Updating graphics cards(Macbook Pro)

-1nf1n1ty- · Sep 23, 2010, 06:06 PM

is there a way to manually do this? I'm always getting bad FPS even with low settings.

Bo$$ · Sep 23, 2010, 06:16 PM

it would use a MXM port but MACs tend to have a different bios, so i dont think it is possible... maybe you could give us some specs and some more details about that issue you got?

Jstn7477 · Sep 23, 2010, 06:16 PM

Updating as in upgrading the graphics card? The chip and it's memory are probably soldered to the motherboard, so it is probably not possible. I don't think there would be space for an MXM slot in a MacBook Pro.

DanishDevil · Sep 23, 2010, 06:21 PM

Whole reason I like PC's.

If you want to upgrade, don't get a mac.

Easy Rhino · Sep 23, 2010, 07:05 PM

i dont believe the macbook pros have discrete gpus.

DanishDevil · Sep 23, 2010, 07:15 PM

They do, but they're soldered to the motherboard.

-1nf1n1ty- · Sep 23, 2010, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo$$

it would use a MXM port but MACs tend to have a different bios, so i dont think it is possible... maybe you could give us some specs and some more details about that issue you got?

yeah sure:
C2D 2.54 GHz
9400m
9600m gt
4gb ddr 3 1067 ram

whats happening is when I play a game like sc2, steam games etc. it tends to NEED to run at low settings basically it wont run smooth unless its at lower settings. its rare to even run most games at medium(mainly SC2) I can run games like portal half life 2 at high settings but it will lag certain parts of the game, to fix this I need to lower everything down to medium to reach 60 fps. I hope that helps a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Updating as in upgrading the graphics card? The chip and it's memory are probably soldered to the motherboard, so it is probably not possible. I don't think there would be space for an MXM slot in a MacBook Pro.

I mean like drivers, and such things you can do on pc. I already talked to some apple reps they told me I could upgrade my graphics chip to at 230m or something like that Im considering doing that but I dont have money so maybe next time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Whole reason I like PC's.

If you want to upgrade, don't get a mac.

well gee thanks for helping me with my problem.....I have a mac and I love it...

Dent1 · Sep 23, 2010, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -1nf1n1ty-

yeah sure:
C2D 2.54 GHz
9400m
9600m gt
4gb ddr 3 1067 ram

I'm confused, is it a 9400m or a 9600m GT? I would presume that they're two different video cards? the 9600m GT should be able to play SC2 reasonably well at medium settings, considering that it's borderline "OK" the processor might be a slight bottleneck, but ample performance should be obtainable still. The 9400m was at the bottom of the pile 2 years ago so playing a modern game today like SC2 isnt going to happen.

I agree with DanishDevil, if you appreciate gaming with good frame rates/good visuals a a PC is your best solution. This is the very reason gamers do not use laptops or macs.

Edit: Why don't you use virtualisation software to facilitate using MAC OSX ontop of Vista/7, that way you get best of the both world, upgradability of a desktop and MAC's operating system.

xrealm20 · Sep 23, 2010, 08:26 PM

Actually the macbook pro has both graphics processors - they dynamically change in OSX depending on the workload. The 9400 has a lower power consumption, therefore it's used during non-graphic heavy workloads.

@ -1nf1n1ty- are you running in OSX or using bootcamp into 7?

Dent1 · Sep 23, 2010, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrealm20

Actually the macbook pro has both graphics processors - they dynamically change in OSX depending on the workload. The 9400 has a lower power consumption, therefore it's used during non-graphic heavy workloads.

Interesting, very efficient indeed.

I would look into virtualisation still or a seperate gaming PC.

xrealm20 · Sep 23, 2010, 08:30 PM

Yeah, it's a neat feature (that can cause some problems when running bootcamped windows 7) -- some of the sony vaio laptops have had dual GPU's. Not sure if they are still manufactured that way or not.

-1nf1n1ty- · Sep 23, 2010, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrealm20

Actually the macbook pro has both graphics processors - they dynamically change in OSX depending on the workload. The 9400 has a lower power consumption, therefore it's used during non-graphic heavy workloads.

