GTA 4 on new MacBook Pro

Question

Level 1

8 points

GTA 4 on new MacBook Pro

Hi,

could anybody who have the latest macbook pro with 9600M GT (either 256 or 512Mb versions would be the best) try to run the GTA 4 through bootcamp (VIsta 64 would be the best:)) and share their experience?

Guys, please help - this info will help lots of other people (like me for example!) who is considering to buy a new MBP!-)

PS: on my MA895 (4Gb RAM, C2D 2.2GHz, 128Mb nVidia 8600m GT) in Vista 64 tweaked for games the game is a garbage and unplayable:(

MacBook Pro MA895, Mac OS X (10.5.5), iPhone 8Gb (2.2)

Posted on Dec 8, 2008 1:56 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 13, 2008 4:45 AM in response to _LucID

Hello, I guess you tried it but.. did you run it on less resolution or less quality graphics?

I want to try it but i need space :P the game is too huge.

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Answer 2

_LucID Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 13, 2008 4:59 AM in response to jorgemartins

I was at the store which sells MacBook Pros and tried different models.
I really don't like the new revision of MacBook pro laptops: glossy screen, uncomfortable trackpad and no DVI output, just some mini. The glossy screen was the one that moved me from the decision to buy the laptop of a new revision.
So I asked - want a laptop with Matte screen. They gave me a MB134 model (2.5 Ghz 6Mb L2, 4GB RAM 667 MHz, 320Gb 7200rpm HDD, nVidia 8600M GT 512MB GDDR3). And I really liked it!

Bought it, installed Vista x64 bit SP1, installed Steam and then finally - GTA 4!
Run the game... The settings were (and are still same): 1440x900, Medium textures, High renderer, all values are 21 except the shadows - they ~14.
I could play the game very comfortable but the benchmark gives random results: 13-20Fps.

It really looks great. I think with the new MBPs the game will run even faster.
The only problem is - drivers. I have the latest one from nVidia (laptopvideo2go.com) and it is a bit crappy - sometimes artifacts appear 😟

But i'm wondering - how it runs on the New models?

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Answer 3

Dec 14, 2008 12:44 PM in response to _LucID

im an avid gamer and i would lovvvvve to install gta 4 and tell you my results however i dont have the game. 😟 i think you will really like the added performance that you get from the 1066 ddr3 ram and more importantly the new 9600gt chipset. i can run Crysis with all setting pinned on max. There are very few laptops in the world that can run that FPS shooter period, much less one that is less than an inch think and weighs less than 6 pounds. You'll get used to the glass screen. it is great and with the backlight turned up i use it all day with a window behind me letting natural light hit the screen.

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Answer 4

Dec 24, 2008 11:11 AM in response to _LucID

Hi, i have the top of the line MacBook Pro running vista 32 bit on boot camp and GTA 4 runs amazing!!!! However this is with v-sync turned off, many will agree with me that v-sync lags the game on all high end PC, with this turned off nearly all of the settings are set to the highest, i get very good frame rates. I am just about to get vista 64 bit so i can utalise the full 4GB of ram for the game. But yes it is amazing on this laptop!

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Answer 5

p!lle

Level 1

0 points

Mar 14, 2009 7:08 AM in response to DarrylMitchell

Hi folks!
Being an avid gamer, I really spent quite some time trying to improve GTA 4 performance on my early '09 MacBook Pro. Still, it's far from running "amazing".

Here's what I got:
- 2,53 GHz MacBook Pro w/ 4GB RAM & Geforce 9600M @ 512 MB VRAM.
- Vista 64 Business Edition (BootCamp)

Plus I tried some drivers from laptopvideo2go.com, I think the version I'm using is 179.XX. Anyway, GTA 4 runs barely playable at about 16-22 fps, which is kind of annoying - I'd really be interested in how the guy above me got the game to be running "amazing" (i.e. >30fps).

Oh, and here's my graphics settings for the game:

Detail distance & all that toned down to ~20%, Shadow detail 0, Render & Texture quality low, resolution 1200x800 on Apple Cinema Display (24"... you really can't bear 1024x768 there).

