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Hesitant to play games on MBP : Some input would be great

S

soccerjoe5

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2008
125
0
Hi guys,

I have a SR 2.2Ghz MBP (the one with 128MB GPU) here that I mainly use for photography. I'm thinking of installing Windows XP for games, especially now that Fallout 3 is out. I LOVED Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics.

What I'm worried about is all these reports on the GPU breaking down on the MBPs, something to do with the thermal paste etc. I'm kind of hesitant to install and play lots of games that'd push the GPU because of that "issue".

Could you guys give me some input and thoughts on this?

Thanks.

Diego
 
Well, if you really are worried you wouldn't do any work at all on the laptop. The GPU getting hot is inevitable. It's a hot sucker no matter how you go about using the laptop.

I've got the same laptop as you, and I have had graphical glitches and problems in the past while playing some Warcraft 3, which is pretty old by now. I haven't had problems since though.

Right now, just browsing the web, my GPU core is reported at 140F, and it easily gets up to 200F while playing 3D games. When I had the glitches I mentioned, the temperature was well over 200F, like around 220F.


In my opinion, just play the games but keep the laptop on a flat, cool surface that allows for good airflow.

If you're really paranoid, get a base made of metal for it so it acts like a big heatsink, and also raises the laptop at an angle to increase airflow.

If you're extremely paranoid, you can run the games at the lowest settings to reduce stress, but what's the point of that?


Also, as far as I know, it isn't an issue with thermal paste. It's just a bad glitch/error that nvidia did while producing the chips. This is what warranties are for and hopefully you have the 3 year extended warranty.
 
socamx said:
Well, if you really are worried you wouldn't do any work at all on the laptop. The GPU getting hot is inevitable. It's a hot sucker no matter how you go about using the laptop.

I've got the same laptop as you, and I have had graphical glitches and problems in the past while playing some Warcraft 3, which is pretty old by now. I haven't had problems since though.

Right now, just browsing the web, my GPU core is reported at 140F, and it easily gets up to 200F while playing 3D games. When I had the glitches I mentioned, the temperature was well over 200F, like around 220F.


In my opinion, just play the games but keep the laptop on a flat, cool surface that allows for good airflow.

If you're really paranoid, get a base made of metal for it so it acts like a big heatsink, and also raises the laptop at an angle to increase airflow.

If you're extremely paranoid, you can run the games at the lowest settings to reduce stress, but what's the point of that?


Also, as far as I know, it isn't an issue with thermal paste. It's just a bad glitch/error that nvidia did while producing the chips. This is what warranties are for and hopefully you have the 3 year extended warranty.
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy. I'm also quite worried of losing my photos. I don't have the cash right now to get additional backup drives.

But oh well! I'll just get the extended warranty and hope things don't conk out. Thanks for the vote of confidence, I was just really worried with all those reports on the Nvidia thing.
 
It's silly to not use something because you're afraid to break it. Take the car out of the garage so to speak..
 
I just played Team Fortress 2 all afternoon and it just plays very smoothly (Santa Rosa MBP). I play numerous games (Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament, FEAR, etc) and it all works perfectly well. I take my MBP to lanparties and people are amazed how smooth it plays. The new MBP must be even better :) And when I was serving and playing UT on the LAN, people got better ping times playing on my game than with an UT on a dedicated windoze server. I've been gaming regularly on it for about 1.5 years, so just go ahead, works like a charm. It does run warm / hot, but that's normal and the MBP can handle it. No worries...
 
No problem. It's easy to get paranoid over stuff like this. Just remember that it is a laptop after all and heat is a issue with them. It has cramped spaces inside so keep it well ventilated while playing games.

I would definitely save some cash up soon though for a backup drive, even if it is only big enough to store your photos.
If something did go wrong and you had to send it to Apple, there is a risk (small one) that they may wipe the HD or give you a completely new laptop without your data as part of the repair process. Every time I've given a computer to the Genius Bar, they give me that warning. Hasn't happened to me yet though.

At least invest in some DVD-Rs and backup in parts onto them, if you really don't wanna lose the photos.
 
Definitely wasn't the best analogy. If I were to use the car analogy I'd liken it to a defect in the windshield being a parallel to the GPU. As you're driving it suddenly goes all black. So unless you're psychic or have one hell of a GPS unit, say good night.
 
socamx said:
Definitely wasn't the best analogy. If I were to use the car analogy I'd liken it to a defect in the windshield being a parallel to the GPU. As you're driving it suddenly goes all black. So unless you're psychic or have one hell of a GPS unit, say good night.
Click to expand...

Haha nice analogy there.

Anyway thanks socamx, much appreciated!
 
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