so is there ANY way to put a video card in macbook yet?

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So i just god COD4 for my macbook and it runs OK but only on Junk settings and the cutscenes lag beyond belief. Now first of all i payed 1000 dollars for this thing in 06, only one year before COD4 came out, for the money i should get more than enough power to run COD4 on optimal settings, it only shows that the people who designed this thing were REALLY stingy. second of all the fact that there is no option to upgrade the graphics is just ridiculous. If there is ANY video card that somehow works for macbook or a way to make one work please inform me. If not then this is just adding to my list of reasons to switch back to PC, seriously for the price i paid for this i could probably buy two PCs that run both Modern Warfare games better.
 
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If you want to play games on your machine, then a higher end PC is the answer. As to your question, I've been keeping my eyes open for any kind of video card upgrade for my MBP, and so far I haven't seen anything out there.
 
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'06 Macbook has crappy intel GMA for video chip, you have your answer.

Vanilla Macbooks, although they are great notebooks for basic office/multimedia stuff, are not gaming machines. It's pretty obvious for anyone the least bit familiar with computers that you'll never be able to run any recent games at reasonable settings on them. Same could be said about PC notebooks in the same range.

Don't be mad at Apple or at your computer, just be mad at yourself for not buying the right computer for your needs.
 
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Macs are not gaming rigs. Especially a MacBook.
 

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Do you honestly expect that the time at which you purchase a machine determines what you can do with a machine? With that logic, I should be able to play Crysis because I got my machine after it was released. The fact that you're logic for purchasing a machine was based solely on monetary value and not on system specs is not Apple's fault.

And, because I would like to see this, please show me what two machines you can purchase for under $1000 (combined) that will play both Modern Warfare games.
 
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So i just god COD4 for my macbook and it runs OK but only on Junk settings and the cutscenes lag beyond belief. Now first of all i payed 1000 dollars for this thing in 06, only one year before COD4 came out, for the money i should get more than enough power to run COD4 on optimal settings, it only shows that the people who designed this thing were REALLY stingy. second of all the fact that there is no option to upgrade the graphics is just ridiculous. If there is ANY video card that somehow works for macbook or a way to make one work please inform me. If not then this is just adding to my list of reasons to switch back to PC, seriously for the price i paid for this i could probably buy two PCs that run both Modern Warfare games better.

It's really nobody's fault but you're own, it's well known that Mac's aren't strong in games, although should you choose to stick with Mac, and play games, I strongly recommend the MacBook Pro.

Mine plays COD MW 2 without any probs on medium settings...
 
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Apple already underclocks their ATI cards in the MacBook Pro's in order to deal with heat issues. I seriously doubt they'd allow users to mod their video cards in any way, shape or form. Can you imagine the idiots lining up in the Apple stores wondering why their logic boards melted ?

"But I only overclocked the thing to go 5 times faster.. It's not like it was say, 10 times faster ! " :Smirk:
 
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In what world can you change the video card on a laptop? maybe... MAYBE if it wasn't part of the board, you might be able to upgrade it... however that isn't the case in many low end laptops (re: macbook).
 
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'06 Macbook has crappy intel GMA for video chip, you have your answer.

Vanilla Macbooks, although they are great notebooks for basic office/multimedia stuff, are not gaming machines. It's pretty obvious for anyone the least bit familiar with computers that you'll never be able to run any recent games at reasonable settings on them. Same could be said about PC notebooks in the same range.

Don't be mad at Apple or at your computer, just be mad at yourself for not buying the right computer for your needs.
most PCs under 1000 can play COD4.

the good news is with some tweaking of the graphics i can get COD4 to run reasonably well without too much lag, im lucky that its a very tweak able game.
 
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Um... no... the logic board has an nvidia integrated solution soldered to it. If you wanted to play games, especially CoD, then you should have gotten a desktop, bonehead! Even so called "gaming laptops" are stupid investments, because they're laptops. At work we talk about this all the time. They have Asus machines (and some others, but Asus is the way to go) that have an NVIDIA chip with 1GB of GDR3 RAM available to them, but it's still a laptop... why don't you invest in a nice black friday special deal and get a quad core desktop with a 1GB nvidia card in it for pretty cheap. Heck, it's not even black friday yet, and best buy is selling an HP with a core 2 quad and NVIDIA with 1GB for like 550 or 600, I can't remember.
 
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most PCs under 1000 can play COD4.


That's not what you originally said though. You said you could buy TWO PCs for the price of your Mac that could play COD4 at high settings. Please show us a PC that costs $500 that lets you play COD4 with the graphics cranked up.
 
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That's not what you originally said though. You said you could buy TWO PCs for the price of your Mac that could play COD4 at high settings. Please show us a PC that costs $500 that lets you play COD4 with the graphics cranked up.

my friend had a laptop that ran MW2 quite nicely on medium settings, it was way under 1000, maybe i was exagerating with the 500 dollar thing. but what the other guy said that most PCs at the same priceline as a macbook arent capable which just not true
 

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Care to provide a make and model? What you have told us is based on anecdotal evidence and without a make and model, it's hard to believe that really cheap computers can play those games really well.
 

