Clarification of MacBook Pro & ATI's x1600

I was checking out the MacBook Pro on the official website and was surprised to find out that you get an option of x1600 with 128mb gddr3 or x1600 with 256mb gddr3. I thought that there is only one x1600 (256mb hypermemory 512mb). Can anyone clarify this? Plus it's ddr3, is that only for Mac?

 

X1600's in notebooks such as the Asus S96J and the Acer TM8204 have GDDR3.

The mbp is not a gaming platform, bootcamp or not. The 256MB card is standard on it as far as I know. The mpbs video card is underclocked, so it will not have the performance of a PC.

 

The cheapest 15" MacBook Pro has a 128MB X1600, and the more expensive MBP and 17" models have 256MB X1600's.

From what I've read at onmac.net, it sounds like the X1600's in MBP's are significantly underclocked (presumably for heat and/or power usage reasons), but it seems like people haven't had much trouble "overclocking" it back to standard clock levels on par with Acer, etc.

I'm a bit confused, why do you say it is not a gaming platform? Clearly it's not an ideal gaming platform compared to some of the other similar laptops out there, but it sounds like plenty of people have managed to get pretty solid gaming performance on it. It seems like saying it is not a gaming platform implies that games just don't run on it at all, or that it's impossible to bring the GPU clock speeds back up to "standard".

From the stuff I've read elsewhere, it sounds like people are getting very good performance once they do clock it back to standard speeds.

 

Number one reason is because it's a mac. Don't buy one of them to game, w/ or w/o 'bootcamp'. Pretty much a rip off for what you're getting . .better performing and lower priced PCs can be had for the same purpose.

I'm unconvinced that the cooling solution is good on the mbp either. That's important if you want to play games.

 

I am a mac fan. It depends , if you're a big fan of OSX , then go with it. The lappie is solid. If you make use of iSight a lot , then MBP is for you. Its somewhat overpriced for a lappie. But again , you would need to buy a USB Mouse , as the bulit-in trackpad only supports One Mouse button. If you want to be good in both sides , MacBook Pro is for you

But if you're getting a dedicated gaming laptop/desktop replacement , then you need to get a Dell XPS series lappie

 

I would only seriously consider a MBP if you're planning on running OS X... otherwise you can get a similar specced machine, with similar build quality for a better price.

Prasys, doesn't the MBP simulate right clicking on the touchpad in a similar way to their scroll hack? I believe it's two fingers on the pad then click. It may even be available on older Powerbooks via an update.

The heat issues with the MBP may be related to a manufacturing fault. Apparently they apply thermal compound to the CPU, GPU and northbridge like Ron Jeremy applies a pearl necklace. Reapplying the thermal compound has improved temps for many users, although you do risk voiding your warranty.

 

Thanks everyone, having second thought on the macbook. I'll just get an ipod.

 

yeh, macs are just usually overpriced for what you get.

 

Well, yeah, of course. I would think it would go without saying that a MBP only makes sense if you plan on using OS X. Are there people actually recommending buying a MBP and just running Windows exclusively on it? If that was the case, then certainly I agree that would be pointless and not make any sense. But it does seem like there are plenty of people who have bought MBP's primarily because they can run OS X, but also are using them just fine as a gaming platform. So this idea that it isn't a gaming platform just because it is more expensive relative to some Windows-only laptop solutions seem like a bit of a stretch to me. It might not be an ideal gaming platform, but that doesn't mean that someone who buys it to also have some nice gaming capabilities can't get any use out of it on top of their primary use for it.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I don't currently own a Mac laptop. My current laptop (soon to be sold) is a Sony Vaio s360, and I'm probably going to replace it with an Acer, an Asus or Sony SZ (the SZ would be a no-brainer for me except that I dislike the new keyboard on them). But I've also been looking at MB's and MBP's, and they've looked pretty solid to me (and I've been keeping track of people's success with pushing the MBP GPU up to stock speeds and benchmarking them). For people that do need a MBP for OS X, but also do want the Windows side of things, they seem like pretty good deals to me, and the extra cost doesn't seem extraordinarily more expensive to me than some of the competing Asus, Acer and Sony laptops I've seen to compare it to.

