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Gaming on a Retina Macbook Pro

BigZ9 said:
That's awesome! Though can you resize it back down to give more space back to OSX?
Click to expand...

Haven't tried, read it was possible though when I was looking for ways to expand it.

Actually, I remember reading that it was much easier, and may be even built into OSX.

Expanding requires WinClone (free), and paragon ntfs (Free for 10 days). Its a very simple process though, only takes about 10 minutes.

But yea, maybe the same process will work for shrinking (assuming the partition is still large enough to house the old image), although I bet there's an even easier way for shrinking...
 
spike29 said:
1) depends on how many games you plan to play off of bootcamp. i'd estimate Windows7 to take up 15~20GB and 1 game to be about ~5GB.

2) there's a bundle sale on stacksocial right now that includes parallel7 and a bunch of random apps for only $50. i'm just going to use that so i don't have to 'allocate' any space for windows. i'm using a rMBP so i had to download/install via the Windows7 .iso file.

3) running games off of anything external (not sure about TB) will reduce performance due to transfer rate. if your running a intense game off of an external, it will damage your external a lot more than just say.... reading/writing a file.

Note: feel free to correct me ;)
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With a read speed of 100mb ish USB 3 is Plenty fast for gaming. And sure I guess it would reduce your hdd lifespan but it would be no different than watching movies, listening to music or transferring files/copying files.

I have all my non essential (ie not blizzard) games on an eternal drive and it's been a very stable.
 
Anyone else having trouble running RAGE on boot camp? It crashes after 30 seconds of gameplay. Base model retina MBP.
 
to bump this thread again:

can anyone comment on the rMBP's performance with an external 1080p monitor?

I recently got rid of my PS3, and will be upgrading my MBA to a rMBP. I'm thinking of using the rMBP as a gaming PC when i'm home, since it has a HDMI port.

My thinking is that if the rMBP can do a good job pushing 2880x1800 pixels, it should be able to push a native 1920x1080 TV with even higher settings. At living room viewing distances, I might not miss the extra pixels, but will benefit from the the higher FPS and better textures.

sound right?
 
ggabriele3 said:
to bump this thread again:

can anyone comment on the rMBP's performance with an external 1080p monitor?

I recently got rid of my PS3, and will be upgrading my MBA to a rMBP. I'm thinking of using the rMBP as a gaming PC when i'm home, since it has a HDMI port.

My thinking is that if the rMBP can do a good job pushing 2880x1800 pixels, it should be able to push a native 1920x1080 TV with even higher settings. At living room viewing distances, I might not miss the extra pixels, but will benefit from the the higher FPS and better textures.

sound right?
Click to expand...

With an external 1080p monitor, it should actually be faster than a cMBP w/ the same monitor. The rMBP's GPU is clocked a decent bit higher
 
How do I go about getting pc games from steam on my mac? Do I have to run steam under wine as well? More specifically, games such as Fallout 3, Fallout NV, Skyrim, Oblivion.
 
ggabriele3 said:
to bump this thread again:

can anyone comment on the rMBP's performance with an external 1080p monitor?

I recently got rid of my PS3, and will be upgrading my MBA to a rMBP. I'm thinking of using the rMBP as a gaming PC when i'm home, since it has a HDMI port.

My thinking is that if the rMBP can do a good job pushing 2880x1800 pixels, it should be able to push a native 1920x1080 TV with even higher settings. At living room viewing distances, I might not miss the extra pixels, but will benefit from the the higher FPS and better textures.

sound right?
Click to expand...

Well, you're correct in thinking that running at 1080p will provide better performance over 2880 x 1800, as well as the fact that you won't notice the difference at living room distances; however, I don't see how that isn't obvious, and the real question I think should actually be how well does the rMBP perform at 1080p, if I understand correctly...

The answer is very well. The graphics card (650m) is a mid-high range mobile card, and in the rMBP is overclocked because of the way it is designed to handle thermal loads. I see no reason why you would be concerned about it's performance.

That being said, depending on the game, it should easily be able to handle 1080p with high texture and alike settings. Super intensive games might require you to lower your resolution to 1680 x 1050, if you want to keep the same texture settings, such as Crysis, as I ran that last night at 1680 x 1050 in BootCamp at all med-high settings.

