I fully intend to hit the Apple Store this evening after work and pick up one of the new 2.4 Macbooks. I know for sure that installing WoW will be one of my first moves. I also have a blackbook with the X3100 graphics, so I will be able to do a direct framerate comparison if anyone is interested the difference in performance. If anyone has any other games/programs they would like tested, let me know here and if there's a demo/free version available, I'll put it on and let you know how it goes.
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WoW and other games on new 9400M Macbook
- Thread starter bluemouse
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I'd really love to hear how Source games run, especially TF2 and HL2.
And if you have WAR, I'd like to hear about that, too...
And if you have WAR, I'd like to hear about that, too...
Sounds like you have too much money. I am interested to see what your results are nonetheless. Just test all the games you have and put up results, if anyone else gets a new macbook and has other games they can just post up their results here. 
Yarr, I'm fighting the temptation to drive down to the closest Apple store and picking up one of the new Macbooks. First thing I'd throw on it would be WoW too so I'm very curious to see how it runs. 'til now I've been playing WoW on my Powerbook G4 12", so, well, any improvement for me is going to be a huge improvement. Still, it's gonna be fun to see how much much better the new Macbooks will run in things like AV and heavy PVE.
Also: Fairfax? Cool, go to Mason myself. ^_^
Also: Fairfax? Cool, go to Mason myself. ^_^
Test Enemy Territory: Quake Wars please (in OS X). I think if that game runs we can declare the Macbook is a gaming capable machine.
Nope, but computers are about the only thing I buy for myself. I'm usually a fan of the "make it last" perspective, but I have to say I've been a little disappointed by my current Macbook. I like portability in a portable, and my laptop before the Macbook was a 12-inch Powerbook G4, which I still adore; I just need more processor than it can offer. The blackbook to me feels cheap in comparison to the nice aluminum case on the Powerbook, and I have been disappointed by the X3100 despite low expectations. Therefore, aluminum Macbook + better graphics = Day One Purchase for me.
Mattcube64, I don't plan on installing Windows so I don't think I'll be able to check any of those. I spend all my time in OSX, and I really dislike rebooting for games. Sorry for being unhelpful.
ArtHistoryMajor, I graduated from Mason about two years ago, and I'm now taking classes there again. I've had some great times, but I feel like a permanent resident of the campus at this point...
I can also run a comparison test with my 12' PB if that would be helpful to you. Mine is the last one, with the GeForce Go5200 and 786 MB of RAM.EDIT: palebluedot, if there's a free demo I'd be happy to try that out for you. Let me know if you have any particular settings you'd like me to try or specific scenarios to test.
babyjenniferLB, I'll see what I can do about those. I know that Crossover has a 7 day demo, so I should be able to handle that. That should answer some of your Source questions, mattcube64, at least as far as operation under Crossover is concerned. As for WAR, I don't know whether or not that has a free demo version and I can't find out from my work computer here.
I'd also like to know how WoW plays on the new Macbook. I mostly play that, Warhammer Online, and I'll be playing Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 when they come out.
I like playing PC games, but honestly, I don't want to pay almost an extra $1000 for the pro just to play a few games. My view is if I really need to play games, I'd buy a desktop, or just take my losses and say it's not worth the extra money just to play a few pc games. I play console games too, so I'll be able to get my gaming fix from there as well.
The only real big improvement with the Pro is the video advantages, correct? If so, I really think I'll go with the Macbook.
I like playing PC games, but honestly, I don't want to pay almost an extra $1000 for the pro just to play a few games. My view is if I really need to play games, I'd buy a desktop, or just take my losses and say it's not worth the extra money just to play a few pc games. I play console games too, so I'll be able to get my gaming fix from there as well.
The only real big improvement with the Pro is the video advantages, correct? If so, I really think I'll go with the Macbook.
Jonesy85, I'm in the same boat. The only game I play on my computer is WoW, so anything above a tolerable WoW experience is wasted on me. As far as I can tell, the only thing you gain with the Pro is screen real estate, a firewire port, and the better graphics chip, all at the cost of $700 and additional size and weight. As long as this Macbook performs well in WoW, I'm going to be very happy with it.
i was wondering about this same thing (i'm a WoW player using a powerbook g4 who is anxious to upgrade). wouldn't the extra graphics chipset in the new pro macbook help the framerate (which is my real problem with WoW)? or is that a ram thing (which you can get 4gigs of in the macbook) and the chip would only help the prettiness (which i don't care about)? if you can follow that...
