Are the new Macbooks' graphic cards really good?

Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
322
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook: 2.16 CPU/2GB RAM
for games that use 128mb cards. I might think about getting a Oblivion for it.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
462
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK)
Your Mac's Specs
White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard
well the new ones have 144mb of shared memory so yes in theory if a games states it can run at 128mb then yes you can.
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
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
Unlikely that you would enjoy the experience with that video card. Unless you like playing at single digit frame rates.

Review of the GMA X3100
Mixed reviews on the MacBook Pro, but this one is typical.

Google is your friend - "Oblivion MacBook".
Did not find a positive response related to the MacBook in a quick search.
 
OP
H
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
322
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook: 2.16 CPU/2GB RAM
They should have added a geforce or something but im sure that would have really raised the price by a lot.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
192
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Cheyenne, WY
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.4 Santa Rosa
Oblivion will frankly, run like crap on a regular macbook...yes, even the new 2.2 ones.

No dedicated video memory equals poor gaming performance no matter how you slice it.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
462
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK)
Your Mac's Specs
White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard
you don't buy macbooks for games, if you did you will be disappointed, they are education based notebooks, if you want to run games you need a macbook pro. Macbooks are great notebooks in every field barring gaming.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
462
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK)
Your Mac's Specs
White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard
they should add a dedicated graphics card, i think this is the downfall of the macbook range, not being a gamer or heavy graphics user it wasn't such a deterrent for me
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
462
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK)
Your Mac's Specs
White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard
i didnt i said in theory
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
192
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Cheyenne, WY
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.4 Santa Rosa
they should add a dedicated graphics card, i think this is the downfall of the macbook range, not being a gamer or heavy graphics user it wasn't such a deterrent for me

Thats why they make the MBP.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
462
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK)
Your Mac's Specs
White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard
i think apple could but they want there to be more of a gap between the mb and the mbp. Examples of this can be seen in apple misleading of the max ram that can be put in it, apple say max is 2gb but everyone knows you can have up to 3gb
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
255
Reaction score
12
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Black Macbook C2D, 2Ghz, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB HD, ipod nano 8GB, 500GB MyBook
Examples of this can be seen in apple misleading of the max ram that can be put in it, apple say max is 2gb but everyone knows you can have up to 3gb

Is this true? Really? I feel like I've heard conflicting reports on that. I got my Macbook in May 2007, just before they came out with the 2.13 ghz ones. If my macbook has the capability to recognize 3GB RAM, I think I'll upgrade it.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I have the new 2.2 ghz and oblivion does not run smoothly. Sorry but you need a macbook pro. Games that run smoothy that I play are: Age of mythology (duh), Starcraft, Halo, Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk 2. So unless you like older games mbp.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
230
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
Glasgow, Scotland
Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 13.3"
World of Warcraft runs pretty fine on my macbook
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
196
Reaction score
1
Points
18
oblivion would run like a slide show on a mac with a 128mb video card.

The 8600 are not that great for games anyway, if you are into gaming stick to the PC.
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
230
Reaction score
24
Points
18
Location
Tennessee
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro - 15.4" 1680x1050 Antiglare - 2.7Ghz Quad Core i7 - 8GB RAM - 750GB 7200RPM HDD
I managed to get Oldblivion working on my fiances macbook (2.0 C2D White) It actually worked really well. You lose some of the "pretty" factor, but you can get around 20-25 fps and get the awesome story line. Something I found interesting is that she was able to play Oblivion on battery for about 2.5 hours, before the battery died. For oldblivion go here:

http://www.oldblivion.com/

I remember having to make a setting different so that it would start...if I remember, I'll edit. This should work slightly better with the newer revision macbooks. Not a ton, but enough :) Good luck.

Also, my 2 cents about not putting dedicated graphics in the macbook. Battery Life! You'd lose quite a bit, even if they decided to put an 8400m gs in there. I admire apple for keeping with the integrated. As technology progresses, I'm sure we'll see some form of a dedicated graphics, but for now, be happy that you can get nearly 5 hours out of a very powerful laptop, even if it does have integrated graphics. Try playing a game on macbook pro, suddenly you only have 1 hour of battery life. They each have their ups and downs.

Trent out
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top