[Capella]

Does anyone here know how well the Unreal 3 engine performs on the MacBook Pro? (Either the ones with the nVidia card OR the ones with the ATi card, because I'm looking at refurbs and the cheapest ones have the ATi) It's been announced that the Stargate Worlds MMO will be using the U3 engine, and since I'm interested in checking it out, I'm wondering how it will play.

According to the specs, it requires "NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card", and recommended is "NVIDIA 7800GTX+ or ATI x1300+ Video Card". The older MBPs have the x1600 card right? But that's the mobility version, so will it run it fine? Will the new ones with the nVidia card run nreal?

I don't actually know what other games run on the U3 engine, I'm just hoping someone here may have played one of these games on an MBP, or that someone is educated enough to guess if it will run.

[PB PM]

How much video memory does it have, is it the 128 or 256MB version of the x1600? In my experience the x1600 is okay even for most newer games, although not on high settings. If you could get the one with the Nvidia graphics, it would be better (new generation GPU).

[Luca]

The X1600 might be able to get by, but you'll have to turn the settings down a bit. It probably will run at minimum settings though. An 8600M would be perfect, though. It's not great compared to desktop graphics cards, but compared to other laptops it's one of the best you can get.

According to this site the 8600M GT gets about double the 3Dmark06 score of the Mobility X1600.

Those requirements are weird, though. There are no recent games that will run faster than a slide show on a GeForce 6200 or a Radeon 9600. Doom 3 at medium settings is about as good as it gets for those, and that game's almost four years old. And the recommended requirements are totally weird, too. I can see recommending a 7800GTX, as it's a really fast and powerful graphics card, but the X1300 is a really cruddy, low end graphics card that's only slightly better than the Radeon 9600. The equivalent to a 7800GTX is about a Radeon X1950XT.

[Capella]

Well, I currently play Guild Wars on medium (not minimum) settings and I'm on a GeForce 6200, so I don't think the 6200 is that bad. I also don't mind running on pure minimum settings- I'd rather play on minimum then not at all. Another consideration is that the nVidia card does sound better, but the refurbs with them tend to be $1500 or more versus $1300.

[Luca]

The 6200 isn't a bad video card, I'm just saying it's not going to play really new games. My Doom 3 example was maybe a bad comparison... Doom 3 may have come out in (late) 2004, but it was by far the most graphically demanding game ever at the time. Guild Wars was out in 2005, but RPGs tend to have much lower hardware requirements than shooters, and MMORPGs need to appeal to a wide audience, so they can't make their games too demanding.

However, I would not expect a 6200 to do very well in any game based on the Unreal 3 engine. Given the price difference and the fact that the only real difference as it applies to you is the graphics card, I'd say just go for the lower end version. It'll probably be okay. It's funny, with graphics cards, the second number is usually more important than the first. An X1600 is a midrange card (second number is a 6), but a GeForce 8300 is a low end card (second number is a 3). The fact that you'll be getting a midrange card, albeit one from a couple generations back, should be enough to let you run most modern games if you drop down the settings.

[PB PM]

Interesting view point, my understand was that the entire 6xxx series was a disappointment, kind of like the current 9xxx series. Then again, it could be the 5xxx series that I'm thinking of.

I do agree that the x1600 is not a very good card if you want to play newish games (anything more than a year old), but its not bad either. I would go for the MBP with the 8600M myself, simply because it has a newer GPU, which means that it will be supported by games longer.

[Kraetos]

Originally Posted by PB PM Interesting view point, my understand was that the entire 6xxx series was a disappointment, kind of like the current 9xxx series. Then again, it could be the 5xxx series that I'm thinking of. I do agree that the x1600 is not a very good card if you want to play newish games (anything more than a year old), but its not bad either. I would go for the MBP with the 8600M myself, simply because it has a newer GPU, which means that it will be supported by games longer.

You're def thinking of the 5xxx series, also known as the FX line. They sucked. They performed worse than ATi's previous (the 9700) offerings.

As for the 9xxx series... the 9800 GTX isn't out yet. That's the card to gauge the series on. (hint: the defining card of any nVidia line is always the X800 GTX)

As for UT3 on a MPB... there are no games for Mac that use the UT3 engine yet. The two most prominent UT3 powered games right now are UT3 (obviously) and Gears of War. UT3 Mac has been announced - probably this summer.

As for booting into Windows and trying, find a boot-camped MBP and give the demo a whirl.

[Luca]

There is a GeForce 9-series card available already, the 9600GT. From what I've heard, it offers outstanding performance for the price. It's not quite as powerful as the 8800GTS, but it's a lot cheaper than any of the 8800 variants. It compares favorably to the Radeon HD 38xx series of graphics cards.

[PB PM]

The 9800GT X2 is out as well (came out on Tuesday or Wednesday this last week), for the hefty price of around $600. Two 8800GTs in SLI are, a) cheaper, and b) get better frame rates in taxing games. See benchmarks at AnandTech, Tomshardware etc. If you can dish out $1200 for two 9800 X2 then you can out do the 8800GTX in SLI. The 9xxx still uses the same G92 in the 8800GT, so don't expect much from it. The 9600GT should really be the 8750 & the 9800 should be the 8900GT.

[Kraetos]

Yeah, the 9600GT is a good midrange card.

I don't know what the deal with the 9800GT X2. It's gotten weird reviews. Like I said, I am waiting for the 9800GTX to drop before it comes time to make a definitive decision on the 9xxx line.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by Kraetos As for UT3 on a MPB... there are no games for Mac that use the UT3 engine yet. The two most prominent UT3 powered games right now are UT3 (obviously) and Gears of War. UT3 Mac has been announced - probably this summer.

Don't forget about BioShock. While it isn't a multiplayer game, it is built on the Unreal 3 engine.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Kraetos Yeah, the 9600GT is a good midrange card. I don't know what the deal with the 9800GT X2. It's gotten weird reviews. Like I said, I am waiting for the 9800GTX to drop before it comes time to make a definitive decision on the 9xxx line.

Looks like the 9800GTX is okay, showing improvements of 10-17% over the 8800GTX, so not bad. Still think it should be the 8900Gxx, but thats just IMO.