MacBook Pro 15", A good gaming choice?

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Macbook Pro 2012; Intel i5, Intel HD 4000, 500gb HDD, 13'' screen
I know MacBook aren't the best for gaming. But I've been thinking, and it caught my attention that a refurbished MacBook Pro 15" with the i7 2720QM (2.2GHZ) would only cost me $1869 which isn't a bad deal at all. However, I have a few concerns that might just be a problem:

The first problem I see is heat. Hopefully it doesn't get hot when running basic task like Office 2011 or email. Gaming would obviously cause the temps to be raised. Does this laptop get abnormally hot when doing basic task?

The next problem I see is weight. I will be carrying this around the college campus with me and I will need to set it on my lap for classes. Will it be to heavy to put on ones' lap?

And finally is performance. I will not be needing this laptop for photo editing or iMovie at all. I mainly want to use it to run a few late gaming titles. For someone who has this laptop, is it necessary to get the i7 2820QM (2.3GHZ) and the better screen? (Antiglare and Higher Res).

These are the specs as follows;

Originally released February 2011
i7 Quad Core (2720QM @ 2.2GHZ)
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M

Thanks for reading and a special thanks to those who reply :)
 
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A macbook pro in any configuration is really not the best choice for gaming.

Will it run high end games? Sure, but the performance will not be great and on high settings they have a tendency to overheat....
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
A macbook pro in any configuration is really not the best choice for gaming.

I'll agree with that.

on high settings they have a tendency to overheat....

I'll totally disagree with that. They do not tend to overheat.

Overheat implies that it would run hotter than it was designed to be run. That is just simply not the case. Is it going to get hot while stressing the CPU and/or GPU, most definitely. Is it going to overheat, which would cause the machine to shut down on it's own before any damage is done? Definitely not.
 
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Too many...
I'll agree with that.



I'll totally disagree with that. They do not tend to overheat.

Overheat implies that it would run hotter than it was designed to be run. That is just simply not the case. Is it going to get hot while stressing the CPU and/or GPU, most definitely. Is it going to overheat, which would cause the machine to shut down on it's own before any damage is done? Definitely not.

I second this!
 
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13MBP 2.4GHz Duo, 4 GB DDR3, Geforce 320M, 250GB HD
Those specs will be fine for games, not the best but it will work. What games will you be playing?
 
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17inch MBP, core i7 2.2ghz, AMD Radeon HD 6750M, 8gb ddr3 ram, matt display
Macbook pro not a good gaming computer.

ok so i see that people think the new macbook pros with quad core i7 processor would handle any game and it should as would a desktop with the equivilant chip. the problem is that the mac book does not have adequate cooling for the chip soo.. the chip automatically clocks its self to prevent going over 100%. on the latest i7 17inch macbook pro (which is what i have) i see max 35% cpu usage and 99 degrees celcius on all four cores playing battlefield 3.it will run on around 30-50fps on low settings. i have a laptop cooler which does little so essentialy this is how it works

High grade processor creates more heat-computer reduces the usage to regulate temp-which means lower fps now matter how good your chips are.

If the laptop cooling reduced the temperature the processor would work harder. simple.

laptops arent so good for gaming due to form factor and cooling.
 
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I would just get an Alienware, I can play Dirt 2 and other games on my MBP but if I wanted something to play on all the time I would just go with a M14X or something like that.
 
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i would only recommend a high end laptop if you really have to have the portability. say if you were a freelance editor or media creator. a desktop is more affordable, easily upgradable and can be adapted to suit new uses. an alienware just like the mbp is marketed as if they are as good as a desktop or better but they simply are not.
 

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