MacBook vs. current laptop

[shadowguy]

Hey all. Haven't posted in a while here. But heres my question.

I currently own a 2 year old Gateway M505. It is a great laptop but the casing is crap now and the battery life is horrid.
I just graduated college and got some cash. I am looking to replace my aging Gateway with a new MacBook.

Now here I pose my question.
My Gateway had a Radeon 9600 w/ 64MB of memory. This is a dated card but was good enough for low res gaming on the go. Games like BF2 and CoD2.
Now if I were to use bootcamp to run both OS X and Windows XP, would the Intel 950 be strong enough to run these games, even at 800x600?

 

[crazydreaming]

Macs are always better than PC's. haha, go with the mac


As for as your question, I really can't help you there.

 

[velocityg4]

The intel 950 should be on par at the very least with the 9600 64mb. If you go with a gig of ram, the increase in memory and processor speed should give you a boost in gaming. However, if gaming is truly important to you I would suggest the Mac Book Pro. Assuming you could swing the cost.

Warning: Rant!
By the way I understand the preference of PC gaming over console gaming. So I will not suggest a console like some people do. There is a marked difference in titles available on PC that a console does not offer. Like almost any real time strategy game. Sorry for the rant I'm just tired of hearing "If you want to game buy a console". No, I can not stand console gaming!

 

[MRU]

Warning: Rant!
By the way I understand the preference of PC gaming over console gaming. So I will not suggest a console like some people do. There is a marked difference in titles available on PC that a console does not offer. Like almost any real time strategy game. Sorry for the rant I'm just tired of hearing "If you want to game buy a console". No, I can not stand console gaming!

OK THEN

Eventually console / pc gaming will crossover - especially we now g=have consoles connected to basically monitors and running at pc resolutions. look at middle earth 2, soon be on the 360 and looks the same as its pc brother.
Just becomes a preference over mouse versus gamepad.

Just relax....


For the original poster - most games will run at reasonable settings with the GMA950, especially through windows. Mac gaming is different as things are less optimised especially for such a new graphics card structure on a mac... But I'd say you'd be grand...

 

[stonyc]

OK THEN

Eventually console / pc gaming will crossover - especially we now g=have consoles connected to basically monitors and running at pc resolutions. look at middle earth 2, soon be on the 360 and looks the same as its pc brother.
Just becomes a preference over mouse versus gamepad.

You're right that most gaming differences between consoles and Macs/PCs will come down to preference over the interface... but there are some genres (ie. first-person shooters) where the "feel" of the game is more intuitive with a mouse (again), at least for me.

I haven't played the Middle Earth series, but some of the more traditional RTS games (C&C, War/Starcraft, GalCiv, Total War, etc.) require more complicated menu systems that I just couldn't imagine navigating without a mouse/keyboard. From what I've read of the Middle Earth series, building is more restricted in terms of location and progression... so maybe a mouse isn't needed as much there. That's not to say that console games (in this case RTS and FPS games) can't be great... I still love playing Halo 1/2... but some games are better played on a PC or Mac versus a console. You could also say that the reverse is true... I really couldn't imagine playing Katamari, or even some beloved side-scrollers on a PC.

Until cross-overs become universally intuitive on both consoles and PCs/Macs, both are viable gaming platforms... some games just play better on one versus the other.

 

[gloss]

Hey all. Haven't posted in a while here. But heres my question.

I currently own a 2 year old Gateway M505. It is a great laptop but the casing is crap now and the battery life is horrid.
I just graduated college and got some cash. I am looking to replace my aging Gateway with a new MacBook.

Now here I pose my question.
My Gateway had a Radeon 9600 w/ 64MB of memory. This is a dated card but was good enough for low res gaming on the go. Games like BF2 and CoD2.
Now if I were to use bootcamp to run both OS X and Windows XP, would the Intel 950 be strong enough to run these games, even at 800x600?

I'd wager that the integrated graphics should be at least a match for a mobile 9600.

But don't quote me. See if you can look up benchmarks. I've seen mention that it's roughly equivilent to a 9600 Pro, but I don't want to get in trouble if I'm wrong.

 

[iKwick7]

Hey all. Haven't posted in a while here. But heres my question.

I currently own a 2 year old Gateway M505. It is a great laptop but the casing is crap now and the battery life is horrid.
I just graduated college and got some cash. I am looking to replace my aging Gateway with a new MacBook.

Now here I pose my question.
My Gateway had a Radeon 9600 w/ 64MB of memory. This is a dated card but was good enough for low res gaming on the go. Games like BF2 and CoD2.
Now if I were to use bootcamp to run both OS X and Windows XP, would the Intel 950 be strong enough to run these games, even at 800x600?

I'm pretty much in the same boat! I also have the m505x, AWESOME laptop, bought it the day it launched. Mine, however, is still in tip top shape- I am still getting around 4 hours of battery and my casing looks as good as the day I got it.

I haven't played a pc game in at least a year, so I am not worried about the difference in performance. However, remeber, the 505x has a MOBILITY 9600- which is quite different then a desktop 9600. I am sure that a game that runs great on the 505x will not run as good on the Macbook.

I, personally, am about to sell my m505x and my mac mini on ebay to get the Macbook.

 

[shadowguy]

I'm pretty much in the same boat! I also have the m505x, AWESOME laptop, bought it the day it launched. Mine, however, is still in tip top shape- I am still getting around 4 hours of battery and my casing looks as good as the day I got it.

I haven't played a pc game in at least a year, so I am not worried about the difference in performance. However, remeber, the 505x has a MOBILITY 9600- which is quite different then a desktop 9600. I am sure that a game that runs great on the 505x will not run as good on the Macbook.

I, personally, am about to sell my m505x and my mac mini on ebay to get the Macbook.

Funny, I also have a Mac mini. Now keep in mind that I don't game too often on my laptop.

But what I really want to know is how you managed to keep your battery life so good. My 505X is only 2 years old, but the battery is down to about 1.5-2 hours and the paint on the casing is worn, and even the pain on my mouse button has worn off from using it so much.

But if the 950 is around the same as to where I can play my games using even the lowest settings, I would be good.

 

[Arbiter]

However, remeber, the 505x has a MOBILITY 9600- which is quite different then a desktop 9600.

Good point. The Radeon Mobility 9700 for example is spec wise a desktop 9600 Radeon and not a 9700. It shares the same number of pixel/vertex shaders as the 9600 desktop.. How much does the 9600 mobility differ from the 9700 mobility? I am suspecting only a clock difference?

Thas said, the 950 is on paper and benchmarks worse than a 9600 as has been mentioned. In some cases it is much worse unfortunately. A game like COD2 will most likely run very bad.. That game is one of the most demanding games on PC.