MacBook + GTX 970

[Cython]

Hello,

I got a Lg ultra wide screen (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 )

Powered my a MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2014 with 8 gb of ram and a intel i5 2,6 Ghz.( Running windows 10 )

The setup it good for me because i use my laptop for school so I want to be portable and light.

Until now I was mainly playing not very hardware intensive games like Minecraft, but I want to expand a bit

Im planing to use the pci extension 200$ Ackitio Thunder box with a gtx970.

Im hopping to play games like gat 5, the witcher III, cod etc, on the ultra wide screen with high fps.

1 question: The macbook hasn't got the best cpu will that effect gaming a lot?

2 Can the 970 power games on the 3440 x 1440 ultra wide screen with good fps?

3 Would I be better of using my ps4 for gaming instead ?

4 Will my macbook still get very hot

Thx for the help!

[Decon]

Hello, I got a Lg ultra wide screen (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 ) Powered my a MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2014 with 8 gb of ram and a intel i5 2,6 Ghz.( Running windows 10 ) The setup it good for me because i use my laptop for school so I want to be portable and light. Until now I was mainly playing not very hardware intensive games like Minecraft, but I want to expand a bit Im planing to use the pci extension 200$ Ackitio Thunder box with a gtx970. Im hopping to play games like gat 5, the witcher III, cod etc, on the ultra wide screen with high fps. 1 question: The macbook hasn't got the best cpu will that effect gaming a lot? 2 Can the 970 power games on the 3440 x 1440 ultra wide screen with good fps? 3 Would I be better of using my ps4 for gaming instead ? 4 Will my macbook still get very hot Thx for the help!

@Firearm2112

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

 

It will play games fine, though 3440x1440 is very demanding for a 970, your mac will get hot but it will be fine, the mobile CPU might bottleneck the graphics card but its still going to be better than a console

[AverageHardware]

Hello, I got a Lg ultra wide screen (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 ) Powered my a MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2014 with 8 gb of ram and a intel i5 2,6 Ghz.( Running windows 10 ) The setup it good for me because i use my laptop for school so I want to be portable and light. Until now I was mainly playing not very hardware intensive games like Minecraft, but I want to expand a bit Im planing to use the pci extension 200$ Ackitio Thunder box with a gtx970. Im hopping to play games like gat 5, the witcher III, cod etc, on the ultra wide screen with high fps. 1 question: The macbook hasn't got the best cpu will that effect gaming a lot? 2 Can the 970 power games on the 3440 x 1440 ultra wide screen with good fps? 3 Would I be better of using my ps4 for gaming instead ? 4 Will my macbook still get very hot Thx for the help!

The 970 can play most games maxed. BUT. It wouldn't at all with that setup. The Macbook's CPU would bottleneck that card very easily since it is only a mobile dual core chip. Also, it will most likely run extremely hot. I would use a console if that's an option.

 

GTA and Witcher are very CPU demanding games.

[19_blackie_73]

an i5 shouldn't be bad to drive a 970, even if a laptop model. bottleneck might be here the thunderbold connection

[Aereldor]

Hello, I got a Lg ultra wide screen (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 ) Powered my a MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2014 with 8 gb of ram and a intel i5 2,6 Ghz.( Running windows 10 ) The setup it good for me because i use my laptop for school so I want to be portable and light. Until now I was mainly playing not very hardware intensive games like Minecraft, but I want to expand a bit Im planing to use the pci extension 200$ Ackitio Thunder box with a gtx970. Im hopping to play games like gat 5, the witcher III, cod etc, on the ultra wide screen with high fps. 1 question: The macbook hasn't got the best cpu will that effect gaming a lot? 2 Can the 970 power games on the 3440 x 1440 ultra wide screen with good fps? 3 Would I be better of using my ps4 for gaming instead ? 4 Will my macbook still get very hot Thx for the help!

The Macbook CPU has been known to underperform due to Thermal Throttling- a phenomenon you can learn more about here- 

Even without it, it isn't a great CPU. Minus the 970, you could probably put together a decent computer for $200 to house the 970 in, and even put in a vastly superior CPU.

 

[ShadowCaptain]

Even without it, it isn't a great CPU. Minus the 970, you could probably put together a decent computer for $200 to house the 970 in, and even put in a vastly superior CPU.

