Best games to play on Mac Mini with EGPU

[jerseykid80]

Hey all,

I have a 2018 Mac mini i7, 32gb ram, 256 ssd with a Razer Core Chroma X w/ Sapphire Nitro 5700xt. Only game i have tried is DOTA 2 on max settings it runs really smooth and fans are so quiet. I know this game doesnt require much GPU with that said what games are the best ones to try on a Mac. May download witcher 2 any other good ones?

 

[Cycom]

but can it run Crysis?

 

[IngerMan]

Im playing Shadow of the Tomb raider at full settings. Awesome game, I have played all the Tomb raider series.

Next I am going to play the latest life is strange, I played the previous 2.

My setup is in my signature.

 

[TheDevler]

I'm curious to see what people say. Am going to pull the trigger on a similar setup soon to replace my Mac Pro 4,1 with an RX580.

However just wanted to give you a heads up that Witcher 2 runs like poop on OSX. Like unplayable. Get it on Steam so you can own it in bootcamp too with a single purchase.

 

[jerseykid80]

any other good games to play on mac??

 

[IngerMan]

FireWatch.

 

[1madman1]

However just wanted to give you a heads up that Witcher 2 runs like poop on OSX. Like unplayable. Get it on Steam so you can own it in bootcamp too with a single purchase.

Im pretty sure it's just a Cider wrapped port (along with Witcher 1), so it's pretty much guaranteed to be bad. Unfortunately there is no easy way to identify them vs a true port.

Anything "Ciderized" is 100% incompatible with 10.15 due to 32 bit code. I wouldn't be shocked if 90+% of Intel (and Universal) binary Mac games released between 2006 - 2016 are now broken due to the stripping of 32 bit support and depreciation of OpenGL.

 

[Hessel89]

me and my wife are quite Elder Scrolls Online geeks. (well me only once a month, but the game is still great) With your specs you should definitely be able to run it in Ultra setting with decent frame rates.

Some other games that I've tried & run pretty well on MacOS:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
DiRT 4
Life Is Strange
Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance
Batman: Arkham City GOTY

 

[1madman1]

Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance

* This title no longer works on Macs.

 

[opeter]

I wouldn't be shocked if 90+% of Intel (and Universal) binary Mac games released between 2006 - 2016 are now broken due to the stripping of 32 bit support and depreciation of OpenGL.

That is true.

Most of the Mac games released on Steam and different Mac DRM-free stuff on GOG.com, Humble Store (choose option DRM-free in store), Gamersgate, itch.io and such digital stores are 32-bit and will NOT work on macOS Catalina.

What works, are games that are 64-bit.

On GOG, there is Community Wishlist, that ask for marking games if 64-bit compatible or not
https://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/mark_games_if_64bit_compatible_or_not

 

[im_to_hyper]

The only games I really play on Mac are:

- StarCraft II
- DOTA II
- League of Legends
- Fortnite
- Rust
- Civilization VI

I also play Overwatch but have to use that with Bootcamp in Windows.

 

[jerseykid80]

Im playing Shadow of the Tomb raider at full settings. Awesome game, I have played all the Tomb raider series.

Next I am going to play the latest life is strange, I played the previous 2.

My setup is in my signature.

I ended up purchasing this game looks but i cant change the refresh rate in the settings from 60hz its like grey scaled. My monitor is 120hz

 

[IngerMan]

I’ll take a snap shot of my settings tomorrow. I’m have Freesync On and that’s only 60hz. My monitor is only 60 hz.

Here are my settings playing the game. It took me adjusting a few times then running the BenchMark. I have ran with Vsync on and off. My refresh is grayed out as well.

@jerseykid80

 

[IngerMan]

Edit to above, I was running benchmarks and seen with Vsync off I got more frames but with it off its not good to play the game. So above is correct accept Vsync is ON. It also plays much better in full screen but in order to capture photo I had to choose windowed.

 

[drmeatball]

but can it run Crysis?

quite well 👍
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I use Parallels 15.. just about the only game I haven’t been able to run is No Mans Sky. They’ve done a hell of a job over at Parallels.

 

[russell_314]

quite well 👍
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I use Parallels 15.. just about the only game I haven’t been able to run is No Mans Sky. They’ve done a hell of a job over at Parallels.

Does Parallels utilize the eGPU on a mini or dedicated GPU of the MacBook well? I have Parallels 15 on my mini but no eGPU yet.

 

[Brodlum]

If you're using Bootcamp then I'd definitely play through 'Control'. Finished it a couple weeks ago after 20-30hrs of gameplay. Pretty unique story, amazing details. It was on sale on the Epic store, no clue if it still is.

