Gaming on the rMBP

[rekhyt]

How does gaming on the rMBP work? When you're in Windows, are you forced to set the resolution at full resolution (Which would be insane in terms of the graphics performance, as it would be abysmal)?

How does the graphics card fare in modern games?

Thanks in advance.

R.

Edit: Clarification - 15" MacBook Pro, retina, 1GB nVidia graphics card.

 

[Asuriyan]

You can pick your resolution. Due to the extremely high native resolution you don't get nearly as much of the typical fuzziness you see on an LCD below native res.

As for performance, that resolution indicates you're talking about the 13", which isn't much of a gaming machine. If you mean the 15", newer games will have to be dialed down a notch from max settings and resolution, but that's kind of to be expected. I can play Battlefield 3 at high settings and 1080p and it runs beautifully.

 

[Stetrain]

13" or 15"? There's a pretty big difference.

As far as resolutions go you should able to choose from several resolutions both for the main Windows resolution as well as within a game's settings.

Most game test videos you see for people playing on an RMBP aren't running at the full 2560x1600 or 2880x1800 because of the performance hit.

The 13" only has the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics which aren't going to do well except at lower resolutions (like 1280x800) and lower graphics settings in games.

The 15" has the NVidia GT650M video card which while it isn't as good as a big desktop gaming PC can be it seems to handle many modern games fairly well at resolutions like 1440x900, 1680x1050, or 1920x1200.

 

[rekhyt]

13" or 15"? There's a pretty big difference.

As far as resolutions go you should able to choose from several resolutions both for the main Windows resolution as well as within a game's settings.

Most game test videos you see for people playing on an RMBP aren't running at the full 2560x1600 or 2880x1800 because of the performance hit.

The 13" only has the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics which aren't going to do well except at lower resolutions (like 1280x800) and lower graphics settings in games.

The 15" has the NVidia GT650M video card which while it isn't as good as a big desktop gaming PC can be it seems to handle many modern games fairly well at resolutions like 1440x900, 1680x1050, or 1920x1200.

Do people usually play at 1440 x 900 (2x --> 2880 x 1800 is for retina quality) then?

 

[Allard]

I can play Battlefield 3 at high settings and 1080p and it runs beautifully.

How hot does your machine run?

 

[Asuriyan]

Do people usually play at 1440 x 900 (2x --> 2880 x 1800 is for retina quality) then?

I go for 1920x1200 or 1080p depending on whether I have my TV connected.

How hot does your machine run?

It's warm to the touch and the fans crank all the way up but far from intolerable.

 

[swl7]

i play hon on my 15" rMBP with an external monitor attached. I play the game on the external while I still have my rMBP screen up with other things for browsing or just other simple things.

I still have a constant 50 fps with high settings, 1920x1200, and all the good stuff.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

i play hon on my 15" rMBP with an external monitor attached. I play the game on the external while I still have my rMBP screen up with other things for browsing or just other simple things.

I still have a constant 50 fps with high settings, 1920x1200, and all the good stuff.

HoN is not graphic intensive as say Crysis, Witcher, CoD or Skyrim.

 

[rekhyt]

HoN is not graphic intensive as say Crysis, Witcher, CoD or Skyrim.

Nevertheless, still quite impressive. My last MacBook Pro was the 15" first unibody. The graphics card was the nVidia 9600 GT/GS(?) and had 256MB.

It's great how Apple has decided to provide an excellent graphics card for this laptop.

 

[hellfire88]

13" rMBP Gaming

I had a similar question as the OP. I have a 13" MBA that I am considering swapping to a 13" rMBP. Now that the games I usually play are available natively on OS X (Team Fortress 2, Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Guild Wars 2), I am wanting the option to game on my laptop without loading Boot Camp.

For gaming on the 13" MBA, I'd probably do it at the native 1440x900 res. For the 13" rMBPs, would it be forced to run games at "2560x1600" res (even though the default "Best for Retina" display setting is really a 1280x800 workable space but just double the pixels)?

If so, since both the 13" rMBP and 13" MBA have the Intel HD 4000 graphics, I suppose the 13" MBA would be able to handle games better? Thanks.

 

[nando4]

I had a similar question as the OP. I have a 13" MBA that I am considering swapping to a 13" rMBP. Now that the games I usually play are available natively on OS X (Team Fortress 2, Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Guild Wars 2), I am wanting the option to game on my laptop without loading Boot Camp.

For gaming on the 13" MBA, I'd probably do it at the native 1440x900 res. For the 13" rMBPs, would it be forced to run games at "2560x1600" res (even though the default "Best for Retina" display setting is really a 1280x800 workable space but just double the pixels)?

If so, since both the 13" rMBP and 13" MBA have the Intel HD 4000 graphics, I suppose the 13" MBA would be able to handle games better? Thanks.

See the Thunderbolt eGPU proof-of-concept in my sig for another way to extensively improve a 13" rMBP/MBA's internal LCD graphics.

 

[hellfire88]

See the Thunderbolt eGPU proof-of-concept in my sig for another way to extensively improve a 13" rMBP/MBA's internal LCD graphics.

