Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Question about upgrading macbookpro for gaming

J

JordanLB23

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 6, 2008
213
0
What are the possible upgrades I can do both programwise and hardware wise for my 2008 macbook pro?

my info is:

10.6.8
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

What are things I can buy to improve my performance for Diablo 3? Im playing on all low settings and there is still a bit of lag and my laptop gets extremely hot. I already have SMC fan installed and running but it doesnt do anything. Do I need to buy memory or ram or both to improve my performance? Will the performance increase be noticeable or will it not do anything due to the graphics card?

Im sure there will be some difference right? If memory or ram works, which ones do you recommend? Thanks.
 
You can only upgrade the RAM and HDD.
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​

But it will not really improve your game, as it is CPU and GPU dependent. You might get an extra 2 or 5 fps with more RAM, but that is it.

Btw, "memory" is not the same as "hard drive capacity":

Performance Tips For Mac OS X
 
make sure SMC Fan controller is set up to run your fans high to try and keep the computer cool. you can only upgrade the HDD/SDD and RAM though.
 
When SMCfan s turned on it pops up in the toolbar (by the battery indicator).

Make sure it iss set to Higher RPM when gaming, and go to preferences to ratchet up fan speed. Works like a charm on the same model :)
 
simsaladimbamba said:
You can only upgrade the RAM and HDD.
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​

But it will not really improve your game, as it is CPU and GPU dependent. You might get an extra 2 or 5 fps with more RAM, but that is it.

Btw, "memory" is not the same as "hard drive capacity":

Performance Tips For Mac OS X
Click to expand...


What if i get like another 6gb of ram? will it do anything compared to getting 2 gb of ram?

----------
astroboy907 said:
When SMCfan s turned on it pops up in the toolbar (by the battery indicator).

Make sure it iss set to Higher RPM when gaming, and go to preferences to ratchet up fan speed. Works like a charm on the same model :)
Click to expand...


Thats what i have it as and it still goes up to like 80+ celscius at around 5994-6000 ish rpm it sucks
 
JordanLB23 said:
What if i get like another 6gb of ram? will it do anything compared to getting 2 gb of ram?
Click to expand...
You MacBook Pro can only take a maximum of 6 GB RAM, and it might improve your gaming.
Open Activity Monitor (after a day of typical use and the Mac has been restarted at the start of the day) and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.


Thats what i have it as and it still goes up to like 80+ celscius at around 5994-6000 ish rpm it sucks
Click to expand...
That is to be expected during CPU intensive tasks. Gaming is CPU intensive, the CPU draws more power and more heat gets generated and to take the heat away the fans spin faster.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
You MacBook Pro can only take a maximum of 6 GB RAM, and it might improve your gaming.
Open Activity Monitor (after a day of typical use and the Mac has been restarted at the start of the day) and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.



That is to be expected during CPU intensive tasks. Gaming is CPU intensive, the CPU draws more power and more heat gets generated and to take the heat away the fans spin faster.
Click to expand...

page outs = 213 mb
swap used = 605.5 mb

So right now I have 2 gb of ram? and i go to buy another 4 gb of ram, based on your experience how much of a difference will it make? 4 gb is pretty solid so it cant be just a 2 fps increase right?
 
JordanLB23 said:
Thats what i have it as and it still goes up to like 80+ celscius at around 5994-6000 ish rpm it sucks
Click to expand...

80+ isn't really that high. mine regularly hits 90+ C under high load with the fans showing full speed (6000 rpm on my MBP)
 
what else can i do to ensure i dont lag before getting ram? is there a way to set most of your ram or memory will be used on diablo 3?
 
Ok so i am going to get RAM tomorrow, I have 2 gb ram so far right? so i can only get a max of 4gb cause my new 4gb plus my current = 6?

any suggestions which brand or exact model? something i can go pick up at best buy asap thanks.
 
More RAM will probably not help, as even the recommended specs just say 2 GB. You have the minimum GPU, if you indeed have a MacBook Pro.
http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/diablo-iii-system-requirements

Btw, RAM comes in pairs, does your 2 GB is coming in two 1 GB modules, thus to get 6 GB you have to BUY one 2 GB and one 4 GB module.
As for what brand, Crucial and Corsair are often recommended, but I have non-branded RAM in my 2009 MBP and it works okay.
 
What exactly is GPU and is there anyway to upgrade it or improve it in ANY way?

and so upgrade ram will do NOTHING? i mean its not too expensive even if it helps a bit
 
JordanLB23 said:
What exactly is GPU and is there anyway to upgrade it or improve it in ANY way?
Click to expand...

It is the Graphics Processing Unit, the graphics card, and it is soldered onto the logic board, thus you can upgrade it.

As for RAM, you can try, but don't expect any wonders. The 2008 MBP is old hardware and Diablo III is a rather "new" game, thus old hardware is not that useful for playing that game.

