Gaming on the RMBP

[taelan28]

HOLY MOLTEN SILICON! I expected it to get warm, but not uncomfortably-hey-that-burns hot. I dont think I want to play games on this. If you're gaming on a rMBP you had better be doing it with 2 games and you had better be a casual gamer. If you're going to game out on PC straight up get a desktop. The way this thing runs hot is ridiculous and Im sure a stacked 15 inch RMBP with the Nvidia chip would get just as hot, and at that price you could get a fat PC. Gaming on this is not something I want to do often and I tone down the graphics to the bottom third to keep it comfortably warm, not burning.

I've only tried running LOL and Bioshock and this thing is a beast. Finally integrated graphics can run admirably, it only took 15 years. Admittedly LOL is about as non intensive as an aged Blizzard game and Bioshock is a 7 year old game so no big deal but overall Im pleased and impressed.

 

[GSPice]

I was going to post "ib4tl", but in accordance with forum rules, I will refrain from useless and one-word posts.

I was also going to post saying "this" to the above "cool story bro" gif meme, but posts saying "I agree", "+1", "this", "me too", or the equivalent are also routinely removed, so I won't post it.

At first I was interested in the thread, but after realizing the OP post was probably somewhat in violation of forum rule section 1 subsection 7, specifically "causing negative reaction" I decided to post a positive reaction.

The MBPr is a beautifully designed machine. I myself love playing the 4-year old game Starcraft 2 on it, with maximum resolution and graphics.

 

[GoingDark]

I have the latest 13" rMBP with 8GB of RAM and it runs cool and quiet for the most part...until you try to do ANY gaming at all. Even playing Hearthstone, a very low-spec casual game, causes this thing to sound like a Lear jet preparing for takeoff within seconds of loading the game.

If you absolutely need a computer that you can game on, a MacBook is probably not for you.

 

[s2mikey]

I have the latest 13" rMBP with 8GB of RAM and it runs cool and quiet for the most part...until you try to do ANY gaming at all. Even playing Hearthstone, a very low-spec casual game, causes this thing to sound like a Lear jet preparing for takeoff within seconds of loading the game.

If you absolutely need a computer that you can game on, a MacBook is probably not for you.

Really? I believe I have the same machine as you. I bought it about two months ago. Anyways, I play hearthstone all the time on it and it's just as cool as when it's sitting there doing nothing. I'm confused.....

 

[chrizzz09]

Gaming on the RMBP

Really? I believe I have the same machine as you. I bought it about two months ago. Anyways, I play hearthstone all the time on it and it's just as cool as when it's sitting there doing nothing. I'm confused.....

The same for me. If I run hearthstone in full screen the fans spin up. If I set it to windowed mode it's quiet (same res as full screen). Blizzard ****ed up like always.

 

[TechGod]

I have the latest 13" rMBP with 8GB of RAM and it runs cool and quiet for the most part...until you try to do ANY gaming at all. Even playing Hearthstone, a very low-spec casual game, causes this thing to sound like a Lear jet preparing for takeoff within seconds of loading the game.

If you absolutely need a computer that you can game on, a MacBook is probably not for you.

Same computer and it's very quiet for me.

 

[VI™]

My 15" does that too, but it's primary purpose is for school and on the go photo editing, not games. It does get hot as all holy hell, but I can deal with it.

It even was running full tilt when I have TSW open but minimized. Oh well, I have my gaming rig for when I want to play games in uber mode. I just need to get a 4k TV and 4K monitor here soon.

 

[davidb8]

My 15" rmbp with gt 650 is cooler than my 13" non retina when running Dota 2. Full gfx and high res on 15" lowest possible gfx and low Res on the 13"

 

[lightz39]

I have the first gen retina and it indeed gets extremely hot. I ended up building a windows gaming rig for half the money and umpteen times more powerful. Gaming on a laptop was a fun idea while it lasted. Now its just my everything but machine.

 

[taelan28]

I have the first gen retina and it indeed gets extremely hot. I ended up building a windows gaming rig for half the money and umpteen times more powerful. Gaming on a laptop was a fun idea while it lasted. Now its just my everything but machine.

Yea gaming on a laptop is cool and all, until you squish you battery in 3 hours. I'd wager it also dramatically lowers the life expectancy of your machine with all that heat. You could run some quality games respectably well, but you're better off running older stuff you can just toy around on.

