Sluggish Macbook Pro Gaming. Solutions?

[Demo318]

I just got a macbook pro. It's pre-unibody. I love it, it's awesome.

My system specs:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR2
VRAM: 256 MB
OS X 10.4.11
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT


Anyway, I have played two game demos to test my hardware for gaming, and both have yielded poor experiences.

The first was the demo for Doom 3. Min requirements for Doom 3:
Processor: PowerPC G4/G5 1.5 GHz
Memory: 512 MB
Video: 64 MB
Mac OS X 10.3.8 or later
GeForce FX5200 or Radeon 9600 minimum

Next UT 2004. Yes, I downloaded and installed the demo patch
Mac OS X Only
Macintosh G4 or G5 with an 800Mhz or faster processor
• OS X v10.2.8 or higher
• 256MB RAM
• 32MB video card


The only reason I see that these might not be working well is that they're made for powerPC's and I have Intel. Also, when I auto-detect for display settings, everything is put in High quality, not highest but definitely not low.

Thanks for any feedback

 

[wywern209]

i suggest firing up a copy of windows as mac ports generally don't run all that good.

 

[zp3dd4]

bootcamp is really the only way to go on mac gaming..

 

[cluthz]

The only reason I see that these might not be working well is that they're made for powerPC's and I have Intel. Also, when I auto-detect for display settings, everything is put in High quality, not highest but definitely not low.

Thanks for any feedback

It's because they are made for PPC, PPC games do run slow on Intel.
The UT2004 retail has a Intel Patch as far as I remember and will run alot better.

 

[rj-300zx]

Doom 3 has a universal patch.

 

[Demo318]

Doom 3 has a universal patch.

I was only playing the demo.


Yeah, I have noticed that I can play everything over at http://www.instantaction.com just fine without any hiccups. I'm upgrading to Leopard soon and getting Enemy Territory quake wars and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to tide me over. I think I'll be buying an iMac in the future and making that my gaming rig.

 

[wywern209]

I was only playing the demo.


Yeah, I have noticed that I can play everything over at http://www.instantaction.com just fine without any hiccups. I'm upgrading to Leopard soon and getting Enemy Territory quake wars and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to tide me over. I think I'll be buying an iMac in the future and making that my gaming rig.

lol. imacs as gaming rigs might have been good back then but it isn't gonna do much better than ur macbook pro.

 

[eXan]

I was only playing the demo.


Yeah, I have noticed that I can play everything over at http://www.instantaction.com just fine without any hiccups. I'm upgrading to Leopard soon and getting Enemy Territory quake wars and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to tide me over. I think I'll be buying an iMac in the future and making that my gaming rig.

Skip Leopard and go straight to Snow Leopard (September).

Those demos run slow because they run in emulation (Rosetta). Full versions have Intel patches and would fly on your MBP.

Don't buy an iMac for gaming because unless it has 4850 or at least GT130 it won't be much of an improvement over your 8600.