Thanks, but I'm more concerned for the built-in graphics ability to play games.

So as I understand, the main potential issues of the 13" rMBP (for my usage) would be:

- Gaming on it, since its a retina it may run stuff at 2560x1600 etc.
- in Boot Camp for Windows, it does not support the 1280x800 effective workspace-but-double-the-pixels mode ("Best for Retina") like in OS X. So it'll be difficult to read things running 2560x1600 res on a 13" screen.

Thanks.

 

[MacKid]

Thanks, but I'm more concerned for the built-in graphics ability to play games.

So as I understand, the main potential issues of the 13" rMBP (for my usage) would be:

- Gaming on it, since its a retina it may run stuff at 2560x1600 etc.
- in Boot Camp for Windows, it does not support the 1280x800 effective workspace-but-double-the-pixels mode ("Best for Retina") like in OS X. So it'll be difficult to read things running 2560x1600 res on a 13" screen.

Thanks.

In most modern web browsers and word processors, you can zoom text until it's sized to your liking. Windows 7's universal text scaling is imperfect, but it is there.

But you really can't play games on a 13" Pro. Maybe in a couple more years.

 

[Stetrain]

I had a similar question as the OP. I have a 13" MBA that I am considering swapping to a 13" rMBP. Now that the games I usually play are available natively on OS X (Team Fortress 2, Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Guild Wars 2), I am wanting the option to game on my laptop without loading Boot Camp.

For gaming on the 13" MBA, I'd probably do it at the native 1440x900 res. For the 13" rMBPs, would it be forced to run games at "2560x1600" res (even though the default "Best for Retina" display setting is really a 1280x800 workable space but just double the pixels)?

If so, since both the 13" rMBP and 13" MBA have the Intel HD 4000 graphics, I suppose the 13" MBA would be able to handle games better? Thanks.

You aren't forced to run games at 2560x1600. Most games let you choose from a range of resolutions, so you could run at 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, or 1920x1200 in addition to the full 2560x1600.

At the same resolution (say 1440x900) the rMBP should perform a bit better than the Air because it is a more powerful processor and I believe that the HD4000 is clocked at a lower speed in the Air.

You may notice that 1440x900 on the Air's screen looks a bit sharper being true native resolution than it does on the rMBP's screen.

 

[locoboi187]

You just wanna have fun right? Get Team Fortress 2 from Steam (Mac) and play everything high and on full native resolution. It's free, just enjoy

 

[hellfire88]

You aren't forced to run games at 2560x1600. Most games let you choose from a range of resolutions, so you could run at 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, or 1920x1200 in addition to the full 2560x1600.

At the same resolution (say 1440x900) the rMBP should perform a bit better than the Air because it is a more powerful processor and I believe that the HD4000 is clocked at a lower speed in the Air.

You may notice that 1440x900 on the Air's screen looks a bit sharper being true native resolution than it does on the rMBP's screen.

True, I can adjust the res of the games via the built-in game menu, but you're right, say I run a game at 1440x900 on the 13" rMBP, it won't look as sharp as 1440x900 on the 13" MBA since its not running at the native res.

You just wanna have fun right? Get Team Fortress 2 from Steam (Mac) and play everything high and on full native resolution. It's free, just enjoy

Thanks, but I'm not even sure the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics can handle even an older game like TF2 at 2560x1600 native res and everything on high without crummy FPS. In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't be able to handle it satisfactorily.

In most modern web browsers and word processors, you can zoom text until it's sized to your liking. Windows 7's universal text scaling is imperfect, but it is there.

But you really can't play games on a 13" Pro. Maybe in a couple more years.

True, I think you can adjust the DPI scaling in Windows 7 to a "custom level" (beyond the default 100%, 125%, and 150%) to something like 200%, but then some menu buttons etc. in certain programs may get wonky.


In the end, in summary it sounds like for someone (like me) who cares for light/medium gaming and dedicated Windows 7/8 usage via Bootcamp (for work-related purposes etc.), the 13" rMBP may not be the best laptop. Either forget about Retina and get the 13" MBA / 13" cMBP or go the opposite direction and get the 15" rMBP (with the dedicated nVidia graphics). Thanks again.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Nevertheless, still quite impressive. My last MacBook Pro was the 15" first unibody. The graphics card was the nVidia 9600 GT/GS(?) and had 256MB.

It's great how Apple has decided to provide an excellent graphics card for this laptop.

Agreed.

 

[MacKid]

True, I think you can adjust the DPI scaling in Windows 7 to a "custom level" (beyond the default 100%, 125%, and 150%) to something like 200%, but then some menu buttons etc. in certain programs may get wonky.

I didn't feel like dealing with the problems with UI buttons/controls, so I just run Windows natively at 2880x1800. The Start Menu and Chrome tabs are tiny, but other than that it doesn't impact the things I do. I keep Chrome zoomed to 150% by default, which seems even slightly bigger than the way things show up in OS X at 1440x900 retina.