Shopping for my new mbp and i need graphics card help

[TopHatPlus]

Hello

i am currently shopping for my new computer i bought my macbook in 2007 at the end of the life cycle >_< its a 2.16 ghz with 4 gb of ddr2 ram and 160 gb @ 5400 rpm i believe

i am looking at the macbook pro 15" with 2.66 ghz i7, 8 gb ddr3 ram, 500 gb hdrive @ 7200 rpm

but i am stuck on the graphics card

i do ALOT of hd movie editing with my 1080 p go pro helmet cam, and am looking at going to school for music productions, i also have over 14k photos and want to do some gaming

i LOVE blizzard games!!! but they have released star craft 2 and the high quality settings require 512 mb of graphics card and the ultra is 1024 mb. the mbp only comes with 512, this is deeply concerning being i will be spending about $2800 before taxes!!!! and i am cool with this but i do not want a graphics card that falls short before its even been worked??? and diablo 3 is coming out so i will spend a few years on that as well and i am assuming it will have very similar graphics?????

let me knwo what you guys think of the nvidia geforce 330m @ 512 mb???

i am hoping to purchase this computer in a few weeks

 

[itripped]

Well I dunno about the 15" but I was using the Starcraft 2 beta on my 2010 13" macbook pro without any issues. I was playing at the max resolution of 1280x800 - I understand that the 15 is higher, but I don't even have dedicated video ram in this thing. I have the faster 13", the 2.66ghz.

I'm not going to get into framerates because well, I find they are less important for RTS style games. Needless to say, the only lag I experienced was at the very beginning intro sequence, prior to the game actually starting. In-game was buttery smooth. I probably didn't have all the textures turned on max, that doesn't make sense but I was able to enable quite a lot.

Here's the kicker: even if I wasn't happy with the performance, I could have rebooted into windows, where video performance on my (slower) machine is still more than adequate for the job. Diablo 3? Bring it on, I'm ready.

I can't comment on video editing, I'll leave that to others. However, I think it's fair to say that in terms of gaming, I've been satisfied with the current mac offerings.

 

[kny3twalker]

Why not just build a windows machine for gaming and buy a base 15" MacBook pro ~$1699 with student discount. For $2800 you could have both, other than still needing an external monitor or possibly including the monitor.

 

[chris2k5]

Base 15" Core i5 seems good enough for you. i7 seems a little overkill and the 15" have the switchable auto graphics so you are all set.

 

[TopHatPlus]

i most certainly have thought about building a pc but it in all honesty i hate windows overtime i see a windows computer i just bow my head... just very disappointed with how cheap cheap cheap they are i just want one bitchen as mac that will suite all my needs today and for the next few years. i would get the student discount (if i was a student) hehe unfortunately i am getting a little old for the schooling thing >_< hehe. My bros dell labtop he bought for $40 thats about 2 years old runs the game on medium res buttery smooth with some lag on the opening sequence >_< i just wish mac had the option of a really impressive graphics car. Why did they not keep the 1 gb of graphics like last year?

 

[kny3twalker]

Hello

i am looking at going to school for music productions

i most certainly have thought about building a pc but it in all honesty i hate windows overtime i see a windows computer i just bow my head... just very disappointed with how cheap cheap cheap they are i just want one bitchen as mac that will suite all my needs today and for the next few years. i would get the student discount (if i was a student) hehe unfortunately i am getting a little old for the schooling thing >_< hehe. My bros dell labtop he bought for $40 thats about 2 years old runs the game on medium res buttery smooth with some lag on the opening sequence >_< i just wish mac had the option of a really impressive graphics car. Why did they not keep the 1 gb of graphics like last year?

PCs do not have to be cheap and remember windows is only there so you can play games. You can buy an expensive tower, high end motherboard, 4+ core CPU, 2 core GPU, fast ram, quiet PSU, etc...

Also the macbook pros have never had a 1GB VRAM GPU.

And once you are a student, you can get the discount OR just order it online through the apple educational store. They never check.

