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Should i upgrade?

I

illidan155

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 9, 2011
44
0
Hello everyone

im here looking for a suggrestion from you guys

I have a MacBookPro5,4 buyed less then 2 years ago

i rly like my macbook but sometime when i try to play some game like SC2 or some new FPS game i find myself stuck with the minimun setting and the lowest resolution,
the second problem is that sometime when i use aperture the computer freeze up for some second but i believe that this problem is caused by the ram

What should i do for you? should i Upgrade the ram to 8GB and go with my macbook until the applecare expire? and if yes will i be still stuck with the lowest resolution and setting?

Or buy a new (home) computer like an Imac or a Macmini and keep this macbook pro as a portable only computer for trip and school?

Or option 3 Sell this macbook pro and buy the new macbook pro 2011 with better spec and keep it for both desktop computer and notebook use

thanks
 
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A lot of sites are claiming that apple is planning on releasing minor spec update on all MBP.

I would wait until another month.
 
If you're planning on gaming, and you can afford to, you should buy a machine specifically for gaming. Get an iMac or possibly even a mac Mini. I would do some research to see what best suits your needs. But it seems silly to replace an underpowered laptop with another underpowered laptop for gaming, especially one so relatively new that probably suits all of your other needs just fine.
 
warvanov said:
If you're planning on gaming, and you can afford to, you should buy a machine specifically for gaming. Get an iMac or possibly even a mac Mini. I would do some research to see what best suits your needs. But it seems silly to replace an underpowered laptop with another underpowered laptop for gaming, especially one so relatively new that probably suits all of your other needs just fine.
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you are right it suit me on 90% but sometime 2 3 time month i like to play some match with friend and i would like to do it with out lagg / low res ecc
im not asking to play at 2500x 1900 on ultra but at least on medium-high at the resolution fo the display (22 inch)

illidan
 
I understand. I'm just saying that if you're going to get something for gaming, then don't half-ass it and get another underpowered laptop (even if it is a marginal improvement). Get something that will perform even better for the same price or less with an iMac or Mac mini.
 
warvanov said:
I understand. I'm just saying that if you're going to get something for gaming, then don't half-ass it and get another underpowered laptop (even if it is a marginal improvement). Get something that will perform even better for the same price or less with an iMac or Mac mini.
Click to expand...

So you are suggresting me the option 2 right?
 
I'd buy a cheap Windows desktop for gaming and keep the MBP for mobile tasks.

Check out cyberpower and such. You can pick up a decent gaming rig for $700 that will crush a MBP for all games. Add a 22-24" 1920x1080 monitor and you'd have a pretty good gaming system. Even if you don't use it very often, you could use it as a HTPC when not gaming, which would be a win win.

I wouldn't buy a new MBP just for gaming. Add 8GB of RAM to your MBP, it's still a plenty capable machine and doesn't need to be replaced unless you need the extra power.
 
Wattser93 said:
I'd buy a cheap Windows desktop for gaming and keep the MBP for mobile tasks.

Check out cyberpower and such. You can pick up a decent gaming rig for $700 that will crush a MBP for all games. Add a 22-24" 1920x1080 monitor and you'd have a pretty good gaming system. Even if you don't use it very often, you could use it as a HTPC when not gaming, which would be a win win.

I wouldn't buy a new MBP just for gaming. Add 8GB of RAM to your MBP, it's still a plenty capable machine and doesn't need to be replaced unless you need the extra power.
Click to expand...

no thanks i was used to build my computer myself but after vista hardly i will use an home computer that will have windows as its primary operating system
 
Not gonna lie, Windows 7 is pretty bad ass. In fact it has some nice features that stock OS X doesn't (yeah there's apps/tweaks/hacks that let you add these features, but I've probably spent well over $100 on said apps).
 
Wattser93 said:
I'd buy a cheap Windows desktop for gaming and keep the MBP for mobile tasks.

Check out cyberpower and such. You can pick up a decent gaming rig for $700 that will crush a MBP for all games. Add a 22-24" 1920x1080 monitor and you'd have a pretty good gaming system. Even if you don't use it very often, you could use it as a HTPC when not gaming, which would be a win win.

I wouldn't buy a new MBP just for gaming. Add 8GB of RAM to your MBP, it's still a plenty capable machine and doesn't need to be replaced unless you need the extra power.
Click to expand...

This right here is the best advice you could get. Windows 7 is not that bad but then again I didn't think that vista was bad either. But I usually spend around 5k on my gaming rigs.

If you do some research before you order your mobo/hd/dvd/vid card, dual booting to OSX and Windows is extremely simple these days. Gigabyte mobo's seem to be the easiest to hackintosh.

When you need to game, fire up the windows side. All other you can boot to OSX. Hope this helps. Advantages to both OS's.
 
illidan155 said:
Hello everyone

im here looking for a suggrestion from you guys

I have a MacBookPro5,4 buyed less then 2 years ago

i rly like my macbook but sometime when i try to play some game like SC2 or some new FPS game i find myself stuck with the minimun setting and the lowest resolution,
the second problem is that sometime when i use aperture the computer freeze up for some second but i believe that this problem is caused by the ram

What should i do for you? should i Upgrade the ram to 8GB and go with my macbook until the applecare expire? and if yes will i be still stuck with the lowest resolution and setting?

