Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

[avi]

Im considering buying the macbook because its cheaper then a macvbook pro. Now that boot camp gives us windows on a mac laptop its worthit. BUT, Does the graphics card in the macbook, which is the "Intel GMA 950 graphics processor", work with FFXI. It says its a 64mb, but the intel site says it goes to 192mb because its shared with the internal memory, but Im still not sure.

Can anybody tell me if they have done this, and is it working comfertably?

[Mhurron]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

It is shared with the system ram. The MacBook just running OS X is ram starved the way it ships anyway, so just anything you do with it you're going to want to upgrade the ram anyway.

That said I doubt that you would get very good performance out of it but it should work as long as you make sure the system has about 512MB ram or more after the 'video card' steals it. From what I've heard getting 1GB of ram (not from Apple) is the magic number for the MacBook.

Double Post Edited:
Just as an aside, if you're only going to be primarily running Windows on the thing don't buy a Mac. You won't be getting the best support for Windows from Apple and I doubt that Windows drivers will be updated as frequently as they would be if you got a laptop that was intended to run Windows from the outset. Windows on the MacBook is an after thought and would be supported as such.

[avi]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

thanks....My maoin question was with the memory on the card. Just wanna clear it up for me, what your saying is that if I have 1 gig of ram then the video card will use some of the ram as its memory?

[Mhurron]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

thanks....My maoin question was with the memory on the card. Just wanna clear it up for me, what your saying is that if I have 1 gig of ram then the video card will use some of the ram as its memory?

Yes it is not a separate device with its own VRAM like the MacBook Pro has (ATI X1600). It is an integrated Intel graphics chip that shares system RAM. From Apples specs it seems that it is hard coded somewhere to use 64MB system RAM no matter what. So on standard configurations the MacBook ships with 512MB ram (2 256MB chips), 448MB would be available to the system. Which is enough for XP and FFXI but not really for OS X and the 'i' apps.

And don't buy more ram from Apple, you can get the same stuff much cheaper just about everywhere else.

[Ouija]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

hey check this out

http://web.mac.com/fsewald/iWeb/4CB5...E/Welcome.html

[avi]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

HA HA awsome thanks^^

[kuu]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

Macbook has the same intergrated graphics as mac mini intel. And that one runs ffxi decently.

FFxi doesn't use very much GPU anyway, so almost anything computer can play ffxi(even non gpu ones using a program to emulate calls).

Macbook intergrated graphics is actually not that bad, being the lastest gen from intel.

It actually beats a ATIx1200 in benchmarks. Of course it falls off in any kind of bandwith tests due to shared system memory, but it can play PC games decently. Nothing like Oblivion but most pc games.

The Macbook is actually a very nice notebook. It's fairly durable, dual booting, decend materials(the new keyboard I like, but i'm not fatfingered like some people).

Also Apple is running a promotion, buy a macbook with an education discount and get a free 2gig nano.

[avi]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

lol

Well thanks for all the imput, but I picked up the Macbook Pro. It all boiled down to the fact that when Im not at home I want a large screen to play my games on.

Thanks again everyone.

[Alucath]

Re: Macbook...not Macbook pro...does it work?

Nice.. My dad just bought a 17" Macbook Pro and installed windows on it. He's mostly using the machine to edit movies with, but it's pretty sweet. And awesome site by the iMac FFXI guy, that's sweet :D.