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MBP vs Alienware, GPU

MBP or alienware?

  • Total voters
    46
  • Poll closed .
T

TimDavis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 19, 2011
24
0
I currently have the macbook air 2011 i7. Its a great computer but the gpu is nothing for gaming. In the near future i hope to get either an alienware or mbp for diablo 3 when it comes out. I have heard that the mpb 15" and up come with dedicated graphic cards witch make them better for gaming. However does that card even compare to the ones available in alienware computers, M14x to be precise??

Is gaming on the mbps comparable to alienware computers?

since I'm thinking of waiting for the 2012 mbp any opinions of wether there will be a better graphics card? or even options for customizing it? Will there be ways for me to custom build a very solid gaming machine out of a mbp 2012?

I do prefer apple's os. So id rather a mbp, but I'm definitely wiling to switch to alienware. :eek:


Thoughts? opinions? comments? suggestions?
 
Are you considering the base or mid-range 15" MBP? The 6750m is pretty close to the GT555 in the M14x, I think its worth putting up with the slight performance deficit (5-10%) for the convenience of having one main operating system. The 6490 is nowhere close so pick the M14x if you're considering that.

There's also the HP DV6 which can be spec'ed with a 6770. I haven't really been impressed by HPs but the value is there if you're just looking at the components.
 
Neither. Falcon Northwest is where it's at if you want a quality 15lb, 2" thick gaming laptop that's practically overpowered and overpriced like all gaming laptops.

I mean seriously, monster specs, super heavy, overpowered and useless for anything else but gaming.
 
wywern209 said:
the alienware is better for gaming but the mbp 15"with the 6750m comes very close.
Click to expand...

Thats actually incorrect!

I have both a MBP 17 and an M14x. They are both almost identicle in performance, certain games prefer ati and others nvidia, but you are talking a couple of fps at most.

Both cards are incredible overclockers, the ati does 800/1000 and the nvidia 780/1000

The ATI is also able to undervolt, so I run 780/900 @ 0.955v (default is 1.1v)

If money is no object get the mbp and bootcamp your games. If you are on a budget and dont need OSX get the m14x (My MBP cost £1800 and my M14x cost £840)
 
If it must be between the m14x and the Macbook Pro I would choose the m14x, but benchmarks show only a few fps difference between the 555M and 6750M. However I would highly suggest you look at a laptop from Sager/Clevo, MSI, or ASUS. The Sager NP8150 is great. You can get it with an nVidia GTX 580M for ~$2k. I got my NP8150 from xoticpc and they have other laptops you can customize for a better deal then the Alienware.
 
For gaming.

The Sandy Bridge Asus laptop which comes with the 460m ( don't be fooled by being an older generation GPU, it will beat both the MBP and the Alienware ). It's very cheap too :)
 
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grahamnp said:
Are you considering the base or mid-range 15" MBP? The 6750m is pretty close to the GT555 in the M14x, I think its worth putting up with the slight performance deficit (5-10%) for the convenience of having one main operating system. The 6490 is nowhere close so pick the M14x if you're considering that.

There's also the HP DV6 which can be spec'ed with a 6770. I haven't really been impressed by HPs but the value is there if you're just looking at the components.
Click to expand...


I was actually considering the high end 15" with 2.3GHz, and for alienware i was considering the 6990 crossfire. it gets up to like almost 4grand. kinda ridiculous.

falcon northwest seems like a bit much. they have the same specs and configuratives as alienware but just not as nice looking.. haha

thanks for all the feedback!

I realllllly like lion/ apple computers so I'm trying to the best gaming machine out of apple possible without going desktop. but the info you guys have provided is awesome.


also at the end of the day would the mbp be able to handle world of warcraft like games ( diablo 3) on full settings? if not maybe the 2012 mbp..?
 
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TimDavis said:
I was actually considering the high end 15" with 2.3GHz, and for alienware i was considering the 6990 crossfire. it gets up to like almost 4grand. kinda ridiculous.

falcon northwest seems like a bit much. they have the same specs and configuratives as alienware but just not as nice looking.. haha

thanks for all the feedback!

I realllllly like lion/ apple computers so I'm trying to the best gaming machine out of apple possible without going desktop. but the info you guys have provided is awesome.


also at the end of the day would the mbp be able to handle world of warcraft like games ( diablo 3) on full settings? if not maybe the 2012 mbp..?
Click to expand...

