Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

13" vs 15" rMBP –*Guild Wars 2

Bananas Ananas

Bananas Ananas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 30, 2015
109
45
Massachusetts
I'm about to buy a new laptop around June-July. The usage consist mostly of web related and office activities. Rarely I'd do some light photo editing as well. For the basic usage of mine the 13" model should be more than enough, but I'm playing Guild Wars 2, which I'm mostly worried about. I don't care if the game looks too pretty or not, as long as it does run smoothly and preferably with the screen's native resolution. Should I invest in tremendously more expensive 15" rMBP with dedicated GPU, or will I get by with the 13" model just fine?
 
No matter which you get, they are not going to run GW2 at native resolution. The 15" runs at 1440x900 with around 40 fps
 
leman said:
No matter which you get, they are not going to run GW2 at native resolution. The 15" runs at 1440x900 with around 40 fps
Click to expand...

This is sad to hear. :(

What makes rMBP so different from late 2012 iMac with GT 675MX, as the iMac is able to run GW2 @ 2560x1440 at above 60fps? GT 675MX is not too powerful for gaming either.
 
Bananas Ananas said:
This is sad to hear. :(

What makes rMBP so different from late 2012 iMac with GT 675MX, as the iMac is able to run GW2 @ 2560x1440 at above 60fps? GT 675MX is not too powerful for gaming either.
Click to expand...

The 675MX is nearly twice as powerful as the 750M. The 750M isn't all that impressive. Apple has never really prioritized graphics performance, but the dedicated graphics in the Macbook Pro 15-inch is pretty bad. Maybe this will change with the next release of the 15-inch. Seems like a pretty hefty premium to be paying to be able to play a couple games though. As far as laptop gaming goes, you can get a lot more bang for the buck with an Asus or something like that (purely for the graphical performance). With Apple, you'll end up spending $3000 for pitiful gaming performance. For half the price ($1500), you can get triple the graphical performance on another laptop. You don't end up with one system to do it all, but I don't think Apple really offers a solution for the gamer on the go for the moment.
 
Last edited:
In my experience a 750m is roughly 60% as fast as a 770m(extremely comparable to a 675mx). I have never played guild wars 2 so I can't comment on that game in particular. I have had very good performance from my rMBP with the 750m. To give you an idea, I can run a game like Left 4 Dead at 2880x1800 @60fps(vsync). Another game I've had thats more recent is Planetary Annihilation which will run 30-60 FPS at 2880x1800 or 40-80 on 1440x900.

It's definitely not the most powerful GPU out there, but to say its anything less then competent is a considerable stretch. Minimum GPU requirements for Guild Wars 2 is "NVIDIA® GeForce® 320M, ATI Radeon™ HD 6630M, Intel HD 3000 or better". A 750m is well above those. I would say even the Iris Pro versions should have no issues. Granted that is 15" in either case. I would say a 13" version would struggle but it would still be playable. See full requirements for GW2, https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/25390756-Minimum-System-Requirements
 
PaulWog said:
The 675MX is nearly twice as powerful as the 750M. The 750M isn't all that impressive. Apple has never really prioritized graphics performance, but the dedicated graphics in the Macbook Pro 15-inch is pretty bad. Maybe this will change with the next release of the 15-inch. Seems like a pretty hefty premium to be paying to be able to play a couple games though. As far as laptop gaming goes, you can get a lot more bang for the buck with an Asus or something like that (purely for the graphical performance). With Apple, you'll end up spending $3000 for pitiful gaming performance. For half the price ($1500), you can get triple the graphical performance on another laptop. You don't end up with one system to do it all, but I don't think Apple really offers a solution for the gamer on the go for the moment.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this information. Taking this into consideration, the price premium is just way too much considering it'd only be for 1 game. I can get by without gaming too, so the best option is probably to go with 13" model.
 
I have pleasure to report that stock 256GB Macbook Pro Retina 13" (2015) runs Guild Wars 2 just adequately to my needs using the screen's native resolution. I have no complaints of visible lag or anything, but also it is good to consider that I'm not competitive or serious gamer in any way. :)
 
The first few posts in this thread weren't wrong; they just weren't speaking from experience.

My late 2013 13" plays GW2 fine on medium-high settings at 25fps, using the OSX client (which is barely more than a Cider wrapper). I imagine the 2015 model would be slightly better.

As long as you don't demand maxed graphics, you'll be fine.
 
Are you running it on OS X or on Windows? I have to say, I am extremely surprised given that it was not running very good on my 15" computer. But I haven't played GW2 in a while, they might have optimised the game somewhat.
 
leman said:
Are you running it on OS X or on Windows? I have to say, I am extremely surprised given that it was not running very good on my 15" computer. But I haven't played GW2 in a while, they might have optimised the game somewhat.
Click to expand...

I'm playing Guild Wars 2 (Mac OS X Beta) on OS X and I'm happy with its performance. :)
 
Bananas Ananas said:
I'm about to buy a new laptop around June-July. The usage consist mostly of web related and office activities. Rarely I'd do some light photo editing as well. For the basic usage of mine the 13" model should be more than enough, but I'm playing Guild Wars 2, which I'm mostly worried about. I don't care if the game looks too pretty or not, as long as it does run smoothly and preferably with the screen's native resolution. Should I invest in tremendously more expensive 15" rMBP with dedicated GPU, or will I get by with the 13" model just fine?
Click to expand...

Hopefully this helps. If your buying MacBook Pro, you'll get a great machine that should last you a long time. The resale value is excellent. And Apple support is also. But if you're wanting better gaming performance, you'll have to step up to the high end 15" model. Thats also a big premium for gaming performance that will be adequate. Hopefully a summer refresh will bring a 950m, but even then don't expect it to run ultra HD games at max. IMO get the computer that best fits your day to day needs, and then be happy with whatever gaming performance you get
 
I just installed GW2 (have owned the game since launch), and I'm getting 55-60 FPS with no lag at 1440 x 900 resolution, settings on medium/medium-high. Machine specs are in my sig...
 
native resolution gaming on a 15" screen is just so unnecessary. 1920x1200 looks great and 1440x900 looks adequate. I've been able to game at 1650x1050 on every game i've tried at acceptable FPS (750M in Windows).
 
apoenq said:
thanks for your reply. what is the screen resolution u use? 1440x900? and are u using best performance settings? can share out your setting? :) thanks!
Click to expand...

I uploaded a screen shot of my settings right here. Basically I use 2560 x 1600 resolution with everything else set as low as they go.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 4.08.56 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 4.08.56 PM.png
    415.6 KB · Views: 320
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back