Need advice : cheap route for gaming

[Applefanboy8153]

bootcamp...definitely

Also, I was looking at benchmarks and the 650m in the rmbp benches somewhere between the desktip 5770 and 5850, which were mid-high end desktop cards 3 years ago. Pretty impressive considering these desktop cards draw more power than the entire rmbp combined.

But you still dont get windows quality gaming! I use bootcamp on my rmacbook.

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My graphics card

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...410757&sr=8-2-catcorr&keywords=Nvidia+GT+660M


My Keyboard-mouse combo is a normal microsoft wireless keyboard. I use a wired xbox controller for gaming.

A link to my Gaming PC is posted below.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ripperkiller/saved/#savedbuild_295126

I use an external optical drive from samsung as it is much easier to replace.

I also have an iMac 21, Mac mini (awaiting delivery), rMBP 13 (early 2013)

I use a samsung display

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T27B3...362411545&sr=1-5&keywords=Samsung+pc+monitors

I got all this for an approx 1300$ in India, you will get for 900$ in the US.
Buy this and get a new cMBP refurb.

Gaming PC for 900$ or get a ROG.

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Cmbp 15" right, this is sound like the best route.so it doesnt have to be retina right? The ssd doesnt impact much for gaming?

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13" integrated graphic will be more promising on haswell?

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I know, this is what im asking from the first place.have to stick with macbook

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Seriously? decent gaming pc laptop alone is $1200, i guess rmbp its the obvious route than

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I mean although its weight 4 kl, i still have the option to play it on hotel room, or anyone house with power plug in. Dony have to leave my gaming on home.

http://www.amazon.com/G55VW-ES71-15...1362448007&sr=8-5&keywords=republic+of+gamers

I used to use this ROG.

 

[leman]

The Classic will outperform the Retina at native resolution. If you downscale the Retina it has an advantage, since its GT650m is clocked a bit higher than the Classic's (about 15% if memory serves).

Why would you even think about playing games at retina's native resolution?! Its obvious that the mid-range mobile card won't be a match for that.

 

[Asuriyan]

Why would you even think about playing games at retina's native resolution?! Its obvious that the mid-range mobile card won't be a match for that.

Most games play pretty smoothly, actually. I wouldn't try it with Crysis 2/3 or BF3, but the Blizzard catalog, Civ V and League of Legends run more than adequately at native res.

 

[bili.d.kid]

add a GTX460/GTX560Ti Thunderbolt eGPU to your Macbook using it's Thunderbolt port. See sig for details.

edit: saw you travel a lot. Would be extra luggage to carry but still managable if use a AC adapter to power the eGPU rather than an ATX PSU. In any case, expect eGPUs to become far more common upon release on Haswell (June 2013) which will have native Thunderbolt ports. In addition, 20Gbps Thunderbolt is coming in 2014, delivering up to 95% of desktop performance.

interesting idea, right now im using cmbp 13".is it possible to implement this?

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There are going to be two(three really, but the 1st is almost like NOT having any GPU), levels of integrated GPU in Haswell - G2 and G3. G2, AKA 4600, is another step in the march from 3000->4000->4600. A modest upgrade to barely keep up with the times. The G3, however, is more in lines with an upper/low or lower/mid discrete GPU. That is what will eventually come to the 15" MBPs, IMHO. But I really doubt that makes it into the MBA, Mini, or even the 13" MBP. Apple does not want to cannibalize the sale of more expensive machines by making their little siblings too good.

G2 is going to launch with haswell. I don't know if G3 will, launch at the same time, or if it will be cost prohibitive to use them in right away.

To the original poster, the cMBP with the upgrade to 1Gig of VRAM would be my suggestion.

thank you, i guest this is the simplest solution, and the cheapest maybe.

 

[Freyqq]

Most games play pretty smoothly, actually. I wouldn't try it with Crysis 2/3 or BF3, but the Blizzard catalog, Civ V and League of Legends run more than adequately at native res.

If you play at 1920x1200, the difference will be negligible visually, but your FPS will be much better.

 

[nando4]

interesting idea, right now im using cmbp 13".is it possible to implement this?

It is possible, but the financial practicality was erased due to a recall of the $180 Thunderbolt-to-pcie adapter (TH05), the cost which included the $40 Thunderbolt cable. All that left now are solutions starting at $320 that need to be hacked (remove case to allow double-width cards, create PERST# delay, attach wiring for ATX PSU input) AND have a separate Thunderbolt cable purchased.

So the result in my sig is a proof-of-concept that will get much more focus once 20Gbps and/or pci-e 3.0 Thunderbolt is available. The soonest that could be would be with Haswell's June 2013 release. More likely we are looking at 2014. Expect eGPUs to really take off then.

 

[bili.d.kid]

It is possible, but the financial practicality was erased due to a recall of the $180 Thunderbolt-to-pcie adapter (TH05), the cost which included the $40 Thunderbolt cable. All that left now are solutions starting at $320 that need to be hacked (remove case to allow double-width cards, create PERST# delay, attach wiring for ATX PSU input) AND have a separate Thunderbolt cable purchased.

So the result in my sig is a proof-of-concept that will get much more focus once 20Gbps and/or pci-e 3.0 Thunderbolt is available. The soonest that could be would be with Haswell's June 2013 release. More likely we are looking at 2014. Expect eGPUs to really take off then.

wow, your concept is awasome.is it difficult technically? see im not a techie guy exactly.im just a practical end user honestly.

 

[nando4]

wow, your concept is awasome.is it difficult technically? see im not a techie guy exactly.im just a practical end user honestly.

The DIY eGPU community has overcome all the difficulties in configuring an eGPU on a MBP/MBA. It then is up to the MBP/MBA owner to decide if that solution is for them.

NOTE: The 15" MBP does not allow an internal LCD mode rendered by the eGPU. That's because the iGPU cannot be successfully activated as the primary video device. If it could then those owners could enjoy Optimus functionality with their GT650M dGPU.

 

[throAU]

Bear in mind that mobile hardware sucks for gaming. This means that if you buy a laptop for it, it will be extremely compromised - either real heavy and no battery life (even when NOT running a game) like an alienware, or slower/noisy (OMG the fan noise) like an MBP 15" classic (which is what I'm dealing with myself).

And don't forget a lovely 15-30 minute battery life

If you're gaming on battery, you're doing it wrong.

A gaming laptop, whether PC or Mac is more of a portable desktop when using it for that purpose. I.e., something you can easily carry to a friend's place where you set up with power pack, etc to use for multiplayer gaming on a LAN.

NO LAPTOP will get any sort of reasonable battery life when running any sort of serious game, whether it's a PC or a Mac.

The components simply draw way too much power when working hard to run a high end game.

If your battery is say 65 watt/hr and your CPU and GPU can burn through 90 watts then guess what? 45 minute battery life. Worse if your battery is smaller or your laptop (e.g., alienware) is running multiple GPUs or desktop class GPUs.

 

[Gaidin43]

Buy a Sager and NP9150. It will be the best gaming laptop you ever buy for your money without the big brand-name overhead.

 

[Zeov]

the retina "15 works just fine for gaming.