I'm planning on starting to do some light gaming again, in particular: playing Dota 2, World of Warcraft, and possibly Guild Wars 2. By light I mean a few hours a day, few days a week.
I currently own a base 2011 13" MBA (as my main and only computer). I primarily use it for school and studying. I've tried playing WOW on it and everything seems to run smoothly, other than the annoyingly loud fan (5000-6000rpm) and heat generation (I'm seeing anywhere from 70-95C). I've been doing a lot of research the past couple days and it seems like this is normal and expected behavior of gaming on any Mac with an integrated GPU (correct me if I'm wrong!)
As a result, I decided to buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246494 (got it for $630 but there's a $100 rebate so it'll come out to $530 in the end). (It hasn't come in yet and I can still return it if need).
After some more research though, I'm now wondering if I should put that money into buying a 2012 13" MBA w/256gb ssd and 8gb memory. The 256gb will give me more than enough space to install bootcamp (I don't currently have the space to install it on my 128gb ssd). With my student discount it'll come out to $1539. I also have a potential buyer for my current MBA for $1000 (primarily because I purchased the 3 year apple care so it's covered until 8/2014).
In the end I'll end up spending the same in either scenario, just wondering which would be better:
1. Base 2011 13" MBA + Lenovo Z580 (i5 ivy bridge, 6gb memory (will upgrade to 8gb dual channel), no sdd [and I won't be upgrading it to one], dedicated NVIDIA Geforce GT630m)
2. 2012 13" 256gb SSD 8gb memory MBA
-The Lenovo would be solely for gaming, and if my friends/family who visit need/want to use a computer while they're here.
-The MBA will have an external monitor connected to it (if that makes a difference at all). Not sure which screen I would use to play on (any recommendations?)
-I know scenario 2 is probably more convenient in just having one laptop (though I could see the pros as to having a second laptop around as listed above), but just wanted to see if people who have experience with the 2012 13" MBA would recommend playing on it vs. the lenovo with a i5 ivy bridge and dedicated Geforce GT630m.
And if anyone might have the experience, are the fan/heat levels (I won't say issue because it's not really an issue since it's working as intended) any better in the 2012 model vs the 2011?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and respond!
I currently own a base 2011 13" MBA (as my main and only computer). I primarily use it for school and studying. I've tried playing WOW on it and everything seems to run smoothly, other than the annoyingly loud fan (5000-6000rpm) and heat generation (I'm seeing anywhere from 70-95C). I've been doing a lot of research the past couple days and it seems like this is normal and expected behavior of gaming on any Mac with an integrated GPU (correct me if I'm wrong!)
As a result, I decided to buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246494 (got it for $630 but there's a $100 rebate so it'll come out to $530 in the end). (It hasn't come in yet and I can still return it if need).
After some more research though, I'm now wondering if I should put that money into buying a 2012 13" MBA w/256gb ssd and 8gb memory. The 256gb will give me more than enough space to install bootcamp (I don't currently have the space to install it on my 128gb ssd). With my student discount it'll come out to $1539. I also have a potential buyer for my current MBA for $1000 (primarily because I purchased the 3 year apple care so it's covered until 8/2014).
In the end I'll end up spending the same in either scenario, just wondering which would be better:
1. Base 2011 13" MBA + Lenovo Z580 (i5 ivy bridge, 6gb memory (will upgrade to 8gb dual channel), no sdd [and I won't be upgrading it to one], dedicated NVIDIA Geforce GT630m)
2. 2012 13" 256gb SSD 8gb memory MBA
-The Lenovo would be solely for gaming, and if my friends/family who visit need/want to use a computer while they're here.
-The MBA will have an external monitor connected to it (if that makes a difference at all). Not sure which screen I would use to play on (any recommendations?)
-I know scenario 2 is probably more convenient in just having one laptop (though I could see the pros as to having a second laptop around as listed above), but just wanted to see if people who have experience with the 2012 13" MBA would recommend playing on it vs. the lenovo with a i5 ivy bridge and dedicated Geforce GT630m.
And if anyone might have the experience, are the fan/heat levels (I won't say issue because it's not really an issue since it's working as intended) any better in the 2012 model vs the 2011?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and respond!
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