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Can the new MacBooks handle WoW on decent settings?

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by whillow5, Apr 27, 2010.

  1. whillow5 Newcomer, in training

    Hey I was just wondering if thew new mac book pro 15 inch i7 would be able to handle world of warcraft well on decent graphic settings? thanks in advance for your answers!
    whillow5, Apr 27, 2010
    #1

  2. hellokitty[hk] I'm a TechSpot Evangelist Posts: 3,997   +31

    Laptops aren't very good for gaming, but it will run.
    Watch out for overheating and battery life, those aluminum chaises's are pretty cool, but not with excessive heat.

    Oh but if you're considering to buy one to play. please reconsider.
    hellokitty[hk], Apr 27, 2010
    #2

  3. whillow5 Newcomer, in training

    How about the i mac desktops?
    whillow5, Apr 27, 2010
    #3

  4. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 11,891   +117

    I'm sure even the old ones do, all you need to avoid is integrated graphics. From Apple the requirements for WoW are:
    Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
    933MHz PowerPC G4 processor or higher
    512MB of RAM (DDR RAM recommended)
    32MB video card (ATI or NVIDIA)
    4GB of hard disk space

    933Mhz G4s haven't been sold in Mac computers since probably 2004, you don't need much power to play WoW. And even the previous generation regular Macbooks have had 9400M chips in them (the MBPs are better all around). Sure you probably aren't going to attach a 24" monitor to them and play WoW with the highest resolution and details the game allows, but it will play fine on its screen.

    Same goes for the iMac line.
    SNGX1275, Apr 27, 2010
    #4

  5. hellokitty[hk] I'm a TechSpot Evangelist Posts: 3,997   +31

    but macs aren't really good at gaming either, not worth the money imo.
    hellokitty[hk], Apr 27, 2010
    #5

  6. vectorsigma32 Newcomer, in training Posts: 156

    lol id get a desktop before a laptop
    vectorsigma32, May 3, 2010
    #6
     

  7. Arris TechSpot Evangelist Posts: 4,305   +17

    My friend recently got a new Apple macbook pro which came with the ATI 4650 Mobility and runs Modern Warfare and WoW with no problems at max settings.
    I believe they are now coming with the Nvidia 330M graphics board, which should perform on par with the ATI one. Not going to give the same performance as a high spec desktop graphics card but more than enough to run WoW.
    My current Acer laptop with an ATI 5650 Mobility runs it fine too (has about the same performance as my old desktops 8800 GTX).

    For a while I ran WoW on my work laptop which has an ancient ATI X1250. Had to run with minimum settings but it ran.

    To summarize, yes. The new macbook pro will run WoW with decent, if not maxed settings.

    But if you don't really need a laptop then a desktop would offer better performance and future proofing for games. If you want a laptop but don't specifically need an apple for media work or some other purposes, consider getting a PC laptop instead. You can save a lot of money and get something with a more powerful graphics board.

    When looking to buy laptops I find that Notebookcheck is quite useful.
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html
    The chart in the link above lists all Mobile graphics and has results from tests of popular games. The 330M doesn't have many results listed and has a red mark at WoW at high settings but I think that must be because it hasn't really been tested yet. The 4650 which has similar performance gets something around 30 fps reported for WoW on high settings.
    Arris, May 6, 2010
    #7
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