How bad is the HD3000 graphics on new Macbooks?

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,146
Location
Altrincham
Is the Intel HD3000 graphics really bad for gaming?

Not sure if I go for a macbook air or the 15" macbook pro with the radeon graphics :(

how do the two 15" macbook pros compare for gaming too?
 
You won't be gaming on the HD3000, except older valve titles :p
Look at the results for last gen's Nvidia card, then remove 20% of the FPS.
 
I thought it was supposed to be better than the 9600 gen cards though... (or that could have just been wishful thinking)
 
You won't be gaming on the HD3000, except older valve titles :p
Look at the results for last gen's Nvidia card, then remove 20% of the FPS.

hardly. theres not much in it in most benchmarks under lion . and on the 13" pro the i5 certainly makes up for it in many games too
 
On my 13inch MacBook it run's World of Warcraft with 40-60 frames per second on highest resoultion and good overall graphic setting, although the temp of my CPU reaches dangerous level thats my only fault it also handles games such as CSS, Half Life fine but again heat issues although im sure the 15inch MBP wont have as bad heat issues.
 
I run WoW at good frame rates on my 2011 MBA with 3000 graphics.
Seems acceptable to me but then I don't really game musch on the MBA. I have a powerful dektop for that.
 
I run WoW at good frame rates on my 2011 MBA with 3000 graphics.
Seems acceptable to me but then I don't really game musch on the MBA. I have a powerful dektop for that.

+1 although the detail defaults to lowest , and it does get a bit warm and noisy.
 
Wow runs quite well on my 13" MBP other games I've also tested that run ok are portal2 (really surprising how well this runs) Eve online (Can run 3 clients on low), Cod MW2 (not too bad) Black ops (bit slow at times, might be better off ssd) and TF2 which runs pretty well.

Fan does start shifting some air after a while though and I usually get around 3 hours solid gaming on a full charge with 1/4 brightness and key lights down low.
 
Hi,

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm also in the same predicament.

I'm looking at buying my first mac laptop, and can't decide which one would be best for my needs.

I'm looking for it to do the obvious, emails, browsing, YouTube etc, also looking to do light gaming, indie games like minecraft/deathspank football manager/team fortress 2 etc

I'm wondering if the 13'' mbp will be adequate enough for this or shall I get the one with the dedicated card?

Thanks a lot
Maun
 
I was going to get the 13” Model but knowing my PC gamer past there would likely be a new game I'll want to play so I waited a little longer and got the 15” 6750M 1tb GPU version. I think I'll even be able play the new Dead Island game on high on this model if I setup bootcamp.
 
Hi,

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm also in the same predicament.

I'm looking at buying my first mac laptop, and can't decide which one would be best for my needs.

I'm looking for it to do the obvious, emails, browsing, YouTube etc, also looking to do light gaming, indie games like minecraft/deathspank football manager/team fortress 2 etc

I'm wondering if the 13'' mbp will be adequate enough for this or shall I get the one with the dedicated card?

Thanks a lot
Maun

the 13 plays those games totally fine , (source and FM being more cpu dependant than GFX and the others being nothing dependant)
 
the 13 plays those games totally fine , (source and FM being more cpu dependant than GFX and the others being nothing dependant)


Running games trashes the Fans and still has a temp of 80+ Degrees, this cannot be healthy whilst gaming for long periods. Personally I would go for the 15" MBP - Dedicated Graphics +1
 
i game for long periods. no issues . half life 2 , football manager , the GTA ports



who knows whats healthy , random internet posters or apple ? when faults cost them money i don't think they would risk it. 80 is nothing for a mobile cpu under full load
 
its a big price gap between the 13" and 15" when the things he wants to use it for will all work totally fine on the cheaper model
 
Hi,

Thanks for the replys all, The max amount I'd be on one in one sitting would be 2hours tops, it's literately when mim in my pets room with them you see.

Would it be worth spending extra pennies on the 13" with i7?

Thanks
maun
 
i game for long periods. no issues . half life 2 , football manager , the GTA ports



who knows whats healthy , random internet posters or apple ? when faults cost them money i don't think they would risk it. 80 is nothing for a mobile cpu under full load






Well its pretty much common sense we all know 80c is hot for a CPU it hits higher than that to be fair but i quickly shut off. But when the fans ramp up within a few seconds to max RPM and then the temperature still rises quite rapidly obviously the cooling isnt adequate for the amount of CPU and Graphics stress. Thats my opinion anyway, Lets see who's Mac lasts longer before returning to the Apple store.
 
Back
Top Bottom