Isn't the 6990M Crossfire only available in the m18x? The m18x is huge and weighs 12 pounds. In another post you said you just bought an i7 Macbook Air so I would just get a Windows PC so you can have the best of both worlds. But yes, the 6750M in the Macbook Pro can run World of Warcraft fine, but we will have to wait and see about Diablo 3 (the beta opens August 1st). There is a thread about gaming on the 2011 MBP over at Notebook Review that you might find helpful. The MBP will be fine for gaming but if you want the best possible gaming laptop you're going to want a Windows PC.
 
alienware is better for gaming, but alienware is Massive & Heavy compared to the MBP, if I had a choise, I'd go for MBP any day. If you need a portable computer, get the mbp, your arm will fall off when you start carrying the alienware & people will laugh at how thick it is
 
Tough choice, I would wait to see what Apple launch next year as it's bound to have a more powerful GPU anyway, but all reviewers state the M14X is the best Alienware laptop yet, it's the best performance versus size.

Still, you already have Lion, so sell you Air and get a 2012 MB Pro I say. Lots of people on here including myself game happily on a Mac in bootcamp.
But isn't Diablo 3 and World Of Warcraft both Mac native anyway?
 
Am coming from a Alienware M15x myself and now have the 2.2 MBP. My m15x had a GTX460m(more powerful than the GT555m on the M14x) and i can play all my games on the MBP at the same settings, infact some even at higher settings. Ofcourse this is biased as I play only on native res and on the m15x it was 1080p and on the MBP it is 1440x900. But my point is the 6750m in the MBP is pretty powerful, it is hardly 10% below the GT555m. And at lower native res 1440x900 vs 1600x900 the difference will not be there. My m15x was in no way a 15inch laptop, it was a 17inch laptop with a 15inch screen, it was bigger than a MBP17!! Same story with the m14x, it is not a 14incher, it is a 15inch laptop and it is quite bulky even for a 15incher, at 1.5inches thick and more than 6lbs it is thicker and heavier than many 15inch laptops, it cannot even compare with the MBP at 0.9 inches and 5.5lbs. I see no reason why you would go for the m14x unless money is a concern.
If you want a better performing laptop than a MBP then you should not be looking at the m14x, check out the Malibal Lotus P150HM or P151HM1 instead -
http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=279
http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=285

Next year AMD will come out with a new architecture in the 7000m series which should be more powerful and will produce lesser heat and consume lesser power, but no one knows what GPU apple will use whether it will be more or less powerful than the current 6750m.
 
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No one suggested sager yet. They make one of the higher quality gaming laptops for a very competitive price.
 
Why even compare a gaming machine to a working machine?
 

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Unpleasant said:
No one suggested sager yet. They make one of the higher quality gaming laptops for a very competitive price.
Click to expand...

They have been suggested thrice - once the Sager np8150m, once the overpriced Falcon and the finaltime as the rather well priced Malibal.

NZed said:
Why even compare a gaming machine to a working machine?
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Cause they both have similar specs. Think a little before you post.

3003232946_f412af45c9.jpg
 
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The high end 15" will be able to run Diablo 3 well. the radeon 6750m is a good, middle of the range card that will last you a long time.

However, if one of your primary uses for your laptop is gaming and you want to get the most out of it, regardless of OS or other differentiating factors, I say look elsewhere like Alienware or Asus. Alienware actually has pretty good build quality. If you're ok with the relatively thick form factor, look that way.
 
The mac's cooling system isn't designed for long-term modern gaming.

Gaming laptops from Asus & Gateway are better bets. Alienware has an alienware tax associated with it. Which is cool if you're down with paying for a name. (you don't even get a different OS etc.)
 
I wouldn't buy an Alienware for the simple reason that their customer support is terrible. If you search for "Alienware Horror Story" on Google you will find a plethora - over 800,000 results - of sad stories detailing the their awful support.

My favorite stories are the ones where the onsite repair person ends up making the problem 10x worse! I mean it's like watching some sort of auto accident in slow motion.

I honestly don't know how they continue to sell products given their poor rating on so many sites.


-P
 
wywern209 said:
the alienware is better for gaming but the mbp 15"with the 6750m comes very close.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've followed both. The 555M in the M14x is just 5-10% better than the 6750M and closer to the 6770M stock. When the 6750M is overclocked it matches the M14x, however an OC'd M14x will barely beat out a MBP15.

M14x stock res is 1366x768 and can be upgraded to 1600x900
MBP 1440x900 upgradable to 1680x1050

resolution will affect your FPS as well. My numbers above are from 3DMark11 and 3DMark vantage numbers in Windows. They're close enough though in performance so you'll want to think about how much money you want to spend and what other features you would like.
 
directeuphorium said:
The mac's cooling system isn't designed for long-term modern gaming.
Click to expand...

Someone doesn't know what they're talking about. I've gamed at LAN parties for 10 hours straight and the temperature has never skyrocketed. Once it (GPU:89, CPU:70) reaches its maximum temperature, it stays there and doesn't go up.
 
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