13' MBP Gaming question.

[newbiemacguy128]

Hey guys (and girls),

I have the low end 2.26ghz and 4gb RAM MBP. Since valve is going to release their games on mac soon, i was considering buying an external monitor for gaming purposes. Whats the highest resolution my MBP can handle while still producing decent FPS (at medium settings?) for valve games?

Trying to decide if a bigger screen would be worth it...or if i should just suck it up and play FPS on my 13'.

 

[MrCheeto]

I've played COD:4, Quake III Arena, Quake 4, Doom 3 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory all on my 13" MacBook Pro 2.53ghz without a problem. I've never said "golly, I wish I had a bigger screen", and that may be because games such as Doom 3 and Quake 4 only play decently in 1024x768 with shadows turned off.

It's good for gaming, try it out with the notebook's display first

 

[EnigMoiD]

Hey guys (and girls),

I have the low end 2.26ghz and 4gb RAM MBP. Since valve is going to release their games on mac soon, i was considering buying an external monitor for gaming purposes. Whats the highest resolution my MBP can handle while still producing decent FPS (at medium settings?) for valve games?

Trying to decide if a bigger screen would be worth it...or if i should just suck it up and play FPS on my 13'.

Your computer will probably be able to play any Valve game at basically max settings with above 30fps. I've played a couple of Valve games with Cider on my 13" MBP 2.53ghz, and while not all the graphical features are supported, the game still looks good and plays great with the highest resolution, AA, and graphics settings. If you're considering getting the 15 incher, you should do so for the far superior graphics card it comes with, not its screen size, but either way there's an update coming so you should wait for that.

 

[MrCheeto]

If I run at 1024x768 without shadows and anti-aliasing, I EASILY pull 60-70fps on Quake 4. I've never played anything with a Valve engine.