Mac Mini and Gaming

[VaatiKaiba]

I'm considering buying a Mac Mini, hooking it up to my HDTV, and using it as a media centre. However, I was wondering:

1) Can the Mac Mini power a full HD (1080p) TV via HDMI cable (using a Mini DisplayPort / DVI adaptor?)

2) Is the Mac Mini a good machine for running games such as Sims 3, Spore, etc? Will the 9400m run them pretty smoothly?

Thanks in advance!

 

[guydude193]

Yeah. The 9400m is what my MacBook has. I've played Laura Croft 25th Anniversary and Halo and ToCA, all on high settings. It handles them all VERY smoothly. So I can imagine that it would hook up to the 1080p TV well. You'll have to get the resolution in System Preferences. Hope this helps!

 

[mgridgaway]

You can expect to run them at low-med graphics fairly well. Don't expect integrated graphics to be the way the developers meant for their games to be played, however.

 

[slpdLoad]

Yes and yes to your questions. It's a perfect HTPC.

You just can't run the latest and greatest PC games under bootcamp at very high settings.

 

[VaatiKaiba]

Yes and yes to your questions. It's a perfect HTPC.

You just can't run the latest and greatest PC games under bootcamp at very high settings.

But it should be ok for, say, the Mac versions of Spore and Sims 3, and possibly Windows Sims 2? I've heard they're not graphically intensive, but haven't really got a clue...

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

It should be fine. I used my 2 GHz GMA 950 model to play Flight Simulator X on mostly high settings and it ran smooth enough. I think the only reason it was choppy is because I was running it off an external HDD.

 

[suekitch]

I use a 9400 in my MBP and I've been playing The Sims 3. It runs very well, surprisingly well even; the only thing holding me back a bit is 2GB of memory but it certainly looks very decent

 

[GodWhomIsMike]

It should be fine. I used my 2 GHz GMA 950 model to play Flight Simulator X on mostly high settings and it ran smooth enough. I think the only reason it was choppy is because I was running it off an external HDD.

I'm sure the GMA 950 didn't help.

 

[VaatiKaiba]

I use a 9400 in my MBP and I've been playing The Sims 3. It runs very well, surprisingly well even; the only thing holding me back a bit is 2GB of memory but it certainly looks very decent

Do you mean it runs slowly on 2GB? Or you don't have 2GB for it to run on?

 

[suekitch]

Do you mean it runs slowly on 2GB? Or you don't have 2GB for it to run on?

I have 2GB. I wouldn't say it runs slowly, I just appreciate the fact that 4GB would give me an improvement. It's by no means a hardship on 2GB.