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8600M GT 256 Blow My expectations?

djinn

djinn

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 4, 2003
1,867
415
I'm currently on a MBP 2.33ghz as listed in my sig. The only game I pretty much play is WOW and disappointed with the performance in OSX and Windows. I know this isn't a gaming laptop but it seems the game runs sluggish, lags (not bandwidth related).

I was just curious if the 8600M GT 256 would improve my gaming experience to a level that would make me appreciate purchasing a new MBP.

Also, does Bootcamp 1.3 support the new MBP?
 
Depends...

I have the 2.2 SR MBP w/ the 8600M and I've run into problems due to the 8600M being so new. Namely, Civ 4 crashes often and has gotten to the point where it's essentially unplayable (this is brought up in a thread of mine in this section). I assume that Aspyr needs to patch the game before it'll work properly. My guess is that other games may or may not have the same problems, but that it'll take a patch to take full advantage of the 8600M. But, as I said, this is just a guess.

From what I saw on Civ 4, it's pretty good. Obviously won't beat the pants off a workstation, but noticeably better than the X1600.

I'd say talk to someone who plays them in Boot Camp or wait until these games start getting patched (assuming other games have the same problems) . If you're not going to use Boot Camp, then it looks to me like you'll have to wait until they're patched anyway before they become anywhere near reliable, if they're anything like Civ 4.
 
A 2.4GHz MacBook Pro would certainly offer improved performance over your current 2.33GHz MacBook Pro. But I am surprised that you find WoW to be so sluggish on your system. :)
 
Lol? I play on a 1,67 ghz powerbook G4 with 2 gb ram and the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 mb gfx card. I don't think the game is sluggish at all. I play at 1680 x 1050 on an external monitor at medium settings and get constant 15 - 20 fps, even during raids. I guess this game should fly on your machine. Could this be an issue with your internet connection or something else apart from your machine? I just can't believe that WoW runs sluggish on a 2,33 ghz mbp when it runs ok on my system.
 
djinn said:
I was just curious if the 8600M GT 256 would improve my gaming experience to a level that would make me appreciate purchasing a new MBP.
Click to expand...
No, it wouldn't.

A 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo and Radeon X1600 with 2 gigs of RAM (your MBP) shouldn't have any issues with WoW. My older gaming PC had a crappier processor (Athlon64 3000), less RAM (1.5 GB), and a roughly equivalent video card (GeForce 6600GT) than your MBP, and it ran the game with max settings (sans multisampling) at 1680x1050 resolution, and it stayed at 60 FPS pretty much constantly. I would try to discover what's holding WoW back on your system rather than looking to buy a new one.
 
WoW under OS X on my 2.4 is just absolutely amazing. There are a couple of jumpy bits at first while it loads off the HDD, but then it's smooth as butter. I didn't see framerates drop below 40fps all night, and frequently had them in the 70s.

My experience was considerably better than I believe the MBP with the ATI card provided, given what I've heard. I'm incredibly impressed!
 
applekid said:
Just proof of how Apple sucks at writing drivers for the nVidia GPU.
Click to expand...

Please don't make stuff up. Its ridiculous to say that apple writes the drivers.
It's nvidia who DOES. Apple may help a little but they write nothing.

So please before posting, read and think.
 
Xeem said:
No, it wouldn't.

A 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo and Radeon X1600 with 2 gigs of RAM (your MBP) shouldn't have any issues with WoW. My older gaming PC had a crappier processor (Athlon64 3000), less RAM (1.5 GB), and a roughly equivalent video card (GeForce 6600GT) than your MBP, and it ran the game with max settings (sans multisampling) at 1680x1050 resolution, and it stayed at 60 FPS pretty much constantly. I would try to discover what's holding WoW back on your system rather than looking to buy a new one.
Click to expand...

Another reason why I wouldn't mind getting a new one is I might be quitting my job which means no more discounts, 10%. I'm just worried about getting one of thes MBP with the bad display etc..
 
senc01a said:
Please don't make stuff up. Its ridiculous to say that apple writes the drivers.
It's nvidia who DOES. Apple may help a little but they write nothing.

So please before posting, read and think.
Click to expand...

No, that's how the nVidia-Apple partnership goes. Check ATI's website. Mac drivers are easily available, by ATI. Check nVidia's website. Nope. Check their support page. They tell you Apple is responsible for hardware and software.

So please before posting, read and think.
 
applekid said:
No, that's how the nVidia-Apple partnership goes. Check ATI's website. Mac drivers are easily available, by ATI. Check nVidia's website. Nope. Check their support page. They tell you Apple is responsible for hardware and software.

So please before posting, read and think.
Click to expand...

Can't we all just get along?

For the most part most laptop vendors create and tweak the drivers themselves. Example is Dell laptops... Without having a hacked .inf file you can't install the latest and greatest drives off the nvidia website. You have to download from dells website. So I can see why computer manf. want to get their hands on the drivers and tweak them before releasing them.
 
djinn said:
Can't we all just get along?

For the most part most laptop vendors create and tweak the drivers themselves. Example is Dell laptops... Without having a hacked .inf file you can't install the latest and greatest drives off the nvidia website. You have to download from dells website. So I can see why computer manf. want to get their hands on the drivers and tweak them before releasing them.
Click to expand...

I've read that. I think Alienware added some functions to their GPUs with similar modifications. To a certain extent, you can probably put that in the same category as the underclocking Apple does. I don't remember anything about those affecting performance though or disabling important functions in DirectX or OpenGL (although it does make the manufacturer responsible for any driver upgrades) compared to how Apple has to write drives from almost the ground up.

We can all get along. I just don't appreciate that poster's audacity to say "Please don't make stuff up..."
 
applekid said:
No, that's how the nVidia-Apple partnership goes. Check ATI's website. Mac drivers are easily available, by ATI. Check nVidia's website. Nope. Check their support page. They tell you Apple is responsible for hardware and software.

So please before posting, read and think.
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. ATI and Nvidia typically do not support ANY mobile device drivers; they send you to the vendor to get them. If you note the AMD/ATI site only has drivers for the desktop cards not for the x1600 in the MBP.

I hope Apple keeps the Nvidia drivers up to date because it makes a huge difference especially with Nvidia constantly updating the new 8x00 series drivers.

EDIT>>>I stand corrected. After looking more at the ATI site I found the drivers for the MBP!

That is even better than my Acer laptop. The mobility drivers refuse to install on my Acer laptop with an x700 and tell me to go to the vendor. WTG AMD.
 
7600GT should completely smoke X1600 despite similar hardware specs and even 7300GT is doing great too against X1600 with inferior hardware specs:
http://www.barefeats.com/imcd4.html

So 8600M GT should be fast...

Just a note saying X1600 doesn't run WoW all that spectacular, you need to turn off all multisampling/full screen glow etc and it still sometimes dips below 30fps. But it's great compared to what it was before multithreaded opengl, or previous hardware before this generation of hardware...

(WoW runs somewhat slower in outlands btw, or at least did when TBC came out. Haven't compared anymore.)
 
It seems after patch 2.1 the performance with Macs and even PCs has been impacted. I know on my Dell XPS in outlands there are memory leaks everywhere; 60fps down to 8fps within 30 secs.

I know the x1600 is a great card but when Nvidia and Apple get those drivers out, it should be solid. I'm still tossing the idea of going and just upgrading my 2.33ghz since I might be leaving my job, which allows me to get the discounts. Just don't know yet. Maybe get the upgrade and give my parents my 2.33ghz or whatever.
 
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