 

 

Very true,

 

build a cheap pc, $300 should get you a locked i5, board, ram, case, powersupply etc

 

If you want to game on the mac you could stream to it

[Cython]

Ok got it, thank you for the fast help 

So how high is the price for a ultra wide (3440 x 1440) gaming rig to do abut 60 fps

My problem with the ps4 is that I either have big bezels ore its looking strange. 

[ShadowCaptain]

So how high is the price for a ultra wide (3440 x 1440) gaming rig to do abut 60 fps

 

You want like a 980/980ti and an i5/i7

 

Or just get a cheap i3/i5 and 970 and play at a  lower resolution  

[Aereldor]

You want like a 980/980ti and an i5/i7

 

Or just get a cheap i3/i5 and 970 and play at a  lower resolution  

The load on the processor only increases slightly with resolution, but it's true, you'll need more than a 970 to max out 1440p ultrawide. However, most games will still be perfectly playable (around 40fps) on ultra, and you should be able to hit 50-60 without any evident loss in quality by configuring settings to your liking and replacing beefy in-game effects like Anti-Aliasing and Bloom with SweetFX or Reshade SMAA.

A 970 should do it, especially if you're willing to do a little overclocking.

[Aereldor]

Ok got it, thank you for the fast help 

So how high is the price for a ultra wide (3440 x 1440) gaming rig to do abut 60 fps

My problem with the ps4 is that I either have big bezels ore its looking strange. 

As far as I know, consoles only operate at an aspect ratio of 16:9, usually at 900p or even 792p. Your resolution is 21/9, so you'll have an equivalent of 5 of those 21 groups of pixels not being rendered on screen, represented by black bars instead.. Those are probably what you think are 'Large bezels'.

Edit: 'Bezels' are actually the frame around the screen, not part of the screen itself. Thought you ought to know.

[ShadowCaptain]

The load on the processor only increases slightly with resolution, but it's true, you'll need more than a 970 to max out 1440p ultrawide. However, most games will still be perfectly playable (around 40fps) on ultra, and you should be able to hit 50-60 without any evident loss in quality by configuring settings to your liking and replacing beefy in-game effects like Anti-Aliasing and Bloom with SweetFX or Reshade SMAA.

A 970 should do it, especially if you're willing to do a little overclocking.

 

 

over clocking wont really make THAT much difference but yes it should do it, just drop the games fidelity settings and it will be ok, I know how my 780ti Handles 1440p so I am not confident how it would handle ultrawide 1440p and that is a similar amount of power to the 970

[Cython]

So there is no way to use the ps4 in 21/9

[Aereldor]

So there is no way to use the ps4 in 21/9

That's right, though I hear The Order 1886 will be the first game to do this-

 

http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/02/16/the-order-1886-169-1080p-vs-2-401-1920x800-video-and-screenshot-comparison-pixel-count-vs-art/

 

However, this isn't even 1080p, let alone 1440. You're going to need something heavier to get to that resolution.

Here's a tin can to stick your 970 in. Granted, it's a more-than-decent tin can, and will outperform your Macbook by leaps and bounds.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($163.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($41.40 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($35.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($40.50 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $329.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-28 13:14 EDT-0400

 

[Redicat]

Clone the important data from your Macbook to a brand new HDD & buy a brand new Gaming rig.

 

Sell THE Macbook, lol..

 

I assume you have alot of cash since you have a Macbook & a freakin 3440 x 1440 from LG even... should be easy.

[Cython]

thank you so much Aereldor, that helped me a lot 
But i need my macbook for school so ill probably get a gaming rig 

[Aereldor]

thank you so much Aereldor, that helped me a lot 

But i need my macbook for school so ill probably get a gaming rig 

No big deal. I was thinking of a similar solution back when all I had was a Dell Vostro 2420 (i3 3120m), using this adapter from Banggood and a 750 Ti

Sure, it might be interesting, but this is a terrible solution for two reasons-

The Laptop CPU on this was clocked far below its desktop equivalent, and on a MacBook, it would thermal-throttle until it's basically crunching your games completely- even those that don't exert it to full load, many of which will.

Also, you want all the hardware in a case (because dust is more than an aesthetic danger), and I'm not even sure that the MacBook has a mini PCI-e slot for the adapter to go in, and if it did, it probably has very low bandwidth, as opposed to the x16 slot on your motherboard, and will not let the graphics card perform at its best.

