Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Wow Lich King Gameplay on new Macbook (not pro)

C

cannedsplam

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 9, 2008
5
0
I am planning on replacing my current laptop this holiday season and I would love to be able to play WoW. Im really not all that tech savy, i understand most the basic concepts behind hardware but i am really clueless when it comes down to specifics.

So, I dont plan on going any higher than the 1299$ model. The one with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card

default settings, so 2gigs of Ram and 2.0 Ghz processor

Ive played Wow on two computers so far. the first is my 4 year old Power Mac G5 with the following specs (thankyou system profiler =]):
Machine Name: iMac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac8,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 768 MB
Bus Speed: 600 MHz

GRAPHICS CARD:
Chipset Model: GeForce FX 5200
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB

On this computer, i found that Burning Crusade ran smoothly enough for me, i had a little bit of issue in shattrath but beyond that i was very pleased. i havent done any beta testing for lich king on this computer, but im assuming that it should run fairly similarly and thats exactly what i want. I dont plan on playing WoW on this computer anymore

My currently laptop, which i played wow on extensively with is an 13 inch HP Pavillion dv2000. unfortunately it is now broken and i dont have access to the tech specs on the computer but i do know i got the model with 1gig of ram and it uses an AMD (1.8 ghz i THINK) processor, with an nVidia graphics card which i dont know the specifics of, but when i bought it about a year ago i got the basics.

While playing WoW on this computer i was EXTREMELY disappointed. It would get hot very quickly and i went through many cooling pads which only really gave me about 30 more minutes before it was too hot to really use. i also found that even on very low settings FPS and lag between button presses (on the screen, the use of abilities/casting and even typing had fairly significant lag time). Im not sure what causes these issues, but ive heard a few things.

first is the graphics card and memory (RAM) ... and i guess VRAM were shared, and the space wasnt enough to run the game smoothly. I also heard that WoW just doest work on laptops which was really disappointing.

SO, sorry for the huge rant but to sum everything up, im going to get myself the new Macbook, regular settings (as stated above) and i am wondering if my gaming experiance will be alright. I dont want to be disappointed with similar gameplay to my current laptop... im just looking for a computer than will allow me to play the game well enough.

Im sorry if im being too specific or giving too much detail but i really didnt know how to explain myself. I mentioned the two computers ive played wow on so you guys would understand where my standards are at. if i could get my gameplay on the macbook to be as good or better than my PowerMac G5 then i would be extremely pleased.

Thanks in advance! :D
 
wow play's fine, i only got 2gb in my 2.4, but the performance is more than adequate for wow, maybe 4gb would be sweeter and a ssd would sure help, but out of the box it runs more than fine.

for instance, my prefered setting of full view distance, but all the other gfx are set to low, in Og im getting 100+fps, shatt i get around 50+ fps, it stutters now and again in shatt but its due to characters being loaded in hence the ram and ssd for total smoothness


ohh and for cooling, i play on my lap, it gets warm, but thats about it, no scolding area like my old tosh i used to play wow on... pre mac!
 
Thank you for the speedy reply!
So you dont think that my getting the 2.0 version will make much a difference from your 2.4 version?
the graphics card is the same, right?
this is good news :)
 
yea, same gfx card, incidentally i checked my stats when playing wow and my cpu was only at 60%, the gfx is nicely taking the load
 
FX5200 was a crap video card from what I remember. The integrated graphics will definitely run better.
 
i have the 2.0 Ghz standard model. wow runs brilliantly. i have the game running in native resolution with medium graphics, i always have 35-45 FPS.
 
The 2.0 and 2.4 can run WoW + Burning Crusade no problem as seen here.

I'm on a 2.4ghz MB and I'm planning on picking up Wrath this Wed/Thur. I'll let you know how the game performs and post up some snapshots of the new areas with fps detailing later this week. :)

Also, the MB gets pretty hot when running WoW. My suggestion is to avoid burning your lap and play on a desk, table, or binder if need be. The fans kick up and the heat starts to increase the more you play. Now I'm trying to avoid the permanent palm stain from playing so much. o_O
 
RAM and graphics card would have the most impact on performance. 2 gigs of ram is good, 4 gigs would be even better. SSD drive would improve loading performance (from zone to zone) a slightly, but would not impact framerate. The Geforce 9400m is the best integrated card out there and should play Lich King very nicely!

