Just ran it. I got 3.175 points. Does that help you?
Looked playable, but didn't display fps. I'd say 20 - 30 fps.
Edit: Settings on "standard", 1280 x 720 (beanchmark doesn't support native res), fullscreen.
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MacBook Air 2013 Gaming Performance (Intel HD 5000)
- Thread starter Yixian
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Just ran it. I got 3.175 points. Does that help you?
Looked playable, but didn't display fps. I'd say 20 - 30 fps.
Edit: Settings on "standard", 1280 x 720 (beanchmark doesn't support native res), fullscreen.
I am AMAZED at the gaming performance of this little beast!
I created an account just to say this...I am STUNNED at how well this little macbook air 13" i5 with a i5000 vid card plays games. STUNNED. SPEECHLESS. I've built gaming desktops, bought $3k gaming PC laptops, and been playing PC games for the past 30 years. I expected this 2013 macbook air to be like the dozens of other laptops I've tried that don't have a dedicated vid card. Well if you can temper your expectations, you can play some very mainstream titles on an EXTREMELY portable, 2 lb laptop with a battery that lasts over a day and has a great screen--on this macbook air I can fly around stormwind, into the trees of Elwyn Forest (usually very demanding) and get a steady 59 fps with textures set to HIGH! If I set the foreground FPS limit to 32 FPS, MY FANS DONT EVEN COME ON FOR ABOUT 20 MIN!!!! Again, this is with the "RECOMMENDED" settings, at 1440 native resolution, and then texture resolution bumped to "HIGH", view distance bumped to "GOOD", and Shadows bumped to "LOW" or "FAIR" (I can't remember, i set shadows to the higher of those two settings that gets you player shadows). The game will not look like my gaming desktop, but at high texture resolutions it looks pretty darn amazing and for the fans to not come on, a steady 32 FPS (or 59 FPS if I don't limit the foreground FPS settings to save heat) is nothing short of phenomenal. I would have lost a lot of bets as in my entire life I have never seen an "intel" non-dedicated vid card perform this well--great job Apple on this little closet BEAST!
I created an account just to say this...I am STUNNED at how well this little macbook air 13" i5 with a i5000 vid card plays games. STUNNED. SPEECHLESS. I've built gaming desktops, bought $3k gaming PC laptops, and been playing PC games for the past 30 years. I expected this 2013 macbook air to be like the dozens of other laptops I've tried that don't have a dedicated vid card. Well if you can temper your expectations, you can play some very mainstream titles on an EXTREMELY portable, 2 lb laptop with a battery that lasts over a day and has a great screen--on this macbook air I can fly around stormwind, into the trees of Elwyn Forest (usually very demanding) and get a steady 59 fps with textures set to HIGH! If I set the foreground FPS limit to 32 FPS, MY FANS DONT EVEN COME ON FOR ABOUT 20 MIN!!!! Again, this is with the "RECOMMENDED" settings, at 1440 native resolution, and then texture resolution bumped to "HIGH", view distance bumped to "GOOD", and Shadows bumped to "LOW" or "FAIR" (I can't remember, i set shadows to the higher of those two settings that gets you player shadows). The game will not look like my gaming desktop, but at high texture resolutions it looks pretty darn amazing and for the fans to not come on, a steady 32 FPS (or 59 FPS if I don't limit the foreground FPS settings to save heat) is nothing short of phenomenal. I would have lost a lot of bets as in my entire life I have never seen an "intel" non-dedicated vid card perform this well--great job Apple on this little closet BEAST!
Can someone please test Guild Wars 2 on external FullHD display? I am on the verge of buying the 11" and not knowing this is the only thing holding me back 
I'm pretty sure it will run around 20-30 fps on lowest setting but want some real data, if i'm going to spend >1000$ on it
I'm pretty sure it will run around 20-30 fps on lowest setting but want some real data, if i'm going to spend >1000$ on it
A lad put this video up only a few minutes ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLjH5WR9oz8
Arkham City
Bioshock Infinite
Battlefield 3
A great video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLjH5WR9oz8
Arkham City
Bioshock Infinite
Battlefield 3
A great video.
That looks really promising. How do you think this would have been with the i5 instead of i7?
Has anyone tried emulating PS2 games with PCSX2 yet? I'm really curious if integrated Intel graphics are now capable of PS2 emulation.
This is what confuses me. My MBP 2.3ghz quad i7 with Radeon 6750M 1GB graphics doesn;'t run the game that well on high settings (at least in my opinion, I don't ladder on high). I would think this machine would be more powerful than the MBP even if it is almost 2 years old.
I am running it on 1650x1080 though. Maybe that's what makes all the difference.
I know this thread is for posting gaming performance, but could I make a gaming request for someone to presumably test?
What are the specs of your MBA, if I may ask?
1) 11" or 13"
2) i5 or i7
3) 4GB or 8GB RAM
Thanks
Well if you read my other posts in this thread, you'll see that I updated this review. Once I got some decent action on the screen it dropped to 15-20FPS range. But yes playing at 1650x1080 would also make a difference, not much though.