 

[TopHatPlus]

PCs do not have to be cheap and remember windows is only there so you can play games. You can buy an expensive tower, high end motherboard, 4+ core CPU, 2 core CPU, fast ram, quiet PSU, etc...

Also the macbook pros have never had a 1GB VRAM GPU.

And once you are a student, you can get the discount OR just order it online through the apple educational store. They never check.

hehe i just do not have the room for 2 more computers and i just hate the hassle of buying 2 computers >_< i am not discouraged by it i am just wishing that mac had the option to upgrade to an elite graphics card!!! and save me all the hassle of researching game requirements and comparing, and i must also note i play 95% of my games on my xbox 360 but i MUST play star craft 2and diablo 3!!!! not even an option >_< i will be heading to Mississauga in a few weeks to check out the mac store and talk to some mac "pros" hehe although i find i tend to know more about them which is sad but makes me feel good that i know what i am buying halla =D

 

[kny3twalker]

hehe i just do not have the room for 2 more computers and i just hate the hassle of buying 2 computers >_< i am not discouraged by it i am just wishing that mac had the option to upgrade to an elite graphics card!!! and save me all the hassle of researching game requirements and comparing, and i must also note i play 95% of my games on my xbox 360 but i MUST play star craft 2and diablo 3!!!! not even an option >_< i will be heading to Mississauga in a few weeks to check out the mac store and talk to some mac "pros" hehe although i find i tend to know more about them which is sad but makes me feel good that i know what i am buying halla =D

I would suggest you buy the base 2.4 GHz i5 because even with more video memory the 330m is not a particularly fast GPU. And having more video memory will not improve the frame rate, the GPU determines this. Therefore when gaming on a macbook, the additional video memory is of no real advantage, and you should save the $400 difference between the i5 and i7.

 

[alphaod]

For your instance, I would suggest just getting the 15" with the i5 2.4GHz processor. Getting 8GB of RAM will help if you are processing a big library and working with high resolution images in Photoshop. The difference between the 2.4GHz i5 and the 2.66GHz i7 will not really be much of a difference in most cases. Saving your money on the CPU, you can buy a fast SSD instead which would benefit you more with your work. It'll even allow you to load Starcraft 2 quicker if that's what you're looking for.

The extra VRAM does not really help much unless you plan to run your games on a 27"/30" monitor (2560x1440/2560x1600, respectively).

IF you really much game, and you don't want to spend the money on an SSD, you can save quite a bit and be able to build you own PC that lets your run games much faster than the Mac will.

 

[TopHatPlus]

hmm i do suppose that you guys have some valid points, but if i get the smaller processor and in 2 years have an insane work load i cannot simply upgrade the processor alone, and the price of ram does not seem to drop much at all >_< and i am one of those people i must have all of my programs open with my 4250 song library and 14k + phots and counting (about 1000 a weekend i average) plus lime wire and all the other goodies =D haha so as far as ram and processor if i invest in it once i have it for some time, and the more graphics cards i see in person run star craft 2 the better the gt 330 m looks =D hehe i would love more opinions though

A PC IS NOT AN OPTION i do not ever want to use one >_< i am just disappointed with there performance even fast ones and pretty legit gaming computers

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Sounds like you need a Mac Pro.

 

[Shadow Zujed]

hmm i do suppose that you guys have some valid points, but if i get the smaller processor and in 2 years have an insane work load i cannot simply upgrade the processor alone, and the price of ram does not seem to drop much at all >_< and i am one of those people i must have all of my programs open with my 4250 song library and 14k + phots and counting (about 1000 a weekend i average) plus lime wire and all the other goodies =D haha so as far as ram and processor if i invest in it once i have it for some time, and the more graphics cards i see in person run star craft 2 the better the gt 330 m looks =D hehe i would love more opinions though

A PC IS NOT AN OPTION i do not ever want to use one >_< i am just disappointed with there performance even fast ones and pretty legit gaming computers

I just am not understanding your logic. If you really want to play games, with max settings then you should get a PC. You are disappointed with their performance yet for what you are stating you want to use it for it would be good for you. You want to play games, and are constantly worried about being able to upgrade your computer. Macs just aren't made for this.

