How Will the Unibody MacBook Pro Do With Upcoming Games?

So I'm wanting to upgrade to a different computer- something other than my unibody MacBook, and I'm either gonna go with the MacBook Air, since I'll be lugging it around college all day, or the MacBook Pro, since I'll be gaming (once I've finished studying, of course ).

So, does anyone know how the MBP 9600M GT might hold up for future games like COD: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Halo 3 (if it's ever released) and so on?

And also, another question. My current aluminum MacBook has the 9400M, same as the Rev. B MacBook Air, but I read somewhere that the card in the MacBook Air is downclocked, making it significantly less powerful than the one in the regular MacBook- is this true, and if so, does it make a huge performance difference? If not, I might want to just run Left 4 Dead, Halo 2, etc. on the MBA, and then buy an Xbox 360 for heavier gaming.

Thanks for any help!

 

The 9600M GT is a very solid card. MW2, L4D2 and the such can probably be played at medium settings. The only games that might cause trouble for it in the future are probably games running on the CryEngine 3. For now, the 9600M GT will do just fine

 

I envy you contemplating purchasing such expensive laptops and gaming consoles. But also pity you for deciding macs over pc's.

 

I have had 25 years+ of PC`s and have bought a uMacbook Pro for a change, it`s going to be a totally new experience and i can still run Windows Games in Bootcamp.

 

not great. you'll have to settle for medium-high settings and low resolution (1280*800) for new games.

 

I know the MBP will max out L4D pretty easily. Saw my friend do it on his MBP. Expect any decent multiplatform title to run pretty nicely, unless you go crazy with the resolution and AA or something

 

He's asking for L4D2, not L4D

 

Oh, well I don't expect the graphics intensity to change one bit considering devs are fondling the 360 constantly.

 

Yeah yeah, I'm a Mac guy, I'll say it right now, so let's just stay away from another pointless Mac vs. PC debate.

That is good to know, and yes, I wouldn't be needing to play the newer games on max settings.

Anyone know about the issue with the MacBook Air 9400m being slower than the MacBook 9400m?

And also, kind of off topic, but how would an HD4650 compare to the 9600M GT (I'm assuming it's more powerful ).

Thanks for the help guys.

 

I'm sure the MB Air's 9400M is clocked slower due to heat and perhaps battery life, which would make sense as it's processor is a lower clocked C2D as compared to other Macbooks. The HD4650 is better than the 9600M typically assuming the 4650 has GDDR3, which in many cases it does not. If it does, there is alot of potential that the 9600M simply could not compete with.

 

its an old card... if you want to game with a Macbook (pro) your always best to buy a brand new one right after a graphics card update in them.... cuz they wait awhile between updates, then updating to something thats pretty good for the time they first release it, then let it lag behind a year or two.

 

it will play l4d and l4d2 alrite.. but that is because it based upon an aging engine (albeit an awesome one). as for modern warfare 2, that is where you will run into trouble trying to run it on high(ish) settings at a decent res.

Stick with a console for gaming if you are going to get a MB

 

Hmm, that's interesting, I just never realized that the MacBook Air CPU/GPU were clocked so much lower- I always assumed the Rev. B MacBook Air was about on par with the unibody MacBook.

So the HD4650 would do pretty well with newer titles like Modern Warfare 2, etc. (or at least much better than the 9600)?

 

Also, one other question (sorry about all of them ):

How does the 9600M GT compare to a 128MB 8600M GT? Just curious, as that's what I used to have in my old MacBook Pro.

And thanks again for all the help guys.

 

To be honest I think Macs are fantastic machines.The only thing I dont like is how they charge $2500 for the macbook pro and you only get a 9600M GT.Getting a mac is not the best option(atleast for me, I'm not speaking for everyone) when I can get dual 4850s or a single GTX 280M for $500 less.In terms of everthing other than gaming, I certainly wouldn't mind a mac.

Oh, a 9600M GT 512MB vs a 8600M GT 128MB?Did he really ask that question?I think we all know the answer.(not trying to be harsh)

 

Sorry, but no joke, I'm not really a hardware expert. Anyone mind answering it for me (and any other hardware-challenged)?

 

Depending on what the memory interface is on each(GDDR2, DDR2, or GDDR3), it could go either way. Assuming they're both the same memory interface though, the 9600M GT will be better by a fair margin.