There aren't any changes that Apple made that would contribute to a lot less heat. The GPU is much more powerful than the X1600 (and note that the X1600 in your first gen MBP was dramatically underclocked compared to the C2D MBP's X1600 even), the CPU's are just faster versions of the same line, and I don't think the switch to LED-backlighting would affect the heat generated in the internal chassis, really.
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How much graphical performance does the new MBP have over the old one?
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There aren't any changes that Apple made that would contribute to a lot less heat. The GPU is much more powerful than the X1600 (and note that the X1600 in your first gen MBP was dramatically underclocked compared to the C2D MBP's X1600 even), the CPU's are just faster versions of the same line, and I don't think the switch to LED-backlighting would affect the heat generated in the internal chassis, really.
It's a huge difference. The 8600GT is a solid mid range GPU today. The x1600 was a low end GPU a *year* ago, let alone now. It should be several times more powerful (depending on the game, the CPU used, RAM, etc.-other stuff can bottleneck it).
I don't think the current 8600M is really pushing itself in WoW. It's strange... seems like for the hour I was farming in Netherstorm the highest it would push the FPS was 30 and lock itself there. I got a full 60FPS in Ironforge, though.
The fans kept rather quiet the whole hour I was playing. They were audible, but nowhere near previous levels of MBP madness.
The fans kept rather quiet the whole hour I was playing. They were audible, but nowhere near previous levels of MBP madness.
I am looking to buy my very first Mac in the next few days/weeks. It will mainly be used for surfing, home office, video editing and photo editing from my SLR. Not a big gamer but like the occassional bit of stress relief 
. Will I suffer in any of these areas if I choose the 128MB version of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card over the 256MB version?
. Will I suffer in any of these areas if I choose the 128MB version of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card over the 256MB version?
It sounds like you have vertical sync turned on. Uncheck the vsync box in your graphics settings to unleash the full potential of your nvidia chipset.
And then report back the increase please.
I don't see how you can say the X1600 was a low end GPU a year ago. The X1600 and the GeForce 7600/7700 were all solid mid-range cards, and essentially about as powerful as you could get in a 15" laptop (the GeForce 7700 wasn't THAT much more powerful than an X1600/GF7600).
The low end GPU's of a year ago were things like the X1300/X1400 and GeForce 7300 and GeForce 7400. The X1600 was always a mid-range card.
The x1600's price was in the same league as the 7600GT, but not it's performance. Anandtech rated it as unacceptable over a year ago for game use.
No, it wasn't. ATi just tried to pass it off as that. They finally did release a massively beefed up x1600 variant for desktops that was competitive, but they basically had to double the hardware in it to do that, and it was basically a year late (and it was the only "x1600" series card that was any good).
What's the source for that? In benchmarks the mobility X1600 always seemed very close to the GeForce Go 7600 (synthetic benchmarks and in-game benchmarks).
-Zadillo
The X1600 (RV530) was replaced by the X1700 (RV535) towards the end of 2006. Performance for the two parts is similar (from what I can tell). But yeah it was a mid range enthusiast card (I believe was the term).
Within the first hour of getting my MBP last night the first thing I proceeded to do was install xp sp2 pro so I could install some games and test the benchmarks. Unfortunately there are a handful of drivers currently not supported in the new MBP's.
Yea, never underestimate the power of nerds. Har har. ;p
I am looking to buy my very first Mac in the next few days/weeks. It will mainly be used for surfing, home office, video editing and photo editing from my SLR. Not a big gamer but like the occassional bit of stress relief
From what you've mentioned, sounds like you'd be fine with the base 15' MBP.
There's benchmarks all over the place. Anandtech's probably the best or one of the bests.
The x1600 is more like a Geforce 6600 series in performance. It would have been great a few years back, but is no longer mid range since the release of the Geforce 7xx0 line a few years back.
OK, I'm sorry, but this is total BS.
Check out this extensive thread comparing the GeForce 7600 and X1600:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=74146
The performance of the Mobility X1600 and GeForce Go 7600 are very close to each other. This is easily seen in a variety of head-to-head comparisons in different games with different settings.
This 10-page thread concludes with the conclusion that the two cards are very similar to each other in performance.
The idea that the X1600 is only on par with the geForce 6600 is laughable. Seriously, where are you getting your info?
WoW on the new MBP would perform just great.
Either way, it would perform much better than the T61. Especially the T61 with X3100 graphics; but even if you got the one with the Quadro NV140M, it would be better (the quadro in the t61 is on par performance wise with the GeForce 8400M, and the 8600M GT in the MBP is much more powerful than that).
I don't have to "prove" anything. Anadntech. Tom's Hardware. Go there if you actually want to see how they perform.
I can't believe you're seriously trying to claim the x1600 series is on par with the 7600 series
The X1600 is on par with the 7600. I wouldn't put it up against the 7600 GT though.I don't have to "prove" anything. Anadntech. Tom's Hardware. Go there if you actually want to see how they perform.
I can't believe you're seriously trying to claim the x1600 series is on par with the 7600 series
I believe these are the correct models:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=737&model2=717&chart=318
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=737&model2=717&chart=318
I don't have to "prove" anything. Anadntech. Tom's Hardware. Go there if you actually want to see how they perform.
I can't believe you're seriously trying to claim the x1600 series is on par with the 7600 series
Umm, this is like common knowledge. I just gave you a 10-page thread with people doing benchmarks and discussing the two cards, and the conclusion of the notebook experts there was that they were almost identical.
I just searched at Anandtech and didn't see anything about the Mobility X1600 other than a "first look" article from December 2005. I didn't see any head to head comparisons of the Mobility X1600 and the GeForce Go 7600.
I checked TomsHardware and I didn't see anything either.
Again, the proof is all here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=74146
Actual gaming benchmarks, a variety of different engines, detailed results.
No-one has disputed those results, and everyone agrees the Mobility X1600 and GeForce Go 7600 are very similar in performance.
I don't know what the heck you're talking about, but I don't see any evidence for your claim that the GeForce Go 7600 blows away the Mobility X1600.
So seriously, back up your claims if you're really sure.
-zadillo
Yes, it is. Which is why your assertions are so amusing :lol:
Well it's right there. One location was already linked for you
Do you work for AMD or something? Will you please tell us how much more powerful the Athlon 64 is over Core 2?
Yes, it is. Which is why your assertions are so amusing :lol:
Well it's right there. One location was already linked for you
Do you work for AMD or something? Will you please tell us how much more powerful the Athlon 64 is over Core 2?
No it isn't. The VGA Charts from tomshardware just posted are comparisons of the desktop X1600 and desktop 7600GS.
This whole discussion is about the Mobility X1600 vs. the GeForce Go 7600. And I have already shown you benchmarks and a discussion among notebook experts that shows them to be similar.
So again, what are you talking about? Where is your proof that the MOBILITY X1600 is so inferior to the GeForce Go 7600?
And no, I don't work for AMD. In fact, if anything, I'm an NVidia fan, which is why I'm glad Apple has the 8600M GT in the MBP now.
But this idea that the Mobility X1600 is on par with the GeForce Go 6600 is just ridiculous and unsupported.
I have not seen any evidence that the Mobility X1600 is significantly different in performance from the GeForce Go 7600.
If I didn't know better I'd think you were talking about the desktop cards (especially since you seemed to think the link posted above was relevant to this discussion).
-Zadillo