I'm planning on getting a MB soon, and whilst I wasn't planning on gaming on it ('cept some Steam games like the id and Rockstar collections) it would be nice to know if TF2 runs well on it. Also planning on getting a maxed out 24" iMac for gaming in a couple of weeks too so it's no big deal if TF2 runs bad
Awesome.
I am so glad that someone is going to test out a few games with the new Macbook soon. I was waiting so goddamn long for the new Macbooks to come out that I bought a new 24 inch iMac last month instead.
I am tagging this thread for later. Let us know how WoW goes. I am actively playing this game right now.
Thanks again sir.
I am so glad that someone is going to test out a few games with the new Macbook soon. I was waiting so goddamn long for the new Macbooks to come out that I bought a new 24 inch iMac last month instead.
I am tagging this thread for later. Let us know how WoW goes. I am actively playing this game right now.
Thanks again sir.
The eagle has landed.
Alright, Macbook is in hand and the Blizzard downloader is hard at work. Says it should be about 5 or 6 hours.
My initial impressions of the computer: pure class, all the way. Everything about it feels very solid and high-quality. Bizarrely, they've almost got me feeling like I underpaid. The black-and-silver looks good in person; I would liken it to a tuxedo. Sharp and classic.
justendit, it's a matter of tradeoffs. RAM and graphics cards will affect both the prettiness and the framerate of your games; you get to choose how much of one you are willing to sacrifice for the other. That may be an oversimplification, but it's the general idea.
Alright, Macbook is in hand and the Blizzard downloader is hard at work. Says it should be about 5 or 6 hours.
My initial impressions of the computer: pure class, all the way. Everything about it feels very solid and high-quality. Bizarrely, they've almost got me feeling like I underpaid. The black-and-silver looks good in person; I would liken it to a tuxedo. Sharp and classic.
justendit, it's a matter of tradeoffs. RAM and graphics cards will affect both the prettiness and the framerate of your games; you get to choose how much of one you are willing to sacrifice for the other. That may be an oversimplification, but it's the general idea.
Its not just a "graphics card". It is the difference between having a discrete graphics card and an integrated graphics card.
I enjoy playing WoW, TF2, ET:QW, and COD 4 and all of those except WoW require a discrete graphics card to run well or at all. So if you want to play those games with passable framerates I'd say get the MBP (if your a student you can get one for 1,400 USD with the Apple Developer Network discount).
Otherwise get the MBP. I am really curious to see how it runs WoW - I wish the thread started had quake wars - I am trying to convince my nonmac friend to buy a Macbook (the MBP is too expensive for him) but he refuses since its not powerful enough to game compared to the same computer he could get on the windows side. Let us know how it runs!
I enjoy playing WoW, TF2, ET:QW, and COD 4 and all of those except WoW require a discrete graphics card to run well or at all. So if you want to play those games with passable framerates I'd say get the MBP (if your a student you can get one for 1,400 USD with the Apple Developer Network discount).
Otherwise get the MBP. I am really curious to see how it runs WoW - I wish the thread started had quake wars - I am trying to convince my nonmac friend to buy a Macbook (the MBP is too expensive for him) but he refuses since its not powerful enough to game compared to the same computer he could get on the windows side. Let us know how it runs!
I don't want to run COD4, I have that game on the Xbox 360. Anyhow the games I want to play are WoW and Diablo 3 when it comes out. That's about it for me. I'm not a diehard cpu gamer.
But those two are the ones I want to play on the go with a laptop.
But those two are the ones I want to play on the go with a laptop.
So...
Is it still d/ling? I too would really be interested if the source games ran on it but, someone else will have to test that I s'pose.
-mx
Is it still d/ling?
I too would really be interested if the source games ran on it but, someone else will have to test that I s'pose.-mx
Might run a bit harder on the GPU, with Patch 3.0.2, which has some redone graphics.
My jaw dropped at how much nicer everything looked in the game at all the settings maxed at 1920x1200 on my PC with its X1950 Pro.
My jaw dropped at how much nicer everything looked in the game at all the settings maxed at 1920x1200 on my PC with its X1950 Pro.
I want to compare this new Macbook to my iMac (2.16 with 7600GT). I would love to finally be able to replace my "desktop" with a laptop and external monitor combination... so I would only need one computer
Update:
I had to leave it downloading patches all night. That last one for Wrath is about 2 gigs... Blizzard downloader took forever! Anyway, I'm on my way out the door to head to work, but I did load WoW really quickly just to make sure that it worked. It does, and it looks pretty damn good, but I'll have to wait until I get home to see just how damn good. ReanimationLP, just anecdotally, my blackbook seemed to be running better on 3.0.2, despite noticeable graphical improvement. That is just my impression from quickly running around Ironforge, but my wife felt the same.
