Gaming: MBP + External Monitor

[answer348]

I posted this on the gaming forum too, but this forum seems to get a lot more traffic:

I have a Late '08 15" MBP (2.4Ghz), and I'm wondering what resolution will be manageable for gaming on an external monitor. Can it handle 1920 x 1080, or should I play it safe and buy a monitor with a lower resolution?

I'm not playing Crysis or anything super intense, just MMOs. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[fcamilleri]

it should be able to, since MMO's aren't that graphically intensive in the first place.

Just remember, for best results, use your monitor's NATIVE resolution or something lower with the same aspect ratio. Going higher is a waste.

 

[Unprocessed1]

I posted this on the gaming forum too, but this forum seems to get a lot more traffic:

I have a Late '08 15" MBP (2.4Ghz), and I'm wondering what resolution will be manageable for gaming on an external monitor. Can it handle 1920 x 1080, or should I play it safe and buy a monitor with a lower resolution?

I'm not playing Crysis or anything super intense, just MMOs. Any advice is appreciated.

All depends on the monitor and its size and supported resolutions. The MBP will def be able to handle a 1080p monitor.

 

[answer348]

My main concern would be the laptop struggling to power such a high resolution without completely overheating or lowering my gaming fps. I guess then I'm asking if the visual improvement of 1920x1080 vs. 1680x1050 would be worth the potentially decreased performance.

 

[Freyqq]

it is hard to say without you telling us what mmo you want to play, as they all have different requirements. All I can say is that I have an older model with a 8600GT and only 128 of vram and I can play most modern games except crysis at 1920x1200 with medium-ish settings at about 20-30 fps. A 9600GT with 256 ram would be faster by at least 20% I'd think. Note that I said modern games, like Quake Wars (in vista/bootcamp). Also, bootcamp/vista/xp fps are going to be probably about 50% higher b\c osx isn't terribly great in the game department.

 

[answer348]

it is hard to say without you telling us what mmo you want to play, as they all have different requirements. All I can say is that I have an older model with a 8600GT and only 128 of vram and I can play most modern games except crysis at 1920x1200 with medium-ish settings at about 20-30 fps. A 9600GT with 256 ram would be faster by at least 20% I'd think. Note that I said modern games, like Quake Wars (in vista/bootcamp). Also, bootcamp/vista/xp fps are going to be probably about 50% higher b\c osx isn't terribly great in the game department.

Lord of the Rings Online would be the current game of choice. I currently play it on max settings on XP.