MBP 15" & Warcraft

[Vicros]

I travel quite a bit for work. Typically out 3 weeks of the month. With that said, I have a lot of downtime in hotels which is when I like to play WoW.

I'm heading to BestBuy tomm to purchase either the 2.66 or the 2.8 15". The 2.8 obviously offers the 9600M 512MB and the 2.66 offers the 9600M 256MB.

Is the difference worth shelling out an additional $250? Will I see a noticeable difference in FPS? I don't "have" to have the graphic settings set to ultra but I don't want them set to low either.

Anyone have experience with playing WoW on either? What kind of FPS can I expect with medium to high graphic settings?

The machine will not be a work horse. The most multitasking it will see is iTunes and WoW running at the same time.

Thanks in advance for any replies...

Blood & Thunder !!!

 

[Collider]

I went through exactly this debate when I got mine. I ultimately settled for the 2.66, and it's proven the perfect decision for me. I don't often use the 9600 graphics card myself, simply because the 9400 serves my WoW needs perfectly and I'd sooner have the CPU running 10C cooler than the maxed-out graphics... but, even on the 9400, I've never seen my framerate drop below 21 FPS... and that's in peak-time Dalaran... with Firefox, Adium, and Cog open as well.

I've never used the 2.8, so I can't compare the two, but here's hoping the above is at least useful in determining the value of the 2.66. If you have the extra $250 lying about, I'd probably say why not go for the best... but, honestly, if you don't have the cash to spare and/or don't want to spend it if you don't have to, my experience says 2.66 will run like a dream for your purposes. It certainly does for mine.

 

[Vicros]

Outside of Dalaran what kind of FPS are you seeing?

 

[Collider]

Outside of Dalaran what kind of FPS are you seeing?

Usually between about 30-40 (Ony25) and 70-90 (in flight, general questing, &c). Hope that helps.

 

[deathbyfugu]

You would do well to upgrade to the 512 MB 9600 if even just to future proof your investment for Cataclysm. They'll be upgrading the graphics engine slightly and that may make for more efficient, better graphics, but more likely will cause a performance decrease on the low to mid performance GPUs.

 

[Heavenly]

Definitely get the 9600M GT. I easily get over 40fps in raids(probably drops down to ~25 when there's a ton of AOE) with Ultra settings and I play at 1920x1200. At 1440x900 you'll probably never go under 60fps(except for Dalaran)