List games that work on your MacBook Air

[mykoljay]

Please list games that you've sucessfully run on your MBA.

Don't forget to note whether it required Bootcamp (Windows) or the Superdrive.

And please do not make this a discussion of how the Air is not a gaming machine...we know that.

Thanks!

[dahcheet]

I installed WoW by downloading the files from their site and installing. I haven't actually gotten around to playing it. I logged in and was in a small town (Grom'Gor or something in SV) and it looked great. Fan starting going full blast though. I might try and log in this weekend and see how the game actually plays. We shall see.

[TheMadBrewer]

Civilization IV (native Mac) runs but the disk must be in the superdrive :(

Also crashes if I turn the grid lines on.

[ayeying]

Sins Of A Solar Empire, Call of Duty 4 (Hopefully, gonna try it later today)

[vakej]

When the mac mini first came out folks stated that certain games were not ideal to play on it (e.g. WoW). They mentioned the frame rates were slow. Being that the MBA is a much more advanced machine than the first gen mac mini, I would think that it would have no issue playing most games. Unless games have advanced that much more in the last few years....

[JWest]

Sins Of A Solar Empire, Call of Duty 4 (Hopefully, gonna try it later today)

HA! Good luck with that... integrated graphics don't really run modern games folks. Even the processor in the MBA is too weak for these games. Have fun trying though... :D

'Course it largely depends on how you define "runs well". I'm more of a hard core gamer, so my standards are a bit high.

[ayeying]

HA! Good luck with that... integrated graphics don't really run modern games folks. Even the processor in the MBA is too weak for these games. Have fun trying though... :D

'Course it largely depends on how you define "runs well". I'm more of a hard core gamer, so my standards are a bit high.

Regardless, unless I've tried it, I'm not going to make assumptions of how it'll run. 30+ fps is good enough in most conditions. Surprising, most games I've played ran pretty well on a GMA950 card.

[Ryuukumori]

Regardless, unless I've tried it, I'm not going to make assumptions of how it'll run. 30+ fps is good enough in most conditions. Surprising, most games I've played ran pretty well on a GMA950 card.

Did you try cod4 yet? lol

[xparaparafreakx]

Starcraft + brood war with blizzard no cd update run great.

[ThinkGeek]

Will Sims 2 run well on it. Coz I really want to play Spore on it when it comes out (and Will Wright said Spore'll take less resources than the Sims 2). Obviously you'll need a SuperDrive to play The Sims 2 or Spore, but will the performance be slower via a USB SuperDrive? Thanks.

[xparaparafreakx]

I don't think it will run because of no graphic card on it.

[grimslade]

Has anyone tried Age of Empires III? The box claims it will run on the Intel integrated graphics chipset...

[rittchard]

OS X Native:

Warcraft 3/TFT
Diablo 2/LoD
HOMM V

Bootcamp (XP SP2):

Sins of a Solar Empire
Space Rangers 2
Hellgate London

[ThinkGeek]

Can't the integrated graphic chip (the GMA X3100) run Sims. I am aware the MacBook uses that. Can the MacBook run Sims 2. If it can, then maybe the Air can. Is t possible for anyone to test that out.

[pumskie]

I am looking for recommendations on games that work on Macbook Air. Key criteria are 1) able to run on the Intel integrated graphics chip and 2) don't need the DVD to play after the install.

Ages of Empire III seems to fit this bill based on the written specs. Can anyone confirm? Any other suggestions?

[lisag]

It runs fine on my 1.6GHz HDD Air.


Has anyone tried Age of Empires III? The box claims it will run on the Intel integrated graphics chipset...

[trip1ex]

All I have to say is that some of you all have some pretty low standards when it comes to determining whether a game runs or not.

[ctt1wbw]

I'm in to the hardcore games like you can find at www.glennsgames.com.

I also like klondike forever, SolitaireXL, and Rockgarden. Nothing but hardcore shoot'em ups for me! :D

[luffytubby]

Is there any more information about how WC3 and WoW runs on a MBA...?

[ayeying]

W3 runs fine on both OSX and Boot Camp

[luffytubby]

Ok. What about Guild Wars? Maple Story Gunz? Quake 3? Anyone know how these games run?


I heard someone say that the X3100 is worse than the intel 900! Can that be right? Aint x3100 the succesor to 900? is it a driver issue?

[hephem]

Hi to all,

I'm really interested knowing if BF2, NBA Live 07/08 or Collin Mac Rallye (Dirt? Nah...) run (well) on MBA. If anyone can help here I would really apreciate it.

Thanks.

Cheers.

[jwtadmin]

Return to dark castle runs, but works MUCH better if you turn off the 30fps option in options-->game.

[ayeying]

Hi to all,

I'm really interested knowing if BF2, NBA Live 07/08 or Collin Mac Rallye (Dirt? Nah...) run (well) on MBA. If anyone can help here I would really apreciate it.

Thanks.

Cheers.

No, maybe, Yes (rally 2005 runs well), Dirt, no.

[icchan]

ive installed the sims2 on my 1.8ghz macbook air and it runs... but it is pretty horrible. i wouldnt consider it to be playable cept maybe the tutorials.

ive got all graphics to the lowest settings but everything feels like its in super lag mode.