Edit: Forgot to point out, the note about it pushing 2880 x 1800 well is not exactly true. Less demanding games yes, but any game that is worth running at that setting will surely suffer for you actually using that setting, and you will most likely not continue to use it. So the logic that you initially laid out is valid, yet not sound as your first premise is not exactly accurate. But still the conclusion happens to be mostly accurate (about running 1080p games) except very intensive ones.

----------
Enjoi03 said:
How do I go about getting pc games from steam on my mac? Do I have to run steam under wine as well? More specifically, games such as Fallout 3, Fallout NV, Skyrim, Oblivion.
Click to expand...

If they are PC only games you will have to run steam thru wine as well, if you really want to have them run strictly in OSX.

Steam for Mac is nice, but doesn't have all the games.

I would suggest using Bootcamp though, as you'll get better overall performance.
 
I was wondering what sort of frame rates people are getting in BF3 when that is played via an external 1920x1080 monitor? Not at the highest settings, of course, but something decent.
 
Rocky244 said:
Well, you're correct in thinking that running at 1080p will provide better performance over 2880 x 1800, as well as the fact that you won't notice the difference at living room distances; however, I don't see how that isn't obvious, and the real question I think should actually be how well does the rMBP perform at 1080p, if I understand correctly...

The answer is very well. The graphics card (650m) is a mid-high range mobile card, and in the rMBP is overclocked because of the way it is designed to handle thermal loads. I see no reason why you would be concerned about it's performance.

That being said, depending on the game, it should easily be able to handle 1080p with high texture and alike settings. Super intensive games might require you to lower your resolution to 1680 x 1050, if you want to keep the same texture settings, such as Crysis, as I ran that last night at 1680 x 1050 in BootCamp at all med-high settings.

Edit: Forgot to point out, the note about it pushing 2880 x 1800 well is not exactly true. Less demanding games yes, but any game that is worth running at that setting will surely suffer for you actually using that setting, and you will most likely not continue to use it. So the logic that you initially laid out is valid, yet not sound as your first premise is not exactly accurate. But still the conclusion happens to be mostly accurate (about running 1080p games) except very intensive ones.
Click to expand...

It probably is obvious. It certainly is logical; I have just been out of the PC gaming world for a long time - the last gaming PC I built was in 2005...all consoles since then.

I wouldn't expect it to compete with a "god-tier" gaming PC at any resolution. This isn't a Crysis machine. This computer is mainly a work machine for me, but the idea that I can get back into PC gaming while still having an OSX partition...very exciting.

the real hope is:
(1) substantially better graphical performance than current-gen consoles on most games
(2) mod support

If i can replay Fallout NV and Skyrim at 1080p with mods and have it look a lot better than the ol' PS3, with a bluetooth K/M, over HDMI, i'll be very happy.
 
ggabriele3 said:
It probably is obvious. It certainly is logical; I have just been out of the PC gaming world for a long time - the last gaming PC I built was in 2005...all consoles since then.

I wouldn't expect it to compete with a "god-tier" gaming PC at any resolution. This isn't a Crysis machine. This computer is mainly a work machine for me, but the idea that I can get back into PC gaming while still having an OSX partition...very exciting.

the real hope is:
(1) substantially better graphical performance than current-gen consoles on most games
(2) mod support

If i can replay Fallout NV and Skyrim at 1080p with mods and have it look a lot better than the ol' PS3, with a bluetooth K/M, over HDMI, i'll be very happy.
Click to expand...


New Vegas I have no doubts that it would run that at the highest of settings. You could probably run New Vegas at max settings on 2880x1800. As for Skyrim, I've seen videos of it running smoothly at high settings, I haven't tried it though as I didn't want to take up space on my drive for a game I already own on the ps3.

Although, if you've played it on ps3, like me, you'll just be overjoyed that you can run around without freezing every 100 feet. I loved that game, but that lag was really bumming, so I'm sure playing on a computer will be a blast.

As far as graphical superiority over ps3, you're golden. I haven't tried any mods except for on Civ V, so if you're running a high-res texture mod on skyrim, you might encounter difficulties if you try to run it at a high resolution, but I really can't be sure. I'd check youtube, but even then you might find misleading information. And I really doubt anyone on here is going to provide you much help either, unfortunately.
 
I've got great performance to report!