@ -1nf1n1ty- are you running in OSX or using bootcamp into 7?

well I am running bootcamp but I was wanting to just install it on my mac OS so I wont have to keep switching, but if it would probably be best to just play it on the bootcamp win 7 then I could do that. again though its just something I dont want to always have to keep switching to back and forth. I know many people consider macs not good for gaming, but from what I've seen it does the job most of the time(seen videos of crysis and other games being ran and they worked really well)

xrealm20 · Sep 23, 2010, 08:44 PM

I haven't tried playing any modern games on my hackintosh, but they seem to do okay. I'd guess that a good litmus test would be to try SC2 on 7 and see what your performance is like.

Dent1 · Sep 23, 2010, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -1nf1n1ty-

but from what I've seen it does the job most of the time(seen videos of crysis and other games being ran and they worked really well)

Does the videos show the frame rate of the video, it might of been playing @ 20 FPS?

-1nf1n1ty- · Sep 24, 2010, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dent1

Does the videos show the frame rate of the video, it might of been playing @ 20 FPS?

sorry im late for a reply school is very stressful atm, but I will check. I think in steam games TF2, portal etc the games stay and get a 30-60 fps on high settings but it mostly stays near 40 and keeps droping to 30 fps, which isnt bad I mean thats what most ps3 and 360 games are right? so I dont really notice it

Wile E · Sep 24, 2010, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -1nf1n1ty-

well I am running bootcamp but I was wanting to just install it on my mac OS so I wont have to keep switching, but if it would probably be best to just play it on the bootcamp win 7 then I could do that. again though its just something I dont want to always have to keep switching to back and forth. I know many people consider macs not good for gaming, but from what I've seen it does the job most of the time(seen videos of crysis and other games being ran and they worked really well)

Take it from a long time Mac owner, just go ahead and game in Windows. Graphics performance on the OS X side is almost never up to snuff.

xrealm20 · Sep 24, 2010, 05:36 PM

Agreed with Wile E - just bootcamp into 7 and game to your hearts content.

DRDNA · Sep 24, 2010, 05:55 PM

I would check with apple to see what the upgraded video card will cost as I know for a fact that when they go in a MAC they are 3x the cost of the equivalent in PC.

xrealm20 · Sep 24, 2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRDNA

I would check with apple to see what the upgraded video card will cost as I know for a fact that when they go in a MAC they are 3x the cost of the equivalent in PC.

On the desktop Mac's this is correct - however, if I'm not mistaken, on the MacBook Pro, you cannot upgrade the video card as it is soldered to the motherboard/logicboard.

DanishDevil · Sep 24, 2010, 06:02 PM

You can't buy the upgraded video card. Did you even read through the thread? It's a Macbook Pro.

Sep 23, 2010, 06:06 PM	#1
-1nf1n1ty- Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Winter Park Posts: 1,562 (0.66/day) Thanks: 247 Thanked 134 Times in 125 Posts System Specs	Updating graphics cards(Macbook Pro) is there a way to manually do this? I'm always getting bad FPS even with low settings.

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Sep 23, 2010, 06:16 PM	#2
Bo$$ Join Date: May 2009 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,670 (2.48/day) Thanks: 444 Thanked 770 Times in 679 Posts System Specs	it would use a MXM port but MACs tend to have a different bios, so i dont think it is possible... maybe you could give us some specs and some more details about that issue you got? __________________ Live in the UK? Join the UK TPU Group! Caution! This is Sparta! Im Looking For... Im Selling