I had to leave it downloading patches all night. That last one for Wrath is about 2 gigs... Blizzard downloader took forever! Anyway, I'm on my way out the door to head to work, but I did load WoW really quickly just to make sure that it worked. It does, and it looks pretty damn good, but I'll have to wait until I get home to see just how damn good.
ReanimationLP, just anecdotally, my blackbook seemed to be running better on 3.0.2, despite noticeable graphical improvement. That is just my impression from quickly running around Ironforge, but my wife felt the same.
Testing WOW on new MB
Hi,
I am really looking forward your testing.
At the time I am playing WOW on my Centrino 1.6 Ghz single core with an Geforce 6200. So i am realy hoping that the new MB will perform it a little better than it is with my 6200.
Besides. I am soo sick of Windoof^^
I mean i dont think that the 9400m will be such an performance boost.. Right now I play on 1280x800 no AA/AF but everything on medium. And it runs at 15 frames which is ok to play.. If it could run the same way i would be pretty happy.
I heard that an game like WoW performs even better on an mac than it does on an Windows client? is that true??
I mean is the image quality the same?? From an optical view?
Maybe someone can say something for my case?
Thanks in forward for any answers.
And thanks too for an test with the Wow on an MB. Maybe you be even abel to make some screenshots or even an video ;-)?
Greez TOD
Hi,
I am really looking forward your testing.
At the time I am playing WOW on my Centrino 1.6 Ghz single core with an Geforce 6200. So i am realy hoping that the new MB will perform it a little better than it is with my 6200.
Besides. I am soo sick of Windoof^^
I mean i dont think that the 9400m will be such an performance boost.. Right now I play on 1280x800 no AA/AF but everything on medium. And it runs at 15 frames which is ok to play.. If it could run the same way i would be pretty happy.
I heard that an game like WoW performs even better on an mac than it does on an Windows client? is that true??
I mean is the image quality the same?? From an optical view?
Maybe someone can say something for my case?
Thanks in forward for any answers.
And thanks too for an test with the Wow on an MB. Maybe you be even abel to make some screenshots or even an video ;-)?
Greez TOD
Terror,
Well I will say this, I use an iMac, 2.13C2D with a 7600GT discreet video card backed up with 3gb of RAM. I play with everything maxed at 1900x1200 (or whatever the max is on 24"... 1920?). Anyway, I have run one full screen session just fine and 2 windowed ones in the background (both were minimal settings) and had no performance problems. In other words, I multibox on my mac.
I would love to be able to buy the new MB 2.4 and replace my iMac with a laptop and external monitor. Meaning I need tests at 1920x1200 as well. I have a feeling only a MBP is what will work but I am not paying that kind of money for ANYONE's laptop.
Oh, if you play WOW on a mac go immediately into keybindings and turn unbind all references to movie recording. Believe me, it will save you in the end
Well I will say this, I use an iMac, 2.13C2D with a 7600GT discreet video card backed up with 3gb of RAM. I play with everything maxed at 1900x1200 (or whatever the max is on 24"... 1920?). Anyway, I have run one full screen session just fine and 2 windowed ones in the background (both were minimal settings) and had no performance problems. In other words, I multibox on my mac.
I would love to be able to buy the new MB 2.4 and replace my iMac with a laptop and external monitor. Meaning I need tests at 1920x1200 as well. I have a feeling only a MBP is what will work but I am not paying that kind of money for ANYONE's laptop.
Oh, if you play WOW on a mac go immediately into keybindings and turn unbind all references to movie recording. Believe me, it will save you in the end
TOD, I can definitely do screenshots, but I'm not sure anything other than the small yellow framerate number will be very useful in them. I've never played WoW on Windows, but I don't see any reason why it should look better or worse. As long as the settings are the same, it should look the same. The few caveats I am aware of are that I hear Windows gets slightly better framerates, and something about a certain lighting effect not performing well on the Mac. I generally prefer framerate to eye candy, so I can't claim to have messed with the lighting effects very much. I don't think video would be any help to anybody; it's going to look exactly like every other video ever taken of WoW, and the act of recording video would negatively impact the framerate, making a framerate comparison invalid.