Mac adding mobile graphics DX10 compatible?

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Zekenstein

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I was considering getting a Mac Book pro wish I would install bootcamp on so I could do some windows gaming from time to time, afterall, they got those beefy Mobile X1600 cards. here's the thing, I'm waiting to upgrade my PC till the release of the DX10 compatible cards, should I do the same with the MacBook? How long after the release of the DX10 cards will Mac incorporate the mobile version of those cards into their laptop? Should I just say "screw it" and buy the MacBook now?
 
i would be willing to bet it will be 2+ years before you get a directx 10 card in a mac mobile
 
Why would they have to have a DX10 compatible video card? If I remember correctly DirectX is Microsoft.
 
tsn | spazz said:
Why would they have to have a DX10 compatible video card? If I remember correctly DirectX is Microsoft.
Click to expand...

since windows will now run on mac computers.


i havent gamed a lot on mac's but... what api did mac games use before? opengl??
 
Do you have any actual press to support the 2+ years, or could you explain to me based on the industry and logic why it will be that long? I mean, if ATI produces mobile DX10 for PC's pretty quick, which I'm sure they will, why not for apple?
 
Okay, the fact that something is "DX10" compatible doesn't mean it's only useful with Direct 3D. When people talk about DX-this-or-that, they generally mean how programmable the GPU is, what features it supports, etc. The per-pixel shading that Direct 3D v. 8 introduced is the same basic functionality as the ARB_fragment_program pixel shaders in OpenGL. The code looks different, sure, but it's the same hardware pixel pipelines doing all the work on the GPU.

So even though there is no Direct 3D on the Mac, a "DX10" GPU would still introduce new features that OpenGL can take advantage of.
 
Well, I'm gonna be runing bootcamp and windows, but it was described to me that Unified shaders is the sign of a DX10-compliant card, so I guess I'll go with the MacBook pro, I still want to go down to the apple store though and check one out. The other thing was, and I guess I can look for myself but I wont be able to run a 3d game like Battlefield or whatever in the store, but is the 15.4 MacBook Pro screen/resolution OK for games or should I go with the 17"? Price isn't a huge issue, I would kind of actually like the light and portableness (portability???) of the 15" as I will be bringing it back and forth from my house to class, but if the resolution is shite for gaming than I'd consider the 17".
 
The 15" will do fine. The GPU in the Macbook Pro is probably not powerful enough to run modern games at the native resolution of the 17" display.
 
ya, I'll go with the 15". But I definately think the GPU is powerful enough to run modern games on the 17" with great detail. I mean, it is the 256 MB x1600, granted it's the toned-down mobile version but it still probably packs more of a bunch than my X800 XT
 
Zekenstein said:
ya, I'll go with the 15". But I definately think the GPU is powerful enough to run modern games on the 17" with great detail. I mean, it is the 256 MB x1600, granted it's the toned-down mobile version but it still probably packs more of a bunch than my X800 XT
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I doubt it. A mid-range GPU is hardly ever better than the high-end GPU of the previous generation. The X1600 Pro is probably marginally faster than the 9800 Pro.
 
is the mobility X1600 256MB DDR really that slow? I know in one review that ran World of Warcraft at fairly high settings (which can be a graphically demanding game with bloom, etc., despite the cartoonyness) and they said that only at the quality optimal settings did they experience any FPS drop.
 
oh, well ya, when it comes to the ATI vs. Nvidia flame wars. However, when comparing one ATI card to another running the same driver set it can definately provide an idea of the relative speeds.
 
I can play oblivion at native res + bloom and 2x AA without getting fps dips below about 29 outdoors (I turn off grass cuz I hate it, I think it looks crappy).

Pretty powerful :).
 
Well, I just checked out the KillerNotebooks website so now I'm torn between the two. I like the Mac operating system and the bootcamp possiblity so I can do some gaming, but for the same price I can get the KillerNotebook with has a 7900 GTX 512 MB in it. The other consideration is that I could carry arund an extra battery, but the Killer only has a 2 - 2 1/2 hour battery life and the macBook Pro is like 4 I think... Thoughts..??
 
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