OS Neutral Mac Mini 2012: what games can it play? Far Cry 3?

[Idgit]

I just picked up a 2012 Mac Mini and installed 16 GB of RAM. I know the Intel HD 4000 GPU is crappy, but I was wondering what recent-ish (last 4-5) games will work on it. Far Cry 3 is one game I'm very interested to play.

What games are playable on a 2012 Mac Mini?

 

[UniDoubleU]

Far Cry 3 is a pretty demanding game. But some people managed to get it to run on Intel 4000. Don't expect high resolution or FPS though.

http://www.reddit.com/r/farcry3/comments/15c3ed/farcry_3_on_intel_hd_4000_graphics/

AMD Kaveri APU barely runs a lot of recent games well, and that's a 2014 integrated GPU! What resolution is your monitor?

 

[Idgit]

AMD Kaveri APU barely runs a lot of recent games well, and that's a 2014 integrated GPU! What resolution is your monitor?

1920x1080 (22-inch).

 

[saturnotaku]

You'll struggle to hit 30 fps on the Mac Mini at 720p resolution and low details. If you want to play games, you'll need a dedicated desktop or laptop for that purpose if you're not willing to spend money on a properly equipped iMac.

 

[andychelt]

I'm actually downloading Far Cry 3 at the moment on my mid 2011 Mac mini! Yes it has the 6630m but might give you somewhat of an idea if it runs ok.

The Mac mini whilst not being a dedicated games rig is more than capable of playing games no matter what some people will have you believe, as long as you are realistic with your expectations and don't expect to play very latest AAA titles.

I regularly play Counter Strike Source, Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat Source on mine (not massively taxing games).

Other games I've played include Battlefield 3 (fairly low settings but runs pretty well), Call of Duty Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2?, Portal, Stalker series, Crysis, Crysis 2 (crap game!), GTA 4, Left 4 Dead 1/2,

 

[Idgit]

I'm actually downloading Far Cry 3 at the moment on my mid 2011 Mac mini! Yes it has the 6630m but might give you somewhat of an idea if it runs ok.

The Mac mini whilst not being a dedicated games rig is more than capable of playing games no matter what some people will have you believe, as long as you are realistic with your expectations and don't expect to play very latest AAA titles.

I regularly play Counter Strike Source, Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat Source on mine (not massively taxing games).

Other games I've played include Battlefield 3 (fairly low settings but runs pretty well), Call of Duty Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2?, Portal, Stalker series, Crysis, Crysis 2 (crap game!), GTA 4, Left 4 Dead 1/2,

I'm used to playing games at low FPS on my 2010 MacBook Pro. It played TF2 okay and played Borderlands 2 surprisingly well.

 

[saturnotaku]

I'm actually downloading Far Cry 3 at the moment on my mid 2011 Mac mini! Yes it has the 6630m but might give you somewhat of an idea if it runs ok.

The 6630 will still noticeably outperform the Intel HD 4000.

 

[Solomani]

The 6630 will still noticeably outperform the Intel HD 4000.

So the 2011 Mac Mini was equipped with a better vidcard than the 2012 Mini?

 

[saturnotaku]

So the 2011 Mac Mini was equipped with a better vidcard than the 2012 Mini?

See for yourself. Where both GPUs were tested in the same games (Skyrim, CoD: MW3, Battlefield 3), you can see that the 6630 comes out well ahead.

6630M

HD 4000

 

[andychelt]

Been playing Far Cry 3 for the last couple of days and been very playable. Most settings on medium, and don't think view distance is the best but runs pretty nice!

 

[madeirabhoy]

Been playing Far Cry 3 for the last couple of days and been very playable. Most settings on medium, and don't think view distance is the best but runs pretty nice!

thats the thing, a lot of times its all relative to what you are willing to accept.


i played a lot of games on my 2009 mini that most people would say wouldnt run, like fallout 3.

i wouldnt imagine far cry 3 would run amazingly, but if you wack down all the settings to low and dont set the resolution too high it'll run fine. also try the fallout 3/fallout new vegas (you need bootcamp), which are imho the best games in the world anyway.

all 3 games are often on steam sales, so id buy them cheap on there.

also other games which dont need to be running amazing, civ 5 for example, football manager

 

[UniDoubleU]

thats the thing, a lot of times its all relative to what you are willing to accept.


i played a lot of games on my 2009 mini that most people would say wouldnt run, like fallout 3.

i wouldnt imagine far cry 3 would run amazingly, but if you wack down all the settings to low and dont set the resolution too high it'll run fine. also try the fallout 3/fallout new vegas (you need bootcamp), which are imho the best games in the world anyway.

all 3 games are often on steam sales, so id buy them cheap on there.

also other games which dont need to be running amazing, civ 5 for example, football manager

Another Fallout 3 & Fallout New Vegas fan here. Do play F3 first though, the introduction stage was one of the best I've ever experienced! TES: Skyrim might be prettier but Fallout New Vegas is more fun! Actually, do play Skyrim also it's got more eye candy but based on the same Fallout 3 engine so should run ok.