----------
JordanLB23 said:
Ok so ram is the only way to go? What kind of performance increase can I expect so i dont get dissapointed?
Click to expand...

As said before, maybe a frame or three more per second.
The amount of RAM is not the deciding factor, as even 2 GB is the amount the recommended specs list. It is the actual GPU that is the slow-down factor.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
It is the Graphics Processing Unit, the graphics card, and it is soldered onto the logic board, thus you can upgrade it.

As for RAM, you can try, but don't expect any wonders. The 2008 MBP is old hardware and Diablo III is a rather "new" game, thus old hardware is not that useful for playing that game.

----------



As said before, maybe a frame or three more per second.
The amount of RAM is not the deciding factor, as even 2 GB is the amount the recommended specs list. It is the actual GPU that is the slow-down factor.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about a cooling pad? i.e. one with a fan to help dissipate the heat from underneath? I use one for my old 17" MBP (2007). It runs 8gb RAM and having the pad does help keep the temps around the 70-75 celsius mark.
I find (especially with Warcraft), the more graphics processing happens in large raid groups which in turn pushes up the temperature/s.

Hope this helps
 
simsaladimbamba said:
More RAM will probably not help, as even the recommended specs just say 2 GB. You have the minimum GPU, if you indeed have a MacBook Pro.
http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/diablo-iii-system-requirements

Btw, RAM comes in pairs, does your 2 GB is coming in two 1 GB modules, thus to get 6 GB you have to BUY one 2 GB and one 4 GB module.
As for what brand, Crucial and Corsair are often recommended, but I have non-branded RAM in my 2009 MBP and it works okay.
Click to expand...

so my 2gb ram comes in 1 gb in each slot, that means when i install it i need to remove 1 gb from 1 slot and insert a 4gb 1?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=8290cd6e30c949db796f0a5e0fe1ac12en02

will that 1 work?

says 1333 MHz my computer is 667 MHz
 
JordanLB23 said:
so my 2gb ram comes in 1 gb in each slot, that means when i install it i need to remove 1 gb from 1 slot and insert a 4gb 1?
Click to expand...
That is correct.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=8290cd6e30c949db796f0a5e0fe1ac12en02

will that 1 work?

says 1333 MHz my computer is 667 MHz
Click to expand...
The RAM guide I linked you to in post #2 says, that you need 200-pin DDR2 SO-DIMM RAM modules, the one you link to is a 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM module, thus they are NOT compatible.
 
Ok I bought this 2gb crucial DD2 800 2 GB Notebook memory it should work right?

looked it up and every spec seems to be on point but i just want to double check

says 2 gb 200 pin ddr2 sodimm pc2-640
 
Even if you add RAM and put in an SSD. You will still get screwed over by your GPU, which is not upgradeable. So if you really want to game, I would either build a gaming desktop/ buy a new laptop.
 
JordanLB23 said:
page outs = 213 mb
swap used = 605.5 mb

So right now I have 2 gb of ram? and i go to buy another 4 gb of ram, based on your experience how much of a difference will it make? 4 gb is pretty solid so it cant be just a 2 fps increase right?
Click to expand...

You will see ZERO fps increase from adding more RAM. There is no upgrade you can do to your Macbook in order to increase gaming performance. You're bottlenecked by the GPU.
 
So there is literally NOTHING I can do? like nothing, not a SINGLE upgrade in the world, not a SINGLE program besides smcfan?

im SOL?

the extra ram from what I saw in activity monitor most of % all went it diablo, both with 2 ram and 3 ram and theres still lag, so... what does that mean?
 
JordanLB23 said:
So there is literally NOTHING I can do? like nothing, not a SINGLE upgrade in the world, not a SINGLE program besides smcfan?

im SOL?

the extra ram from what I saw in activity monitor most of % all went it diablo, both with 2 ram and 3 ram and theres still lag, so... what does that mean?
Click to expand...
You have a 4-year old computer. What do you want us to tell you?
 
Last edited:
When I was playing Oblivion on a 6600gt, long time ago, I was not able to get good framerates. What I did was set the resolution of the game at exactly half the res of my screen. It's uglier but as it is exactly half, the extrapolation is better than other randoms resolutions and you can have a very decent frame rate. And as you play, you dont really notice that the pixels are 2x bigger.

Good luck!
 
earwax69 said:
When I was playing Oblivion on a 6600gt, long time ago, I was not able to get good framerates. What I did was set the resolution of the game at exactly half the res of my screen. It's uglier but as it is exactly half, the extrapolation is better than other randoms resolutions and you can have a very decent frame rate. And as you play, you dont really notice that the pixels are 2x bigger.

Good luck!
Click to expand...



i did this and it still lags lol.

would i be able to buy a graphics card and bring it to the apple store and pay the guys to change it? i mean they fix apple computers all the time right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back