Or buy a new (home) computer like an Imac or a Macmini and keep this macbook pro as a portable only computer for trip and school?

Or option 3 Sell this macbook pro and buy the new macbook pro 2011 with better spec and keep it for both desktop computer and notebook use

thanks
Click to expand...

Ram won't help with gaming unless your under 4gb. The 13 inch macbook pro will game WORSE than yours with the Intel HD Graphics. If anything get the 15 inch. Or get a 2010 or 2009 model with the 330m. The 330m (NOT 320m) was the best card they put in the macbook, Really could play games on medium to high very well, some on very high..

----------
tharepairguy said:
This right here is the best advice you could get. Windows 7 is not that bad but then again I didn't think that vista was bad either. But I usually spend around 5k on my gaming rigs.

If you do some research before you order your mobo/hd/dvd/vid card, dual booting to OSX and Windows is extremely simple these days. Gigabyte mobo's seem to be the easiest to hackintosh.

When you need to game, fire up the windows side. All other you can boot to OSX. Hope this helps. Advantages to both OS's.
Click to expand...

I Actually wouldn't recommend this, it seems he wants to stay with what he knows and likes, macs. I'd recommend 2010 or 2009 mbp with 330m or a mid to high range iMac, anything from 2010 up. The low end doesn't game so well.

-----------------

Here are what you need to get for gaming if you want a macbook pro, they are way better than current gen mbp other than the CPU, but in games its not going to show more than 5-8 fps.. The GPU's are extremely great.

330m 256mb - i5 2.5ghz -15inch: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC372LL/A?mco=MTgwOTc3MTg

330m 512mb - i7 2.6ghz -15inch: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC373LL/A?mco=MTgwOTc3NDM

330m 512mb - i7 2.8ghz -15inch: http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0J6ALL/A?mco=MjEzMDMxMzg

Those will handle anything you through at it! ^^
 
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I think you should upgrade your RAM, no matter what else you decide to do. Go to macsales.com and you can get 2x4GB for about $65. It won't solve your gaming problem, but it's a relatively cheap upgrade.

Also, I think that if you can afford to and you're unsatisfied with gaming on your MacBook you should invest in a gaming machine. Either a cheap PC or an iMac. So yes, option 2. You'll have to do some research to see what suits your needs.
 
i was looking for the macmini high spec model with the ati video card
since i have already an apple kexboard + magic mouse + screen

but i could invest in an imac that come with a better screen and keyboard and mouse wich i already have

hmm it is realy hard to chose
should i take the high end macmini or the lower spec imac?
i see that the mac mini have 256 mb of vram for the video card is that enough to play a game?

illidan
 
illidan155 said:
i was looking for the macmini high spec model with the ati video card
since i have already an apple kexboard + magic mouse + screen

but i could invest in an imac that come with a better screen and keyboard and mouse wich i already have

hmm it is realy hard to chose
should i take the high end macmini or the lower spec imac?
i see that the mac mini have 256 mb of vram for the video card is that enough to play a game?

illidan
Click to expand...

Improve your grammer, "Illidan".
 
illidan155 said:
i was looking for the macmini high spec model with the ati video card
since i have already an apple kexboard + magic mouse + screen

but i could invest in an imac that come with a better screen and keyboard and mouse wich i already have

hmm it is realy hard to chose
should i take the high end macmini or the lower spec imac?
i see that the mac mini have 256 mb of vram for the video card is that enough to play a game?

illidan
Click to expand...

The Mac Mini won't touch the iMac, the iMac has a better CPU and Graphics card. Go for the iMac.
 
I am just throwing this out there :

What about a early 2008 or 2009 Mac Pro with upgraded RAM and GPU ? You could get it for the same price as a new iMac and have the upgradability of the pro machine...
 
titatom said:
I am just throwing this out there :

What about a early 2008 or 2009 Mac Pro with upgraded RAM and GPU ? You could get it for the same price as a new iMac and have the upgradability of the pro machine...
Click to expand...

thanks but i dont buy used things and the refubished mac pro cost 2.000 USD so not a big change from the original price
 
illidan155 said:
thanks but i dont buy used things and the refubished mac pro cost 2.000 USD so not a big change from the original price
Click to expand...

Why the heck not? Are you scared it'll blow up on you? Many original mac pro(from 2006) and even PowerMacs G5(from 2004) still run great to this day, buying one used isn't such a bad idea. They are very reliable machines, and even the older 2006 ones are still quite powerful.
 
snaky69 said:
Why the heck not? Are you scared it'll blow up on you? Many original mac pro(from 2006) and even PowerMacs G5(from 2004) still run great to this day, buying one used isn't such a bad idea. They are very reliable machines, and even the older 2006 ones are still quite powerful.
Click to expand...

Because i dont like used things out of warranity in want a machine that i buy and i am sure that even if it blow up for 3 years i will be covered and secondly i dont know how the person treated the machine he could have overclock it and ruin the computer so if it by someone that i know it maybe okay but not from a stranger
 
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