macbook pro retina

xirokx

xirokx

xirokx

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Hi guys

I am thinking of getting a macbook pro retina.

Initially I was looking at just the macbook pro after reading around it seems the gfx card Intel HD 4000 is not very good.

I am trying to look for reviews on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics card with regards to what games it can play i.e. COD, BF3 and on what settings.

Also are these macbook pro / retina any good for video rendering and encoding on premiere pro?

Whilst I am not a hardcore gamer I do use the adobe suite with particular emphasis on photoshop and premiere.

I also like playing games like COD and BF3 time permitting and if I got a macbook pro / retina do not really want to find out it cannot handle these games especially when you look at the costs of these machines.

Can I get away with playing these games on the I5 processor, if I upgrade RAM to 8gb or would you say a i7 is definately required.

Your honest opinions would be appreciated

Thanks
 
If you are looking to game then you need either the mbp 15 or the retina 15. the 13" version only has i5 dual core with integrated gfx and will not play bf3.

Both the 15" retina and classic come with the 650m. The retina's has a higher clock speed of 900 vs 775 but both can also be overclocked with nvidia inspector. I run mine at 1000/2500

Gaming wise the 650m is not a bad card and you can expect to play BF3 at 1680x1050 medium settings with fps around 40-60. You can get away with running it at 1080p/1200p if you tweak the settings.

It will play COD with ease as the engine is older.

One point of note, the machines do heat up a lot when gaming and the keyboard can get quite warm if playing a demanding game (ie BF3)
 
thanks for your response ninja

If you are looking to game then you need either the mbp 15 or the retina 15
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is it because both these machines have quad core and the gfx card is not integrated?

also if I get a mbp 15 or retina 15, should I ensure it has a nvidia 650 instead of the intel HD4000?

the machines do heat up a lot when gaming and the keyboard can get quite warm if playing a demanding game
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is that the same when video encoding? have you tried this using premiere pro? if yes did you get good performance?

is the machine / keyboard warming up something you live with? or can you get around it?

thank you for help and advice
 
all 2012 15" macbooks (retina or classic) have i7 quad and 650m

Only the 13" have dual core and integrated gfx.

Sorry, I don't use premiere pro, I use my mbp for web design, coding and the handbrake. In handbrake the fans whir up but it doesn't get too hot but it is using the cpu 100% but not the gfx card.

I can live with the heat, its not as bad as an old dell xps 1640 I used to own. You can also increase the fan speed manually which makes the machine louder but cooler.

Hope that helps
 
650m will be fine.

I have a 2012 imac with the 640m and it will get pretty much the same results.

The only problem is that you wont be able to use the retina resolutions as the gpu will not be good enough for that. Hence why I didn't get the 27" imac.
 
passey89 said:
650m will be fine.

I have a 2012 imac with the 640m and it will get pretty much the same results.

The only problem is that you wont be able to use the retina resolutions as the gpu will not be good enough for that. Hence why I didn't get the 27" imac.
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The 'proper' Retina resolution is 1440x900, you can go higher but you start to lose the quality advantage of the scaling and of course performance in games.
 
thanks

I have also seen macbook pro's with an ATI 6750 card

Which is better then Nvidia 6350 or ATI 6750

Which would you go for?

Your opinions would be appreciated

thanks
 
AbsenceJam said:
The 'proper' Retina resolution is 1440x900, you can go higher but you start to lose the quality advantage of the scaling
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How? it still scales at 2x, so at 1200p its actual running at 2400p and then displays 1900x1200 so you get the same exact quality. I always run mine at 1200p to actual have more screen space, and not just have sharper things. For games I just bring it down to to 1440x900, or 1200p depend on how demanding it is.
 
Fallen god said:
How? it still scales at 2x, so at 1200p its actual running at 2400p and then displays 1900x1200 so you get the same exact quality. I always run mine at 1200p to actual have more screen space, and not just have sharper things. For games I just bring it down to to 1440x900, or 1200p depend on how demanding it is.
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It may be rendered at a higher resolution but it isn't displayed at that, and there are fewer actual pixels making up each part of your image.

:eek: < @ 1440*900 that's made up of more actual pixels than at 19*12.
 
AbsenceJam said:
It may be rendered at a higher resolution but it isn't displayed at that, and there are fewer actual pixels making up each part of your image.

:eek: < @ 1440*900 that's made up of more actual pixels than at 19*12.
Click to expand...


Yes your right, it is not as sharp, but the extra space is more important for me, to my eyes it just looked as sharp.


Anandtech is amazing at these things <3
 
im having a huge dilema. the portability of the 13 retina or the 15 size and power of the standard 15.

It's not my primary machine so im leaning towards the 13". Also im so used to the SSD drive on my imac that going back to normal drives seems slow!

decisions decisions
 
roysters said:
im having a huge dilema. the portability of the 13 retina or the 15 size and power of the standard 15.

It's not my primary machine so im leaning towards the 13". Also im so used to the SSD drive on my imac that going back to normal drives seems slow!

decisions decisions
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I'm trying to make a similar decision for university next year and I'm leaning towards the 15".

It really depends what you're going to use it for and how much you value power/portability.
 
roysters said:
im having a huge dilema. the portability of the 13 retina or the 15 size and power of the standard 15.

It's not my primary machine so im leaning towards the 13". Also im so used to the SSD drive on my imac that going back to normal drives seems slow!

decisions decisions
Click to expand...

but it is so easy to install an ssd yourself if you buy a pro its a non issue.

The 13 is a great machine, it will cope with all but gaming and rendering
 
roysters said:
im having a huge dilema. the portability of the 13 retina or the 15 size and power of the standard 15.

It's not my primary machine so im leaning towards the 13". Also im so used to the SSD drive on my imac that going back to normal drives seems slow!

decisions decisions
Click to expand...

From what you've said in this thread the 13" is a no brainer.
 
i did this video xirokx of my retina 15" MBP doing a few things. You can see how fast it is...


Games run well on it but I have not tried BF3. I can imagine it will be fine on medium settings.
 
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