 

[Freyqq]

With all that power in a small chassis, it is not surprising that it runs hot. I have the 750M version, and it gets really hot in some areas for sure, like the metal between the display and keyboard. I use a cooling pad during gaming (~$20) most of the time in order to reduce this heat somewhat.

 

[EnVyCaLiBeR]

I have the latest 13" rMBP with 8GB of RAM and it runs cool and quiet for the most part...until you try to do ANY gaming at all. Even playing Hearthstone, a very low-spec casual game, causes this thing to sound like a Lear jet preparing for takeoff within seconds of loading the game.

If you absolutely need a computer that you can game on, a MacBook is probably not for you.

Yeah I was playing Hearthstone the other day on my new rMBP and I could hear the fans kick up not long after booting up the game.

 

[skaeroastro]

When I find the time to play Kerbal Space Program, I get around 195°F on the CPU die and around 170°F on the GT 750M die on an rMBP 15" 2.6 GHz, which isn't that terrible (if you get above 212°F+, you have a problem. Sure, it can handle it, but it will shorten the lifespan of the dies).
Take a look at the screenshot for the kind of temps a 15" rMBP gets. BTW if you're wondering, the menubar info is from iStat Menus 4.

 

[Freyqq]

When I find the time to play Kerbal Space Program, I get around 195°F on the CPU die and around 170°F on the GT 750M die on an rMBP 15" 2.6 GHz, which isn't that terrible (if you get above 212°F+, you have a problem. Sure, it can handle it, but it will shorten the lifespan of the dies).
Take a look at the screenshot for the kind of temps a 15" rMBP gets. BTW if you're wondering, the menubar info is from iStat Menus 4.

KSP isn't a good game to use for testing, as it is a single-threaded CPU heavy game due to the large amount of physics simulation going on. Most games are multithreaded and GPU heavy, so the temps will be completely different.

 

[skaeroastro]

KSP isn't a good game to use for testing, as it is a single-threaded CPU heavy game due to the large amount of physics simulation going on. Most games are multithreaded and GPU heavy, so the temps will be completely different.

I do know that it isn't a good game to test temps, it's just that KSP is literally the only game I play. Hey, I've done multithreaded, CUDA-enabled computational fluid dynamics and a compilation of gcc-4.9, and they both pushed die temps to 211°F and 185°F on CPU and GPU respectively.

 

[danlocke]

How does Sim City (2013) run on the standard Iris chip (not pro)?

 

[Epiphron]

This thread is making me scared to play any demanding games now :O What's the best way to keep the rMBP cool?

 

[Amaterasuvsd]

Any one can test Dota 2 max settings on MB 15 ME249 with GTX 750?

 

[ayeying]

This thread is making me scared to play any demanding games now :O What's the best way to keep the rMBP cool?

I run Handbrake for days on end sometimes converting dozens of video files. Sometimes I'll just leave it on my bed letting it run also (no blankets, just on the mattress) and the CPU gets hot (95-100 deg C), the computer gets hot, but it's not gonna explode or short out.

I'm pretty sure a few games for a few hours a day is less demanding then running it maxed out for days.

 

[ano0oj]

This thread is making me scared to play any demanding games now :O What's the best way to keep the rMBP cool?

immediate solution would be to wedge something underneath the back of the macbook to keep cool air circulating below and making sure your vents get maximum circulation as well..

 

[Freyqq]

An external keyboard and mouse is another option.

 

[taedouni]

When I find the time to play Kerbal Space Program, I get around 195°F on the CPU die and around 170°F on the GT 750M die on an rMBP 15" 2.6 GHz, which isn't that terrible (if you get above 212°F+, you have a problem. Sure, it can handle it, but it will shorten the lifespan of the dies).
Take a look at the screenshot for the kind of temps a 15" rMBP gets. BTW if you're wondering, the menubar info is from iStat Menus 4.

I live in America and the only time that I am familiar with celsius (outside of college courses but even then it was mostly kelvin) is when it comes to electronics, I'm ignorant when people people list Fahrenheit.

After converting the temperatures, the GPU temperature is expected, especially for a mobile version. That CPU is running a bit high though. I got a new Macbook Pro so I haven't installed all the good stuff (fan control), but I think it's called smc fan control. Great three different fan profiles (one for default, one for medium usage aka light gaming, and one for heavy gaming to have the fans blasting).