MacBook Pro (Win7 bootcamp) to HDTV for gaming?

[Psno1994]

Disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is posted in the right category (plz tell me if it's not)...

anyway...
I recently got a MacBook Pro, which is now the most powerful computer in my house (my parents really don't care if all their computers are SLOWWWWWW), and I've been enjoying it so far. That is, in every aspect except the gaming performance. At native resolution, it really doesn't do that well (except w/ HL2 and Doom 3 but those are OLD), my standards being 30+ FPS at medium/high. I've heard that Intel's integrated "HD graphics 3000" is roughly equal performance-wise to the chip in 360 (which I don't have, nor PS3- I kind of skipped out on the current gen in favor of Nintendo*), so I assume that it would perform well at 720p. I can't stand gaming in 720p on a laptop screen b/c it's so close to me and it looks more pixellated, and I hate gaming in windowed mode. My thought was that if I managed to connect it to my HDTV (which is 720p) and use a wireless 360 controller under Windows 7, my gaming needs would be met, since it would perform about equal to 360 at the same resolution. Essentially, I want to use my HDTV as an external monitor for gaming. I realize I'm kind of a noob, I've never tried this before though, nor do I know anyone who has.
Has anyone else done this, and managed to get it working well? If so, how? I didn't get the MiniDisplayPort to HDMI or DVI connector, I assume I'll need one, and an HDMI or DVI cable... anything else I'd need?


*...and regretted it after a year of only Zelda, Metroid and the very rare third-party gem. let's hope Nintendo manages to actually catch up to PC gaming and surpass MS/Sony with Project Cafe... We'll see tomorrow

 

[crewton]

I wouldn't expect it to do as well as a 360 Consoles specs are fairly old but they don't have windows and other background programs to deal with.

What you are doing though isn't unheard of. I'm assuming you don't have an HDMI on your macbook? DVI to HDMI works but I don't know if the sound carries over or not. I know HDMI is audio+video but I think DVI is just video. Otherwise connecting to TV and setting your tv as monitor 2 and getting a wireless controller aren't hard to set up.

 

[timothy2180]

I wouldn't expect it to do as well as a 360 Consoles specs are fairly old but they don't have windows and other background programs to deal with.

What you are doing though isn't unheard of. I'm assuming you don't have an HDMI on your macbook? DVI to HDMI works but I don't know if the sound carries over or not. I know HDMI is audio+video but I think DVI is just video. Otherwise connecting to TV and setting your tv as monitor 2 and getting a wireless controller aren't hard to set up.

DVI to HDMI will definitely not carry over audio. I have a MacBook Pro 15" and I am almost positive they sell Mini display port to HDMI. As for hooking up an external HDTV, that should be fine.

With my MBP, I notice it runs exponentially better if i prop it up with something. For example, I sit it on two water bottles as sort of a ghetto heat sink. In my opinion it works far better than any pre-fabricated laptop cooler.

When Macbooks get hot, they tend to start crashing applications or the entire OS. Hope this helps.

 

[K3vBot6000]

You can do it just fine. You need to buy the display port adapter is all. I connect to my tv and play SC2 on it, same model computer as well. I run the sound through my laptop and it all works fine. You may need to tone down the graphics though. To fun at that size may push it for certain games.