Left4Dead on Macbook

[dmw16]

I have taken a 100% travel job and need a laptop. I want to be able to play Left4Dead, but I'd love to get a new macbook.

Does anyone know if a new macbook will run left4dead if I use bootcamp? I would upgrade to 4GB of ram, but other than it would be stock.

 

[ViRGE]

It'll run. I'm not sure you'll get much performance out of it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8dHOR9qjjo

 

[TheStu]

It should work just fine in Windows. The 9400m is no slouch, and the smaller screen helps.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

my friends play with me on their macbooks. all settings on low though, and you'll still get major slow downs especially at the ends. i wouldn't call it playable.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: makoto00
my friends play with me on their macbooks. all settings on low though, and you'll still get major slow downs especially at the ends. i wouldn't call it playable.

Do your friends have the unibody macbook?

My understanding is that the 9400m is roughly equivalent to (or actually probably better due to the faster memory and better processor) the x1600 that Apple used in the first generation of MacBook Pros. Tyranicus has one of these and has played any number of Valve Source based games on it, at really good settings. Now admittedly, a lot of that was probably due to the ATi bias that the Source engine seems to have, but all the same.

Barefeats.com has benchmarks of the Unibody MacBook, and they show in their benchmarks that the MacBook gets definitely acceptable FPS at High Settings in their test games. These test were all done under OS X, but the FPS should be similar in Windows.

 

[dmw16]

I would get better frame rates on a $1200 PC tho, yes?

 

[Kmax82]

EDIT: Removed

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Kmax82
Of course you would.. that's a no brainer...

You're comparing a laptop to a desktop.. the desktop will always win.

In fact, the latest build that I made for my MediaCenter Hackintosh runs Left4Dead better than my Xbox360. I can run at 1680x1050, 4xAA, High everything.. and this is on a 8600GT.

No, he is comparing a $1200 Windows laptop to a $1200 MacBook. As he said, it is a 100% traveling job, so he is getting a laptop.

Whether or not it will perform worse than a $1200 Windows laptop.... there are too many variables. Yes, you can get something for that money that will run circles around the MacBook, but I can pretty much guarantee you that the MacBook will be built better, will be lighter, will last longer, and will have better battery life than the Windows machine.

 

[Kmax82]

Ah.. my mistake.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: makoto00
my friends play with me on their macbooks. all settings on low though, and you'll still get major slow downs especially at the ends. i wouldn't call it playable.

Do your friends have the unibody macbook?

My understanding is that the 9400m is roughly equivalent to (or actually probably better due to the faster memory and better processor) the x1600 that Apple used in the first generation of MacBook Pros. Tyranicus has one of these and has played any number of Valve Source based games on it, at really good settings. Now admittedly, a lot of that was probably due to the ATi bias that the Source engine seems to have, but all the same.

Barefeats.com has benchmarks of the Unibody MacBook, and they show in their benchmarks that the MacBook gets definitely acceptable FPS at High Settings in their test games. These test were all done under OS X, but the FPS should be similar in Windows.

yes, this is the unibody macbook - both my friends have the "high end" version, and i've tried to help them get the most out of their macbooks. unfortunately, the reality is that the 9400m is only a little better than intel built-in video. it is much worse than the ati x1600. l4d will definitely start choking when you are the last stages of the maps. while you can certainly play through dropped frames and what-not, i am of the opinion that if a game does not run fluidly, it's not worth playing.

if i were in dmw16's position, i would get a windows based laptop. for about 1200 you can pick up a nice asus gaming laptop and the results would be far better.

just as an aside, i don't even like to game on my macbook pro anymore - it works, but it is far from pleasurable. i've played most games on windows xp via bootcamp with the latest nvidia drivers with hacked inf, but the results are just... acceptable. these machines aren't meant to run windows, and after gaming through bootcamp for a while, annoy quirks become noticeable.

 

[Tyranicus]

Originally posted by: makoto00
just as an aside, i don't even like to game on my macbook pro anymore - it works, but it is far from pleasurable. i've played most games on windows xp via bootcamp with the latest nvidia drivers with hacked inf, but the results are just... acceptable. these machines aren't meant to run windows, and after gaming through bootcamp for a while, annoy quirks become noticeable.

I'm curious what quirks you are referring to. When I used to game on my MacBook Pro (Before I build my desktop) in Windows it felt like playing on any other Windows machine.

 

[KeypoX]

but why not just go with this http://www.alienware.com/produ...17&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

its less than 2000. And prob far far better than mac for gaming. 1650 for crossfired video cards. It will play any l4d for sure.

Personally though if someone said here is $2000 and you can only spend it on a laptop. I would get the macbook, but i dont game on my laptop...

If i had to game i would find out which is hte best gaming laptop with the specs i want. apple would prob be out of the equation.

 

[Kmax82]

Yea.. I would have to agree, that if your main concern is gaming, then a gaming based PC would be a better choice. IF you are wanting to do other things than gaming and just plan to game as a hobby, then definitely grab a Macbook, but IF your primary concern is gaming... a PC is a better choice, hands down.

 

[KeypoX]

but looking at this

"High-performance NVIDIA graphics.

MacBook Pro features two NVIDIA graphics processors ? one discrete and one integrated ? to help you get the most out of your applications."

This seems really good? This should run everything pretty well i would imagine? no?

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: KeypoX
but looking at this

"High-performance NVIDIA graphics.

MacBook Pro features two NVIDIA graphics processors ? one discrete and one integrated ? to help you get the most out of your applications."

This seems really good? This should run everything pretty well i would imagine? no?

Well... that is the thing. There are just too many games out there (*Cough* Crysis *Cough*) that are insanely resource intensive, almost just for the sake of being so. So, the 9600m is good, but not great.