# Updating graphics cards(Macbook Pro)



## -1nf1n1ty- (Sep 23, 2010)

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


----------



## Bo$$ (Sep 23, 2010)

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)

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)

Whole reason I like PC's.

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


----------



## Easy Rhino (Sep 23, 2010)

i dont believe the macbook pros have discrete gpus.


----------



## DanishDevil (Sep 23, 2010)

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


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Sep 23, 2010)

Bo$$ said:


> 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.


Jstn7477 said:


> 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.


DanishDevil said:


> 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)

-1nf1n1ty- said:


> 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)

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)

xrealm20 said:


> 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)

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)

xrealm20 said:


> 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)

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)

-1nf1n1ty- said:


> 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)

Dent1 said:


> 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)

-1nf1n1ty- said:


> 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)

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


----------



## DRDNA (Sep 24, 2010)

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)

DRDNA said:


> 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)

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


----------

