New Macbook Pro - 128MB of vram worth the extra?

I'm looking at buying one of the new Macbook Pros, now that they finally have a decent video chip in there. Now, I don't really care about the extra 0.2Ghz or 40GB of storage, but the 128mb of vram... 256 is fine for me, but I think 128MB is pushing it.

I would like to ask, has anyone had any experience with this? Will the amount of vram there make any difference? The fact that it's gddr3 is awesome, but 128 seems really scarce. However, paying 600 dollars (Canadian) for 128 MB of memory also seems ridiculous. If only Apple offered me the option of just upgrading that one component...

 

Dont worry, there is almost no difference between 128 and 256 vram. And the ATI X1600 chip uses hypermemory, so you should only be looking at 2 Gigs of ram.

 

I was actually referencing the Macbook Pros that were updated today, with the 8600 GT, not the X1600.

 

If you're gonna be playing newer games, it's probably worth it. Also, if money is no object, then go for it. However, if money is an issue, then you probably need to be looking elsewhere since there are cheaper computers with hotter hardware. I'm trying to justify this, myself, but I keep thinking that I should get a Macbook/cheaper consumer pc laptop and just dump the extra cash into a real gaming machine (with an 8800gtx). I know this is NOTEBOOKreview, but you gotta weigh all your options carefully, even if that means skimping on the laptop and investing in the desktop...

 

the 128mb should do quite well. I have the 128mb x1600, and I got just under 1,600 in 3dmark06. I'd expect the 128mb 8600 GT to get up around 2,000-2,500. That will get you pretty far as the current games go. The extra 128mb would get you closer to 3,000. All in all, I don't think it's really worth it. For the price you get an awesome laptop that won't break, and will do everything you need it to.

 

I've actually been looking at other notebooks; the problem seems to be that the vram in them is gddr2 instead of gddr3; and if the early benchmarks of the G1s versus other, gddr2 sporting notebooks are valid, then this makes a HUGE difference - even though the G1s has only 512MB video memory.

 

No it doesn't.

 

what are you using your computer for? should always be the first question.

games? why are you buying a mac?

video production? get the 256mb model, it is worth it if you can afford it, so is the fastest processor (programs like Motion, After effects etc. can used whatever you can throw at it)

photos/photoshop? get the 128mb model and spend the extra on RAM

basic computer use? answer should be obvious

anything else let me know and I will give an answer.

 

I read somewhere on this forum that you'll see a 10-15% gap in performance going from 128mb to 256.

IMHO I think you should just stick to gaming on a desktop because you'lll want the best experience and performance but hey if you really want that notebook go ahead if you got the dough.

 

Well, when it was the X1600, the 128MB difference wasn't worth it because the X1600 was just powerful enough to need more than 128MB of VRAM. For the 8600GT, it can definitely make use of 256MB of VRAM (although not 512MB). That said, going to the next model is not "worth it" because $500 USD is a big price difference. If you do plan on gaming quite a bit, you will notice the difference so it isn't as easy a choice as on the previous MBP (where the higher end 15.4" wasn't worth it).

On the GDDR2 vs GDDR3 debate, Apple is using GDDR3. They seem to skimp on the amount of VRAM, but they don't skimp on the quality. The previous MBP actually used GDDR3 rated at 700MHz (same as used in the desktop X1950Pro) even though they only ran it at 445MHz. It costs more, but they probably use it for the power and heat advantage by using high-speed memory and downclocking it versus lower-speed memory at it's limits.

 

i thought using the 256mb version of the 8600m gt would be considered skimping out but 128mb, this really disappointing. the real problem is that not only is it 128mb apple also have a tendency to underclock cards, making it even weaker, i guess we'll see when the figures come out.

 

I hope people start to realize that "macs can't game" is no longer valid. There may be better price/performance Windows-only machines out there, but people who post this kind of question here usually want to buy a Mac AND do some sort of gaming, either native or through Windows, or they would use another forum.

As for the question itself, it really depends on which kind of games you plan to run. Games such as Oblivion will take advantage of that extra memory. And more and more games will come that need 256MB to display all eye-candy. OTOH, perhaps you just want to play some older or less demanding games like HL2/CSS, most DOOM3-engine based games - which should run great since they're OpenGL - and so the extra 128MB is not that important. But I'd say that since gaming is obviously of some importance to you, you will at some point of time, possibly during your MBP life, want to play at least one game that will make good use of that extra VRAM. So consider it carefully.

 

I have also been wondering what MBP to get for the same reason. I was wondering if anyone has any 3dmark scores comparing 128 vs. 256mb versions. I know 3dmark isn't the only thing to look at, however it does use a standard which is always helpful.

The initial results on the 256mb card (seen in another thread) are impressive.