The best way to play is with a mix of Medium and High settings. Still nice for an Air!
Hi
It's the 13" stock model, so i5 and 4Gb.
In the benchmark I saw the fps dropping during some of the battles. But nothing unplayable.
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Want to add 2 other games I've tested:
FIFA 13: 60+ fps with highest setting (AA disabled) at native resolution. It also has frame cap. So you can cap it at 30 and the MBA will stay super silent.
Rogue legacy: very fluid with everything on. MBA is very silent. Great game btw!
Edit: in general you can expect a major hit on the framerate when you enable any kind of AA.
I don't see why not; others have done so before you. My 13/i7/8/256 should arrive within a week and I'd be happy to oblige (family and work permitting).
Awesome, I would appreciate it. My query would be running MapleStory under bootcamp on Windows 7 or 8 (8 presumably). I'm curious with the config you are getting how performance stacks up.
Um... As politely as I can say this: If we're talking about the same MapleStory, you will have ZERO issues. MapleStory will run on a Celeron processor from the 90's quite smoothly. It requires very very little system resources and will not tax the Macbook Air 2013 at all.
I hope that eases your concern a bit. If the system can play Bioshock Infinite, it will undoubtedly handle MapleStory without any problems. But feel free to request actual numbers/screenshots if you like?
Oh I didn't think you were being rude in the slightest. We are talking about the same MapleStory. I'm moving from a HP Pavilion Dv6 early 2009 with a Core 2 Duo and 4GB of RAM. I'm not worried about the Macbook Air's performance in the least but I plan on boot camping Windows 8 for this game mainly so Im was just curious to its performance. I would like a screenshot if it can be provided by another member.
I downloaded Diablo III onto my base config 2013 11" i5/4GB/256GB MBA. It actually runs quite well with minimal page outs but the MBA case gets extremely hot after 5 minutes of play with the fans screaming at full tilt.
With all due respect to the MBA, my HP Pavilion dv7 gaming laptop with dedicated graphics card also gets burning hot with all fans a blazing when running DIII (or any other graphic intensive game) so this isn't something unique to the MBA.
My big issue with gaming on the MBA is the long term affects of high temperature heat cycling on the internal components. I've got three years of AppleCare but I don't like the nuisance of getting a cooked laptop repaired or replaced on a regular basis.
I'm going to stick to light gaming on the MBA because that's what this highly portable platform was really designed for (browsing, email, light gaming, etc). IMHO heavy gaming still requires a gaming specific laptop/desktop with good heat management.
Jordan
With all due respect to the MBA, my HP Pavilion dv7 gaming laptop with dedicated graphics card also gets burning hot with all fans a blazing when running DIII (or any other graphic intensive game) so this isn't something unique to the MBA.
My big issue with gaming on the MBA is the long term affects of high temperature heat cycling on the internal components. I've got three years of AppleCare but I don't like the nuisance of getting a cooked laptop repaired or replaced on a regular basis.
I'm going to stick to light gaming on the MBA because that's what this highly portable platform was really designed for (browsing, email, light gaming, etc). IMHO heavy gaming still requires a gaming specific laptop/desktop with good heat management.
Jordan
Doesn't the fan prevent damage to the internal components? I think preparing yourself for getting a repair every so months is a bit exaggerating don't you think? I do understand the heat management is nearly impossible in such a thin form factor, but doing damage to the system by just using it intensively shouldn't be an issue. Thin or not thin.
Or are you speaking from experience?
Thanks for that link. Game benchmarks were't too bad at all and they were running them in 1920x1080 too. I imagine you'd get a decent boost in FPS playing at native resolution.
Kind of. The fan disperses heat to help keep it cool. The real damage protector is the fact the haswell chip will clock down or shut off when it hits 100 Celsius (212 fahrenheit). That's insanely hot. I'll play more skyrim afterwork, and measure the temp. After playing last night, the case was only mildly warm.
Heat isn't so much about damage as it is about a computer crashing every time you stress it. People overclock cpu/gpu all the time and it's not about damage as much as when the system becomes "unstable".
got mine today
i5 8gb, tested d3
all settings low or off
low fx checked
fps limited to 25/8
1400x 900 and the 1280x xxx resolution
fans came on immediately but game was very playable
became hot near hinge and where your left hand would be (to use skills 1,2,3,4)
mp10 barb with whirlwind fps dropped to 16 at cemetary of forsaken and fields of misery....this would be the worst place in the game as far as burden to the system
tested some other areas with less density and it was constant 25 fps (limited in settings)
sorry for the rambling.
i5 8gb, tested d3
all settings low or off
low fx checked
fps limited to 25/8
1400x 900 and the 1280x xxx resolution
fans came on immediately but game was very playable
became hot near hinge and where your left hand would be (to use skills 1,2,3,4)
mp10 barb with whirlwind fps dropped to 16 at cemetary of forsaken and fields of misery....this would be the worst place in the game as far as burden to the system
tested some other areas with less density and it was constant 25 fps (limited in settings)
sorry for the rambling.
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