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Gaming.

I

imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
Hey guys,

I have an ultimate 2010 which im not changing it =(

The only thing that makes me still love this machine is some gaming because i don't use photoshop or cad programs that requires processor muscle.

So basically is the 2010 superior at gaming than the new mba?
Also, will apple release new drivers that may make the hd3000 better at gaming in some time in the future making the 2010 actually garbage?


Thx in advance.
 
They're both underpowered.
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Underpowered is such a nonsense word sometimes.

It is underpowered for say, space flight, but it handles Photoshop quite nicely.

What you have said doesn't really make any sense.
 
miles01110 said:
No, but that's not really the point. They're both underpowered.
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You don't need a hexacore CPU and say a recent GTX card to play games. It doesn't have to be anyone's point of using the machine to game. What's the problem with using it to handle your gaming if it can do so? OP is not suggesting that he purchased a MacBook Air in order to game and furthermore run high-end, intensive, or even recent games.

OP, the HD 3000 was proven to preform better under OS X only. If you are looking to do some gaming in Windows via Boot Camp, the 320M preforms much better than the HD 3000 does.

Also, Photoshop really isn't that CPU intensive. :/ Nor is it necessary to have anything more than a dual-core CPU to run it, low clock speed or not.
 
NutsNGum said:
It is underpowered for say, space flight, but it handles Photoshop quite nicely.
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Underpowered for space flight ? What exactly do you think is the CPU used in the space shuttle ? ;)

miles01110 said:
No, but that's not really the point. They're both underpowered.
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Underpowered for what exactly ? I play Worms Armageddon and Civ IV at 2048x1152 smooth as butter on my 2010 MBA.
 
miles01110 said:
So, "gaming" in the normal context will lag on a Macbook Air- or you'll be turning down the settings significantly. Unless it's Angry Birds.
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Explain how Civ IV and Worms Armageddon don't "lag" on my MBA 2010 at even my external monitor's 2048x1152 native resolution then.

Am I doing something wrong ? Gaming doesn't mean "only playing the latest graphics blockbuster at full settings!" you know. Heck, gaming isn't even about graphics, it's about games.

And the MBA 2010 can run plenty of titles flawlessly. Heck, most of those blockbuster graphics! titles are just pure garbage eye candy with no actual gameplay.
 
miles01110 said:
So, "gaming" in the normal context will lag on a Macbook Air- or you'll be turning down the settings significantly. Unless it's Angry Birds.
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There are great games that don't require much of anything to run that still have great player bases and can be ran on the hardware in question with consistency. Try to be less ignorant.
 
It depends on the game and what the OP's expectations are. You could have a video card that can output 200FPS, however if you run into a situation that drops the frame rates to 160 all of the sudden, you will notice it.

OP, don't expect drivers to make the Intel HD3000 better than the Geforce 320/330M chipsets. If anything drivers may help address existing issues with certain game titles which may also include features you may not have had access to before.
 
why are you gaming on a MBA? i dont mean any offense, but for gaming you need a decent PC, not a macbook air which is for a totally different purpose..
 
mgs4 said:
why are you gaming on a MBA? i dont mean any offense, but for gaming you need a decent PC, not a macbook air which is for a totally different purpose..
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Don't be so concerned with the reason why people made their purchases. Try and get past that and keep on topic, because to be honest that question has been done to death on this forum and if you really care go check other gaming threads.
 
I use my 2010 11" Air for everything which includes gaming. It plays most games at reasonable frame rates (30+) unless you get into more complex games such as Crysis2. You probably won't be able to run games like the Witcher 2 at any resolution and get any sort of playable framerate; however I was told you couldn't use emulators like Dolphin, yet I am playing some games at 70-100% speed on my underpowered dual core processor! I will say this - I agree with most people stating that you should not game on the 2011 MacBook Air and that you should get a Windows PC for gaming. Even Apple removed it's marketing about the Air being able to game according to the Air website. All it states now is that you will get "power efficient graphics.". Yet if you check out the refurb site for the MacBook Air, it still promotes the graphics and talks about gaming with the 2010 Air. So be happy with the 2010 Air for gaming if you Bootcamp to Windows 7.
 
