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MBP Gaming Power..

J

jman800

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 19, 2008
163
0
Hello, not sure to get the MBP 13' i7 dual core, or the MBP 15' i7 quad core.

What are some top games the 13' can play?

Is there a large difference in gaming and experience upgrading to the 15'?


I guess im looking for the best value to game play ratio.. if you get what I mean :)

Thanks guys :D
 
I wish i could have afforded the 15-inch. But i have the 13 Core i7. It plays games like the sims 3 on med-high settings. Starcraft 2 Medium settings, Flatout 2 High Settings. Any games you would specifically like me to try? I can :) . If you have the choice go with the 15-inch, what ticks me off about the 13 is that i paid 1500 for it and it has an INTEL INTEGRATED GRAPHICS CARD! a pretty good card, close to the 320m but not quite on par. I also have run the sims 2 with all EP's in Bootcamp runs flawlessly on high settings. Need for speed hot pursuit get's 18-26 FPS in bootcamp, and Video conversion is very quick 3 hour yoga guide to iPod in 17 minutes! in h.264. If you do get the 13" then you NEED the core i7.
 
I'm pretty sure you can get some pretty good games out of the 13" top end model. With my 13" base model, I can play SC2 with high settings, except for shadows and get 35-40 fps
 
13" Macbook Pro can play games fairly ok, but it does not have a dedicated GPU like the 15" and 17" Macbook Pro's do. With a dedicated GPU, the 15" and 17" will have better performance. So if you are looking to be playing the newest games on high to ultra in bootcamp (which is certainly possible), I would recommend getting the 15" or 17". Make sure you buy the model with 1gb of dedicated Vram.
 
Blondie :) said:
I'm pretty sure you can get some pretty good games out of the 13" top end model. With my 13" base model, I can play SC2 with high settings, except for shadows and get 35-40 fps
Click to expand...

VeganHipster said:
13" Macbook Pro can play games fairly ok, but it does not have a dedicated GPU like the 15" and 17" Macbook Pro's do. With a dedicated GPU, the 15" and 17" will have better performance. So if you are looking to be playing the newest games on high to ultra in bootcamp (which is certainly possible), I would recommend getting the 15" or 17". Make sure you buy the model with 1gb of dedicated Vram.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. This is definitely what I'm looking for. Coming from the 07 MacBook, I can't play ANY newer games that come out. I sold this a week or so ago and I'll be getting a Pro or the new Air at the end of this week.

I'm excited; it will give me something to do when I'm bored at college :)
 
Honestly, if you're looking to play games only. Best bet is to go for Acer. I hate to say it, but as I always say, macs just aren't up to the standard for gaming..
 
if you want to play games but still want to buy mac, don't buy 13inch. you will regret so much. I guarantee you 100%. Intel HD 3000 isn't even match with system requirement. new games you can't play at all. but I don't think that you do buy macbook pro for gaming only. if you don't play games, any model is nice. if I were you, I won't buy macbook pro for that much money. PC gaming laptop is relatively cheaper than 15inch macbook pro, gives you 200% more horse power, and performance. I have Asus G73 laptop. I only paid $1300. it's totally beat. I can play any serious game with high or ultra setting without hip cop.
 
IMO, 13" gaming died with the Sandy Bridge update.

My late 2010 runs like a champ through most titles (with the Nvidia 320m). Even my old favorites such as Fable: The Lost Chapters run like a champ connected to my 27" ACD at native the resolution of 2560x1440 (Bioshock was a bit too much. It ran, but like a slideshow).

On the MBP 13" LCD panel, the last model held up very well even when playing Bioshock at native 1280x800. Many others ran quite well but now if you want mobile Mac gaming, the 15" or the 17" are obvious choices.
 
The 13" MacBook Pro can do some light gaming. Running Portal 2 on native res will get you medium settings with decent frame rates.
 
If you're going to be gaming on your Mac go for the 15". The 13" will run them mediocre at best and as newer games come out it just won't keep up. The 15" has the dedicated gpu which is loads better for gaming than the Intel integrated graphics crap.
 
jman800 said:
Hello, not sure to get the MBP 13' i7 dual core, or the MBP 15' i7 quad core.

