[gerrygonz1]

I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this question. Im thinking about buying a Powerbook, but i know they werent great for gaming. However, with Boot Camp i knew that i could install windows, and then install steam to play Half-Life and CS. Can i do this? Will these games play under Windows XP on a Powerbook Pro? Can the same be done for other games?

[mduell]

Yes, you can play all the Windows games under Windows on the MacBook Pro.
Beware the GPU and VRAM are underclocked, so they won't deliver the performance you'd expect from the same chips in another notebook, but they're still reasonably fast.

[dr.george]

Originally Posted by mduell

Beware the GPU and VRAM are underclocked

why is that ? can you explain ?

thanks

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by dr.george

why is that ? can you explain ?

thanks

Underclocked on the 15" MacBook Pro, presumably because of heat issues.

On the 17", the GPU has variable clock speeds, so it will speed up (to "full" speed) when running heavy 3D apps/games.

According to barefeats.com, the 17" is up to 40% faster than the 15" MacBook Pro.

Don't forget the MacBook (not the MB Pro) has Intel Integrated Graphics GMA950, which isn't really all that great for games.

[Helmling]

Is everyone sure they know what he's asking? Steam isn't just your usual game. It needs Internet sockets and such...I think you should hold out until someone confirms that Steam-based games are running on MBP.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Helmling

Is everyone sure they know what he's asking? Steam isn't just your usual game. It needs Internet sockets and such...I think you should hold out until someone confirms that Steam-based games are running on MBP.

Windows on any computer, Apple HP or Dell, provides everything that Steam needs. There is nothing special about Apple's hardware from the games point of view.

[aadfadsfa32]

I have a MBP and play CS on it. It runs great, FPS is almost always 99 (Not sure if it can any higher in this game). Only issue is that the computer runs hot and the fans are always on while I'm playing. Once I exit the fans turn off. I would imagine for prolonged play (I'm guessing hours and hours) I'd probably get a cooling pad just to be safe.

I tried playing CS: Source and FPS isn't as great. Avg around 60 I'd say. Though I haven't really messed w/ the settings or the vid card's clock settings. Hope this helps.

[gerrygonz1]

Thanks alot! This is exactly what i needed to know. I just wanted to make sure i could run some of my favorite games on a Macbook pro if i get one, using Boot camp to switch to Windows. Now ill see if i will get one this weekend.