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Care to provide a make and model? What you have told us is based on anecdotal evidence and without a make and model, it's hard to believe that really cheap computers can play those games really well.

The truth is there aren't any. Anytime you start comparing a PC notebook to a Mac notebook and the specs for the PC are the same as or near what the Mac has, you can bet the price range is almost the same.

I've done extensive shopping around (even in military exchange outlets where prices are more competitive) and have compared top of the line Sony, HP, and Dell notebooks to a MacBook Pro. There's very little difference in price and the MBP has a nice solid aluminum body which most of the others do not have.

Regards.
 

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I think we already established that the OP exaggerated and that notebooks are not ideal for gaming. No need to continue grilling him.

If you seriously want to game make your own gaming rig. I know for sure you can make a Windows gaming rig for under 1k to play games. You can probably make one for less even, but there will be sacrifices.

There are actually notebooks where you "upgrade" the GPU. It's one of those DYI gaming notebooks, however the selection is very limiting.
 

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The truth is there aren't any. Anytime you start comparing a PC notebook to a Mac notebook and the specs for the PC are the same as or near what the Mac has, you can bet the price range is almost the same.

I've done extensive shopping around (even in military exchange outlets where prices are more competitive) and have compared top of the line Sony, HP, and Dell notebooks to a MacBook Pro. There's very little difference in price and the MBP has a nice solid aluminum body which most of the others do not have.

Regards.
I couldn't agree more. In fact, I read an article a while back comparing the 17" MBP to machines of comparable specs from other manufacturers and they were all about the same price.
 
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That's not what you originally said though. You said you could buy TWO PCs for the price of your Mac that could play COD4 at high settings. Please show us a PC that costs $500 that lets you play COD4 with the graphics cranked up.
You could easily build 2 systems around low-end Core 2 Duos and HD4870's for $500 each and they would play COD4 at any settings you want.

The truth is there aren't any. Anytime you start comparing a PC notebook to a Mac notebook and the specs for the PC are the same as or near what the Mac has, you can bet the price range is almost the same.

I've done extensive shopping around (even in military exchange outlets where prices are more competitive) and have compared top of the line Sony, HP, and Dell notebooks to a MacBook Pro. There's very little difference in price and the MBP has a nice solid aluminum body which most of the others do not have.

Regards.
The problem is Apple gives you three choices: Macbook, Macbook Air, or Macbook Pro and there is very little customization that can be done within these categories. On the PC side there are hundreds and hundreds of choices from $250 netbooks to $4000+ notebooks and they give every person the opportunity to find the perfect laptop to suit their unique needs. Apple just stuffs every computer user into one of 3 boxes and hopes their marketing campaign will allow them to continue to prey on the uninformed and stay in business.
 
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You could easily build 2 systems around low-end Core 2 Duos and HD4870's for $500 each and they would play COD4 at any settings you want.

I went ahead and put together a Core 2 Duo system with a 4870 and you're right, you can certainly build one for under $500 (without monitor) and a little over $500 with a monitor. However, all of the components were the cheapest in their respective categories. So yes, you're getting a $500 gaming rig, but you're not getting quality parts, which leads one to wonder, how long is it really going to last? How long will you be able to continue gaming before that rig dies and you'll have to replace it with another $500 rig? I'm sorry, but I'd rather spend a little more money on some quality products that will last me a long time.


The problem is Apple gives you three choices: Macbook, Macbook Air, or Macbook Pro and there is very little customization that can be done within these categories. On the PC side there are hundreds and hundreds of choices from $250 netbooks to $4000+ notebooks and they give every person the opportunity to find the perfect laptop to suit their unique needs. Apple just stuffs every computer user into one of 3 boxes and hopes their marketing campaign will allow them to continue to prey on the uninformed and stay in business.

That's not a problem, it's calling filling a need. If Macs don't fill your personal needs, then they're not for you. It has nothing to do with a marketing campaign.
 
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Way... way too many specs to list.
So buy a PC. BTW, in laptops.. even on the PC side, you ain't changin' video cards.


Oh and... uninformed :D :D :D :D :D


Funny.
 
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That's not a problem, it's calling filling a need. If Macs don't fill your personal needs, then they're not for you. It has nothing to do with a marketing campaign.
I would say around 75% of the students at my college have Macbooks (I'm sure even more would like to but can't afford it). Of these people with Macbooks I would say at least 75% of them just use their computers for taking notes, writing papers, and browsing Facebook and have no need for anything more than a $300 netbook, but Apple marketing combined with herd mentality has convinced them that it's cool to have a Mac and they're not hip if they don't. Because they're uninformed, they don't understand their options and are completely overwhelmed by the multitude of choices on the PC side so it's just easier for them to buy a Macbook.
 
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