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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > How well does the Powerbook G4 '15 inch play games.

How well does the Powerbook G4 '15 inch play games.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
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Jul 10, 2005, 02:27 AM
 
I am currently saving up for a Powerbook '15 inch and I was wondering how well it plays games. Most particulary World of Warcraft. However my problem is I would need to upgrade the RAM, and I have no idea where the slot is at so can someone please help me.
Sorry if you don't want to read this, I am new here so please be gentle
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 02:37 AM
 
The RAM is easy. On the underside of the powerbook, there is a little rectangle held in place with screws. Open that up and you have your RAM slots. Gaming, not as good as a pc basically. From what I hear WoW is very playable on them, though.
g4/1.5 GHz 12 inch powerbook / 1.25 RAM / 80 gig / Superdrive / 10.5.6
g3/400 MHz Pismo / 640 RAM / 40 gig / Combo Drive / 10.3.9
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 02:39 AM
 
Thanks for telling me about the RAM.

I really don't mind about the games, but I want to play World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Halo on there and I just wanted to know. Thinking about upgrading to two gigs.
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 03:09 AM
 
Should be no prob I've not played WoW or CoD but Halo definitely will play
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Jul 10, 2005, 04:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by Link
Should be no prob I've not played WoW or CoD but Halo definitely will play
Cool. Thanks for replying. Since some websites are selling 1Gb of RAM for under $200.00 I might upgrade to 2Gb.

P.S. Does the Powerbook G4 have Photoshop already in it. I ask this because if you go to Apple.com and go to Powerbook then Solutions they will have Photoshop CS on there and I was wondering if that was already in there.
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 04:26 AM
 
no, it doesn't come with photoshop. If there were to give you all 8 software packages listed at on that site (http://www.apple.com/powerbook/solutions.html), you'd be paying a hell of a lot more for your PowerBook.

Here's what it does include though (taken from http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html):

Software iLife ’05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), Mail, Dashboard, Spotlight, iChat, Safari, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Address Book, Classic environment, Art Directors Toolkit, FileMaker Pro Trial, GraphicConverter, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, QuickBooks For Mac New User Edition, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, Zinio Reader, Xcode Developer Tools and Apple Hardware Test
MBP 15" C2D 2.2GHz 4.0GB 500GB@5400
iPhone 4 32GB Black
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 01:25 PM
 
i just tried warcraft 3 and it got a bit choppy at times. I just got a 15" 1.5 ghz two days ago. 512mb ram is not enough for this system. An upgrade is a must.
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 02:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by B Gallagher
no, it doesn't come with photoshop. If there were to give you all 8 software packages listed at on that site (http://www.apple.com/powerbook/solutions.html), you'd be paying a hell of a lot more for your PowerBook.

Here's what it does include though (taken from http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html):

Software iLife ’05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), Mail, Dashboard, Spotlight, iChat, Safari, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Address Book, Classic environment, Art Directors Toolkit, FileMaker Pro Trial, GraphicConverter, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, QuickBooks For Mac New User Edition, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, Zinio Reader, Xcode Developer Tools and Apple Hardware Test
Oh well, I guess I can always save up my money for Photoshop.
Thank you guys for replying.
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 03:20 PM
 
Ram is a must with the powerbook. I play WoW and run decent at 1gig, I plan on getting my other gig chip tomorrow.
     
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Jul 10, 2005, 03:55 PM
 
I recently got WoW, and it runs perfectly well (i.e. I never think, "Hm, this is going slow") aside from low-memory problems. I even turned some of the extra fancy effects on and it still chugs along just fine.

(And before anyone yells at me for not installing more memory, one of the screws will not freaking come out, so I need to take it to someone with better tools than I've got.)
Chuck
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Jul 11, 2005, 10:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by Chuckit
I recently got WoW, and it runs perfectly well (i.e. I never think, "Hm, this is going slow") aside from low-memory problems. I even turned some of the extra fancy effects on and it still chugs along just fine.

(And before anyone yells at me for not installing more memory, one of the screws will not freaking come out, so I need to take it to someone with better tools than I've got.)
I felt that 512 mb of RAM with WoW was impossible, 756 was a slight improvement. I ran at 1.5gig for a while it was okay in large instances. I cannot wait to give 2 gigs a try when we run thru MC Tuesday. When it comes to WoW and a powerbook I feel 1 gig is a min when it comes to ram.
     
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Jul 11, 2005, 12:27 PM
 
I've been running WoW on my 1.67 15" (128VRAM, 1GB RAM) and I've been getting between 17 to 19 FPS outdoors, much better indoors. Haven't gone to any large instances, so can't really say what'll happen then. I have most of the fancy settings on, and the game plays well.
     
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Jul 11, 2005, 01:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by Sakino
I felt that 512 mb of RAM with WoW was impossible, 756 was a slight improvement. I ran at 1.5gig for a while it was okay in large instances. I cannot wait to give 2 gigs a try when we run thru MC Tuesday. When it comes to WoW and a powerbook I feel 1 gig is a min when it comes to ram.
Yeah. When I get into memory-intensive situations (like walking into Ironforge), I can pretty much go make a sandwich in the down time. That's why I bought the uninstallable extra gig.
Chuck
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"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
   
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