The Intel GMA X3100

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So I am thinking about buying a new macbook, I would get the 2.2GHz, and 3GB (which i would order separately) and it would have Intel GMA X3100. I would use boot camp and install Vista (because thats the only one I have). I was wondering how well I would be able to play GTA SA, The Sims 2, BF 1942, Civ 4, and Sim City 4. Right now the laptop i have (Toshiba Satellite A75 = horrrible) has ATI Mobility Radeon 9000/9100 IGP which I believe is worse than Intel GMA X3100 (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html) and I can play GTA SA, Civ 4, The Sims 2, and Sim City 4 (I am not sure about BF 1942). And I know some of these games have a mac version but I already own them for PC and I am trying to be economical.
 

dtravis7


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Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
I have not read much info on the new Intel GMA X3100, but my Mini with the GMA 950 plays GTA 3, GTA Vice City and GTA SA very smooth under XP. I have heard the X3100 is quite a bit better so it should allow you to play most of what you want to play just fine. I will do some checking around and see what I can find on the X3100. I am very curious also how much better it is.
 
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MBP 2.4 Santa Rosa
Dont expect stellar gaming performance out of the Macbook...plain and simple. Without a dedicated video card, it will never perform well in anything graphics intensive. You MIGHT get by with minimal settings on games that are several years old, but there again, if your going to drop nearly 1500 bucks on a laptop, id expect it to work for what you wanted it for.

If you want to play games, shell out the extra 500 bucks and get the MBP...the dedicated video card makes all the games you listed run smoothly under vista. I can tell you from experience, all the games you listed ran like crap on a 2.0 macbook with 2GB of ram...and the new video cards arent THAT much better.
 

dtravis7


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VERY good advice JerrfyLube. If you really into games and want smooth performance and decent Frame Rates, you need a dedicated card. The new one is better than the GMA950 but still is not like a dedicated graphics card.

The GTA series though does play very well at my normal settings, but all else I have tried (like say even Doom III), I have to turn things way down.
 

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