kingofkolt
Member
+17|6692|Boston, MA, USA
I'm planning to get a MacBook Pro soon, with these specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GhZ CPU
160GB SATA 5400rpm hard drive
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU
2GB PC2-5300 667MhZ RAM
Screen: 15.4" widescreen, 1440x900 pixels

I'll be installing Boot Camp and Windows (probably Vista) on it. I also have an external flat-panel LCD monitor, 19", 1440x900 pixels

Currently my laptop is:

Dell Inspiron 9100
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GhZ CPU
40GB hard drive (don't know the speed)
64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
512MB PC-3200 400MhZ RAM
Screen: 15.4" widescreen, 1280x800 pixels
It's three years old; it runs BF2, but it takes the lowest graphics to run acceptably.

Needless to say, I'm excited about the upgrade. I'm just wondering how well you all think this should run BF2. Will I be able to turn on, say, 4x anti-aliasing with my Mac? and on what texture/effects/dynamic lighting&shadows levels? I figured, since I'll have 4 times the RAM and video memory (and a much newer video card), I should be able to turn the graphics in BF2 WAYY up but I see some people who tell people with 256MB video cards that they'll be able to get only 'decent' graphics out of the game. To me, 256MB is a HUGE luxury. Is it really not as great as I think it is? I'm really hoping to get an entirely better gaming experience with this new laptop and I just wonder if any of you think I would be disappointed with it. Any advice on this purchase?

Also, if anyone who's used BF2 on Vista could confirm that BF2 works fine on Vista, that'd be great. I looked in other topics and some people had trouble and other people seemed to play it fine.

Thanks!
Jesse
White-Fusion
Fuck
+616|7021|Scotland
Will play All high with shadows and lighting off/low very nice.
kingofkolt
Member
+17|6692|Boston, MA, USA
Thanks... Do you think I could turn on anti-aliasing? Also, at what point do the 'trails' behind airplane wings appear (i.e., what graphics levels)?
White-Fusion
Fuck
+616|7021|Scotland

kingofkolt wrote:

Thanks... Do you think I could turn on anti-aliasing? Also, at what point do the 'trails' behind airplane wings appear (i.e., what graphics levels)?
Medium i believe, yes i think itll work with A-A aswell... if possible and you could get a better graphics card, itll be for sure, but at the moment i would say 95%
max
Vela Incident
+1,652|7036|NYC / Hamburg

my laptop has similar specs and I can run BF2 high, shadows/lighting low, AA x4.
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot  xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
Bell
Frosties > Cornflakes
+362|7018|UK

'256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU' is pushing it for high, especially at a 1440x900 resolution.  I think to get smooth game play your looking more at medium, maybe texture at high at a pinch.  It will play high, just not all that well.........

Martyn
kingofkolt
Member
+17|6692|Boston, MA, USA
Well, of course I won't be playing at 1440x900 resolution though.. (Does BF2 even go that high?) I'm guessing I would play at 1024x768, or maybe 1280x1024. AA is kind of important to me though, I think it really improves the game experience.

How long will the Mac last me in terms of games? As in, how soon will it be necessary to upgrade to a better laptop because new games will require a better video card/RAM?

I'd karma you all for the help but I don't have enough posts yet

Last edited by kingofkolt (2007-04-14 13:58:57)

Microwave
_
+515|7124|Loughborough Uni / Leeds, UK
You cannot upgrade the mac graphics card.


Just go an buy a dell laptop, chuck in 4gb of cheap ram and go play bf2 on high if thats what you care about.



A macbook pro will play games, BUT it's hardly it's strong point or what it's designed for.

Last edited by james@alienware (2007-04-14 14:04:54)

Microwave
_
+515|7124|Loughborough Uni / Leeds, UK
I've got a nice simile for comparison purposes.



It's like buying a BMW X5 and then saying, I'm taking it off-road.

It can....but just no.
kingofkolt
Member
+17|6692|Boston, MA, USA

james@alienware wrote:

I've got a nice simile for comparison purposes.



It's like buying a BMW X5 and then saying, I'm taking it off-road.

It can....but just no.
Good one Actually though, I'll be going to college this fall and at least minoring in graphic design, so getting a Mac is kind of a must. I suppose I could upgrade it from 2GB of RAM to 3GB (the max for a MBP), but that's an extra $517 for a laptop already costing over $2,600 with the configuration I'm getting. And that's after the student discount
soldevilla13
SuperFly
+21|7191|oregon
could you go with falcon-nw, voodoo pc, or alienware? or do you have to get a mac?

Last edited by soldevilla13 (2007-04-15 18:49:21)

Havok
Nymphomaniac Treatment Specialist
+302|7144|Florida, United States

soldevilla13 wrote:

could you go with falcon-nw, voodoo pc, or alienware? or do you have to get a mac?
He said he wanted a Mac because of a graphics design course.
kingofkolt
Member
+17|6692|Boston, MA, USA

Havok wrote:

soldevilla13 wrote:

could you go with falcon-nw, voodoo pc, or alienware? or do you have to get a mac?
He said he wanted a Mac because of a graphics design course.
Yeah, the Mac is really a must. As is its being a laptop. If I was going to get a purely gaming PC, I'd get a desktop, probably not Mac, with at least 512MB video and maybe a quad-core CPU (money aside ). But there aren't any laptops that I know of (certainly not Macs) with those specs.

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