gman901 said:
I use my 2010 11" Air for everything which includes gaming. It plays most games at reasonable frame rates (30+) unless you get into more complex games such as Crysis2. You probably won't be able to run games like the Witcher 2 at any resolution and get any sort of playable framerate; however I was told you couldn't use emulators like Dolphin, yet I am playing some games at 70-100% speed on my underpowered dual core processor! I will say this - I agree with most people stating that you should not game on the 2011 MacBook Air and that you should get a Windows PC for gaming. Even Apple removed it's marketing about the Air being able to game according to the Air website. All it states now is that you will get "power efficient graphics.". Yet if you check out the refurb site for the MacBook Air, it still promotes the graphics and talks about gaming with the 2010 Air. So be happy with the 2010 Air for gaming if you Bootcamp to Windows 7.
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The reason they removed gaming performance off the Macbook Air's page was not because it couldn't game, but that it was not better then the previous generation. If you look at previous Macbook Air performance pages for the 2010 model it showed how the graphics and gaming performance was up to 2.8x that of the previous model and showed EVE onine and Warcraft.
 
mgs4 said:
why are you gaming on a MBA? i dont mean any offense, but for gaming you need a decent PC, not a macbook air which is for a totally different purpose..
Click to expand...

Why not game on a MBA ? The games run, are smooth, why should we have to waste an extra 500-600$ on a PC ? :rolleyes:
 
miles01110 said:
Read the thread title. Or, provide a link to the game called "Photoshop."

So, "gaming" in the normal context will lag on a Macbook Air- or you'll be turning down the settings significantly. Unless it's Angry Birds.
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I believe he brought up photoshop because you called the MBA underpowered even though it can handle most heavy tasks quite well, also it was named in OP as a program that needs a lot power.
 
miles01110 said:
Read the thread title. Or, provide a link to the game called "Photoshop."

So, "gaming" in the normal context will lag on a Macbook Air- or you'll be turning down the settings significantly. Unless it's Angry Birds.
Click to expand...

You didn't explicitly state that your "underpowered" comment related to gaming, and even if it does, your conclusion is garbage. Plenty of games work just fine on the Air, though I can't say I'd ever buy one specifically for that purpose.
 
Oppressed said:
The reason they removed gaming performance off the Macbook Air's page was not because it couldn't game, but that it was not better then the previous generation. If you look at previous Macbook Air performance pages for the 2010 model it showed how the graphics and gaming performance was up to 2.8x that of the previous model and showed EVE onine and Warcraft.
Click to expand...

Okay, that makes sense. But you would think Apple would at least promote the fact that performance with some games like LFD 2 and Portal 2 actually run faster in OSX than the previous model. Apple is obviously the king of marketing, but you would figure they would highlight areas that makes the newest model look much better in every category. Which leads me to my original point is that it appears to me that Apple is agreeing with a lot of folks on these MBA forums that the newest models are not intended for gaming, but for more professional applications.
 
NutsNGum said:
Underpowered is such a nonsense word sometimes.

It is underpowered for say, space flight, but it handles Photoshop quite nicely.

What you have said doesn't really make any sense.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why it's so hard for you to figure out... The OP is tailing about gaming and the reply is correct, they are both underpowered for gaming. He probably didn't specify that because most people would have been able to figure it out pretty easily

KnightWRX said:
Why not game on a MBA ? The games run, are smooth, why should we have to waste an extra 500-600$ on a PC ? :rolleyes:
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Because if gaming is a priority, they do it a whole hell of a lot better. This is fact, not fiction.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It actually has nothing to do with me. But yeah, try to analyze replies in the context of the topic next time. Don't let the fact that someone suggested your beloved MBA isn't good at some tasks cloud your thinking.
 
2IS said:
It actually has nothing to do with me. But yeah, try to analyze replies in the context of the topic next time. Don't let the fact that someone suggested your beloved MBA isn't good at some tasks cloud your thinking.
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Dear Lord, you are humourless aren't you?

Computer for work. Xbox for games.
 
gman901 said:
Okay, that makes sense. But you would think Apple would at least promote the fact that performance with some games like LFD 2 and Portal 2 actually run faster in OSX than the previous model.
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Where are people getting this information?
 

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NutsNGum said:
Dear Lord, you are humourless aren't you?

Computer for work. Xbox for games.
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So what you're saying is there was no reason for you to post here at all sicne this thread isn't about work or xbox. Way to prove your point. :rolleyes:
 
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