[mhaas]

Are there any differences in performance of these games between the Macbook AIR and the Blackbook, considering that both have 2 MB Ram standard? I mean due to the processor for example?

Thanks!

[NC MacGuy]

Eris's solitaire and chess work great - sorry, only games i play:D

[hephem]

Hi to all,

- BF2 runs great with low settings

You can find a video on youtube: macbook air BF2

[Fabiano]

Hi to all,

- BF2 runs great with low settings

You can find a video on youtube: macbook air BF2

No, I can't.

[bart rijksen]

Hi to all,

- BF2 runs great with low settings

You can find a video on youtube: macbook air BF2

i can't find the youtube video

[jlbrown23]

Civilization IV (native Mac) runs but the disk must be in the superdrive :(

Also crashes if I turn the grid lines on.

Civ IV needs the superdrive for anti-piracy reasons, not for actual gameplay. There are fully functional hacked versions out there that run just fine with no drive and they run just fine on the Air.

Yet another case of anti-piracy controls only screwing people who actualy pay for a product & play by the rules.

[masterpace]

I've tried playing a few old games via Boot Camp (Win XP) like Unreal 2, Star Wars, Painkiller, and all of them run fine for a while and start experiencing stuttering. Even the audio is stuttering. Moreover, I'm using RMClock to keep the CPU to 1.6 GHz full throttle. So, it's obviously not a CPU issue. I was thinking maybe the slow harddisk in the MBA cannot keep up. Still, I've defragmented it and disabled Windows paging. I'm a bit clueless. Whenever the stuttering occurs, the OS CPU usage peaks. That's weird.

Any positive experience running games under Boot Camp?

[conchshell]

The mac version of Ultima IV (now freeware) works great. One of the best RPGs ever imho and the price is right. :D

http://xu4.sourceforge.net/

[ozthegweat]

Command & Conquer: Generals runs, too. With surprisingly high settings, even.

[Mactagonist]

I can 3rd Civ4 working just fine. It runs a bit slow with 18 civilizations on the map though!

[Anderson3133]

HA! Good luck with that... integrated graphics don't really run modern games folks. Even the processor in the MBA is too weak for these games. Have fun trying though... :D

'Course it largely depends on how you define "runs well". I'm more of a hard core gamer, so my standards are a bit high.

Let's flame the person who can't read!

Diablo 2 works good

[darwiniandude]

Warblade! Perfect!

www.warblade.as

I bought this years ago for the PC, and emailed him awhile back when I switched asking for Mac version. He's just done it, and it works a treat on the Air. I choose 'normal mac' for detail, and then drop the stars down to 350 from 750 in the settings.

Runs well then.

Full screen doesn't work on the Air yet, i've emailed him on this.

The game is much more than it at first appears, with many many hidden secrets and trips and it's just the right blend of difficulty and addition.

Recommended by me :)

[mtk75]

The mac version of Ultima IV (now freeware) works great. One of the best RPGs ever imho and the price is right. :D

http://xu4.sourceforge.net/

You mean, mean person you. This post cost me a whole day figuring out how to get all the libraries and get the thing installed. :p

I finally got it all to work. Someone should really get the stuff together and create a new daily build for the Mac. I don't know if I built this one right to work with anything other than 10.5.2 though... I might document the steps I had to go through and post them in their forums, if I can find the time. (Gotta play the game after all :D )

BTW, I have the game set to VGA 4xscale 2xSaI video settings, and it looks great in fullscreen. :)

-Matt

[jont1967]

Just been playing world of warcraft for an hour in my lonely hotel room on my 1.8/SSD this evening and its playable, got most of the settings at lowest and it slows a bit when there is lots of activity, but it certainly is okay for a bit of casual grinding.

[brendanryder]

i highly doubt the MBA will play COD4 due to the fact that it wont even let you instal guitar hero 3( for win, on bootcamp) .

[Dranin]

WoW runs semi okay. I've played on my Air for a few hours with the settings cranked well down. Like others have said, for grinding and such it is bearable. PVP in a battleground setting can be tough. Averaging around 12FPS outdoors going way higher indoors. Fan is working hard.

Warcraft III - Runs great. No issue's to report. Played for about 3 hours

Starcraft - Runs great as expected.


Things left to try:

Civ 4 (Based on what you guys say, I feel pretty good)
Diablo II
Deus Ex (Through VMware Fussion. Eh why not...)
Ultima VII through Exult (can't imagine this won't work)
Sim City IV (small scale I would think things would be fine. Large scale could be the problem)

I really love this note book and would gladly trade some of the thinness for the ability to have a dedicated graphics card. Maybe someday.

[ayeying]

i highly doubt the MBA will play COD4 due to the fact that it wont even let you instal guitar hero 3( for win, on bootcamp) .

You can install COD4, but it'll give you maybe 1-2 FPS even on the lowest settings. I've tried it. It runs though

[TheMadBrewer]

Things left to try:

Civ 4 (Based on what you guys say, I feel pretty good).

I can 3rd Civ4 working just fine. It runs a bit slow with 18 civilizations on the map though!

