HELP! Need your technical expertise re: new comp!

Hey fleeties!

I am caving in an buying a new MacBook Pro... here is the thing though, I am going to sell my iMac and my current 15in MBP. I am going to get a display to plug the laptop into and basically turn it into my desktop while I am at home. Since I will only have one computer now, I want to trick out the MBP with everything possible so STO looks the best possible (using a version of windows 64bit). The thing is, if I am gonna drop this money, I want to make sure I will be able to play STO with the highest settings. Here is the configuration of the new MBP:

2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 with 8MB shared L3 cache
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
512GB Solid State Drive
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display
AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5

So based on the above, what do you think STO will look like? Also, I have 2 weeks to return it so I can always test out how it looks but I know some of you out there will know by reading the specs.

Lay it on me!

Bragging much? lol

Notebookcheck is my go to site for video chips, and they rank the 6750M on the high side of the current generation mid-grade chips. Usually, that means a very solid "bang for your buck" value with very good performance that doesn't break the bank. It might not be able to crank full options in the really hard core FPS games, but for STO (WoW, Champs Online) I would bet you can max everything and still get excellent performance.

Quote by Joslur

Bragging much? lol

I've been waiting to go to bed until someone responded and I was sure this would be the first comment >

Yeah, that should do fine.

Although, I would get a bigger display, mine's 24-inch, and AMD cards have a compatibility issues with STO since Beta that haven't been fixed so I'd recommend getting a Nvidia card, plus its my brand of choice. Oh, and you could, like, get a pc.

Quote by NicholasJohn16

Yeah, that should do fine.

Although, I would get a bigger display, mine's 24-inch, and AMD cards have a compatibility issues with STO since Beta that haven't been fixed so I'd recommend getting a Nvidia card, plus its my brand of choice. Oh, and you could, like, get a pc.

Thanks, Nick,

I am also getting a 27in Cinema Display; this is what my set up will look like:



I have not heard about the AMD issue =/ It is the only card offered. Do you have a thread that says people have been having that problem?

I bought my laptop specifically for STO, and I use an AMD graphics card with no problems. I know there is a problem with some AMD/ATI though, but I believe the newer version have no problem. I can't turn my graphics up full without slight issues, but since yours is much better I expect it will be possible for you.

I do know that the quad core is not an advantage for STO as it's designed for dual core, but it's not a drawback either, you just don't use the others for the game. I assume it would be good for running other programs alongside the game.

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=191190

There's one by Computer Ed. There's a lot more threads on there. For as far as I've heard, it's not been fixed it yet and Cryptic is still working with ATI/AMD to hunt down and fix the problem.

When I first started playing, I cranked everything up to maximum. Ground firefights were definitely causing an issue on my ATI card. If you turn Dynamic Lighting OFF, and set your lighting to a maximum of three you won't have any issues. I play with everything on high, with the exception of the lighting and the game runs smooth. :)

Damn =/ Well it is the only graphics card option available.

Christian, that is the thing I was most looking forward to, te Dynamic lighting, especially the bloom effects :(

I am reading the thread though and it does say this is really just on the ground, and only in some places.

Is this something that can, not will, but can be something that they can fix at some point if they figure out the problem?

If they figure it out sure, they can fix it, but they've been working on this bug since beta with the help of ATI developers and still nothing.

What about buying the computer with integrated graphics or the cheapest version that upgrading to a Nvidia graphics card later?

@Nick, but that option is not available on this laptop :)

But! I was just looking at what I currently use and it is this: ATI Radeon HD 4670

I have never crashed or anything. Obviously, dynamic lighting is off but, help me answer this?

The game still looks amazing and the increased computer specs will help it even more + possibly be able to turn on DL with only 3 max lights - overall, it should look better than it looks now, right?

Yeah, it'll probably look great. How much better would be a bit subjective. I've seen screenshots that you've taken and the quality looks above average already. You'll probably get it a bit better than that.

Nvidia cards have there issues to micro stutering on the 400 / 500 series all top end cards can be affected so it matters not which way you go
Nivida = shadow issues ati = dynamic lighting :D

edit
400 + series - issue
5000 +series -issue

Here she is! :cheer: patching up STO right now and crossing my fingers that it looks amazing!

Awesome setup Brandon. I love me some apple. Hmm...It's about time for me to start considering a new apple computer...hmm.

should be good i run pcs myself
i5 650
6gb ram
ati 6950 but unlocked to full 6970 :-)
and mine looks lovely
so should yours :D