Thinking about getting a macbook, how are they for gaming?

Any of the NVIDIA drivers on Laptopvideo2go 179+ works for the Macbooks.

As well, you can also download the Nvidia System Tools which comes with drivers. This system tools allows for CPU and GPU overclocking on both the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

 

gaming performance would be less on mac os/x environment, but i have no clude to how much it dropped

 

Yes it would "h", so a lotof people dual boot with windows.

 

Yeah, I'm running 179.48 just fine on my Aluminum Macbook. No glitches, or hiccups yet.

 

Well, I just got RTW and Medieval 2: Total War, and been playing around with them. RTW plays great with all settings on high, however M2TW gets a little choppy in large battles (especially with those at a settlement), so I think it should play fine on medium settings.
Considering M2TW came out in 2006, I think that's not bad at all for integrated graphics.
Also that's while running with one core disabled, enabling both might yield a bit more performance.

 

hey ,i see you have a macbook white 2009 model. Im wondering what frame rates u get while playing crysis warhead. i know on alu macbook with similar specifications u get about 20 fps on average., so its playable. But the memory on white macbook is ddr2 vs the ddr3 on alu macbook, so im wondering if theres a difference.

 

Aren't some of the mac compatible games pretty decent on mac, like WC3, and WC3 TFT

 

I don't play Crysis, or any new games for that matter. The newest game I play is Medievel 2. There shouldn't be too much of a difference between DDR2 and DDR3, however. Even a 1% or 2% difference would only mean 1 or 2 fps more for every 100 fps. Think about it, if someone is only getting 20 fps in one game, even an extra 5% performance increase would only mean an increase of 1 fps.

 

the most graphic intensive game I've run on OSX is Oblivion... and it actually runs rather decently for being a Windows version running in Cider... definitely good enough to not have to worry about rebooting into Windows to play.... but I'm not the gamer type that has to play all the latest games, I don't play many, just like to find ones I like and stick with them for a long time...

plus its fun for me to mess with Wine, Darwine, Crossover, and Cider and get Windows games working without Windows.... but its not for the technically challenged...

 

it is actually ~500 points in 3d mark.white gets 1500,alu gets ~2k

 

warcraft 3 and WoW will run great.

team fortress 2 will run alright. not great.

 

I think i was supposed to say that laptop video to go does not offer drivers for mac OS X.

 

Is the difference really that big between the two types of ram? *Frowns at White 2009 Macbook*

If only I had the money to go unibody

 

If it wasn't for the initial issues with the unibody (slanted keys, loose battery cover, poor screens) I definitely would have gone for the unibody. I wonder how many of those issues have been corrected by Apple now.

 

I never had any of those issues. Perhaps it's because it's a Pro.
Sorry, You should have gotten the unibody.

 

Yup! The pro models are not affected with these problems.

 

I haven't really had any of those problems on my Macbook. Although, when I went to replace my battery and put the cover back on, it was not completely flush with the rest of the body. Some slight 5min repositioning of the cover fixed the problem, so no harm done.

 

Glad it worked out for you!1

 

Ok so everyone that is saying that the macbook cannot run games well, or at all...youre wrong...

I have tested out all sorts of games on mine with Win7. And you can play Fallout 3 with medium settings, which is still great and no hickups. Farcry 2 plays at medium settings.

Pretty much any game with great graphics will run at medium settings. WoW plays great, but I dont even play it to care.

 

surprising enough, I think the macbook will run games rather well. I recently started playing Oblivion again with a Cider wrapper taken from City of Heroes Ciderized package (so I could run it without Windows), and it actually runs really good.

I have a MBP, but I was playing it awhile, with decent graphics options, with good frame rates... before I realized I forgot to switch graphics back to the 9600, it was still running on the 9400... as good as it was running a Cider version of Oblivion (which takes a hit over a true native version), I find it to be a good GPU for low to mid-ranged graphical stuff... and probably performs even better if you boot directly into Windows and play.

I prefer playing my Windows games through Cider, or Wine, or Crossover Games... and not running Windows. Second choice is running them in Windows in VMware and not rebooting... VMware has gotten pretty good recently for 3D graphics... not quite as fast as Cider/Wine route, but decently playable at low settings for many games. Anything beats having to boot into Windows to play... I'd rather have a 10% to 50% drop in graphics than have to boot into Windows...