I believe the DV2000t series either came with integrated Intel graphics or a low end discrete Nvidia card, either the Geforce 7200/8200, depending on which revision of the DV2000t you had.
 
Thankyou all!

thank you all for the replies, all are appreciated and really helpful, and i feel very reassured now.

This isnt as large an issue but would playing with a wireless broadband connection differ much from connecting directly to the router?
 
OK here is my WoW/Mac story story if you're interested.

I first got WoW in May 2007 and have since played it on my first generation macbook (ie. the basic spec/low end white macbook that came out in 2006). With 512mb I did have certain problems; lag in the citys was pretty bad and my system was VERY VERY slow when using Firefox, WoW & iTunes. So i decided to shell out on 2gb, and it worked perfect. Although I run the game on minimum settings, I still think it looks artistically great and its not an issue for me. The game ran super fast, no lag, etc.

However, 3.0.2 brought with it an update to the minimum recommended specs for WoW...however no problems as of yet. Maybe about 5% slower, and WoW doesnt look as nice as it once did. However overall no problems. Even in **** I can fly around nicely. The main issue is how will Wrath play, because the graphics there are an improvement. But this is my 2.5 year old mac.

This week I have my brand new macbook arriving...and if my old one can handle WoW, im sure the new one will. I am more worried about how playing WoW will be without a mouse button! This is a slightly worrying issue for me. I'm glad I've gone for a 2.4ghz Macbook though, and will eventually get 4gb Ram when I have the money.

A few things to note; dont expect to be good at arenas or as mobile as other players when playing without a mouse...but I dont care, I love playing on my macbook.
Another word of warning, consider getting a second battery. My original macbook battery is useless without a charger now; ive gone over 1000 cycles on it. The battery last 20 mins without a charger now, but even thats a risk. So one battery for gaming, one for long term use.
 
LondonGooner said:
I am more worried about how playing WoW will be without a mouse button! This is a slightly worrying issue for me. I'm glad I've gone for a 2.4ghz Macbook though, and will eventually get 4gb Ram when I have the money.
Click to expand...

ahh yes the mouse.... i had some fun with that, now use a cordless dinky little mouse when playing wow, was the only way really, i found the additional load on my brain remembering all the finger combo's was just to much and reverted to mouse.

if your just grinding some rep or something you'll be ok, but in dungeons and raids you'll need something more agile to use. I envisaged me getting booted for lack of input so mouse it is.
 
I'll be receiving my GlassBook 2.0Ghz with 2GB ram tomorrow. When I get WoW installed on it I'll post some info about how it runs. Should run fine though.
 
Carnivor said:
ahh yes the mouse.... i had some fun with that, now use a cordless dinky little mouse when playing wow, was the only way really, i found the additional load on my brain remembering all the finger combo's was just to much and reverted to mouse.

if your just grinding some rep or something you'll be ok, but in dungeons and raids you'll need something more agile to use. I envisaged me getting booted for lack of input so mouse it is.
Click to expand...

Damn thats a bit annoying. Tbh I'm mainly a solo rep grinder (17 exalted and counting :D)
But recently I've started doing some more raids, plus I've always enjoyed doing 5 mans with friends. Then again, I play like a nab rogue and just spam the same abilities :p
I guess I'll be ok.
 
I have a stock 2.0. I have all the settings at maximum in windowed mode. I get 30-45 frames consistently.
 
I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to the more serious games (sorry, not solitaire or bejeweled!), I always play with a dedicated mouse. I personally have the Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse 5000. Since you are using bluetooth, there is no need to waste a USB port on a dongle. Another good bluetooth mouse is the Logitech V470 (White).
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
there is absolutely no way id use a mousepad to play wow. i already have a nice collection of different usb mouses, some wireless some not... so im pretty set

still not sure if playing with a wireless internet connection will take a toll on my gameplay or not? is anyone aware of the difference between being directly connected to your router or playing wirelessly, if there is one?
 
now that its been released, anyone got a better idea of how lich king plays on the macbook?
 
I've been playing wotlk over the past week on my 2.0 macbook with 4gb ram, and it runs great. I've played on the 13" screen and my 22" external LCD and both run smooth. BC also ran great when I had 2gb ram. Compared to my old 2.8ghz P4 1.5 gb ram vaio pc running a geforce 6200 256 mb card, it blows it away.
 
Been playing for a number of months now...

I must say if you played WoW on the old Macbook, the new mousepad is not a problem at all.

The game is very playable, although you may get bad lag in Dalaran during WG.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back