The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    whats a better gaming machine? sony z or MBP?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Lt.Glare, Jul 22, 2009.

  1. Lt.Glare

    Lt.Glare Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    171
    Messages:
    500
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    if the sony Z590 was:
    P8600 intel (2.4 ghz)
    4gb ram ddr3
    250gb hdd 5400rpm
    geforce 9300gs 256mb no shared
    1600x900 screen

    and the macbook pro was:
    P8600
    4gb ddr3
    250gb
    geforce 9400 shared ram
    1280x800
     
  2. sniper_sung

    sniper_sung Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    66
    Messages:
    611
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would say they are pretty much similar in performance. 9300 outperforms in "latency sensitive" graphics computations, while 9400 outperforms in "bandwidth sensitive" graphics computations. If you compare their performance on notebookcheck.net, you could see they are about the same.

    If you like the light-weight then choose Z; If you like the sanity of OS then choose MBP.
     
  3. xprohx

    xprohx Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    114
    Messages:
    666
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Really? I would think the Z with its own dedicated GPU and ram be a better performer. But I don't game much on either machine.
     
  4. InspecterJones

    InspecterJones Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    221
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would say Z cause there are games available from other publishers besides Blizzard.
     
  5. happypants

    happypants Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Overall, I would say the Z.

    Especially since most games are available for windows and if you buy a mbp, your most likely going to be running windows through bootcamp or a virtual machine, which both have some drawbacks compared to windows on a PC.

    A pro for the Z would be the resolution and the screen, looks awesome in person. But I felt the Z wasn't as solid as say a mbp in build quality.

    If your going to be mostly gaming, I wouldn't get the apple.
     
  6. Jparity

    Jparity Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    473
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Forgive me for saying this, but neither I would say...

    If you have to decide between the two, I would say the Z, just because of the limitations of OS X.
     
  7. InspecterJones

    InspecterJones Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    221
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would agree and disagree with you. I would never declare a Z as a gaming machine, but it does play games, and to some extend quite decently considering its size and weight.

    If I can launch games like ANNO 1404 and play without issue its good enough for me on the road.
     
  8. mark6614

    mark6614 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Definitely the Sony.
     
  9. Qeuqeu

    Qeuqeu Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    44
    Messages:
    248
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Definitely the sony... SR =D
     
  10. raiderlax27

    raiderlax27 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    71
    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The sony is better for gaming, with the Mac you would have to either be restricted to Mac platform games or use bootcamp. The Z is better but if your not set on Sony or Mac you may find better 13" notebooks out there for you
     
  11. Miyabi

    Miyabi Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    33
    Messages:
    356
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    This is list of games i play with Z:
    1. Left 4 Dead at Native Resolution, Medium setting.
    2. Dead Space 800x600 , Low
    3. The Last Remnant , 800x600 aspect at 16:9, Low settings.
    4. Street Fighter 4 on Intel HD4500 , 800x600 High Bg and Charac, Low other setting. *can actually set to better setting if running on NVIDIA*
    5. Race Driver GRID, 800x600 aspect at 16:9, Ultra Low with Custom setting.
    6. Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 800x600 aspect at 16:9, Low settings.
    7. Call of Duty 5 : World at War 800x600, Low settings.
    8. Burnout Paradise, 800x600 aspect at 16:9, Low to Standard settings.
    9. Pro Evo Soccer (Winning Eleven) 2009 on Intel HD4500, 1024x760 aspect at 16:9, Medium settings
    10 HAWX on Intel HD4500, Native Resolution, Low setting.

    Temperature Operating:
    CPU: avg 70 ~ 75
    GPU: avg 80, max 82 ~ 85

    just sharing what ive played so far on Z. the switchable really helpful while on the go.

    kinda off topic, but if you do play games alot, certainly go with Windows OS machine.
     
  12. Rachel

    Rachel Busy Bee

    Reputations:
    1,369
    Messages:
    4,245
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    106
    It has been discussed that the Z with the 1366x768 was actually generally better at gaming than the model with the higher res.

    You need to look at the temps and heat of the 9400M in Bootcamp whilst gaming. I've read that the 9300GS in the Z runs a bit higher than some people would like when they're gaming. The 9400M is an integrated card but Bootcamp is not a native environment and Apple lack when it comes to power management for Windows. I have read that W7 is a bit better in regards to power management but it is still not ideal. If you don't mind booting into Bootcamp regularly it could be an option.
    In course in terms of heat in Windows the advantage will go to the Z in stamina mode but you don't use that for gaming.

    The 9300GS GDRR3 version benchmarks at about over 2000 in 3DMark 06. Take a look at this post. In some games the 9400M will benefit from these strengths. However, though in terms of advantages the 9300GS does have some advantages as well. They are both fairly low end cards.

    This thread looks at gaming in MacOSX/Bootcamp.

    The SR is really the one to go for if you want to do a bit of gaming. However, depending on what you intend to play the 9300GS could meet your needs.
     
  13. Czez

    Czez Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    5
    Messages:
    72
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    A lot of people has also reported a huge gain in performance when switching to modified video drivers on the Z, I would recommend doing the same if you plan on playing some games. If you do, 1366x768 will be available for 1600x900 users as well as some other low res 16:9 resolutions.

    I recommend Nautis drivers if you havnt seen them yet:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5093917&postcount=460
     
  14. Phil

    Phil Retired

    Reputations:
    4,415
    Messages:
    17,036
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    Both perform about the same with games.

    You'd be better of with Sony SR4 or Toshibe U500. They come with ATI 4570 which is roughly twice as powerful as Nvidia 9300/9400.
     
  15. Lt.Glare

    Lt.Glare Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    171
    Messages:
    500
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks for the laptop suggestions, but all i want to compare is the Z vs the MBP 13".

    Boot camp is no issue for me, I don't mind booting to windows to play games, actually id prefer it because that way i can keep that partition lean, and use OSX for surfing and photo editing.

    One thing ive been tangling with is the fact that the 9300gs struggles to play most games at the native 1600x900 res. This is using the nautis drivers, which did help a lot I might add. playing at a lower res on games doesnt look too good though. Whereas the MBP is 1280x800, looks a tad better since its native res, and wouldn't struggle as much at the lower res.

    Main reasons im look at the MBP is because im getting mighty sick with reloading windows once a year (yeah i know you can prevent that, but its still a pain), and i have a lot of photos i go through, and iphoto and imovie are awesome (so yes, software reasons).

    But I also go to lan parties semi often, the most intense game we play is Left 4 Dead, but from the Z ive gotten used to the lowest settings and I dont mind it that much. It averages at 30fps. I also play war 3 (pathetically small requirements by today's hardware) and UT 2k4 (almost same performance as left 4 dead).

    I just want to know whether the performance will be the same, or far worse. Also are there any modded drivers for the 9400m?