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MBP retina and graphical performance.

Blkant

Blkant

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
114
312
For those that have the MBP retina and play games, how has it performed thus far? I have looked into it so far but everyone focuses only on how it performs on Mac games (which tend to run horribly due to apples poor drivers) at its native retina resolution. What I want to know though is how games have been performing so far on what settings (especially comparisons between retina resolution and 1980x1200, and not only its performance at the lower resolution but how different it looks between them), and most importantly on which os and at what stability/fps?

I'm not a big gammer, but my MBP has kind of worn itself out for anything but the most casual of use and my iMac is quite old now, so while I'm thinking of new computers I'd like to weigh my options on this case and its related performances. To see if this is good or if I should really wait it out longer still.

Thank you very much to those that answer. :)
 
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gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
I am installing Windows 7 on mine right now. Any game you would like me to install in particular. I buy most games when the come out...so I might have it. (no I don't have diablo...no online purchase ability = im not interested!)

*edit

OK, windows is installed. I had to crank the DPI to 300% but it looks REALLY GOOD! Super sharp!!!
 
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Blkant

Blkant

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
114
312
gentlefury said:
I am installing Windows 7 on mine right now. Any game you would like me to install in particular. I buy most games when the come out...so I might have it. (no I don't have diablo...no online purchase ability = im not interested!)

*edit

OK, windows is installed. I had to crank the DPI to 300% but it looks REALLY GOOD! Super sharp!!!
Click to expand...

Hmm, well I guess anything in general that acts as a good stress test. Metro 2033 would be a good test I think. Stalker, Starcraft, Skyrim, Portal 2 or even Crysis, though I'm not a fan, would be good seeing what a resource hog it is. I guess anything you can throw at it thats demanding would be much appreciated in general. :)
 
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gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
I have most of those games. I just ran Dead Island. It actually ran, completely maxed at 2880x1800. Tho its too choppy to be enjoyable.

At 1920x1200 however, it runs great! Everything cranked as high as it can go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1V51_Tugu8&list=UUSToz6VQPj3fjes3yjPOwBg&index=1&feature=plcp

Next up.

Skyrim.

----------
Blkant said:
Hmm, well I guess anything in general that acts as a good stress test. Metro 2033 would be a good test I think. Stalker, Starcraft, Skyrim, Portal 2 or even Crysis, though I'm not a fan, would be good seeing what a resource hog it is. I guess anything you can throw at it thats demanding would be much appreciated in general. :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking Metro 2033 would be a good test. Especially to see if it can handle DX11 rendering. I will install that after Skyrim.

I will run Max Payne 3 at some point, maybe tomorrow...that one is just SUCH A BEAST! It will take an hour to download.

I already have a handful of games backed up to a disk that I can install quickly. A few of those you mentioned are on there.

I'm also going to try LA Noire...since it is a poorly adapted console port that runs like crap on decent systems. Lets see if it can take a bite out of it!
 
M

mathman

macrumors newbie
Jul 24, 2012
18
0
I have a BTO 2.6/16/512 and I'm running Diablo III on full resolution with no noticeable lag. The game runs great, but I will say that the fans kick on full blast immediately and it starts to run a bit hot. Nevertheless, I can't complain.

I'm also running Bootcamp for some of my Windows games and I haven't seen any issues at all with this configuration. I bought this laptop for academic use and gaming use, and so far I'm not at all disappointed. Just my .02 ....

MM
 
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aaronw1986

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2006
2,622
10
mathman said:
I have a BTO 2.6/16/512 and I'm running Diablo III on full resolution with no noticeable lag. The game runs great, but I will say that the fans kick on full blast immediately and it starts to run a bit hot. Nevertheless, I can't complain.

I'm also running Bootcamp for some of my Windows games and I haven't seen any issues at all with this configuration. I bought this laptop for academic use and gaming use, and so far I'm not at all disappointed. Just my .02 ....

MM
Click to expand...

Does it only get pretty hot when gaming?
 
Aldaris

Aldaris

macrumors 68000
Sep 7, 2004
1,790
1,247
Salt Lake
I've yet to have it get 'hot' although the fans kick in (starcraft 2 is the only one I have experience with) but the improvements in the fans are a welcome addition.
 
S

Sambo110

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2007
1,686
0
Australia
gentlefury said:
I am installing Windows 7 on mine right now. Any game you would like me to install in particular. I buy most games when the come out...so I might have it. (no I don't have diablo...no online purchase ability = im not interested!)

*edit

OK, windows is installed. I had to crank the DPI to 300% but it looks REALLY GOOD! Super sharp!!!
Click to expand...

What do you mean? You can buy Diablo online.
 
A

aaronw1986

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2006
2,622
10
gentlefury said:
Its not available on Steam or Origin, so I'm not really interested. I use those sources so I don't have to have every game I own installed on my computer all the time. I like the ability to delete it and re-download it at will.
Click to expand...

You can re-download it from Blizzard.
 
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gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
Well, it's been a while since I updated my hard backups and they all seem to be making me re-download the entire game in order to run it. So I have Skyrim, Metro 2033, and Max Payne 3 on deck! The advantage to getting the 512GB internal!

I'm also downloading the 304.79 beta drivers for nvidia and the corrected inf file to give that a try, and see if it offers any performance boosts.
 
J

joeysarks

macrumors regular
Mar 21, 2011
122
0
Detroit
Kinda waiting to see some more gameplay for how WoW runs on the retina display. Hopefully some HD gameplay will be uploaded soon too, seems like just camera phones so far.
 
