alienware M17x or similar with dual GPU cards could do it? If you maxed the whole machine out. But then again those types of machines are desktops anyway..
 
it gets way to hot and the fan goes nuts. even if you manually put the fans on high it will burn right up. don't get a mac for gaming.
 
Hi,

On a MBP core i5, 2.53 and 6 gig of ram, do I need to install windows to play SC II or it will have good performance in Mac OS and no need for Windows?


Thanks.
 
What do you expect, 200 fps on SC 2? There is no ATI 5970 in the MBP :D

It's no gaming laptop, but you can play most modern games.

Btw, if you want to play Crysis or GTA 4, you need a desktop. There exist no laptop GPU that can max Crysis, not even the ATI 5870m :)
I never said that I'm just pointing out the reality for people who might see this and think that their macbook pro would be ok for gaming only to realize it isn't.
 
On the Anti-Glare screen ( 1680 x 1050 ):
Crysis 2 will be horrible on a MBP though, since Crysis 1 runs horrible on it. It runs only on medium at 1680 x 1050.

No Crysis 2 will probably run better than Crysis 1.
Considering the fact that they are optimizing the engine so well and have proven to from Crysis to Crysis: Warhead.
 
so just barely playable then

On boot camp medium settings I get about 100+fps and 60fps on the big maps then it drops around 30-40 around big battles. when playing evolves and the map is just insane well.... its pretty bad lol @1440x900

On mac I play on low/medium get about 60fps@1440x900



(Boot Camp)I'm able to play Bad company 2 medium-low get about 30-90fps@1440x900

(Boot Camp)League of Legends Very high except for shadows@high 60fps @1440x900

(Boot Camp)Counter-Strike:Source/TF2 .. just run buttery smooth very high@ 1440x900

Also, dont worry about the "overheating" it might feel hot but your mbp is actually fine I've gamed maybe 10 hours straight on my MBP and its perfectly fine, fans just kick in and just do like a weekly check up on the temps when your gaming just to make sure it doesn't hit over 105C or something around that.

MBP 15"
i5
 
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The New Assassins Creed will make your Macbook Pro Choke unless you cut the effects right down.

Some games play well and others are to hungry.

IMO gaming on a laptop is a stop gap but not a serious way to enjoy games
 
I have the NVIDIA 9600M GT 512 MB older MBP that I have brutally overclocked. It has been running this way for over a year and it's been fine - only a couple overheats during gamathons, when it reached 120C. I use two DVD's on each side of the computer to lift the bottom off of the table. Removing the battery and the cover also does wonders, but that only works on the older Unibody MBPs.

Modern Warfare 2:
1440x900
AA disabled
Shadows disabled
Textures maxed
FPS: 60-120 FPS

Bad Company 2:
1440x900
AA 1x (disabled)
Shadows: Low
Textures: Automatic (looks to be high or medium high)
FPS: 35-80 FPS

Fallout: New Vegas
High Spec Profile
1440x900
No AA
4x A. Filtering
FPS: 50-100 FPS

Team Fortress 2
1440x900
High Textures
2x AA
2x A. Filtering
High Shadows
Reflect World for Water Reflections.
FPS: 60-100 FPS

COD: Black Ops
1440x900
No AA
No Shadows
3 blocks of A. Filtering
Automatic (high/medium) Textures
FPS: 30-90 FPS (but the game is glitchy and won't run smoothly, even though FRAPS says that the FPS is around there.

Crysis
1440x900
No AA
Medium-High everything except for post-processing effects and shadows, which are medium/low
FPS: 30-50 FPS

If you OC the computer well enough, it can compete with many gaming computers in terms of performance.
 
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