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    MacBook gaming (w/ soon to be intel X3100)

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by darthc0da, Oct 30, 2007.

  1. darthc0da

    darthc0da Notebook Consultant

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    When (or if) the macbook comes out with an intel x3100, how fast will it run HL2 using crossover (the equivalent of wine). With a GMA 950, the MB gets 20 fps. Exactly how much better is the intel x3100. Also, if I get one, I'd be getting it w/ 2.0 GHZ and at least 2GB RAM.
     
    darthc0da, Oct 30, 2007
    #1
  2. system_159

    system_159 Notebook Deity

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    I don't know for sure, but I would expect it to be able to play it with decent speed on low settings. It's integrated graphics, so don't expect too much.

    Also, it's generally always better to game in a physical OS as opposed to a virtual machine(which is basically how the crossover stuff works). Boot Camp will get you much better results.
     
    system_159, Oct 30, 2007
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  3. Xander

    Xander Paranoid Android

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    Xander, Oct 30, 2007
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  4. darthc0da

    darthc0da Notebook Consultant

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    grr... well I guess i'll either fork up the money for a macbook pro or go windows. Is the macbook pro going to be updated like the macbook?
     
    darthc0da, Oct 30, 2007
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  5. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    The Macbook Pro has already been Santa Rosa-cised.
     
    Lithus, Oct 30, 2007
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  6. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    The MacBook Pro will almost for sure not be updated until early 2008, with the release of Penryn. It already is using up-to-date hardware, there's not much to update it with right now, until Penryn is released in early 2008.
     
    Sam, Oct 30, 2007
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  7. SauronMOS

    SauronMOS Notebook Evangelist

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    As a Mac owner.... I have to tell you that a MacBook Pro is not worth it for gaming. Not when you can get more video memory for less, or for the same cost as the MBP you can get a system with dual GPUs running in SLI mode.
     
    SauronMOS, Oct 31, 2007
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  8. coyoteunknown

    coyoteunknown Notebook Consultant

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    Sure, there are better notebooks out there for gaming but if his next machine MUST be a Mac his only option is an MBP. If he wants discrete graphics, at least.

    If the MacBook is updated with the Santa Rosa platform, than expect about a 300% increase in graphical performance with the X3100 compared to the 950. That's nothing to be proud of, though. After all, it's still integrated graphics which means you'll be burdening the system memory.

    The MBP can play yesterdays games with max details at native resolution perfectly fine. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, FlatOut 2 are a couple examples of games that'll play at 1440x900x32 with 4xAA/8xAF and still achieve 60FPS avg. At least on mine it will. It could probably achieve even better results if you overclock it, but I'm not looking to "double my money" at the expense of system lifespan.

    It's also capable of playing todays games, like BioShock. I could play BioShock at 1440x900x32 with AA disabled and 8xAF at an avg 20FPS. Which is still enjoyable.

    Now, that's with Boot Camp Beta 1.4 and Windows XP SP2. Since I haven't installed Leopard yet, I can't say if the performance has gained or suffered in the final version of Boot Camp.
     
    coyoteunknown, Oct 31, 2007
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