As a developer and also a gamer with MacBook Pro Unibody, I found it was a pain to play games on this gorgeous machine, because it always turns to black screen when I’m playing any 3D intensive games in Windows Vista, then I’ll have to press power button for several seconds to force the machine to shut down.

I searched the Internet and found a lot people are experiencing the same:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1767221&tstart=0

So I’m wondering:

1. Is Apple shipping faulty chips in the latest MacBook Pro?
2. Or it’s just a driver issue?

After days of attempts, I finally figured out a way to make the machine stable when gaming. Here is how:

Update Drivers

Drivers included in Bootcamp are just too old, one big problem I experienced is crappy sound, it’s fixed after updated drivers.

You’ll need to download and install these three driver packages:

Realtek HD Audio Codec Driver

Download URL: http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

As of writing, the latest version is 2.13, this will fix the problematic sound quality.

nForce Driver

Download URL: http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_vista_20.08.html

As of writing, the latest version is 20.08. This will update drivers of your logic board and networking.

GeForce Driver

nVIDIA has released an official version of laptop driver, but it’s still at 179.x, I’m using the latest 180.x version. As a software engineer, my experience told me that the latest version could always contain undiscovered fixes which are good. Believe it or not.

You can find various latest nVIDIA GeForce drivers here:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

Install nVIDIA System Tools

After updated all drivers, if you’re still experiencing black screen of death, it could be caused by some settings of fan speed is messed. I noticed that every time my MBP turns BSOD, it’s just too quiet, because the fans are not speeding up at all and the whole shell is as hot as hell.

I heard that RivaTuner can tweak fan speed settings, but its shattered UI really scared me, I’m afraid I may get more things messed with RivaTuner. So I turned to try nVIDIA System Tools, the official utility provided by nVIDIA for performance and monitoring stuff. You can download it here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_system_tools_6.03.html

As of writing, the latest version is 6.03. After installed, it will ask you to reboot the computer, and just follow that.

nVIDIA System Tools adds several panels in control panel, and you’ll find the option that lets you set cool down percentage is gray. I don’t know why but it’s normal, maybe. Since this nVIDIA part is assembled by Apple?

Then try your 3D intensive games like Call of Duty: World at War or Prince of Persia, you’ll notice that fans are speeding up as you enter game scenes. And I haven’t experienced a crash since I installed nVIDIA System Tools. So I guess it fixed some mess in fan speed settings, and that saves the machine from BSOD? At least it seems Apple is not shipping faulty chips in my MacBook Pro?

Best wishes to you and one more thing I may have to remind you, your mileage may vary.