Could you folks try and run Civ4 and turn on the Grid Lines (cmd-G) and let me know what happens? I've gotten used to playing without them, but sometimes my fingers do the thinking and I turn them on by habit and all goes bye-bye :(

[darwiniandude]

I really love this note book and would gladly trade some of the thinness for the ability to have a dedicated graphics card. Maybe someday.

They should be able to get a dedicated video card into the Macbook if they wanted, but not the Air. Not possible. All we can hope for is Intel making a GMA X3100 success that is vastly superior.

If the air had a dedicated 3d accelerator, good bye battery life! Gaming is the main reason i got a 17" MBP to start with, then realised I didn't play games much because I'd have to reboot into windows (although it did play Colin McRae DiRT and Crysis surprisingly well) and the MBP always sat on the table, not really something i could pick up with one hand and take into another room. So I got a cheap second hand playstation ii with modchip and a MBA.

I love the MacBook Air. I don't think I'll ever want a big laptop again. I've had an EEE pc, and a Toshiba Portege, and nearly bought a Libretto, but in actually use I think Apple really has hit the nail on the head with the ultraslim/light but full size screen and kb/mouse. I have done a complete 180 degreee turn on this though, I hated the Air at launch. Weird.

[raremage]

Frankly the MBA is a poor platform for gaming. The only time I have had a core shutdown was this past weekend when I tried running the demo of 'Build-a-lot' for about 45 minutes and the entire system went to sleep when the cpu hit 95 degrees. Horde of Orcs really runs the temp way up as well.

I have been playing battle for Wesnoth a bit (someone else pointed it out) and that game has me hooked, and runs just fine.

The conclusion I have reached is anything with graphics that involve constant motion really seems to pop the CPU and thus heat the system up an inordinate amount. Turn based stuff seems to be fine for the most part. As most games require constant motion this is certainly impactful on the effectiveness of the MBA as a gaming machine.

I can't imagine trying to fire up WoW for any period of time. I'm sure it would run, but I trust the system could only handle it for an hour at the most before overheating.

[ctt1wbw]

I hear the Playstation is an extremely poor platform for running Photoshop.

[nihilisticmonk]

I hear the Playstation is an extremely poor platform for running Photoshop.

LMAO

Quoted for truth. :D

You just brightened my day!

[mfleener]

Anyone try Tiger Woods 08?

[nintendude]

ive installed the sims2 on my 1.8ghz macbook air and it runs... but it is pretty horrible. i wouldnt consider it to be playable cept maybe the tutorials.

ive got all graphics to the lowest settings but everything feels like its in super lag mode.

are you playing it on OS X or WinXP because i'm able to run it pretty sweet under boot camp and i've got the 1.6/80 macbook air.

[icchan]

are you playing it on OS X or WinXP because i'm able to run it pretty sweet under boot camp and i've got the 1.6/80 macbook air.

i was running the osx version. but i returned it to the shop already.

ooh.. well i might try the windows version too sometime.. just not sure i want to give up that much hdd space up to windows just yet.

[eXan]

Frankly the MBA is a poor platform for gaming. The only time I have had a core shutdown was this past weekend when I tried running the demo of 'Build-a-lot' for about 45 minutes and the entire system went to sleep when the cpu hit 95 degrees. Horde of Orcs really runs the temp way up as well.

I have been playing battle for Wesnoth a bit (someone else pointed it out) and that game has me hooked, and runs just fine.

The conclusion I have reached is anything with graphics that involve constant motion really seems to pop the CPU and thus heat the system up an inordinate amount. Turn based stuff seems to be fine for the most part. As most games require constant motion this is certainly impactful on the effectiveness of the MBA as a gaming machine.

I can't imagine trying to fire up WoW for any period of time. I'm sure it would run, but I trust the system could only handle it for an hour at the most before overheating.

Something is definitely wrong with your MBA because no Mac can overheat just from running something intensive.

[eXan]

Are there any differences in performance of these games between the Macbook AIR and the Blackbook, considering that both have 2 GB Ram standard? I mean due to the processor for example?

Thanks!

Fixed.

Of course MB is faster at games than MBA because the CPU has 800 MHz more clock speed, more L2 cache and faster hard drive (but the last only matters for loading times).

I've tried playing a few old games via Boot Camp (Win XP) like Unreal 2, Star Wars, Painkiller, and all of them run fine for a while and start experiencing stuttering. Even the audio is stuttering. Moreover, I'm using RMClock to keep the CPU to 1.6 GHz full throttle. So, it's obviously not a CPU issue. I was thinking maybe the slow harddisk in the MBA cannot keep up. Still, I've defragmented it and disabled Windows paging. I'm a bit clueless. Whenever the stuttering occurs, the OS CPU usage peaks. That's weird.

Two words: graphics card.

[Silverbird0000]

Regarding some peoples questions about the Sims 2 on the Air.... I does not run very good. Barely playable. It runs pretty well on a Macbook because the Sims 2 is very dependent on the processor, and to a much lesser extent, the video card. I run it on a Penryn Macbook Pro and it runs flawlessly! My roommate runs it on the Macbook and it runs pretty well, I tried to run it on a friends Air and it sucked.