Crysis 2 runs super smooth at 1680x1050 and advanced graphics (hardcore seem to run smooth as well until you get somewhere with a lot of lights). It also runs decent at Gamer graphics and 2880 x 1800 (probably like 20-25 fps)

Mount & Blade I can get 100 fps at full settings and 2880x1800

Modern Warfare 2 also gets around 30 fps at 2880 x 1800 and all settings full (except AA)

And yeah new vegas runs pretty well at full settings and 2880 x 1800, but you run soooo slow so i got bored of it...

All in all im very impressed!
 
MacBook Retina Gaming

I have a MacBook Retina Display, and bought it mostly for gaming and a little bit for school.

The experience is generally incredible!!!! I play Team Fortress 2 on full 2880x1800 and it runs smoothly and best of all looks beautiful on the screen.
I also play Battlefield 3 on Medium graphs at 2880x1800 resolution. I could play this on high at a lower resolution, but sacrificing that graphic quality is certainly worth it.

If you have the money, the MacBook Retina Display is the best performance super slim laptop out there, with the most thin and attractive design ever! I would recommend this over any other laptop, especially the Alienware M14 or M17.
 
ctbear said:
I tried Diablo 3 at 2880x1800. Certainly playable, but not smooth at all.
Other resolutions look a little "fuzzy" like you said, but not too bad. I settled with 1680x1050 and it played smoothly with all high and AA on.
Click to expand...

Eh?
1900x1200 with max everything is perfect for me.
Some slowdowns on Bridge Crossing in Act 3 when crates and barrels explode but it's fine. Then again, I have 6-10 cyclones floating around at all times which is probably taxing on the gpu..
 
indy1314 said:
Can anyone share there fan speed while gaming?
Coz mine went so high like 5000rpm.
Click to expand...

it depends ont he game... the hotter its getting the faster the fans spin...

your left fan has a max speed of 5900 rpm, and the right fan has a max speed of 5500. When pushing the machine really hard, mine will often hit max speeds.
 
doh123 said:
it depends ont he game... the hotter its getting the faster the fans spin...

your left fan has a max speed of 5900 rpm, and the right fan has a max speed of 5500. When pushing the machine really hard, mine will often hit max speeds.
Click to expand...

When i play diablo 3 / crysis 2, it often has 5000-5500 rpm.
Which mean it is normal?
Coz i find the noise annoying.:(
 
indy1314 said:
When i play diablo 3 / crysis 2, it often has 5000-5500 rpm.
Which mean it is normal?
Coz i find the noise annoying.:(
Click to expand...

Then you need to get a desktop. Laptops get annoyingly loud doing things like gaming for extended periods. No way around it until we fix heat physics.
 
derbothaus said:
Then you need to get a desktop. Laptops get annoyingly loud doing things like gaming for extended periods. No way around it until we fix heat physics.
Click to expand...

so the 2011 macbook pro will also have a loud noise while running intense game?
coz i own a 2009 macbook pro and the fan wanst that loud
 
I have a rMBP and I need a suggestion, I think.
I mostly will play 2 games with it: GW2 (there's a Mac client) and FIFA 13.
So, here's the problem: for gaming FIFA 13, what would you do?
Bootcamp or something like Parallels or Wine?
Thank you!
 
indy1314 said:
so the 2011 macbook pro will also have a loud noise while running intense game?
coz i own a 2009 macbook pro and the fan wanst that loud
Click to expand...

It depends on what "loud" means to you. The fans should be going full blast. If not a sensor could be messed up or you could be damaging the Macbook. Even at full blast most, if not all, dedicated GPU based Macbooks will run fans full blast just to keep the temps around 80ºC. Are you referring to some other noise other than general fan noise?
 
my previous laptop was a M17 Alienware R1

the fans were REALLY loud during games, even while watching 1080p movies sometimes.

It is night and day with the rMBP. No one should be complaining!

I do find some of the keys on the keyboard very hot though during game play. Kind of worries me.
 
TLewis said:
It really depends upon the games you play, but I'd say that 50GB is too little. While one game I play uses up 5GB, another uses 20GB, and my Steam installation (multiple games) is well over 40GB.
Click to expand...

That's enough if you use an external usb 3.0 hard drive to hold the game installs.
 
Beta Particle said:
Perhaps in a future update Nvidia could offer pixel doubling as an option. That way 1440×900 would look just as sharp as it does on a 1440×900 panel, but would be clearer due to the higher pixel density. (no "grid" over the image)
Click to expand...

People have asked Nvidia for pixel doubling, and they've said "NOPE".
 
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