Specific Benchmarks: World of Warcraft

[rainmanbk]

This is what I'm thinking of going with:

2.53GHz Intel Core i5
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare

I'm wondering specifically, but in general relating to games, how the performance is in World of Warcraft, or similar games.

Anyone have a similar config and some results?

Thanks

 

[therealseebs]

This is what I'm thinking of going with:

2.53GHz Intel Core i5
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare

I'm wondering specifically, but in general relating to games, how the performance is in World of Warcraft, or similar games.

Anyone have a similar config and some results?

Thanks

No, but I'm pretty curious. I currently have a 2.4GHz C2D/8600M, and it's marginal; with 4GB of memory, it still slows down to maybe 5-7 frames a second in a lot of areas, and if I don't have it capped at around 10fps everywhere (it could otherwise make 15+ in many areas), it heats up and makes a noise like a jet engine.

I'm pretty disappointed in the new machines, but they're a noticeable upgrade, so I'm probably getting one. Still, I'm waffling; I may yet decide to just get a high-end PC laptop and muddle through with Linux.

 

[rainmanbk]

See, something like the ThinkPad w510 is just too good to be true. They're just so darn ugly. I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to buy one. I want a real mobile workstation Apple. But that won't ever happen. =/

 

[therealseebs]

See, something like the ThinkPad w510 is just too good to be true. They're just so darn ugly. I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to buy one. I want a real mobile workstation Apple. But that won't ever happen. =/

Yeah, pretty much. I'm still using my 2001 ThinkPad "desktop replacement" (A31p). It only lacks USB2. 😛

I don't actually think the ThinkPads are ugly; they're a functional design, but I like the aesthetic, honestly better than I like Apple's. If I could get a ThinkPad with OS X, I would not have any decision-making problems. (And no, I'm not gonna do hackintosh. Apple has the right to refuse to license their software to be used on high-end hardware.)

 

[rainmanbk]

Ha yeah I almost forgot, I'd prefer OS X too, which is 1 of the 2 reasons I won't do it. I have a Mac Pro and a new PC I built last summer that both play Warcraft fine, I just was hoping I'd be able to play even with medium settings on this new MacBook Pro. I will probably end up just getting it anyways, regardless because I'm a sucker and I can't convince myself to get anything else.

 

[therealseebs]

If they'd refreshed the mac pros, I'd probably get one of those and just continue to have a way-out-of-date laptop, since the mac pro would obviously be able to handle gaming.

As-is, well, I'll get the macbook, but I'll be sort of annoyed with them for not even considering a model with a good GPU.

 

[F3NG3R]

Now, i dont have a macbook pro (yet), but i have a 2½ years old pc laptop with a core2duo 2.0 ghz, 2gb ram, 8600m gt and a 1680x1050 display, and i'm able to run world of warcraft on medium settings but full view distance just fine (35 fps avg.). So i have an hard time imagining that the i7 and 330m shouldn't be able to run it on high settings.

 

[mattgoldey]

When the last rev of the MBPs came out, I saw some YouTube videos of people testing WoW on them with all of the graphics features turned on max settings and it was smooth as silk.

I can't wait to try it out on my new MBP! 😀

 

[therealseebs]

Now, i dont have a macbook pro (yet), but i have a 2½ years old pc laptop with a core2duo 2.0 ghz, 2gb ram, 8600m gt and a 1680x1050 display, and i'm able to run world of warcraft on medium settings but full view distance just fine (35 fps avg.). So i have an hard time imagining that the i7 and 330m shouldn't be able to run it on high settings.

I'm having a really hard time believing this, given that Blizzard consistently tells people that you cannot expect to get >5fps in Dalaran with under 3GB of memory. (For that matter, I have a 2.4Ghz, 4GB, 8600M GT macbook pro, and it doesn't come close to 35fps in any populated area.)

 

[mikeo007]

I'm having a really hard time believing this, given that Blizzard consistently tells people that you cannot expect to get >5fps in Dalaran with under 3GB of memory. (For that matter, I have a 2.4Ghz, 4GB, 8600M GT macbook pro, and it doesn't come close to 35fps in any populated area.)

