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Fitz3711

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2013
3
0
Hello All,

I was hoping to get some advice from you all as to how I could increase my FPS while gaming on my Macbook Air (specs listed below). I have partitioned my hard-drive using bootcamp and installed Windows 7 (64-bit) so that I could game on the Windows platform. At this time, despite my best efforts, I can only achieve about 10 FPS (I would prefer something around 25+ FPS) while playing games such as WoW, SWOTR, and FFXIV. As you can see, I mostly play MMORPGs and have taken basic steps to unsuccessfully improve my performance, such as the following:

  1. Lowered the graphics settings in-game to the lowest settings.
  2. Changed my graphics card 3D settings to "performance" instead of "quality.""
  3. Changed my battery settings to "high-performance."
  4. Installed Game Booster to turn off all other programs while running my games.
  5. Defragmented my hard drive.
  6. Used CClean to clean up my registry.

I know that the obvious option would be to go buy a new computer, build my own, go buy a gaming console, etc..., but I don't have a ton of money available to me at this time to do these things, I like the mac for personal use, and enjoy gaming on my PC at home. If there is any help that you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it.

2011 Macbook Air Specs
Operating System: Latest Version of OS X Mountain Lion / Windows 7 64-bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3,000 processor with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Memory: 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 onboard
Processor: Dual Core 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache
Storage: 128 GB flash / 50/50 Mac OS/Windows partition
Display: 13.3 inch screen / 27 inch Thunderbolt display
Sound: Klipsch 2.1 Surround Sound
Internet Hook-up: Wireless/20GBps internet service (Could this be the problem? Would a hard connection make a big difference?)
 

filmbuff

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2011
967
364
Sounds like you've done everything you can. Use speedtest.net to make sure your internet is running fast enough.

Also FYI, your computer doesn't have a hard drive, it has a solid state drive. Defragmenting does nothing on a solid state drive except wear it out faster.
 

mattferg

macrumors 6502
May 27, 2013
380
22
Hello All,

I was hoping to get some advice from you all as to how I could increase my FPS while gaming on my Macbook Air (specs listed below). I have partitioned my hard-drive using bootcamp and installed Windows 7 (64-bit) so that I could game on the Windows platform. At this time, despite my best efforts, I can only achieve about 10 FPS (I would prefer something around 25+ FPS) while playing games such as WoW, SWOTR, and FFXIV. As you can see, I mostly play MMORPGs and have taken basic steps to unsuccessfully improve my performance, such as the following:

  1. Lowered the graphics settings in-game to the lowest settings.
  2. Changed my graphics card 3D settings to "performance" instead of "quality.""
  3. Changed my battery settings to "high-performance."
  4. Installed Game Booster to turn off all other programs while running my games.
  5. Defragmented my hard drive.
  6. Used CClean to clean up my registry.

I know that the obvious option would be to go buy a new computer, build my own, go buy a gaming console, etc..., but I don't have a ton of money available to me at this time to do these things, I like the mac for personal use, and enjoy gaming on my PC at home. If there is any help that you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it.

2011 Macbook Air Specs
Operating System: Latest Version of OS X Mountain Lion / Windows 7 64-bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3,000 processor with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Memory: 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 onboard
Processor: Dual Core 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache
Storage: 128 GB flash / 50/50 Mac OS/Windows partition
Display: 13.3 inch screen / 27 inch Thunderbolt display
Sound: Klipsch 2.1 Surround Sound
Internet Hook-up: Wireless/20GBps internet service (Could this be the problem? Would a hard connection make a big difference?)

Lower the resolution either ingame or in Windows if the game doesn't have an option. Also disable Aero or switch to Windows 8, as it's better for resources.
 

Fitz3711

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2013
3
0
Is that it?

So is that it? There's nothing that I can do except buy a new computer or gaming console?
 

Fitz3711

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2013
3
0
I understand and thank you so far!

I understand that I'm not going to get the kind of speed that I would get from a Mac Pro or an iMac, but I thought there would be something that I could do to get a boost. Be it an external graphics card, some tweak to the system settings, etc...

I will be using the speed test, SMS reset, and PRAM reset tonight when I get home and will let you all know how it goes. I do appreciate everyone's help though, as I feel I have reached the limit of what I know how to do (I didn't just come here lazily and post a question, I put a lot of effort and research in before posting).
 

Confusius

macrumors regular
Mar 24, 2012
131
0
New York
I understand that I'm not going to get the kind of speed that I would get from a Mac Pro or an iMac, but I thought there would be something that I could do to get a boost. Be it an external graphics card, some tweak to the system settings, etc...

I will be using the speed test, SMS reset, and PRAM reset tonight when I get home and will let you all know how it goes. I do appreciate everyone's help though, as I feel I have reached the limit of what I know how to do (I didn't just come here lazily and post a question, I put a lot of effort and research in before posting).

Rather than trying to speed up a machine that has reached its limits, you could try older and less demanding (and often cheaper) games. There's a website called "can I run it" (or something like that) which will tell you if your machine can run a particular game.
 

Mtkuu

macrumors newbie
Mar 7, 2016
1
0
Hello All,

I was hoping to get some advice from you all as to how I could increase my FPS while gaming on my Macbook Air (specs listed below). I have partitioned my hard-drive using bootcamp and installed Windows 7 (64-bit) so that I could game on the Windows platform. At this time, despite my best efforts, I can only achieve about 10 FPS (I would prefer something around 25+ FPS) while playing games such as WoW, SWOTR, and FFXIV. As you can see, I mostly play MMORPGs and have taken basic steps to unsuccessfully improve my performance, such as the following:

  1. Lowered the graphics settings in-game to the lowest settings.
  2. Changed my graphics card 3D settings to "performance" instead of "quality.""
  3. Changed my battery settings to "high-performance."
  4. Installed Game Booster to turn off all other programs while running my games.
  5. Defragmented my hard drive.
  6. Used CClean to clean up my registry.

I know that the obvious option would be to go buy a new computer, build my own, go buy a gaming console, etc..., but I don't have a ton of money available to me at this time to do these things, I like the mac for personal use, and enjoy gaming on my PC at home. If there is any help that you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it.

2011 Macbook Air Specs
Operating System: Latest Version of OS X Mountain Lion / Windows 7 64-bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3,000 processor with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Memory: 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 onboard
Processor: Dual Core 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache
Storage: 128 GB flash / 50/50 Mac OS/Windows partition
Display: 13.3 inch screen / 27 inch Thunderbolt display
Sound: Klipsch 2.1 Surround Sound
Internet Hook-up: Wireless/20GBps internet service (Could this be the problem? Would a hard connection make a big difference?)
Hey, what game booster do you use to shut down all programs while running games?
 
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