[wolfie]

ive installed the sims2 on my 1.8ghz macbook air and it runs... but it is pretty horrible. i wouldnt consider it to be playable cept maybe the tutorials.

ive got all graphics to the lowest settings but everything feels like its in super lag mode.

thats funny, ive installed and played sims 2 about about 2 weeks ago and it played fine, no problems, performance was on par with sims life stories ( which was desgined for laptops )
having said that i got the 1.8 ssd version, not sure if you have the same mac air

[wolfie]

and this is the osx version

[masterpace]

Hey guys! I've tried the Penumbra Black Plague demo. Although Intel integrated graphics are not supported, it runs surprisingly well and looks good too. So, I've bought the game online. Great storyline, atmosphere is quite creepy, even on a 13.3" monitor and mono speaker. I run the game on medium settings (that includes medium quality shaders) at 800x600, with shadows and bloom effects on. It's not super smooth but I guess I'm getting on average around 20 fps, which is o.k. for that type of game.

[cesarangomez]

Mac OS Colin McRae Rally not work

[asphyxiafeeling]

Ok. What about Guild Wars? Maple Story Gunz? Quake 3? Anyone know how these games run?


I heard someone say that the X3100 is worse than the intel 900! Can that be right? Aint x3100 the succesor to 900? is it a driver issue?

(educated guesses)

Guild Wars- will run poorly/ok on low.

Maple Story- no problem. a computer with with 1/2 the MBA's power could play that game.

Gunz- isn't a very fun game. but it'll run fine.

Quake3- not sure. probably run OK.

[cesarangomez]

Age of empires 3 run good

mac Os 1,6 80 Gb

[jr-vestergaard]

Let's flame the person who can't read!

Diablo 2 works good

How? I can´t install it on my MBA 1.6
I'am using remote disc, and i´ve tried both a mac and a PC for it.

I have downloaded the patch on blizzards page.

But when i have to change disc, from 1 to 2 during the install, it can't find disc 2 (play disc), eventhough it's in the the machine. It´s keeps asking for it, and wont go on whit the install.

I Hope you can help.
/Joakim

[M4CBOOK]

Starcraft-Brood War

[ViperrepiV]

what casual games are good for macs? I figure these will run fine on the air....

[darwiniandude]

Enigmo 2 is grand as a puzzle game for the MBA, looks great and iPhone version coming soon i can't wait :)

Also Warblade is great for an old style shooter.

[Olvenskol]

Sorry, can't help myself, but I'm only going to say it once...

"xxx runs well" (not "good")

I know, grammar police, I'm evil. But I'm catching a lot of posts with only one reply! That's semi-not-evil, right? :rolleyes:

[impact1290]

Has anyone tried Counter Strike Source? I'd like to know how that runs

[Ankaa]

Hey,
I'd like to ask about Sims 2 again because searching the web I find totally oppositional experiences. As Sims 2 runs well on the MacBooks, in my opinion it should do on MBA as well, because the MBA has the same graphics card as the MB. And the MBA meets the requirements for Sims 2 when it comes to processor and RAM. Therefore the slower processor of the MBA can't be the reason, when it runs bad, as having been stated in this thread. Furthermore it ran on older MacBooks with slower processor as well, didn't it?

So, are there any other experiences about the Sims 2 on MBA? Thanks :)

[kingcrowing]

I think it'd be sick id Diablo 3 runs on here... I'd love to play that at work on my air ha!

[Ankaa]

Any new about games out there?

[ayeying]

Rise of Nations for Mac runs.
Civilization 4 (All expansions) for Windows
X2 - The Threat for Windows
Age of Empires III for Windows (lags during battles)
Wolfenstein Enemy Territory for Windows and Mac
Second Life for Windows and Mac
CoD4 for Windows runs but extremely unplayable
Sins of a Solar Empire for Windows runs extremely well
Starcraft (Expansion) for Windows and Mac
Warcraft III (Expansion) for Windows and Mac
World of Warcraft for Windows/Mac (Runs 40+ fps if settings turned down)

Thats all the games I can think of off the top of my head that I've tried.

[macbookairhelp]

I have the MacBook Air ( dunno wat kind though...) I bought a super drive for it and later I bought The Sims Life Stories. It works fine! You have to make sur the game says Universal (or something) and is for Mac OSX. something. Cause I was gonna but this box set but it wouldn't work. And you don't ahve to have bootcamp, but you have to keep the superdrive in.

[eXan]

I have the MacBook Air ( dunno wat kind though...) I bought a super drive for it and later I bought The Sims Life Stories. It works fine! You have to make sur the game says Universal (or something) and is for Mac OSX. something. Cause I was gonna but this box set but it wouldn't work. And you don't ahve to have bootcamp, but you have to keep the superdrive in.

Is it just me, or the last 2 sentences don't make sense?

[macbookairhelp]

Is it just me, or the last 2 sentences don't make sense?

Sorry about that.. I was rushing. The second last one was nothing but the last one was saying that to play the game you must have the superdrive insterted and keep it in while playing it.

[isauce]

I think if you run COD4, your MBA might explode!

[ayeying]

I think if you run COD4, your MBA might explode!

Nah, its close to exploding, but not there yet.

[isauce]

Nah, its close to exploding, but not there yet.