[Redicat]

No big deal. I was thinking of a similar solution back when all I had was a Dell Vostro 2420 (i3 3120m), using this adapter from Banggood and a 750 Ti

Sure, it might be interesting, but this is a terrible solution for two reasons-

The Laptop CPU on this was clocked far below its desktop equivalent, and on a MacBook, it would thermal-throttle until it's basically crunching your games completely- even those that don't exert it to full load, many of which will.

Also, you want all the hardware in a case (because dust is more than an aesthetic danger), and I'm not even sure that the MacBook has a mini PCI-e slot for the adapter to go in, and if it did, it probably has very low bandwidth, as opposed to the x16 slot on your motherboard, and will not let the graphics card perform at its best.

 

Still not worth it... he has a freakin 1440p display (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 ) he's gonna have like 10 fps with that even less just a terrible experience...

 

If he wants a gaming rig be able to handle this ATLEAST an overclocked R9 390/R9 390X GTX 980 and above.

 

Also 46 DOLLAR for shit you dont know if its gonna work at all... lol there gotta be an cheaper one on Ebay.

[Aereldor]

Still not worth it... he has a freakin 1440p display (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 ) he's gonna have like 10 fps with that even less just a terrible experience...

 

If he wants a gaming rig be able to handle this ATLEAST an overclocked R9 390/R9 390X GTX 980 and above.

 

Also 46 DOLLAR for shit you dont know if its gonna work at all... lol there gotta be an cheaper one on Ebay.

I'm not suggesting it to him. If you read through the entire post, I was only talking about something I once wanted to do but chose not to.

To quote my previous post - 'Sure, it might be interesting, but this is a terrible solution'. 

 

The post was not a suggestion, but an account of my own findings and abandoned plans. It might not be a bad idea to start reading the posts your reply to.

[Redicat]

I'm not suggesting it to him. If you read through the entire post, I was only talking about something I once wanted to do but chose not to.

To quote my previous post - 'Sure, it might be interesting, but this is a terrible solution'. 

 

The post was not a suggestion, but an account of my own findings and abandoned plans. It might not be a bad idea to start reading the posts your reply to.

 

If it is a terrible solution simply DONT post it... ever.

[MrKappa]

Hello, I got a Lg ultra wide screen (3440 x 1440) ( a Lg 24UC97 )Powered my a MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2014 with 8 gb of ram and a intel i5 2,6 Ghz.( Running windows 10 )The setup it good for me because i use my laptop for school so I want to be portable and light.Until now I was mainly playing not very hardware intensive games like Minecraft, but I want to expand a bit Im planing to use the pci extension 200$ Ackitio Thunder box with a gtx970. Im hopping to play games like gat 5, the witcher III, cod etc, on the ultra wide screen with high fps. 1 question: The macbook hasn't got the best cpu will that effect gaming a lot?2 Can the 970 power games on the 3440 x 1440 ultra wide screen with good fps?3 Would I be better of using my ps4 for gaming instead ?4 Will my macbook still get very hot Thx for the help!

are you planning to run it in a virtual windows machine? If so well no, your games pretty much will not support Mac. If yes! Then definitely but your mac will get very very hot. Turn it of after a hour of gameplay. I recommend not using the trackpad and using a USB keyboard in stead for gaming

[Aereldor]

If it is a terrible solution simply DONT post it... ever.

Well, it's an interesting solution. That was the whole point.

[TechGod]

The Macbook CPU has been known to underperform due to Thermal Throttling- a phenomenon you can learn more about here- 

Even without it, it isn't a great CPU. Minus the 970, you could probably put together a decent computer for $200 to house the 970 in, and even put in a vastly superior CPU.

 

That's the MacBook you're talking about. Not the MacBook Pro that this guy is using. 

[TechGod]

are you planning to run it in a virtual windows machine? If so well no, your games pretty much will not support Mac. If yes! Then definitely but your mac will get very very hot. Turn it of after a hour of gameplay. I recommend not using the trackpad and using a USB keyboard in stead for gaming

Lolwut? Just cause it gets hot means absolutely nothing. If it shuts off or gives a warning that it's getting too hot? Then there's a problem. 

[Aereldor]

Lolwut? Just cause it gets hot means absolutely nothing. If it shuts off or gives a warning that it's getting too hot? Then there's a problem. 

Watch the video. 'Thermal Throttling' refers to a computer ramping down CPU speeds when things get hot because it doesn't have the capacity to cool a processor running at full speed. That's exactly what happens to the Macbook, and that is most definitely a problem.