What are some top games the 13' can play?

Is there a large difference in gaming and experience upgrading to the 15'?


I guess im looking for the best value to game play ratio.. if you get what I mean :)

Thanks guys :D
Click to expand...

On the 15" macbook pro you can run BFBC2, Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age 2, all the Call of Duty games, Starcraft 2, Crysis, Crysis 2, and many many more games (esp. source engine) from high to max settings on native resolution, with higher-than-playable framerates, with the exception of Crysis 2, which is ~35 FPS on Windows 7, 1680x1050 with gamer settings. This will cost you $2,000+, however if you want gaming potential, don't go with the HD3000, which appears to have lower 3D gaming ability than last year's 320m.
 
I didn't see it mentioned yet: To get the most out of gaming on your Mac, you will need to have a copy of Windows 7 to install on your Mac via bootcamp. You can pickup a system builder copy via Newegg or Fry's electronics for around $100. Installing it is a breeze. As a gamer do not waste your time using Parallels, its gaming performance cannot compete with Bootcamp.

Also, I strongly recommend having at least 8GB of ram. Games will play fine on 4GB but they will run a lot smoother on 8GB.

There is no way around it; I installed all my Mac compatible Steam games such as Portal 2 and Counter-Strike : Source on the Mac OSX partition as well as Starcraft II and I can honestly say that all those games ran twice as fast once I installed them on my Windows partition. I had to run Starcraft II at LOW settings in OSX for my Tug-O-War maps that I like to play in order to remain playable.

Once I installed them in Windows my games ran amazingly fast. I can run Starcraft II at HIGH settings and it's as smooth as butter, not to mention I could play Battlefield Bad Company 2 with all settings on HIGH, something I could not do even on my previous laptop. (My previous laptop was a Gateway FX gaming laptop with a 17" 1920x1200 Intel C2D P8400 9800m GTS 1GB Vram.)

I just purchased Mass Effect 2 and I can run the game 1920x1200 with max everything. Needless to say, I am pretty impressed with the performance of my 17" MBP's 6750m. Keep in mind you can get the same performance in a 15" as long as you get one that comes equipped with a 6750m. That will run you $2199.

The 13" is barely capable of modern let alone future gaming, don't even bother wasting your money. Many heavy hitting games won't even work with the Intel HD3000, games like Witcher 2, Rage, Skyrim, Battlefield 3.

I play a lot of games. I am a programmer in training and a gamer at heart.
I hope that some people will find this information helpful.
 
3lfk1ng said:
I didn't see it mentioned yet: To get the most out of gaming on your Mac, you will need to have a copy of Windows 7 to install on your Mac via bootcamp. You can pickup a system builder copy via Newegg or Fry's electronics for around $100. Installing it is a breeze. As a gamer do not waste your time using Parallels, its gaming performance cannot compete with Bootcamp.

Also, I strongly recommend having at least 8GB of ram. Games will play fine on 4GB but they will run a lot smoother on 8GB.

There is no way around it; I installed all my Mac compatible Steam games such as Portal 2 and Counter-Strike : Source on the Mac OSX partition as well as Starcraft II and I can honestly say that all those games ran twice as fast once I installed them on my Windows partition. I had to run Starcraft II at LOW settings in OSX for my Tug-O-War maps that I like to play in order to remain playable.

Once I installed them in Windows my games ran amazingly fast. I can run Starcraft II at HIGH settings and it's as smooth as butter, not to mention I could play Battlefield Bad Company 2 with all settings on HIGH, something I could not do even on my previous laptop. (My previous laptop was a Gateway FX gaming laptop with a 17" 1920x1200 Intel C2D P8400 9800m GTS 1GB Vram.)

I just purchased Mass Effect 2 and I can run the game 1920x1200 with max everything. Needless to say, I am pretty impressed with the performance of my 17" MBP's 6750m. Keep in mind you can get the same performance in a 15" as long as you get one that comes equipped with a 6750m. That will run you $2199.