If your MBA can actually play COD4, please post FPS. :D

[ayeying]

If your MBA can actually play COD4, please post FPS. :D

Runs up to 10 fps if you're lucky. Average of 4 fps.

[madtoker]

World of warcraft works nice and so does Deaths of peril but its a sucky game. Dofus works but u have to go through alot of crap to make it work.

[phenexx]

World of Goo :)

Love this game! Pretty basic (reminds me of Worms) but it's a great game for a macbook air...

www.worldofgoo.com (Check out the demo)

[Maven1975]

Runs up to 10 fps if you're lucky. Average of 4 fps.

The new air can run COD4 1200X800 at medium setting fine. I have also installed FallOut 3, Far Cry 2, and Dead Space...

I love the new Air!

[iomatic]

The new air can run COD4 1200X800 at medium setting fine. I have also installed FallOut 3, Far Cry 2, and Dead Space...

I love the new Air!

OH goody! Have you tried it at native resolution? 1280x800? Please report back.

Thanks.

[Maven1975]

OH goody! Have you tried it at native resolution? 1280x800? Please report back.

Thanks.

I run them at native resolution. COD 5 Demo at low settings gets me 20 FPS average.

Now, I KNOW this is not 30 FPS, but on a 13" screen, the difference is not very noticeable. (It's an AIR for goodness sakes)

Heres a list of more @ 1280x800..

COD4 Medium 25 FPS
Orange Box - Flawless Maxed!
Dead Space Medium 25 FPS
Far Cry 2 Low 20 FPS
Fallout 3 Low 18 FPS <--- Has issues and a patch is expected soon.
UT3 Medium 25 FPS

The thin I am thrilled about is how we may see updates to the drivers for the 9400M. Nvidia is great about optimizing their drivers and I am sure we will be able to squeeze out more performance in the future.

I am SO happy with this Air! I was a loyal Air 1.0 user accepting the good with the bad. This time with the Air 2.0... It's all good! The only thing that will make me want to upgrade out of this will be USB 3.0

[Maven1975]

Update..

I was able to squeeze another 5-7 FPS out of the Air.

I updated the XP's drivers to 178.13 found at laptopvideo2go.com

I installed RMclock and set the system to clock at 1.86 always.

I use ATItool to clock the systems 3D performance setting to.. 450 Clock and 525 Memory.

Now 30 FPS is reality for most NEW games!!!!

OVERCLOCK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

I still am blown away by my Rev. 2 Air!

[rittchard]

Update..

I was able to squeeze another 5-7 FPS out of the Air.

I updated the XP's drivers to 178.13 found at laptopvideo2go.com

I installed RMclock and set the system to clock at 1.86 always.

I use ATItool to clock the systems 3D performance setting to.. 450 Clock and 525 Memory.

Now 30 FPS is reality for most NEW games!!!!

OVERCLOCK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

I still am blown away by my Rev. 2 Air!

That's awesome, Maven!

Did you have to do anything special to get the 178.13 drivers to work?


Edit: looks like there is a modified inf file to install, so I'm guessing you used that? Is there any reason you chose these in particular (as opposed to the newer 179 or 180 series)?

[Maven1975]

That's awesome, Maven!

Did you have to do anything special to get the 178.13 drivers to work?


Edit: looks like there is a modified inf file to install, so I'm guessing you used that? Is there any reason you chose these in particular (as opposed to the newer 179 or 180 series)?

I picked that set of drivers for stability and performance. They are know for their great results and overclocking.

It is required to use the modded .inf for the drivers to be installed. (I see you got that) :)

I did not have good results with the newer 180 series drivers.

[rosjon]

How much higher is the temperature when overclocking the graphics compared to not overclocking and which version of ATITool did u use?

[iomatic]

I'm just running the Mac version of CoD 4 on an external for giggles. Not great; but I have yet to experiment with its onboard display.

[orourke]

With the new v2 macbook air you can play:

Team Fortress 2, Battlefield 2 and Red Alert 3, on lowish graphics settings but at the native resolution via boot camp. Great for the occasional game.

[Maven1975]

How much higher is the temperature when overclocking the graphics compared to not overclocking and which version of ATITool did u use?

I used ATi Tool 0.27 b2. The temp after playing overclocked for over an hour was 88.

[Maven1975]

I'm just running the Mac version of CoD 4 on an external for giggles. Not great; but I have yet to experiment with its onboard display.

The external display will kill your FPS. In addition, the larger screen will also point out hiccups much better than the smaller onboard display.

[Maven1975]

With the new v2 macbook air you can play:

Team Fortress 2, Battlefield 2 and Red Alert 3, on lowish graphics settings but at the native resolution via boot camp. Great for the occasional game.

Ok, I will need to break out the camcorder and post a youtube for everyone. I have continued tweaking and have been blown away with the my new results. This will be my first time doing such a thing, but I feel that everyone needs to see this.

It is indeed great for the occasional game. I have been playing Gears of War on mine because I never played through the first one and just beat the second.

[iomatic]

The external display will kill your FPS. In addition, the larger screen will also point out hiccups much better than the smaller onboard display.

Yeah, I realized this. Unfortunately, it runs smoothly on my 2.33GHz MBP. :( oh well.

[rittchard]

I'm trying the 180.42 drivers now, so far so good. 3DMark went up around 40 points, but nothing too exciting.