J

joeysarks

macrumors regular
Mar 21, 2011
122
0
Detroit
gentlefury said:
Wow is so old it should run on an iPhone. Not really a test of power.
Click to expand...

True that, but 1800p at ultra and the water/sun effects all the way up. Just kinda curious to see if it runs at 60fps or close to it. (having said that, I usually keep it at 30fps anyways to keep the fans calm)
 
dmccloud

dmccloud

macrumors 68030
Sep 7, 2009
2,969
1,689
Anchorage, AK
joeysarks said:
True that, but 1800p at ultra and the water/sun effects all the way up. Just kinda curious to see if it runs at 60fps or close to it. (having said that, I usually keep it at 30fps anyways to keep the fans calm)
Click to expand...

I have run WoW on my rMBP at the full 2880x1800 resolution with graphics settings on high. The game reports between 20-30 FPS at those settings, but it looks and feels much better than that. The fans did pick up on noise, but they were still quieter than the fan I'm running to cool the room down.
 
Lord Appleseed

Lord Appleseed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2010
682
37
Apple Manor
I installed several different games on Bootcamp and had mixed results.

Skyrim runs on High-Ultra/1920x1200/16xAF/2xAA fluently (inkl. HiRes Texture Packs and about a lot of Mods)
Mass Effect 3 runs on highest settings/2880x1800/16xAF/NoAA fluently

Ghost Recon Future Soldier however is a badly coded game and doesn't run well at all. I had to turn off most of the options to be able to run it fluently on 1440x900 and max. Texture Quality.

Currently I am testing Kingdoms of Amalur and Deus Ex.


Edit: I'm using the 304.79 beta drivers btw.

Edit2: I also tried out SC2 on Mountain Lion with 2880x1800 on High. Runs at 29FPS.
 
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gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
Lord Appleseed said:
I installed several different games on Bootcamp and had mixed results.

Skyrim runs on High-Ultra/1920x1200/16xAF/2xAA fluently
Mass Effect 3 runs on highest settings/2880x1800/16xAF/NoAA fluently

Ghost Recon Future Soldier however is a badly coded game and doesn't run well at all. I had to turn off most of the options to be able to run it fluently on 1440x900 and max. Texture Quality.

Currently I am testing Kingdoms of Amalur and Deus Ex.


Edit: I'm using the 304.79 beta drivers btw.

Edit2: I also tried out SC2 on Mountain Lion with 2880x1800 on High. Runs at 29FPS.
Click to expand...

I'm also running the 304.79 beta drivers...and I noticed an increase in fps from doing that.

Skyrim still seems to have that weird stutter problem tho that is less associated with graphics performance and more with it being a crappily ported game.

Have you tried running it at 2880x1800 with high res textures and everything on ultra. It's unplayable...but the few frames/sec it gets are freaking amazing!!! Can't wait until games can actually run at that res!!
 
Lord Appleseed

Lord Appleseed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2010
682
37
Apple Manor
gentlefury said:
I'm also running the 304.79 beta drivers...and I noticed an increase in fps from doing that.

Skyrim still seems to have that weird stutter problem tho that is less associated with graphics performance and more with it being a crappily ported game.

Have you tried running it at 2880x1800 with high res textures and everything on ultra. It's unplayable...but the few frames/sec it gets are freaking amazing!!! Can't wait until games can actually run at that res!!
Click to expand...

Yes Skyrim does have some kind of shutter effect from time to time. But i was able to reduce that to a minimum by lowering Shadow Detail and Distance Detail to High. (I'm also using the Skyrim Beta drivers.) So far I am quite happy with my setup.

Mass Effect 3's performance on 2880x1800 is what really surprises me.
 
G

gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
Lord Appleseed said:
Yes Skyrim does have some kind of shutter effect from time to time. But i was able to reduce that to a minimum by lowering Shadow Detail and Distance Detail to High. (I'm also using the Skyrim Beta drivers.) So far I am quite happy with my setup.

Mass Effect 3's performance on 2880x1800 is what really surprises me.
Click to expand...

yeah ME3 is really well programmed. I was able to run it very well on my MBA which blew me away! I will have to install it to take a look!

I installed COD4 just to see what a game would look like at 2880x1800....OMG it looks like a brand new game!!! All specs cranked to max and 2880x1800 and it runs extremely smooth!!!! AMAZING!!!
 
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gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
EA4A39AA6C648121DBA3765CDDE5B298F3D79FE3


What???
 
Zeov

Zeov

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2011
634
113
Odense
i can tell you as much as i am extremely happy with the gaming performance on windows 7 with MBPR, i will post videos later when i get a chance to edit.

So far i have these games recorded with fraps fps:

WoW
Crysis 2
Skyrim
Left 4 Dead 2
Gta IV

and i will be doing:

Team Fortress
Half-Life 2
Portal 2
BF 3

i'm actually wondering if i should sell my i2500k + gtx 560TI and just use my MBPR while waiting for a thunderbolt GPU solution.. this is all i need for right now for sure!
 
Blkant

Blkant

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
114
312
So it sounds like games still perform better under windows instead of mac, but apple allowed support for same resolutions so its of no real loss.

Any word though on games like BF3, Metro 2033, Stalker, Diablo, or Portal 2 resolution and FPS results with max graphics? Also, could those who play skyrim quote the FPS with those settings?

It does sound like max resolution though is a bit too much for most games, so is it still worth it at the lower settings though on that screen? Can you still get fluid performance with the max settings most of the time?

Can't thank you guys enough for your feedback. Sounds like a retina might actually be worth it in the end for work and even games. Any opinions on how long it might last though? Would it become outdated quickly?
 
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