New MacBook + Thunderbolt Display for gaming

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InorganicMatter

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So I'm looking to scrap my entire current desktop and get a 15" MacBook with 6750M and a Thunderbolt display.

Does anyone have an idea of how WoW and Starcraft will run at the Thunderbolt display's native resolution? I have researched the video card in the new MBP and everything I've read says it runs the stuff I want really well at High/Ultra settings, but I know that's on the MBP's paltry 1680x1050 screen. How does it hold up to 2560x1440 at High/Ultra settings?

I raid 25m hardmodes, so performance is pretty important and 24fps really isn't going to cut it. Does the MBP run fine idling in a city, or does it hold up to 25 people worth of spell effects and shadows?
 
Have you considered an iMac? The high-end iMac would do what you want.
 
I need something portable. Yes, I know that ideally I should be looking at an iMac or a Mac Pro.
 
Understood. Do you need something powerful all the time?

What about an iMac + Macbook Air/Pro combo?

I just don't think you'll be satisfied with the MBP at 2560x1600.
 
The bandwidth of the Thunderbolt "bus" isn't nearly high enough to drive 16x PCIe cards. I think I read that at best video cards will run at PCIe 1x speed. Using Thunderbolt for high end gaming is not really going to be possible.
 
Wasn't Expresscard about 1x PCI-E?

Isn't thunderbolt supposed to be better?
 
Actually, Thunderbolt is a little better than PCI-E 4x--but closer to 4x than 8x. :)

Reviews have shown that video cards basically perform at 95% of their potential at PCI-E 4x, and seeing as Thunderbolt is basically an external PCI-E channel, given a proper enclosure, you should absolutely be able to connect an external desktop GPU for gaming purposes.

The caveat is ensuring that the OS/drivers work together, or that you're able to indicate which GPU should be displaying/rendering, etc. I'm not quite positive how that'll work out.

However, given that it's basically an external PCI-E slot, I'm not terribly worried about it. Additionally, because games do most of their loading beforehand (preloaded textures), I think this solution will work well. Even games that stream should be able to stream data very rapidly--even though PCI-E 4x isn't 16x, it's still _really_goddamn_fast_.

I've actually decided to sell my desktop (and return my work laptop), as I've purchased one of the new 1.8 i7 MBAs myself. Going to hook up an external GPU for gaming, and for the rest of work (software development) the hardware will be more than sufficient.
 
Peteman100 said:
Yes, Thunderbolt is x4 PCI-E 2.0
Click to expand...

It's PCIe x1 (closer to x1.2) 2.0

While the IC chips on either side are connected via a PCIe 4.0 interface (I'd bet this is where the common missconception arrives...), it feeds both a DisplayPort 1.2 link, and a 10gbps (=/=GBps) PCIe link, both of which which occupy about PCIe x2.5 @ 2.0 worth of bandwidth when added up.
 
If you're okay with sitting a little further away and enjoying a slightly blurred image (is it even that noticeable with FSAA on?), you could do 1600x900 resolution (instead of Thunderbolt Display's native 2560x1440) or something.

I know most ppl would shudder at the thought of gaming at non-native res, but it's still something worth considering as a backup.
 
jeremyshaw said:
It's PCIe x1 (closer to x1.2) 2.0

While the IC chips on either side are connected via a PCIe 4.0 interface (I'd bet this is where the common missconception arrives...), it feeds both a DisplayPort 1.2 link, and a 10gbps (=/=GBps) PCIe link, both of which which occupy about PCIe x2.5 @ 2.0 worth of bandwidth when added up.
Click to expand...

It connects using 4x PCI-E 2.0, but maybe that's what you mean. However, Thunderbolt is supposed to be 10Gbps bi-directional so 20Gbps total. But if PCI-E 2.0 is 4Gbps for each lane, it would seem that Thunderbolt would need even more than 4 lanes to get that bandwidth...

EDIT: Nevermind I get it. Thunderbolt does x4 PCI-E 2.0 combined with the displayport channel which comes directly from the PCH. So we're talking crazy bandwidth! Should be plenty for a mid-high end external GPU.
 
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