Last night I wasn't planning on playing anything, just upgrading and checking stuff out. I ended up spending a couple hours playing both King's Bounty and Sacred 2. KB runs on high details for everything and looks gorgeous. Sacred 2 now runs in Medium detail and plays great. It's amazing just how much of a legitimate gaming machine the MBA is now, I can't get over it. Seems like just a few of us are really appreciating the magnitude of the changes.

On the Mac side, Warcraft 3 now runs smooth as can be maxxed out, as does HOMM V.

Very happy all in all!

[Maven1975]

I'm trying the 180.42 drivers now, so far so good. 3DMark went up around 40 points, but nothing too exciting.

Last night I wasn't planning on playing anything, just upgrading and checking stuff out. I ended up spending a couple hours playing both King's Bounty and Sacred 2. KB runs on high details for everything and looks gorgeous. Sacred 2 now runs in Medium detail and plays great. It's amazing just how much of a legitimate gaming machine the MBA is now, I can't get over it. Seems like just a few of us are really appreciating the magnitude of the changes.

On the Mac side, Warcraft 3 now runs smooth as can be maxxed out, as does HOMM V.

Very happy all in all!

I agree!

Try running atitool and RMclock and well. That will boost the performance even further. RMclock needs to be registered, but I am sure with google being your friend, that should not be a problem.

Anthony

[dudup]

Ok, I will need to break out the camcorder and post a youtube for everyone. I have continued tweaking and have been blown away with the my new results. This will be my first time doing such a thing, but I feel that everyone needs to see this.

Pleeeeeeeeeeease, do so!! :D:D:D

[Molopo]

Pleeeeeeeeeeease, do so!! :D:D:D

I second this; there just aren't enough videos on youtube displaying the air's power.

[glitch44]

has anyone tried the "Left 4 Dead" demo on the RevB ?

[Maven1975]

has anyone tried the "Left 4 Dead" demo on the RevB ?

Heres the break down for me on this one...

1280X800 Low settings = 30-45 FPS

1280X800 Med Settings = 25-40 FPS

This is when I use my Air configured with the tweaks posted above.

Not too bad.....


Side note... I was able to install COD 5 and I am sorry to say that you have to take the resolution way down because they did not give you as any options as they did in COD 4 to tweak the video settings. (Smoke- A FPS killer) Still looking into a way to tweak the .ini file to disable some of these unneeded features.


Also.. I have been busy.. but video is still to come.

[arimathea]

Heres the break down for me on this one...

1280X800 Low settings = 30-45 FPS

1280X800 Med Settings = 25-40 FPS

This is when I use my Air configured with the tweaks posted above.

Not too bad.....


Side note... I was able to install COD 5 and I am sorry to say that you have to take the resolution way down because they did not give you as any options as they did in COD 4 to tweak the video settings. (Smoke- A FPS killer) Still looking into a way to tweak the .ini file to disable some of these unneeded features.


Also.. I have been busy.. but video is still to come.

You don't have an EVE online account, do you? How does that run? What about TF2 (you say you've done Orange Box, and L4D, so I assume TF2 is in the same category?)

Any Warhammer, WOW?

/a

[Maven1975]

You don't have an EVE online account, do you? How does that run? What about TF2 (you say you've done Orange Box, and L4D, so I assume TF2 is in the same category?)

Any Warhammer, WOW?

/a

Orange box is not a problem. 30+ FPS at 1280x800. I do not have an eve, WoW or Warhammer account.

I know these are important to ppl.

[glitch44]

Maven1975-- thank you for posting the Left 4 Dead frame rates. I appreciate it.

[Maven1975]

No problem. I have never seen a demo with an actual time limit on it. (24 Hours)

Man... Valve is stingy!

Another side note. The Air has to be plugged in to use ATItool. It will not overclock without power.

[Maven1975]

FYI. I have noticed large frame drops at times with Left 4 Dead (15 FPS at times) It bounces back, but I am not sure if it is a heat issue or a 9400 limitation.

[Molopo]

Video yet? :D

[rittchard]

Any Warhammer, WOW?

I spent about 2 hours running Warhammer last night. This is in Windows XP, now using the latest 180.44 drivers, playing at 1280x800 resolution.

Running around in Altdorf (known to cause problems for some), I had no issues. I was running in Balanced mode, fps was around 25-40, I'd say on average it was fairly stable around 30. Game looked great!

Later I pretty much just played "normally". Ran around, killed mobs, etc. Stayed pretty much on target in the 30fps range. Some times I'd get a little stuttering with special effects or new areas loading in, but nothing abnormal.

Key responsiveness was fine. I have a set sequence when farming groups of 3-4 mobs at a time, and it's critical that the timing is correct or I'll be toast. I had no problems with this at all, so that was definitely good news.

I also q'd up for some scenarios. Here's where I had more stuttering. I was able to play through but it was a struggle/slideshow at some points. Particularly when too many graphics effects on screen at once. I switched to Fastest Framerate mode and had some improvement. I should mention though that even my decked out desktop will have problems on some occasions, so this is not a shock.