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Answer 6

RadMD

Level 1

55 points

Mar 15, 2009 10:26 AM in response to p!lle

how much memory does it take up on your HD ?

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Answer 7

_LucID Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 15, 2009 11:56 AM in response to _LucID

Guys, I really don't know how did you made the game playable on your new MBPs.
My boss have bought the new MBP with 512Mb 9600M GT video card and 7200rpm hard drive. The CPU runs with 2.66GHz.

I run my Steam GTA4 on his laptop that had Vista x64 Ultimate, all latest nVidia drivers and no other apps (the system was very clean - just installed and setup).

The speed was absolutely the same as my laptop has now. really. same poor 20fps and lags sometimes. without v-sync.

the memory speed gives nothing, cuz this game was build upon CPU and GPU. so it needs more then two cores for CPU and more processing units for GPU.

our 8600m gt and 9600m gt are really very-very same. I overclocked my card temporary so its almost like 9600m - really gives nothing.

so to play this game we'll need a new mac pro nehalem with ati card 4xxx=)

laptops are not ready.. yet 😉

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Answer 8

hsimaH

Level 1

0 points

Mar 26, 2009 2:06 PM in response to p!lle

Hey Everybody,

I've got the same 2.53 unibody 4GB MacBook Pro. I'm using Vista Home Premium 64-bit, and under the advice of another thread, I started using Driver Detective a little while ago, really nifty program to take the hassle out of the driver-hunting experience.

My GTA IV runs great (not quite up to par with a gaming computer, but pretty good), but before upgrading from 32 to 64-bit, it was aweful, very laggy. Half of it probably has a lot to do with the GPU underclocking, and the other half with out-dated drivers from the boot camp installer.

Anyways, I tracked the most up-to-date NVIDIA driver back to its website, the latest supporting 9600M GT (Feb. 11 '09 release). It's supposedly in beta, but I haven't had any problems, and GTA is working great.

Here's some graphics updates, if anybody's interested:

XP 32-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforcenotebook_winxp_179.48beta.html
XP 64-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforcenotebook_winxp64_179.48beta.html

Vista 32-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforcenotebook_winvista_179.48beta.html
Vista 64-bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforcenotebook_winvista64_179.48beta.html

There are a couple platforms supported off the support site, but there you have it. Give it a whirl. In any case, the biggest difference I found was going to 64-bit, although you should still think of upgrading your graphics.

Ciao

Hamish

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Answer 9

Mar 27, 2009 5:05 AM in response to _LucID

Hi I play gta 4 on my 2.53 macbook pro via vista on bootcamp.
Runs perfectly fine albeit not at full settings, but when woure wanted the laptops noticeably slows down.
In Short the macabook pro is perfectly capable of playing the game. Any questions please let me know

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Answer 10

hsimaH

Level 1

0 points

Mar 27, 2009 6:26 AM in response to Lionel Palar

Hi Lionel,

I'm also not running it at the full settings, as I found I had to tweak it quite a bit to find optimal settings. I would be interested to know what graphics settings you put. I'll check mine and put them up here next time I toggle over to Vista.

Regards

Hamish

Message was edited by: hsimaH

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Answer 11

RadMD

Level 1

55 points

Mar 27, 2009 6:07 PM in response to hsimaH

is there any way to play GTA without having to put the DVD into the drive? I've tried making ISO images with alcohol 120 and MagicISO, but it seems to detect the 'emulation software' and will not allow the game to play. Any thoughts? Thanks

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Answer 12

hsimaH

Level 1

0 points

Mar 27, 2009 8:25 PM in response to RadMD

Maybe try Daemon Tools.

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Answer 13

nchaly

Level 1

0 points

Jun 15, 2009 9:25 PM in response to _LucID

Hey..i just got my mb pro..i'l be getting windows vista tomorrow and for one reason...to play gta 4..hopefully it will work..will let you knwo the results..

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