MBP 13" or MBA 13" for gaming?

I have a MBP 13" with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory that I am using for work and playing COD and MoH along with Battlefield. I like the option of being able to adding ram and upgrading my HDD on my MBP that I have now.

What I am asking is what is the major difference between the MBP 13" and the MBA 11" besides the shape, weight and screen size? If I max out my ram on the MBP will it help me with gaming?

 

If I'm not mistaken, the MBA uses intel hd 3000 integrated graphics. Your 9400m in your mbp13 will stomp on intel igp for gaming purposes. The MBA is designed for long battery life, and thinness for portability. Your mbp13 is going to outperform a MBA, because it uses a real processor instead of a low voltage one.

So in short, even if there was a MBA refresh, your mbp would still stomp on it when it comes to gaming.

 

I hear now and then on these forums that the MBA is better for gaming. But I am trying to clarify that.

 

first... an Intel HD 3000 is about twice as fast as a Geforce 9400... the Geforce cannot keep up.

Second, the Macbook Air has a Geforce 320m, which is right around the same performance as a Intel HD 3000 in OSX, though the Geforce outperforms it in Windows gaming benchmarks most of the time, but they are pretty close.

 

My bad, I'm no mac expert. I remember a discussion thread about gaming on intel hd 3000; it was around 320m~ performance, sometimes 330m, sometimes lower. So the OP's mbp is loosing in gpu performance.

Still, the low voltage processor of the MBA is going to be a bottlecap on performance.

Also, the MBA, being so thin, probably has smaller fans and I doubt it would be able to adequately cool under stress of gaming.

 

while it does have a weaker processor, it has no problems keeping itself cool.

The Geforce 320m and the Intel HD 3000 both cannot compete with the Geforce 330m though.

The current Macbook Air would play most games faster than the OPs older Macbook Pro, but not by a tremendous amount, but it would be noticeable... I'd wait for a Sandy Bridge MBA.

 

I agree with this...if you're going to buy a new Mac, get a Sandy Bridge...

 

Not really looking right now to buy a new Mac. I was just thinking of getting a used MBA So do you think that I should just keep the MBP that I have or would it be good to go with the MBA?

I have a offer to trade my MBP 13" for a MBA 11" late 2010 model with a 1.4ghz C2D, 320m Graphics, 2gb ram and 64gb flash. Whats your guys opinions on this? Worth the trade to do some games as stated above?

 

I had an 11" Macbook air and it would studder when outputting to my TV. If you plan on outputting to another screen, you might look into something with a little more power.

 

not looking to output to any other screen right now. I like the design of the MBA and how much lighter it is compared to the MBP

 

Not sure if this helps with your decision, but my 11" Air Ultimate played Assassin's Creed 2 very poorly on the OSX side, even with all settings on low. Just for kicks, I reinstalled it through Steam on my Win7 32 bit Bootcamp and I was amazed how smooth it played on all the highest settings and native resolution. I played for 30 minutes straight without slowdown.

 

OK, Now I really didnt get a definitive answer on this. I have a new offer to trade my MBP 13" with my specs listed prior for a 2010 MBA 13" 1.86ghz, 2gb, 128gb SSD and 320M graphics.

My concern is how much better over all one is then the other and battery longevity along with heat issues. I am not concerned with the Optical Drive or the firewire port.

Anyone help me on this one???

 

I'll spare you the "you shouldn't really consider a mac for gaming" lecture, and tell you my experience with the 320m...

yes, it will perform better than your previous specs. It largely depends on what games you run, however, most will run a mix of med/high settings quite well. Some of the top games it runs very well are: Black Ops, Mass Effect 2, both Dragon Age games,, Starcraft 2 Bad Company 2.

but you must keep in mind, the best performance will be through windows in boot camp.. and both machines get rather hot, so you will either want to consider an external cooling solution for long hours of play or just be careful.
Granted, although they get really hot, generally the temps are much higher than you'd think before any real damage occurs. Just use a fan monitor while gaming, like smcfancontrol.

And it will definitely eat up your battery life if you are playing in windows. Try to keep it plugged in. Overall longevity though? I don't think there's anything to worry about as long as you calibrate your battery when you should.

That said, if you really feel you must get this trade in deal right now, you will probably be satisfied with the MBA. Aesthetically it is very appealing and you will probably notice a performance increase with things like the SSD. It would be better to go for the 4GB MBA if you are going to do any gaming at all, though, but it would probably be better to wait on the new one.

 

Such a hard decision, that's the reason your not getting a lot of feedback. I personally say the MacBook pro. I would personally post your budget because if your looking to spend $700, that's one thing but if you can spend $900-$1000 that's a totally different story...

 

As for the trade, Id definitely take the 2nd offer.

 

If you're interested in gaming, do not wait for the Sandy Bridge refresh. I've seen reviews of two laptops so far with the i5-2537M, which is the Sandy Bridge ULV chip likely to be in the base model MBA 13. They are the Samsung 900X and Thinkpad Edge E220 and both had dismal gaming performance.

For gaming on a 13" Mac, your best bet is a 2010 MBP 13. The HD3000 is no match for the 320M for running Windows games. And forget about running games under OS X with these machines.