All in all - the game is definitely playable. With some tweaks I can probably get better performance. I don't expect to be running this in big open RvR/keep battles, as I suspect that will certainly be a limitation. For soloing, general grouping, and even scenarios, the game is playable for me. YMMV.

[hotviper]

hello before buying the air, i only do light office application task and the only game i played most was warcraft 3 (dota) with friends. i was a windows user before by the way.
looking at the air-2's specs, i was sure that it will play my favorite game.

i just got the air 2nd gen. last week. with ssd and installed warcraft 3. knowing this is an old game, it will surely run without issue. but i was disappointed because its so laggy, i installed windows through boot camp and i can get a good performance at first until it will lag. especially when there are many characters moving on screen. i suspected its the processor , automatically slowing down as heat rises. or could be the video card which as what steve jobs said, is lowered because of heat. my cousin has a aluminum macbook which he bought together as i bought this mba and as we tested. warcraft worked great on his system without issue. i was so so disappointed with this system and opt to buy a dell xps.

until i found this thread. i want to thank you people for posting your experience with the games and what you did to get a decent performance because i see hope in this one, good work guys.

i am planning to do what you did but before rebooting to windows, i sign up just to thank you. i've been a macrumor reader but it is only now that ive sign up. :)

@MAVEN1975
pls give a little tutorial how to set up rm clock to 1.86ghz
im already done with driver update and 3d performance of atitool

[mhnajjar]

World of Goo :)

Love this game! Pretty basic (reminds me of Worms) but it's a great game for a macbook air...

www.worldofgoo.com (Check out the demo)

My MBA1 lags while playing the demo after like 40 minutes and the fans remain on full throttle :(

[NC MacGuy]

Solitaire. Only thing I really play.:o

[Molopo]

hello before buying the air, i only do light office application task and the only game i played most was warcraft 3 (dota) with friends. i was a windows user before by the way.
looking at the air-2's specs, i was sure that it will play my favorite game.

i just got the air 2nd gen. last week. with ssd and installed warcraft 3. knowing this is an old game, it will surely run without issue. but i was disappointed because its so laggy, i installed windows through boot camp and i can get a good performance at first until it will lag. especially when there are many characters moving on screen. i suspected its the processor , automatically slowing down as heat rises. or could be the video card which as what steve jobs said, is lowered because of heat. my cousin has a aluminum macbook which he bought together as i bought this mba and as we tested. warcraft worked great on his system without issue. i was so so disappointed with this system and opt to buy a dell xps.

until i found this thread. i want to thank you people for posting your experience with the games and what you did to get a decent performance because i see hope in this one, good work guys.

i am planning to do what you did but before rebooting to windows, i sign up just to thank you. i've been a macrumor reader but it is only now that ive sign up. :)

@MAVEN1975
pls give a little tutorial how to set up rm clock to 1.86ghz
im already done with driver update and 3d performance of atitool

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how that could be possible. My crappy windows laptop with the intel x3100 can even run WC3 with absolutely no issues...Maybe you have the rev. A?

[eba]

In Windows XP:

All Paradox games (EU3, etc.)
All AGEod games (Birth of America, etc.)
Civ IV
Civ IV: Colonization
Mount & Blade

[hotviper]

nope, i have the late 2008 MBA with the nvidia chipset, my wc3 in windows will play but will lag before, i already did manage to set my cpu clock to always 1.86 and satisfied with the performance, though the heat rises to as high as 95 as what rm cpu utility registered

[6SSD4]

Can 1.8GHz 64GB SSD play Counter Strike:Condition Zero? Or Counter Strike:Source?

[pstoehr]

Hi out there,

has anyone tried AeroFly Professional Deluxe or any other RC flight simulator?

Thanks in advance
Peter

[byke]

Computer : 1.8 / rev B / SSD

I tried lego indiana jones (demo) on the mac platform today, and it seized.
So I guess that dont work.

[umgoblue2008]

1.8 / rev B / SSD ran on bootcamp

I am using Dox's 180.70 optimized driver set.

Been able to run Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock at 1280X800 on low details (very playable).

Able to run Madden 2008 at 1900X1200 (LED ACD) without problems.

Left 4 Dead 1280X800 with sporadic slowdowns.

[Turmoil]

I'm playing UT 2004 on my new/refurb Rev A HDD. It runs, well. Not good, well :-)


:apple::eek: i love my air :eek::apple:

[Airforcekid]

:apple:Ive seen GTA 4 using bootcamp. Cant be the best graphics but very playable!:apple:
WoW and COD4 will also work.

[turugara]

I have the MBA Rev. A 1.8ghz and mine runs WC3-TFT with absolutely no problems. I can't imagine that your Rev. B won't be able to run it.
Note: I do use coolbook and I have Tuniq TX-2 Thermal paste applied.

[glitch44]

Anyone try Left 4 Dead on a Rev C SSD yet?

[ayeying]

Anyone try Left 4 Dead on a Rev C SSD yet?

1280x800 @ all med works perfectly.

Also tried CoD: WaW, CoD4, GTA4, Civ 4 all expansions including colonization, Sins of a Solar Empire w/ expansion, Star Wars Empires at War, all runs nicely when configured properly

[Jobsian]

Post more updates here, esp Rev C adopters

Does Counter-Strike Source run on it?