Ya, unfortunately people that measure benchmarks on older systems usually give the "best case scenario". The poster you were referring to was likely reconting the best FPS they had seen in some wide open area. Like I can truthfully say my MSI wind netbook gets 20 fps with view distance on full. But that's when I'm standing in a starting area with nothing else around me at all. In Dalaran, it gets about 30 frames per minute...

For the OP: the 9600gt in the previous generation MBPs ran WoW just fine on relatively good detail settings, so I would assume that the 330m is even better. The 330m gt isn't that new of a GPU, so there are other benchmarks available for it. I suggest you look around some review sites for computers running the 330m (like the Vaio F series) and see if they benchmark WoW. That should at least give you an idea of performance.

 

[therealseebs]

For the OP: the 9600gt in the previous generation MBPs ran WoW just fine on relatively good detail settings,

This sort of surprises me, just because the 8600gt does so poorly, and the 9600gt is barely faster on any spec or benchmark I can find. It's possible that it just crosses some line that improves things, though.

 

[mikeo007]

This sort of surprises me, just because the 8600gt does so poorly, and the 9600gt is barely faster on any spec or benchmark I can find. It's possible that it just crosses some line that improves things, though.

Well it's definitely context sensitive. You're still not going to get 40 fps in a heavily populated area, but the performance is better. It could also be due to other upgraded components in the last gen MBPs.

Also keep in mind, this is without the distance and shadow settings cranked since they are extremely poorly executed effects and will bring most GPUs to their knees.

 

[F3NG3R]

I'm having a really hard time believing this, given that Blizzard consistently tells people that you cannot expect to get >5fps in Dalaran with under 3GB of memory. (For that matter, I have a 2.4Ghz, 4GB, 8600M GT macbook pro, and it doesn't come close to 35fps in any populated area.)

Well... just took two screenshots of my wow settings with fps showing and a screenshot of my specs... Because i dont play anymore I had to borrow my brothers character and he wouldnt let me move it to dalaran so the screenshots is just at the AH in stormwind.. which also is a pretty populated area, though not as populated right now, therefore i have 45 fps...

 

[Wehrwolf]

People seem to leave out an important piece of information when throwing around benchmark data - screen resolution.

It would help put things into perspective, as I know from personal experience that the 8600GT runs WoW on medium settings quite well at 1440x900. Similarly, the 9400M can pull 30-60fps on low detail at 1280x800. Try to play at 1920x1200 with the 9400M, however....

I'm waiting on a 15" i7, so when I get a chance to get WoW running on it I'll post back with some results on both the built in display and an external 1920x1200 display.

 

[therealseebs]

Maybe something else is off in my setup, then, I can't get decent framerates even at lower resolutions on my 8600GT. I did try with all addons off, though. 🙂

 

[F3NG3R]

something seems a little odd yea... I just hope my shiny new, expensive 15" won't turn out to handle wow worse than this old pc... Would be incredibly disappointing... 🙂

 

[therealseebs]

something seems a little odd yea... I just hope my shiny new, expensive 15" won't turn out to handle wow worse than this old pc... Would be incredibly disappointing... 🙂

I'm expecting mine to handle WoW worse than my Linux box running in a half-broken WINE emulator.

On the other hand, I'm expecting it to handle WoW better than my 2007.

No idea when I'll get mine, I gotta wait on a friend having time to type in an order for me. 🙂

 

[elirane]

Macbook Pro i7

well, i tried running wow on my macbook pro i7 and actually i got around 20 fps on ultra settings at stormwing which is now the major city (cataclysm).

 

[wct097]

Now, i dont have a macbook pro (yet), but i have a 2½ years old pc laptop with a core2duo 2.0 ghz, 2gb ram, 8600m gt and a 1680x1050 display, and i'm able to run world of warcraft on medium settings but full view distance just fine (35 fps avg.). So i have an hard time imagining that the i7 and 330m shouldn't be able to run it on high settings.

Similar specs, but with a 2.2ghz T7500 C2D and 4gigs of ram. FPS in town isn't as relevant to me. 25 man raid encounters are a better benchmark IMO. I have to run mine on low settings to do that well. That said, I'm at 59fps in BWD 10 man right now.