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Macbook Pro and Gaming

post #1 of 11
5/26/06 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Guys,

I really like the Macbbook Pro and I'm not an avid gamer by any extent. But, on the other hand, I would like to be able to play what I want at some "reasonable" level of graphics quality (I'm not an expert on game settings).

If I buy a MBP it would be the newer 2.16 duo core with the larger 256MB video card. My thinking is that this would be pretty good, but of course not top end performance.

For reference, my current desktop is a 2.4Ghz Pentium4 with an Nvida 256MB 5700LE, which is still able to run games pretty well, but I've noticed it's not that great with newer games such as City Of Villians.

So, how is this thing with games, out of the box and untweeked?

Tom
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post #2 of 11
5/26/06 at 1:40pm
You should have no problem running most of the games that are hot these days. I play CS:S, BF2, & COD2 on mine at good settings (albeit, not the highest, but not the lowest, either). It's a nice machine.....
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post #3 of 11
5/26/06 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sincitymedic
You should have no problem running most of the games that are hot these days. I play CS:S, BF2, & COD2 on mine at good settings (albeit, not the highest, but not the lowest, either). It's a nice machine.....


Thanks,

Looks like you've got what I'm looking at, so good to know you like it. Let me pry further, is there anything simply "off limits" (ie: FEAR) due to possible hardware limitations. I'm have no real interest in this game. I just know it's a standard benchmark these days.

You're right, I've checked these out in stores and they are quite nice. Never owned a Mac before, but the Intel move blasts alot of reservations clear. Sounds like Apple has resolved alot of initial issues (heat, fan whine, etc..)

The closest machine I've seen on the Windows side is the Asus W3J; which is also seems nice but really not much cheaper than the Mac once you add the same trimmings; plus it seems to have some hardware heat issues.

Tom
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post #4 of 11
5/26/06 at 2:38pm
I loaded F.E.A.R. just to see what I could do. I was able to play w/o a problem, but w/ the settings dummied down. I honestly didn't try bumping this up simply b/c I don't play the game that often.

I looked into the Asus, as well. Ultimately, the ability to dual-boot & just trying something new were motivating factors for me. So far, new challenge has been fun. There is no doubt that WinXP is a good OS. There are viruses galore, but that's just the natural state of affairs when it comes to this OS. With XP, though, comes a broader software base. With OSX, you get the security & stability that XP does not always offer. I have found OSX pretty easy to deal with. I like the GUI.....
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post #5 of 11
5/26/06 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sincitymedic
I loaded F.E.A.R. just to see what I could do. I was able to play w/o a problem, but w/ the settings dummied down. I honestly didn't try bumping this up simply b/c I don't play the game that often.

I looked into the Asus, as well. Ultimately, the ability to dual-boot & just trying something new were motivating factors for me. So far, new challenge has been fun. There is no doubt that WinXP is a good OS. There are viruses galore, but that's just the natural state of affairs when it comes to this OS. With XP, though, comes a broader software base. With OSX, you get the security & stability that XP does not always offer. I have found OSX pretty easy to deal with. I like the GUI.....

With regards to the Asus...great minds think alike:-) I like the Asus but I'm partial to dealing with Apple in this case. I get the impression their support is pretty good. Plus I'm thinking an an eventual Ebay resale of a MBP would be better just because of the name recognition.

Plus I like the backit keyboard...can't believe no one else does this...

Tom
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post #6 of 11
5/26/06 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
Actually, here's food for thought.
The Asus W3J from agearnotebook with:
Duo 2.16
1 Dimm of 1 Gig 667Mhz
7200 100 Meg HD
3 Year warranty
$2945.

Apple with same specs = $2948 ($2628 with corporate discount).

Suddenly the Mac's not so pricey....
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post #7 of 11
5/26/06 at 5:08pm
Yep....nice find. & the backlit keyboard is one of the neatest things I've encountered. The mag-safe power connector -- that does turn my pinwheels. I love the auto-dimming feature, though.
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post #8 of 11
5/27/06 at 2:36am
asus and mac both have excellant build quality so they are kinda on par. I am just wondering, how underclocked is the macbook pro's x1600?
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post #9 of 11
5/27/06 at 4:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by boomheadshot45
asus and mac both have excellant build quality so they are kinda on par. I am just wondering, how underclocked is the macbook pro's x1600?
it's underclocked, not sure by how much, but you can bring it back to normal using a program from ati.
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post #10 of 11
5/27/06 at 5:57am
It's underclocked to around 310/278 from what I understand. The actual clocks are supposed to be around 470/470
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post #11 of 11
5/28/06 at 2:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tjf1971
Actually, here's food for thought.
The Asus W3J from agearnotebook with:
Duo 2.16
1 Dimm of 1 Gig 667Mhz
7200 100 Meg HD
3 Year warranty
$2945.

Apple with same specs = $2948 ($2628 with corporate discount).

Suddenly the Mac's not so pricey....

well, good to see a non-mac user make that point. then again, it's been said for probably the last 5 years at least. the intel switch, seems to be driving home this fact better than any argument seen thus far. intel/AMD users can no longer be PPC xenophobic in organizing their arguments re: pricing. that said, intel chips are very likely more $ per chip than the G4s ever were.
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