Macbook Pro 128mb vs 256mb

Will i notice a big difference between the 128mb and the 256mb version of the 8600m gt found in the macbook pro? I'm only talking about gaming performance via bootcamp with windows xp. I will not be using an external monitor, just the 1440x900 one on the macbook pro itself. I will mostly play games like team fortress 2, counter strike source, microsoft flight simulator x.

 

get the 256mb far better and future proof

 

It's not far better, but yes, it will help.

 

Twice the sugar, twice the fun they say.

 

Higher settings that require more video memory will cause trouble. Same with high resolutions. The first two games you listed will be fine. FSX will need to be very low settings...it puts the hurt on any system.

 

Doesn't the base model for the MBP come with 256mb of VRAM now?

 

fsx runs decent on my desktop maxed out, but I don't think it'll do that well on the Mbp. I was thinking about the new lowest end Mbp or the 2.2ghz refurb one on apple's own website. I am mainly thinking if its worth the price difference between the refurb and the band new mbp

 

get the 256 or 512, 128 will do fine but more is always better

 

Anyone know of any benchmarks? Real benchmarks I mean, not synthetic.

I'm wondering the exact same thing between 128 and 256MB. I'm not crazy about the MBP's design as it doesn't seem able to run at full blast without the fans having to go nuts-I'm thinking that means it's not going to last very long. But it does have LED backlighting which I want, and the price is decent right now.

I'm not even expecting it to LAST all that long based on how I use it (CPUs at max), so I'm not sure the extra $160 or so I'd have to spend to get double the video RAM would be worth it. I'm not even sure I'll run OS X on it since I hate the font rendering...

I should add that for the time being, I'd only be running games at medium resolutions, the Macbook Pro's native resolution would be the HIGHEST I'd run it at, and quite frequently I'd be at a lower 1280x1024 (and honestly I'm fine running stuff at 1024x768 or 1152x864 or whatever).

 

Most reviews say that the macbook pro is pretty durable. And i think it will last a long time.

 

I don't think it's likely to if you push it hard all the time. It SEEMS like it can't handle it, and I know of two people so far who've had it die on them quickly and repeatedly when they run it full blast. It doesn't seem designed to actually be used/pushed very hard (ie it's fine for browsing the web or using Word or something).

 

I have had no problems with mine at all, constantly on steam benchmark is in my sig.

 

Constantly on, but are you running it full blast all the time? I know of two people in real life who've burnt them out when they're run at 100%.

The fans having to run full blast alone scares me, although I guess theoretically it could be designed well enough that the fans could run like that every day for years and be okay.

 

From what I've read, the 256mb 8600 in the Merom-based MacBook Pro's only offers about a 9-10% performance increase over it's 128mb counterpart.

 

if you get one of the new penryns they run cooler than the merom's which is the one I have, also they have different fans, however I use a zalman nc1000 with my MBP and my fans hardly come on, theyre usually at 2k, but will go to about 5k after gaming in xp awhile according to everest. "full blast" according to smcfancontrol is 6k, ive run it at that for awhile but usually just dont even mess with it, if youre running it at max all the time you should expect your hardware to give out a little sooner Dont see why youd wanna run it that hard all the time for just a 3-4c difference (from what ive observed from mine)

 

my 512mb lags a little bit, so something 4x as bad will not work for anything.

 

Never heard of any of these "Early Burnouts" in my experiences. Whole family is Macbook and Macbook Pro's (except me). Pro's usually running photoshop, 3d apps and such all day long with not a problem since the 1st month they came available.

I'm thinking your friends had a bad batch? I mean it's not unheard of, luck of the draw some time. If it is a defect then you need to gather up the people who experienced the problem and sign a petition to apple or something of the sort as an early burnout for a less than "cheap" machine is unacceptable.

Just my $0.02

 

It ramps up the fans automatically when the hardware's being pushed (I haven't used one with a 45nm CPU though, just 65nm).

But I'm assuming you're not doing anything to push the hardware? These were/are running the CPUs at 100%, which I expect of any computer I buy. Apple's laptops don't seem to be built for it (though I suspect many brands aren't).