 

[dspdoc]

For all of you using the mini with an eGPU; do you have all the boot issues I keep reading about like black screen and no Apple logo?

 

[Brodlum]

For all of you using the mini with an eGPU; do you have all the boot issues I keep reading about like black screen and no Apple logo?

Yep. No boot logo, startup manager, or recovery mode (I think?).

The lack of startup manager is the most frustrating due to forcing you to open System Preferences to boot into Windows

 

[IngerMan]

For all of you using the mini with an eGPU; do you have all the boot issues I keep reading about like black screen and no Apple logo?

Boot camp is one thing, or a frustrating thing To say the least.

But as far as Mac OS, as long as you have your hdmi from the mini to the display it should not be an issue even with filevault on.

Keep your monitor select HDMi 1 and have your eGPU using DP.

just pick the apps in finder you want preferred eGPU by selecting “get info” And check eGPU.

Kinda weird your watching the monitor on HDMi but playing a game you selected eGPU preferred, it works, then when you restart no black screen.

 

[Brodlum]

no games are good using mac mini, buy a suitable gaming pc

This just flat out isn't true.

Do you get value for money from a Mac if your primary goal is a gaming PC?
No.

Can a Mac (+eGPU) play current AAA games?
Yes. And generally speaking, they play very well (GPU dependent).

As I mentioned 'Control' above, I'll mention it again. This is a game that even the Xbox One and PS5 struggle with; my Mac mini + RX 5700 XT played it at a consistent 60FPS on the highest graphics settings (sans ray tracing, but hopefully when Big Navi is out that'll be resolved).

I just started playing 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order', I've played through the first mission with the highest graphics settings (iirc) and also get a consistent 60FPS.

On the other hand, is a Mac mini + eGPU going to get you a perfect setup?
No. I tried to play 'Call of Duty Warzone', and I was facing some janky graphics.

So out of these three AAA games released last year running on Windows 10 under Bootcamp, two of them were flawless. The third I suspect is some poor support from the developer regarding AMD (e)GPUs (requires more investigating).

Separately, I've also had no issues under macOS running Cities: Skylines, or playing older AAA games in Windows such as GTA 5, Portal 2, etc.

If your primary goal is a gaming PC, then sure, a Windows-based setup is most likely the way to go. If you need a Mac and you don't want two PCs, then an eGPU is not a half bad choice.*

* Discounting any ****** OS issues (no FileVault, boot logo, startup manager, etc) issues you may face.

 

[dspdoc]

Boot camp is one thing, or a frustrating thing To say the least.

But as far as Mac OS, as long as you have your hdmi from the mini to the display it should not be an issue even with filevault on.

Keep your monitor select HDMi 1 and have your eGPU using DP.

just pick the apps in finder you want preferred eGPU by selecting “get info” And check eGPU.

Kinda weird your watching the monitor on HDMi but playing a game you selected eGPU preferred, it works, then when you restart no black screen.

Excellent advice. Thank you for this!

 

[dspdoc]

Boot camp is one thing, or a frustrating thing To say the least.

But as far as Mac OS, as long as you have your hdmi from the mini to the display it should not be an issue even with filevault on.

Keep your monitor select HDMi 1 and have your eGPU using DP.

just pick the apps in finder you want preferred eGPU by selecting “get info” And check eGPU.

Kinda weird your watching the monitor on HDMi but playing a game you selected eGPU preferred, it works, then when you restart no black screen.

I am a little confused though after thinking about this for a minute... So you are saying if you are watching the screen through HDMI which is connected directly to the Mac that you still see the performance gains of the eGPU?

 

[IngerMan]

I am a little confused though after thinking about this for a minute though... So you are saying if you are watching the screen through HDMI which is connected directly to the Mac that you still see the performance gains of the eGPU?

Exactly, I know, I stumbled on it with Tomb Raider Shadow. It uses the eGPU even though your playing it thru HDMI on the Mini. As long as you select the app in finder “get info” select preferred eGPU.

even when you have your eGPU on and your watching thru HDMI mini it still shows the eGPU at the top. It works and it’s the best way to use it given the current setup.

also I tested benchmarks on the game testing looking at HDMI or DP, no difference.

 

[dspdoc]

Exactly, I know, I stumbled on it with Tomb Raider Shadow. It uses the eGPU even though your playing it thru HDMI on the Mini. As long as you select the app in finder “get info” select preferred eGPU.

even when you have your eGPU on and your watching thru HDMI mini it still shows the eGPU at the top. It works and it’s the best way to use it given the current setup.

also I tested benchmarks on the game testing looking at HDMI or DP, no difference.

So you ran all the usual benchmark GPU tests and the results are the same too whether monitoring over HDMI or DP?!