 

Did you actually want or need to run OS X? If so, the MacBooks and MacBook Pros are nice (and despite the comments here, you will find people who have been able to "overclock" the MBP back to standard speeds without significant affects on heating and use it just fine for game-playing). But yeah, as I said in my previous post, if you don't care about OS X, it makes no sense to buy either of them really, since you would be paying a very hefty premium (not just the cost of the MB or MBP itself, but also the cost of a separate Windows license). Would definitely make sense to just get a standard Windows-running laptop at that point.

 

My bros mbp runs games perfectly. Although the x1600 in the mbp is undercocked, he runs bf2 flawlessly with high settings. He also runs FEAR fine, but with 1gb of ram he only gets 1450 on 3dmark06. The graphics on the mbp is pretty sweet for gaming i think.


The mbp can get really hot though, burning hot.. but with a lapcool 2 its not too bad. I am a pc lover, but i think the mbp is a very nice laptop.. the design cannot be beaten and thats for sure.

 

Ram has nothing to do with 3dm06, I also have 1gigs of ram and still got 1000 marks!! more so the fact is that x1600 in MBP sucks!deal with it

 

From everything I've read it only sucks just because it is so dramatically underclocked (a little over 300 or something). From what I've read in other forums though, people have been able to "overclock" it back to the standard speeds close to 470 or so with a pretty good deal of success, at which point it seems to hold its own with other laptops.

-Zadillo

 

The MacBook Pro X1600 card I'm told is underclocked to 350/350mhz. I have seen people overclock it to over 500/500mhz.

 

Mine had stock clocks of 310mhz core, 297mhz memory, stock 3dmark05 score of 2800-2900. You have to remember that that is still superior to the ati x700, considering its clocked so low (for lower heat output and quiter operation). After very mild overclocking to 400mhz core, 400memory I got a 3dmark05 score of 3800-3900, which I am definately impressed with. I have no need to overclock more, but surprisingly the computer doesnt get any hotter with the higher clocks. I have a 256mb x1600 by the way.

I don't know if there's any difference at all between the x1600s Apple is using and the x1600s used in the Acer and Asus machines...I think they're just clocked lower so that the chassis stays cooler, and the machine is virtually silent most of the time.

 

@ jasonck08 : not 500/500 but 510/510

 

Actually no, no they're not.

You have to look at all the extra features the Macs include, beyond just their specs. If you just go off the performance specs, yes, you can easily find a cheaper PC style alternative. However...the features that the MBP's include aren't even available on PC's. Some might offer a few, but none offer all of them. So it's not really comparable.

Also...the price difference isn't that dramatic anymore.

That said...the MBP's aren't built for gaming. However, they can perform quite well if that's just a particular use you'd like. If gaming is your primary endeavor...it's probably not the choice to make...but I've got two friends who have MBP's and use them to play games with successfully. One is even running BF2 at medium resolution. It's probably not near the level a "gamer" would want, but for someone who just casually plays at a weekly gaming night, it looks great. However...both owners bought the machines for a variety of uses. One switched to Macs, just because he knew he can run his PC games on it successfully now when he wants, and does everything else in OSX.

 

Well my friend at work has the 15'' MBP with the same ATI X1600 GPU as my W3J and at the end of a day of light use, mine is cool - warm to the touch on the palmrest, my mates MBP is very hot, I mean it relies on mostly passive heating and is much thinner so a lot of heat gets disapated though the alloy chassis, which results in hot chassis, the top of his palmrest is the same temp as the chassis under the W3J's GPU and heat sink.

I could not believe how hot it was and he said when you push it hard it heats up even more, I am sure if you OCCed the MBP you would damage it for sure.