Macbook Pro for Gaming and Audio Production?

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Sorry if this thread is in the wrong section but i couldn't see an area for 'gaming' threads.

Anyway...

I have always used PC's for gaming and music production, but they are unreliable and viruses are almost guaranteed...
I play games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, which require a pretty good system to run smoothly.

I am looking at getting the MacBook Pro;

15-inch: 2.0 GHz

* 2.0GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
* 4GB 1333MHz
* 500GB 5400-rpm1
* Intel HD Graphics 3000
* AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5

but i am unsure whether the graphics card is good enough to handle WoW graphics. And I'm skeptical about the 'Quad-core', seeing as it is only a 2.0Ghz, does the Quad-Core enhance it to a similar performace as, say, a 2.7Ghz Dual-core?

Thanks for any help you can provide :)
 

chscag

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Moved to correct forum. Does not belong in "Anything Goes".
 
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Sorry if this thread is in the wrong section but i couldn't see an area for 'gaming' threads.

Anyway...

I have always used PC's for gaming and music production, but they are unreliable and viruses are almost guaranteed...
I play games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, which require a pretty good system to run smoothly.

I am looking at getting the MacBook Pro;

15-inch: 2.0 GHz

* 2.0GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
* 4GB 1333MHz
* 500GB 5400-rpm1
* Intel HD Graphics 3000
* AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5

but i am unsure whether the graphics card is good enough to handle WoW graphics. And I'm skeptical about the 'Quad-core', seeing as it is only a 2.0Ghz, does the Quad-Core enhance it to a similar performace as, say, a 2.7Ghz Dual-core?

Thanks for any help you can provide :)

I have the 13" 2.3GHz i5(dual core) and i installed WoW and Frozen Throne just yesterday and I have no problems so far. I guess it's bigger brother would be more far greater than what i have... but if you want more power for games (despite the lack of game titles macs has) i'd go for the highend 15in model. I believe it has 2.2GHz i7 processor and a 1GB dedicated video card (despite it's an ATI make).
Bottom line, it will always be your decision to make which one to make. I just hope our recommendations help you out.
 
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13" MBP - Mid 2012 - i7 / iPad Air / iPhone 5s / ATV3
If gaming is important, I would go with the higher video card:

AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5

I have the new 13" with only the integrated Intel video. I have installed StarCraft II on it and it runs very well with good framerates but with many graphic settings turned off. It's good enough, but not spectacular.

-MikeM
 

robduckyworth


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no one covering audio production? okay ill step in.

for Audio, CPU and RAM are massively important.

your CPU will indicate how much DSP you can run (virtual instruments and FX plug ins) and the RAM will indicate how many you can have aswell.

an i5 or 7 processor will be brilliant for audio production and all the MBP range are capable of being upped to 8GB of RAM (if you ever need that much, most people can run DAWs fine with 3-4GB.)

Macs are capable of running Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Reason, Recycle, and Ableton live natively through OSX, and FL Studio, Sonar & others by using Windows through boot camp, or through any of the virtualisation programs.

the bottom end 13" pros aren't gonna be great for gaming. Dont get me wrong, it will run, but you wont get any of the brilliant anti aliasing or textures that come with newer games; youll have to run at fairly low settings due to the graphics chipset (it uses memory shared with the main system memory for a start.) if you want serious gaming potential, go for a macbook pro with a dedicated graphics card, as MikeM says.
 
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First post for me,

Yeah basically have the exact same question regarding the baseline 15 inch MBP.

Currently have a decently specc'ed Windows PC gaming rig, can run any game thrown at it, but lately the only game i seem to play is WoW. (such is the way with Azeroth, lol).

So im tossing up between getting the 13 inch baseline model, and insall WoW on crappy minimal graphics, and keep my gaming PC for more demanding WoW gaming situations.

Or to sell my gaming PC rig and use the funds ontop of the money i have saved for the baseline 15 inch model, as it offers more screen real estate, and a better gfx card.

Ive seen youtube videos of WoW performance with the 13 inch model, and although they are perfectly acceptable, i like a little bit of the settings turned up, and at the very least, a smooth framerate.

So yeah, anyones experience with the baseline 15 inch model with the 6490m can offer any suggestions/advice?. what sort of framerates can i expect with 1440 res and mid to decent graphics settings?.

Sort of getting out of play PC games, tend to play console more, but WoW is still a priority for me, otherwise my MBP is primarily going to be used for Audio Production and University.
 

robduckyworth


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what sort of framerates can i expect with 1440 res and mid to decent graphics settings?.

probably not as well as your rig. I would keep the rig for future games: much easier, and cheaper to upgrade for more power hungry games.


of course this is a guess of the hardware on your rig, which i'm assuming is pretty decent if it can "play anything you throw at it."
 
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probably not as well as your rig. I would keep the rig for future games: much easier, and cheaper to upgrade for more power hungry games.


of course this is a guess of the hardware on your rig, which i'm assuming is pretty decent if it can "play anything you throw at it."

Yeah. well put. i would prefer to just have the one computer, but the 13 inch as an "on the go" computer for when i feel like playing WoW should be suitable for my needs. just thought if i could Amalgamate the two together that would be great.

As i said, i dont really play that many demanding games anymore. but yeah i suppose its nice to retain the option of being able to play games that come out in the future, and the upgradable aspects :)
 

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