The 13" is barely capable of modern let alone future gaming, don't even bother wasting your money. Many heavy hitting games won't even work with the Intel HD3000, games like Witcher 2, Rage, Skyrim, Battlefield 3.

I play a lot of games. I am a programmer in training and a gamer at heart.
I hope that some people will find this information helpful.
Click to expand...

Really awesome post man. I appreciate it. Good info. And really im looking between a 13 and a 15. 17 is too big for a future college student :)

However, after reading the thread I can tell the 15 would be better all around, besides the con of losing portability..
 
Hello. Not to hijack your thread or anything just didn't want to make a new one on same topic sort of.

I just got 15" MBP. 2.2ghz 1g gcard. Settings were on a lower res then 1200x800, can't remember the numbers. And I think medium settings.

Anyone know the best settings to run on this MBP?

Also should I try and get a copy of Windows to boot camp or something? (Not much experience with it.)

Any help? Thanks. :)
 
Jukes316 said:
Hello. Not to hijack your thread or anything just didn't want to make a new one on same topic sort of.

I just got 15" MBP. 2.2ghz 1g gcard. Settings were on a lower res then 1200x800, can't remember the numbers. And I think medium settings.

Anyone know the best settings to run on this MBP?

Also should I try and get a copy of Windows to boot camp or something? (Not much experience with it.)

Any help? Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

I have the same macbook pro as you and it runs starcraft better than that, you should tweak the settings yourself not just accept what it boots up at.

Some steam games boot up at 800x600 resolution but that doesnt mean its optimal for gaming.

You will gain FPS if you play in windows though.
 
I have a laptop with W7 on it. Is there any way to use that key or anything?
Or do I got to buy a new cd.

Also..what do you guys run yours on? Settings wise.
 
Jukes316 said:
I have a laptop with W7 on it. Is there any way to use that key or anything?
Or do I got to buy a new cd.

Also..what do you guys run yours on? Settings wise.
Click to expand...

Bootcamp requires a retail version as most PC manufacturers preload specific drivers and bloatwre on "restore" discs. Your best bet is to buy a OEM version via Newegg if you're looking to save a bit.
 
If you can afford it, and are a hard core gamer, a dedicated graphic card is better than a integrated card. Secondly consider what kind of games you play. Top tier demanding AAA games, the 15" MBP will play them better. I'd go for the 1GB VRAM configuration. The 13" MBP will play many/most of them at lesser settings, but you might run into a game that does not accept integrated graphics, although I can't give you an example. If you are a casual gamer who mostly plays less demanding games, the 13" MBP should be better than the 13" MB, but if I was making a purchase, I'd have to research that a little. Sounds like that is what you are doing. My wife has a 2008 MB (not MBP) and she plays tons of less demanding games on it including Spore. :)

WillEH said:
Honestly, if you're looking to play games only. Best bet is to go for Acer. I hate to say it, but as I always say, macs just aren't up to the standard for gaming..
Click to expand...

Which Acer you talking about and how much does it cost? Granted to get the best performance you have to purchase Windows7 ($60-100) and run it on Bootcamp, but the MBP is a player. Here are the MBP's tech specs and it sells for $1800 for the AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5 VRAM graphics and $2200 for the AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM. See this purchase page for a concise features list for each model of MBP.

In addition to getting the Mac OS, you only have to deal with Windows on a limited basis (gaming). I only play games on Windows. As someone who has been using Windows/Mac for the last 20 years, I can assure you, you'll be much happier primarily spending your computer time on the MacOS. Windows, even W7 has lots of bull **** and headaches associated with it that you never have to deal with on the MacOS- honest. :D

For the OP, if you really prefer Windows, go and do a side by side tech comparison. It is possible to find better tech specs on a Windows laptop at a lower price, but it won't be that much lower and you have to figure in the value of the MacOS which is a 1000 times more than it's $29 purchase price. ;) When it comes to "gaming quality" laptops, MBPs are very competitive.
 
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The discs I got actually shouldn't have any bloatware on them except maybe one Best Buy icon..I had them remove all the **** and upload just W7 since I didn't want to deal with it when I bought my other laptop.

Still buy a new retail one? I'm in no rush really.

Thanks for the response. :)
 
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