Anyone game on a Macbook Pro?

I traditionally keep a desktop for gaming and a laptop for mobile productivity, but I notice that the 15.4" Macbook Pro, being only .4 pounds heavier than the Macbook, seems to blend horsepower and mobility rather well.

I am prospecting over settling on one laptop in the future instead of keeping both computing platforms, with the plan of getting a new laptop every two years, so I am wondering if such a plan would be feasible in terms of keeping up with modern gaming.

 

yes, but u shud wait for the refresh coming soon as it will include new more powerful stuff. and yes, u should generally upgrade every 2-3 yrs. esp. if u game.

 

A laptop wont last very long when it comes to gaming. right now a macbook pro comes with a Geforce 8600 GPU i think which is quite okay for games today but i dont think it will be able to run that many games in the future. Lets say 2-3 years from now.

I would at least get a laptop with a Geforce 9700 or above if u want it to last "long"

 

I game on it, and it's fine for modern games (30 fps+ usually at pretty respectable settings), however in 2 years you may need to kick things into low-medium. Of course, there will always be the console ports you can play on high.

 

But what if I plan to get a new Macbook Pro every 2 to 3 years, like I previously said?

 

I play CoD4 on high with most of the settings on at 1440x900 and get an average of 40-50 fps online. I could drive it up to 1680x1050 but then I have to set it to medium and turn some of the settings off. It is an alright gaming laptop but a $600 desktop can outperform it. If you like to game, I would rather get a macbook for the move and a cheap but powerful desktop for gaming.

 

Ohh if that, than you should be perfectly fine with a macbook Pro.

I will however remind you that the Geforce 9 series has just arrived on the portable market so i guess you will soon see a Macbook Pro with a Geforce 9 card which runs better than the older 8600.

If i were u i would wait for that. They will probably put a 9600 card in it, so it wont be that much faster though but it will run colder. Many of the 8600 cards gets VERY hot.

 

new macbook pros are coming with updated hardware in about a week or two, and those should run even crysis, so do wait a bit and check it out then

 

^how do you know that?

 

Probably speculating.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXlejyKD1_Y

Hehe

 

I suddenly want crysis lol

 

Seems to run okay now, if you got the Triple C pack it would look and perform a lot better!

I want my laptop already!

 

The MBP's a decent gaming machine, it just runs on the hot side. Don't expect any "lap-top" gaming.

 

and i suppose that 17" will be even better?

 

I can't wait to see what kind of GPU they put in the next one. Hopefully a 256bit card.

But yeah, I game on my Macbook Pro, but if you really want one, this is the worst time to get one. They're at the end of the cycle.

 

the problem with gaming on a mac are the choices. I prefer pc's for everything but espicially for gaming. There are just more options.

but if you have the games you want then go for it, mac's aren't bad, just not my cup of tea. i do agree with the fact that an upgrade will be necessary in 2 years.

 

Well, you can always install windows on it to play anything you want... actually seems like there's more options than a standard windows PC when it comes to software.

 

are u serious?

 

The macbook pro is pretty much on par with my dell and it will do games OK, but is by no means a gaming rig. Granted I play games just fine, but I couldnt play crysis on any setting that would be fun and since the 8600 is from last year you already 1 year into the usability of the card. Personally if you are set on a macbook pro I would say wait for the refresh so the mid level card they will put in it will have a full life span, rather then buy into last years card..

 

Can I get more info on the new line of macpros? cause my friend just ordered the current macpro 2 days ago. And I'd like ot tell him more about cancelling it and looking forward to the new ones.

 

Apple usually stays hush hush until they show it off or release it. So there really is no info.

 

8600m GT is well over a year old now. It plays new releases well, most at high at 1280x800. Even Crysis plays great if you eliminate the advanced effects. Very few games in the next year or so WON'T run on the 8600m GT. That being said, at this point, if you can get an 9700m or higher GPU, go for it.

Personally, I bought my Vostro 1500 last September. It's 1 year anniversary is coming up. I don't see any forthcoming games that I want to play that won't run well on it at 1280x800 with med to high settings. I'll probably consider upgrading this time next year, unless something substantial comes along that just won't run well with the 8600m GT.

Main games I look forward to are (in no particular order):

Fallout 3
Starcraft 2
Space Siege
Red Alert 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky
Crysis Warhead
Far Cry 2
Project Origin
Battlefield Heroes
Huxley
End War
Battle of Britain
H.A.W.X. (Tom Clancy)

All of which show promise to run well on the 8600m GT. I think that will be enough to keep me entertained for the next year or so.

 

I game exclusively on my Macbook Pro 15 inch (BootCamp Vista). It runs everything I have purchased (including Crysis, Supreme Commander, etc) at 1440x900 no sweat. I stick around 30 FPS because I am fine with that, if you want 60FPS and such in games like Crysis you need to get a laptop with a high-end 8800m GTX style card and a willingness to tweak settings.

Otherwise, the MBP is a VERY capable mid-range gaming laptop, scoring as high or higher than any other 8600m GT GDDR3 equipped laptop.

Games like WoW, etc, will play at 60FPS in most cases. I'd recommend waiting for the next GPU refresh if possible. Though the new models include a 512MB version of the 8600m GT GDDR3 card, I'm sure they have something at least 20-30% faster waiting for the next revision.

 

doesn't it get uncomfortably hot playing games for extended time? or is it pretty similar to xps M1530? need to decide whether to take advantage of MBP discount w/ ipod before sept

 

Yeah it does get hot, so you won't want to actually have it on your lap playing Crysis for 3 hours.

But if you put it on your desk or whatever, maybe even a cooler, it's no problem at all...