 

what temps did you get?

 

Does that mean you recommend it for serious gamers? And will it match your coming M17 in performance?

The Macbook runs games, but is NOT for gaming. That's what is being said.

 

That's true It's not for serious-graphic gamers, but can definitely be good for the occasional weekend gamer.

 

depends how you define serious gamers.... I'm serious about my games... but i don't care about the graphic detail level in most cases. High end video cards are something that serious high-graphic-liker gamers need.. not all serious gamers.

 

Yeah, serious gamers could mean they play the game/games 24/7, but it doesn't mean they care about the graphic detail.

 

As long as you don't intend to play Crysis and some of the newer fps games at high detials then you should be fine.

 

Yeah, a lesser demanding game and not Crysis will get better FPS. Although I have tried Crysis on my Macbook, and I have to say, it's better than I thought it would be.

 

If you have some idea of how to manage your notebook and how to manage and watch temperatures then the MB/MBP are fine for gaming imo.

 

I think a good way of defining a gaming computer as one that can play the same games on counsels like the xbox360 but at higher settings and resolutions. In that case I would not consider the macbook pro a gaming computer. I do think that allot of people underrate the power of older cards like the 9600m gt, saying that those lower-end cards are horrible for gaming, however even though its mem bus is only 128bit, it can still play most games made a year or two ago at medium detail. However why play pc games on a mac when you would get a much better gaming experience on a counsel ( sure there are pc only games, but if your a pc gamer you should invest in a gaming pc )? Because the mac cannot play games like Gears of war, GTA IV, COD 5, noticeable better than the counsel can. So I think a "Gaming computer" is a computer that is worth playing on instead of a counsel like the ps3/xbox 360.

 

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I disagree, I think it is completely up to the user to define what is a gaming computer to them or not. Does the owner want to sacrifice portability, battery life for just pure gaming power? Or does he want a mix of both? If he is satisfied with playing games at medium settings then that laptop is the right gaming computer for him. If you can play the games that you want at the settings the laptop offers and you are pleased with it then that is the perfect gaming computer for you.

 

Yes but that's also like the saying the macbook pro is a good laptop for professional 3d cad / DCC. Yes you can run photoshop/maya/video editing decently. But by no means is it a solution for professionals requiring huge power of a mobile workstation computer. I think its the same with gaming. An $1000 gaming designed pc is more powerfully than the $2000 mbp (+$100 for windows), you lose the portability, build quality, OS X, looks, apple support, packaged software advantages with a mac, but if your a gamer you acomplish more than you would on the mac for much less. Which is why I personally don't think the macbook pro can be labeled in the "Gaming PC" category, more of a entertainment/multi-media form-factor notebook. It plays games decently but apple has not aimed it at being a gaming computer or has targeted gamers.

 

Yes but you are labeling a gaming computer as something that can play the newest game at the highest settings? Shouldn't that be something that the buyer of the laptop decide for himself? If the OP plans on playing L4D, WoW, Wc3 and wants portability and build quality then it is the perfect gaming computer for him because it suits his need. And by your logic then, any gaming laptop would not be considered "gaming" because of the fact that any desktop of the same amount would blow it out of the water.

 

I guess my point is that the Macbook Pro is not advertised as a gaming computer. I don't think playing WoW or Wc3 makes you a PC gamer enthusiast. The "Gaming Laptop" is kind of a niche market but it does exist. Things like sager and alienware are Gaming Laptops because its written all over their websites. Apple however rarely advertises the gaming abilities of their computer, maybe a tiny bit when showing the improvements of the gpu over previous models. But you can't say the the Macbook Pro's largest group of users is gamers, or even the Macbook Pro is targeted at gamers at all. It will play games, but that's because its already a very high class notebook. Any notebook above $2000 will play games decently, and that doesn't mean they are all gaming computers.

 

I'm a casual gamer and the macbook pro satiesfies my needs perfectly. I love it and will always love it, though it tends to get a little hot.

 

You could try to reset the SMC, and see if that cools it off.