2011 Macbook Pro 15(2635QM 2.00GHz & HD 6490M) Gaming/Graphics Review

I have the base model 2011 MBP 15, Model MC721LL/A, specs:

Intel Core i7 2635QM 2GHz/2.9GHz
AMD Radeon HD 6490M 256MB DDR5
4GB DDR3 1066MHz Memory
500GB Toshiba MK5065GSXF 5400RPM

3DMark tests were performed with the stock Apple video driver.

Remember with Macbook's, the fan speed is 2000rpm until the CPU and GPU hit around 80C. So, in the game tests, after the fans hit 5500RPM, the temps stayed below 90C.

Idle Temps



Temps While Under Average Load(8+ Tabs in Chrome, Some YouTube, WinRar, WinISO, etc.)



3DMark06 Score and Temps



3DMark11 Score and Temps



FurMark Temps(15 Minutes or so)



Call Of Duty Black Ops: FPS & Temps.



Medal Of Honor 2010: FPS & Temps.(I ran it at 1440x900, medium settings)



Prime95 Temps and Turbo Speed(15 Minutes or so, no throttling)



WEI: 5.7

 

Are you going to try and overclock the 6490?

Us 6750 users have had a lot of lot using ATI tray tool. Most of us are getting great clocks whilst undervolting (default 600/800 @ 1v OC 780/950 @ 0.955v)

 

nice review. i also have same laptop

 

Nice choice but the laptop not so much.
Should of uped it one more so you could get more vram.
256m is okay.
512 is perfect
1gb is ideal
2gb great for extreme resolutions and textures.
You will really struggle in black ops starcraft or really any game if you go beyond medium texture and high AA or multisampling

 

more memory won't help the 6490 much anyway, it's balanced for mid level settings and low/no AA. even with 2 GB of graphics memory, it would still struggle with high textures or AA, so there's no point.

also, if it's a good choice, "but the laptop not so much", then what is the good choice? No idea.

 

Is this 2.0 quad core model? I guess the 2.9 ghz means it can go to that much processor power using 2 cores.

Hmm I don't see that much difference in firefox. Even if we can blame the video card for that, then still photoshop start up is also slow under lion.

 

yes its the 2ghz model. The 2635qm is a different socket from the 2630qm, thus the 5 in the end

 

I'm not keeping this Macbook, I just found it at a pretty low price and had to buy it.

I'll try to get the gaming benchmarks up today.

 

Call of Duty Black Ops Temps and FPS added to the original post.

 

Not talking about the card cards in general bud
Also the on with the 6750 is a big upgrade

Also to the poster

Thats not good temps at all very bad!

 

Medal of Honor FPS and temps added!

 

Hmm, is there a good tutorial?

I noticed from the GPU-z screen shot, that the HD6490M will use some of the system memory, as needed.

 

This thing is hardly a gaming machine. Not to mention the poor resolutions offered on the monitor. Any substantial FPS come from the fact that its not HD or high resolution. Mac + Gaming = Fail

 

Who said it was a gaming machine?

For 720p and 900p it can run mainstream games perfectly. Is 900p too low for you?

It is HD or high resolution, 1440x900.

I don't play Black Ops every day, or even every week, so I really don't need a gaming machine with a high powered GPU. This laptop is perfect for people like me, I play a few times a month.

Also, the next model up comes with an HD6750M, which is roughly twice as fast.

 

Depends, I only play Blizzard/Valve/Strategy on the PC, everything else console and a mac works great for my limited gaming. The biggest problem is having to go into Windows for some games.

900p is fine on a 15" screen. My cousin had a 1080p screen on his G51 and he complained about it. He didn't need a 1080p screen at 15" but he had to run games at lower detail because of it. Starcraft 2 looks better on my 15" screen then his 15" screen at 1080p because screen resolution is not the only (or the best) way to judge a screen.

If you ask me the 900p screen is actually an advantage, I can play games at higher settings and they look just as good if not better then somebody with a 1080p screen.

The MBP screen outclasses the screen on like the Asus gaming laptops in everything but resolution. To me thats more important but to each their own.

The higher res on the 15" seems to work better for multi tasking rather then gaming, or maybe its just me. I do have the 6750m model (which you should get if you want to play games because the GPU is twice as powerful). Now don't buy a mac if the only thing you want to do is game. But if you want to do other things, price isn't your #1 issue, and you want a lighter more portable machine, then a Mac is a solid choice. The Samsung 7 series is another solid choice. It didn't exist when I bought my computer, back when I bought my computer I don't think a single computer existed that gave everything the MBP did for me. The only thing the 7 series doesn't have is Apple Store customer support and OSX.

 

Wow not too bad.
Guess some people do game on the MBP.

 

It hit 100C for maybe 20 seconds, then the fans sped up to full speed and it didn't go over 95C after. If it's not throttling, it's OK.

 

Holy cow, people actually play that game?!

Just kidding, thanks for the informative posts.

 

Lol, I have 63 hours on BO MP, 133 on JC2, and 3 hours on MoH MP.

 

Hello,

I am running the same system setup that you were when you posted this original thread except I have a Samsung 830 256gb SSD and 8gb ram. I am in need of overclocking the GPU for gaming (skyrim, COD, etc). I haven't had much success with ATI tools - either of them - because I have not overclocked before. Would you be able to recommend a program, clocks, and temps that you set yours at? Thank you!

 

An overclock isn't going to do you much good since you're limited by the amount of vRAM your GPU has (256 MB, I believe). I'll never understand Apple's motivation for putting such a weak sauce GPU in those machines since they eventually went with a 6750M in the base model when the line was freshened in late 2011.

 

Well from what I've read from different folks with this machine, a modest overclock, combined with a slight voltage reduction can provide the necessary performance boost to get a more playable fps at higher gameplay qualities. Unfortunately, I bought mine shortly before those updates came out, not to mention the superior cards that are in the Macbook Pro's now. I just want to make sure that I use the right program with the right adjustments, hoping someone has tested it out.