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Sep 23, 2010, 06:16 PM	#3
Jstn7477 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sarasota, Florida, USA Posts: 3,143 (2.30/day) Thanks: 389 Thanked 1,193 Times in 805 Posts System Specs	Updating as in upgrading the graphics card? The chip and it's memory are probably soldered to the motherboard, so it is probably not possible. I don't think there would be space for an MXM slot in a MacBook Pro. __________________ Intel Crunchers (27 threads): 2x 3770K 4.3G (14t), 2600K 4G (7t), X3210 (3t), P-M 735A, P4 HT 3G AMD Crunchers (11 cores):1100T 3.6G (3t), 1045T 3.4G (2t), X3 8550 2.5G, X2 4200+, T64 ML-37 AMD Folders (6272 GCN cores): 2x 7950 1125/1475, 7970 1150/1650, 7770 1100/1200 NV Folders (2336 GF10x + 1344 GK104 cores):GTX 470 & 465 720/1715, 4x 460 768MB 825/2000, GTS 450, 660Ti 1228/6000 HEATWARE

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Sep 23, 2010, 06:21 PM	#4
DanishDevil Eligible for custom title Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Newport Beach, CA Posts: 8,631 (3.10/day) Thanks: 1,362 Thanked 2,018 Times in 1,585 Posts System Specs	Whole reason I like PC's. If you want to upgrade, don't get a mac. __________________ [B/S/T: FS/FT Cisco VPN Gigabit Routers \| WTB] [Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom \| The TPU Darkroom \| The TPU Zune Social \| Tech Net Subscribers Club]

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Sep 23, 2010, 07:05 PM	#5
Easy Rhino Linux Advocate Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 10,226 (4.29/day) Thanks: 1,208 Thanked 2,775 Times in 1,793 Posts System Specs	i dont believe the macbook pros have discrete gpus.

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Sep 23, 2010, 07:15 PM	#6
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Sep 23, 2010, 08:26 PM	#9
xrealm20 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Houston Posts: 452 (0.37/day) Thanks: 34 Thanked 130 Times in 92 Posts System Specs	Actually the macbook pro has both graphics processors - they dynamically change in OSX depending on the workload. The 9400 has a lower power consumption, therefore it's used during non-graphic heavy workloads. @ -1nf1n1ty- are you running in OSX or using bootcamp into 7?

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Sep 23, 2010, 08:30 PM	#11
xrealm20 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Houston Posts: 452 (0.37/day) Thanks: 34 Thanked 130 Times in 92 Posts System Specs	Yeah, it's a neat feature (that can cause some problems when running bootcamped windows 7) -- some of the sony vaio laptops have had dual GPU's. Not sure if they are still manufactured that way or not.

Sep 23, 2010, 08:44 PM	#13
xrealm20 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Houston Posts: 452 (0.37/day) Thanks: 34 Thanked 130 Times in 92 Posts System Specs	I haven't tried playing any modern games on my hackintosh, but they seem to do okay. I'd guess that a good litmus test would be to try SC2 on 7 and see what your performance is like.

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Sep 24, 2010, 05:36 PM	#17
xrealm20 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Houston Posts: 452 (0.37/day) Thanks: 34 Thanked 130 Times in 92 Posts System Specs	Agreed with Wile E - just bootcamp into 7 and game to your hearts content.

Sep 24, 2010, 05:55 PM	#18
DRDNA Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New York Posts: 4,122 (1.55/day) Thanks: 612 Thanked 494 Times in 424 Posts System Specs	I would check with apple to see what the upgraded video card will cost as I know for a fact that when they go in a MAC they are 3x the cost of the equivalent in PC. __________________ Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58/ i7-920CO@4.2GHZ 24/7 <> CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600.<> ThermalTake ToughPower 1200 WATT PSU 2X ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB DDR5 <> Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System 320GBx4 Perpendicular RAID-0/BLU-RAY/HD-DVD Reader / DVD±R/±RW Writer LG 50" 50PK550 1080p 600Hz Plasma/WestingHouse 37 inch @1920X1080/Windows 7 Pro/64

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Sep 24, 2010, 06:02 PM	#20
DanishDevil Eligible for custom title Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Newport Beach, CA Posts: 8,631 (3.10/day) Thanks: 1,362 Thanked 2,018 Times in 1,585 Posts System Specs	You can't buy the upgraded video card. Did you even read through the thread? It's a Macbook Pro. __________________ [B/S/T: FS/FT Cisco VPN Gigabit Routers \| WTB] [Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom \| The TPU Darkroom \| The TPU Zune Social \| Tech Net Subscribers Club]

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