Games on the iBook

I'm considering purchasing a 14" iBook G4 to tide me over for the next year or two until the new Intel-based Macs come out and Windows Vista is up and running. Anyone have any experience playing games on an iBook, such as World of Warcraft or other graphic intensive games? Games are obviously not that important or else I'd be getting a dedicated gaming computer, but it would be nice to play one once in awhile when I'm bored. Thanks in advance!

 

You really cannot play anything serious on iBooks G4s, even the latest ones. As for WoW I would say that almost certainly you cannot - not at the reasonable speed/framerate anyhow. I have iBook G4 / Radeon 9550 32 MB / 1 GB RAM. Baldur's Gate 2 runs slow. I mean come on! Baldur's Gate FGS! I have several primitive OpenGL arcade games, that run SLOW. Sure you can play them and BG2 and enjoy those, but after playing games even on mediocre PC, iBook is no match. I would say - if you're getting an iBook, forget about almost any reasonably demanding game. RAM won't help, as my experience shows.

But on the other hand, if you choose to play on PC and work/study on Mac, iBook G4 is the way to go. I use Dell Inspiron 9300 (with nVidia 6800) for gaming and iBook for work and pretty happy with both.

 

Hmmm...that's discouraging. Any idea if the G4 Powerbooks fare any better?

To explain my reluctance to purchase a Powerbook in the first place, I feel kind of nervous putting that much money down and having a somewhat "obsolete" machine once the new Intel-based Macs come out. Not that it will really be obsolete that soon, but it always feels a little disappointing to have the older technology. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes for computers anytime you buy...

 

My iBook G4 (1.2ghz 12") is able to smoothly run almost all of my games.

Halo works with almost a perfect Frames Per Second
Command and Conquer Generals runs fine with some lag
Homeworld 2 runs fine and only lags when I use a highly graphic intensive Mod
Most of my other games are somewhat older and those three are the most processor intensive.

It does have limitations though, I wouldn't try running Doom 3 or Battlefront on it, but then it takes a G5 to handle those.


The question is: what games do you want to try on it?

 

I'm actually not really sure what games I would run on it. My current laptop is pretty ancient (an old Gateway Solo that's approaching 6-7 years now).

With a new laptop, I was hoping to play something a little more interesting than Minesweeper or Solitaire. At least you've given me some hope that something fun will run on an iBook.

Thanks for the info...

 

The new 12" iBooks use a 32MB-dedicated Mobility RADEON 9550, which is actually an acceptably powerful graphics card. Having used a 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600, I know firsthand that your card should be capable of running just about any game you want (with some exceptions like BF2, Doom 3, and FEAR). The 1.33GHz G4, although not a speed demon by any means, should be fine for most game about a year old.

So basically, you should be fine for most games on lower graphics settings. And Solitaire should run just fine.

 

My point You are *able* to run games on lower settings... But where's the fun in running games on those settings? Not to mention the *able* keyword here. Trust me, when comparing Mac and PC with similar configurations, PC is way ahead of Mac in terms of gaming performace. Mac is similarly ahead in terms of application performance. It is called choice - this or that. For both, just get two computers, really.

 

You don't have to play the on the lowest setting, I play most of mine on highest, or inbetween medium and high.

 

Please, name the games. I'm not trying to be a nuissanse, it's just interesting. Because, on my configuration, I dare say it is pretty impossible to play anything serious.

 

Ok, here are all the games I have, and the some of the graphics settings that I remember.

Halo:
800 by 600 resolution
Overall graphics setting (On the launcher window) Moderate
Decals On
Sound quality High
Texture quality Medium
Particles Low or meduim, Can't remember
Note: this is the Demo version. I plan to get the full version and I have been lead to believe that the Demo version runs as fast as the full version on version 1.3. I have also read that It may lock up for a second or two in some of the really large battles that are found in some of the lvls.

Homeworld 2:
Highest on everything except no 3D shadows, it says the graphics card won't support them.
Will Lag on some Mods

Command and Conquer Generals w/Zero Hour
800 by 600 resolution
I have the particles slider at about 2/3
The detail resolution slider at 2/3
Dynamic LOD off
Shadows Off
Can't remeber the rest
This game lags sometimes, but not to the point where it gets annoying.

Rise Of Nations
Highest Everything
No Lag

Age Of mythology
High Everything
No Lag

Elite Force
High Everything
No Lag except for Bot matches with alot of bots

Jedi Outcast
High out of a scale that goes up to highest

Some other older games that will run on an old G3 that obviosly run well.

I got it a month ago so I still have 256 mbs of memory and that causes problems loading saved games in HW2.

 

I was worng about that thing in Halo about overall graphics level. It is Model detail adn it is at High. also on the settings there, FSSA is off, lense Flare off

 

I was wrong about something on the Halo specs. There is not Overall grahpics setting. I confused it with model detail which is on highest. FSSA is off, and lighting is meduim

 

sorry, I didn't see that the firsat post made a second page, Which is why there is a near duplicate one

 

Well, I'm glad you asked!

I'm on a 15 inch Powerbook with 512MB RAM (i have another 512 stick right here, PB has two slots, but I can't find a screwdriver ), whatever the basic videocard is (I didn't upgrade), and 1.5GHZ.

WoW runs perfectly. I get about 22 frames/sec if I'm in a busy area, but I'm usually at about 30-35, which is smooth. While it's obviously not as good as my desktop, the only thing I miss out on are small effects like the sun reflecting off the sand on the beach and stuff.

Oh, I run it at the highest resolution I can, 1280*854. I've even hooked up an external 19 inch monitor, put WoW in windowed mode on that, and done other stuff in my main window. No problems at all.

 

Any Ibook owners tried Sims 2? Just curious how it runs with the Radeon 9550 32MB is all.

 

shup up stantroy you rick barstard

 

Huh?

But in any case. My be they are used to playing games on crappy resolutions, and low settings. It is a mac, they haven't been the leaders in gaming technology.

 

I don't play games on low settings on my iBook

 

It should be able to run basically preety much anything on medium EXCEPT like doom 3, and fear and stuff.

on mine, Halo works preety well actuaolly on Medium with no lag, and h omeworld 2 runs smoothely.