So this is what I want to do...

[AppleLight]

So I'm looking for a MacBook that can play games well.

What I want to do is have a MacBook, play Fifa 12 on it (with good graphics and no lag) by connecting a couple of PS3 controllers to it. This will be hooked up to a mini projector via mini DP -> HD so I can play Fifa 12 on a MacBook with my friends.

Now looking at the MacBooks, 15" seems the best for me. However, I would like to know the difference between the 2.2 GHz AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512MB and the 2.4 GHz 6770M 1GB. Will there be much of a difference? Both are quad core i7s.

Also, I've watched a couple of videos on YouTube and I've seen people using BootCamp to play the games... why is that? Is there a big difference between the capabilities of OS X and Windows 7 in terms of playing games?

Sorry I'm not much of a gamer. I usually use consoles, but I want to see if the setup mentioned above is possible, and if it's worth getting that.

 

[KylePowers]

I don't particularly game on computers either, but the more RAM a video card has, the better. If you don't want any lag or want to play a game at its highest settings (which may or may not be possible regardless), you'll want a GPU with more memory. I'd say go with the 6770M 1GB for sure.

In terms of 2.2GHz vs 2.4GHz on the i7, that's just the clock frequency. To be honest, for most people, .2GHz won't make a noticeable difference. These days, it's more a marketing gimmick to make people upgrade. Now if it was a 2.2GHz i5 vs a 2.4GHz i7, then yeah, that'd make a difference. But between an i7 and i7, it'd only be marginally faster in very specific CPU-intensive tasks. Granted, if it comes standard, it's a welcome upgrade and could possibly be beneficial in gaming... but I think the difference you'd see between a 6750M 512MB vs a 6770M 1GB would be much larger.

As for people going into bootcamp- Well, most of the time it's because the game doesn't support OSX, so Windows becomes a necessity. As for games that are cross-platform, I'm not too sure if playing via Windows has any sort of advantage or not. Probably though, since games and graphics drivers are probably updated more frequently in Windows than on OSX. Good question though.

As for getting a 15in MBP to game- it's a good idea if you really want a Mac. But for that price range, you can probably find a much better laptop for gaming. So I'd search around first if your heart isn't dead set on going with Apple.

 

[js81]

Computer gaming is a VERY expensive hobby. I gave up quite some time ago, even for (relatively) simple games. Now I keep it to my PS3; much simpler, really - Just pop in the disc and go. Plus, its on my 1080p plasma, and I don't have to fiddle with what graphics settings are best for MY system.

Why don't you just play it on your console? You said you were familiar with console games anyway, right? Plus, then you don't have to have a $2,000 machine to do it.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Back in the stone age, not that long ago, the clock frequency could be deceiving. If the higher clock was not an even multiple of the core memory/system bus frequency then the system would actually be slower than a slower yet even multiple of the system bus frequency. It's probably not so noticeable now... But comparing an i7 to an i7 with the same cache sizes (sometimes the faster chip is also a newer chip with more cache) the possibility for a 0.2 difference being significant is unlikely so the reason I mention the cache size is that there has to be another reason why it's being offered...

 

[squeakr]

Also make sure that you are comparing the same generation of processor and core level. Currently Apply offers an i7 in the 13" but it is only a dual core. Your 2 selections are both quads, but I have seen people wonder why the 13" 2.4 i7 gets such bad reviews when compared against the 15" 2.4 i7. One is a dual core and one a quad, so not a fair comparison (and you will find this in PCs as well, which is why I mention it to make sure you are aware that the difference exists).