It sounds like you just want one because it is pretty. top being a fanboy and look at the facts. Get the base MBP for your "massive workload" and a PC for gaming for the same price as the top of the line MBP.

The same amount of money spent, yet better for what you need.

EDIT: Or listen to Eddyisgreat.

 

[aohus]

seems like you're a heavy multimedia/gamer why don't you just get a desktop rig and save money, as well as get a better spec'ed system that way? just sayin..

damn, seems like you're a PC-centric person who is trapped in the Mac Environment. How much money you could have saved using a PC...

 

[kny3twalker]

hmm i do suppose that you guys have some valid points, but if i get the smaller processor and in 2 years have an insane work load i cannot simply upgrade the processor alone, and the price of ram does not seem to drop much at all >_< and i am one of those people i must have all of my programs open with my 4250 song library and 14k + phots and counting (about 1000 a weekend i average) plus lime wire and all the other goodies =D haha so as far as ram and processor if i invest in it once i have it for some time, and the more graphics cards i see in person run star craft 2 the better the gt 330 m looks =D hehe i would love more opinions though

A PC IS NOT AN OPTION i do not ever want to use one >_< i am just disappointed with there performance even fast ones and pretty legit gaming computers

the 10% gain in processor speed is not going to make the difference if your workload is insane in a couple of years.
You might as well save your money because you will need to upgrade. On the other hand, if you have a desktop PC or Mac Pro, you can use that for most of your workload and have a base 15" or base 13" for when on the go.

 

[Looon]

Nobody should be gaming on a laptop, Windows, Mac or otherwise. It is a waste of money and it cab harm the machine in most cases by causing overheating. Save yourself the trouble and just use the laptop for work and build yourself a nice gamin of for a few hundred bucks.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Nobody should be gaming on a laptop, Windows, Mac or otherwise. It is a waste of money and it cab harm the machine in most cases by causing overheating.

Most cases?

get out of here.

 

[Looon]

Most cases?

get out of here.

I'm just speaking out of experience. Nobody has to take my advice I'm just putting it out there.

 

[aohus]

Nobody should be gaming on a laptop, Windows, Mac or otherwise. It is a waste of money and it cab harm the machine in most cases by causing overheating. Save yourself the trouble and just use the laptop for work and build yourself a nice gamin of for a few hundred bucks.

you have no idea what you're talking about. more like, you don't know anything about how to build a gaming machine probably.

 

[TopHatPlus]

for starters you can do as much as you please on a labtop, and second i am NOT a hard core gamer i am simply wanting to play sc2 and d3 with great quality while doing all of my other tasks, third i do not have a mac pro tower a pc tower an imac this is my only computer and will be getting upgraded so it must doing everything i need to all at once, fourth i buy 1 computer and i buy the fastest this year it will be mediocre next eyar and slow - decent the year after like i did with my current computer which still runs nicely but not nearly as well i would like, fifth i want a computer that does need to run the processor at 100% of capacity for hours while i am multi tasking. and lastly i supported Microsoft by buying a xbox 360 elite console a year and a half ago thats where i play need for speed and modern warfare2 i simply need STAR CRAFT2!!!!! hahaha love blizzard <3

i am just wanting people who own macbook pros with the same or similar specs to tell me what they think of the performance of there graphics cards?? can you run starcraft2 on insane quality? does it lag the **** out of the computer? should i wait for next year when they will up the graphics again??

haha lived the fanboy comment, i work so many hours in a week and am starting my own company??? i need a god damn bitchen computer!!!! and the ssd is WAY to expensive if i can buy a 1tb external for $170 as a ssd then that is what i am willing to spend on and internal.

 

[aohus]

if you want a 'bitchin' computer thats good for gaming you're gonna need a PC notebook. They have the better selection of discrete graphics cards.

Have you tried alienware? They make killer gaming notebook computers. You could put highest settings for SCII, D3, MW2, L4D2, etc, and buy it at a fraction of the cost you'd buy your highly spec'ed MBP.

Why hate on Windows 7? Vista is long gone now, and there are just so many more games you can get for PC.

