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iWantaMacBook · Oct 9, 2006, 06:42 PM

Well, the day has finally come. Best Buy has officially claimed my gateway and it has been pronounced a lemon today. So, I'm thinking blacbook but I keep thinking that having no graphics card will put a damper on my parade. Im not some extreme hardcore gamer, but I occasionally play maplestory and I'll also be playing Sims 2. By occasionally I mean by I usually play the games about once a month, since the internet is my main priority. So should I get a Macbook or Macbook Pro?

neverskatewsandles · Oct 9, 2006, 06:55 PM

macbook

iWantaMacBook · 08:03 PM

Short, sweet and to the point. An explination would have been nice, but yeah whatever

.

Anyone disagree?

TheoCryst · Oct 9, 2006, 08:13 PM

For casual gaming, the MacBook is sufficient. I can personally vouch that the Sims 2 is very playable on the MB, though you will need to turn quite a few effects off. In all honesty, the GMA 950 is nowhere near as bad as many people will lead you to believe.

iWantaMacBook · Oct 9, 2006, 08:31 PM

Thanks, this was the answer I was hoping for..

drnkn_stylz · Oct 9, 2006, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by TheoCryst

For casual gaming, the MacBook is sufficient. I can personally vouch that the Sims 2 is very playable on the MB, though you will need to turn quite a few effects off. In all honesty, the GMA 950 is nowhere near as bad as many people will lead you to believe.

What kind of effects do you turn off?

Zero2aHero · Oct 9, 2006, 11:43 PM

I tried playing World of Warcraft with all of the graphic settings all the way down and it runs at about 10 fps. You be the judge...

clockworkwar · Oct 10, 2006, 10:28 AM

For Sims 2 its great! for more advance games its not really. But then i like Stratagy games more on a laptop, so i would be alright. Depends on personal tastes.

drnkn_stylz · Oct 10, 2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Zero2aHero

I tried playing World of Warcraft with all of the graphic settings all the way down and it runs at about 10 fps. You be the judge...

That's what happens when you have integrated graphics at 64mb.......

There must be a way to unlock the 64mb and/or overclock it. Not that it would make a HUGE difference, but every bit helps.

If you want a notebook that can play intense games like Quake, Doom, Halo, whatever, get a MacBookPro. It actually has a graphics card and it's pretty baller. It can handle some pretty intense stuff.

s1gnseeker · Oct 17, 2006, 03:57 AM

one thing worth noting --

the MacBook's graphics performance will improve *dramatically* if you have RAM installed in both of the available slots, due to the dual-channel architecture of the logic board and the way in which the main memory is shared with the GPU.

iWantaMacBook · Oct 17, 2006, 06:42 AM

okay..i was planning on doing that anyway since I saw a video on youtube on how they replace it and it looked super easy..it looked like all you had to do was remove the battery and then the metal housing right?

sieb · Oct 17, 2006, 09:39 AM

I play Dawn of War without any real problems (aside from lack of widescreen support unless you have Dark Crusade). I can play Company of Heros (DoW x100 graphics wise) but just about everything is set to low. Can't get anything over 19fps or so. Thinking of getting a 24" iMac w/ 7600GT and using that for gaming.

ChasingApple · Oct 17, 2006, 10:24 AM

People need to stop being scared of the GMA 950 graphics, I have played World of Warcraft, Unreal Tournament 2004, Albatross 18, and a few other games and the Macbook does VERY well at all of them. Get a Macbook, they rock!

iWantaMacBook · Oct 17, 2006, 10:38 AM

I've already decided on the macbook since my replacement warranty at bestbuy only allows me to get a laptop not a desktop since I had a laptop before. I've already ordered it and its scheduled to deliver today according to the ups tracker thing, its about 30 minutes away from my house right now. Im sooo excited..and oh I checked out the iMac 24 earlier and man that one sure is a beauty. Im going to persuade my parents to buy it for themselves for a family computer and I'll probably use it too

.

BryanBowie · Oct 17, 2006, 11:08 AM

good decision! my BlackBook, with 2GB ram installed, which yes, is super easy and takes like 10 minutes, plays Sims 2 easy, Im no gamer either, but i mess around a little, youll have no problem, also, if you might be thinking about it, I have a 19" Widescreen LCD in use with my BlackBook, makes life way better, enjoy your BlackBook!
ps- if youre buying your RAM after you get your BlackBook, check OfficeDepot right now, nice sale, $90 a piece for 1GB

cruisereg · Oct 17, 2006, 05:52 PM

I've got WoW on my Macbook and while I won't be bragging about the performance, it is usable at the low level my character is currently at (10). I turned a few things down and play fullscreen. Its not bad until you get into areas with a lot of characters. I do have 2 Gb of matched RAM so I think that helps the old GMA a bit.