[ayeying]

Post more updates here, esp Rev C adopters

Does Counter-Strike Source run on it?

Yes it does. If GTA4 works, CS:S works

[Mintin8]

Can anybody report back with the FPS they are getting in CS:S and DOD:S?

[ayeying]

Can anybody report back with the FPS they are getting in CS:S and DOD:S?

My stress tests came back with 80+ fps for CS:S @ 1280x800 and All "Very High" or "High" settings. CS:S is a very non intensive game

[Jobsian]

thanks ayeying, great news, that's all i need to hear :D

[Mintin8]

My stress tests came back with 80+ fps for CS:S @ 1280x800 and All "Very High" or "High" settings. CS:S is a very non intensive game

Thank you so much. Haha, this could be the decider for me getting a MBA as I would like the portability but the power to play source games.

[kntgsp]

Anyone try Left 4 Dead on a Rev C SSD yet?

It runs on 13 " Macbooks with the 9400M, so no reason it shouldn't on the Air.

There's even a couple videos on Youtube of it running on that configuration.

[Mintin8]

My stress tests came back with 80+ fps for CS:S @ 1280x800 and All "Very High" or "High" settings. CS:S is a very non intensive game

Can you tell me what the heat is like while playing CS:S? Thanks in advance.

[ayeying]

Can you tell me what the heat is like while playing CS:S? Thanks in advance.

The system gets hot, obviously. Actual temps are from:

CPU: 80-85 deg C
GPU: 85-90 deg C (sometimes higher)

[spazit101]

as of right now, my favorite game to run on my MBA is called Perfect World.
http://pwi.perfectworld.com/

it is a windows only game, so i use Parallels and run it from my USB drive
it runs fairly well for the first half hour or so, but after that, the comp starts to overheat and the game starts to lag a little bit, but overall, its a great game

[kntgsp]

The system gets hot, obviously. Actual temps are from:

CPU: 80-85 deg C
GPU: 85-90 deg C (sometimes higher)

You should try replacing the thermal grease with AS5. People have reported load temp drops from 5 to 10°C depending on how sloppy the factory install was.

[ayeying]

You should try replacing the thermal grease with AS5. People have reported load temp drops from 5 to 10°C depending on how sloppy the factory install was.

Thats with AS5. The temps are about 10-15 deg C higher in Windows than in OSX because apparently, the voltage/clock/throttle is different in windows than in OSX.

[missosoup]

any one try wow on new mac book air with graphic card yet?
how good is it?
thanks!

[kntgsp]

Thats with AS5. The temps are about 10-15 deg C higher in Windows than in OSX because apparently, the voltage/clock/throttle is different in windows than in OSX.

Hahaha, that's because there is no throttle in windows :cool: At least not software side as far as I'm aware. Only thing there is, is shut down if you hit the max temp allowed in the BIOS/EFI

That's awwwwwful close to threshold though......

[h1d]

Thats with AS5. The temps are about 10-15 deg C higher in Windows than in OSX because apparently, the voltage/clock/throttle is different in windows than in OSX.

Hahaha, that's because there is no throttle in windows :cool: At least not software side as far as I'm aware. Only thing there is, is shut down if you hit the max temp allowed in the BIOS/EFI

That's awwwwwful close to threshold though......

Since when does Windows run CPU at max all the time?
Go to power settings, choose "Laptop" and it'll throttle down when not in use. Better yet, if you want much more control, use RMClock, which has like 5 times more options than CoolBook.

[ayeying]

Hahaha, that's because there is no throttle in windows :cool: At least not software side as far as I'm aware. Only thing there is, is shut down if you hit the max temp allowed in the BIOS/EFI

That's awwwwwful close to threshold though......

There is throttle, just not very well. It only allows 1.6GHz to 2.13GHz, which is a pain when you want it to be less heat generating.

Furthermore, when the system gets hot, it kicks in its own version of "kernel_task", in which the CPU gets locked at 1.6GHz @ 1.000 Volts, which is odd because I have it at 1.6GHz @ 0.925 Volts.

[royal shrimp]

installed games:

EvE online
starcraft 2
Wow

all games work flawlessly. starcraft runs at 40-50fps on all medium settings(native res) except shadows, those are set too low. eve runs on all high or maximum. wow runs on all good, or high with 30-40fps. overall, the macbook air can play games. btw i have the 320m version, not the intel 3000. processor is the standard 1.86 Ghz dual core.

[brich1ng]

I would like to know if people have tried this games and does it lag?

Starcraft 2

bootcamp:
left 4 dead 2
crysis 2
resident evil 5
darksiders
darkspore

just sold my 2010 c2d 2.4ghz macbook pro 13", would it work properly on a macbook air 13" i5 1.7ghz?

[Psychopulse]

I would like to know if people have tried this games and does it lag?

Starcraft 2

bootcamp:
left 4 dead 2
crysis 2
resident evil 5
darksiders
darkspore

just sold my 2010 c2d 2.4ghz macbook pro 13", would it work properly on a macbook air 13" i5 1.7ghz?

Exactly what I wanted to ask about too :)

Edit: Just found this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI5Xc-Jbn40) and it seems that L4D plays just fine, even better then on my 27" iMac from 2009. Wow! :-O