With the best MBP out there, you would not be able to put on max settings, with alienware you could.

From the looks of how you're writing your posts, it does indeed look like you are a gaming intensive user.

 

[TopHatPlus]

if you want a 'bitchin' computer thats good for gaming you're gonna need a PC notebook. They have the better selection of discrete graphics cards.

Have you tried alienware? They make killer gaming notebook computers. You could put highest settings for SCII, D3, MW2, L4D2, etc, and buy it at a fraction of the cost you'd buy your highly spec'ed MBP.

Why hate on Windows 7? Vista is long gone now, and there are just so many more games you can get for PC.

With the best MBP out there, you would not be able to put on max settings, with alienware you could.

From the looks of how you're writing your posts, it does indeed look like you are a gaming intensive user.

omg you have not read any of my posts I AM NOT AN INTESNIVE USER i have XBOX 360 for that!!!!!! i just want diablo 3 and sc2!!! everyhting else i want i already own for my xbox

bitchen means when i have all my desired aplications open my processer is running like 50-75% on the high side

and as for vista/7/xp/98/95/what ever other version they are dated and unimpressive

i actually have looked into alienware computers and hps and dells and a few other brands i hate how plasticy everything is and how cheap the track pads are and the screens are dull and they are heavy bulky and have way to many extra buttons on the keyboards i LOVE my macbook and have spent almost 6 months shopping for a new one the only thing i need it some user experience with the current graphics card

 

[aohus]

omg you have not read any of my posts I AM NOT AN INTESNIVE USER i have XBOX 360 for that!!!!!!

thanks for the caps lock. i was just trying to help. and yes, i read through every one of your posts on this thread.

windows 7 is not outdated. it was released this year. nor does it even LOOK outdated. From the looks of it, you won't budge from Mac. I get it. Just be rest assured that for the things you want to do, PC is the best option. Look at most other posters, they all said PC is the way to go, and this is a MAC forum. We're here to help you bro, you seem really set on MBP series, where you only have 2 choices, GT320M and GT330M. Both of those, while decent, will not give you the desired results you are demanding.

I don't get it, you want to upgrade from a C2D 2.16 to 2.66, about the same ram, and a small improvement of your graphics card, and pay $2800 for just those minor improvements...

 

[TopHatPlus]

thanks for the caps lock. i was just trying to help. and yes, i read through every one of your posts on this thread.

windows 7 is not outdated. it was released this year. nor does it even LOOK outdated. From the looks of it, you won't budge from Mac. I get it. Just be rest assured that for the things you want to do, PC is the best option. Look at most other posters, they all said PC is the way to go, and this is a MAC forum. We're here to help you bro, you seem really set on MBP series, where you only have 2 choices, GT320M and GT330M. Both of those, while decent, will not give you the desired results you are demanding.

I don't get it, you want to upgrade from a C2D 2.16 to 2.66, about the same ram, and a small improvement of your graphics card, and pay $2800 for just those minor improvements...

old new
2.16 c2d - 2.66 i7
4 gb 667 ddr2 - 8 gb 1066 ddr3
160 gb hd - 500 gb hd
gma 950 @ 64mb - gt 330m @ 512mb
13" - 15"
4 hours battery - 9 hours battery
plastic - aluminum
$1850 - $2800

there is quite a few improvements like the multi touch track pad i can do the double finger scroll but thats about it and i have the button on the bottom. Bought it in november of 2007 as the last one best buy had as an open box >_< and just could not imagine owning another brand

everyone posted that for major gaming, i am a casual gamer and have a strict 2 game list for computers, if they were on xbox i would own them for that but blizzard just makes to good of games to say no to >_< and my computer is just not fitting, i have 28 gb left on my hard drive and when i edit video from my 1080 p i get down to 4-5 gb, i am editing and rendering it in half quality becuase my computer is neither fast enough to edit or run it >_< also rendering the video after takes like 30 minutes - 2 hours, and i cannot afford a mac pro tower and i do not have room for an imac (yes they are very sleek) i just need some personal experience with the graphics cards maybe some 1-10 ratings >_<