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MacBook Air 2013 Gaming Performance (Intel HD 5000)

Ok, thanks, in that case, I guess I'll change my Mac and get Parallels up and running in no time! As an aside, gaming on Parallels Desktop works ok, even on my ancient MBP, so I guess on an MBA, for casual gaming, it could be really effective, and it doesn't force you to reboot each time you want to play a game! Just a random thought, hope it helps the guys wanting to play through it...
 
Not sure if I understood your question correctly, but PD8 is a virtualisation software - it enables you to run Windows along Mac OS X. The performance of this solution are less interesting, but it saves you from going through the whole bootcamp process and from rebooting your Mac each time you want to play a game. Hope it helps!
 
Ive just played through an entire session of civ 5, at huge! 14 players, many many units!
Medium settings.
No performance issue at all. Just a little bit of frame drop immediately after loading a save game that lasted for about 30 sec.

Impressive! My 2 year old ROG laptop with a GTX 260M and a P7450 core 2 duo processor had enourmous issues with frame rate, while consuming a huge amount of power. And it was in a 16 inch chassis, not even a 13.3 as the new MBA.

By the way, this was running at OSX.
 
MBHockey said:
Is this the most updated GPU driver to use if you want to play games on Windows 7 via boot camp?
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GreyPilgrim said:
Not sure if I understood your question correctly, but PD8 is a virtualisation software - it enables you to run Windows along Mac OS X. The performance of this solution are less interesting, but it saves you from going through the whole bootcamp process and from rebooting your Mac each time you want to play a game. Hope it helps!
Click to expand...

Were you responding to me?
 
Gaming is playing a big role in my decision over whether to get the MacBook Air, so could anyone let me know if crusader kings 2 works well, either in boot camp or on OSX? Thanks
 
driver.dan said:
Gaming is playing a big role in my decision over whether to get the MacBook Air, so could anyone let me know if crusader kings 2 works well, either in boot camp or on OSX? Thanks
Click to expand...


I could run crusader kings on my old 2009 mbp, the 2013 mba should run it great
 
Total war Rome 2

Hi all.. Im thinking about getting myself the New Macbook Air 13,3"

Specs are:
Intel core i5
4GB Ram
Intel Hd5000 Grafics
128 GB ssd Hard drive.


Now, im not used to apple or computer.. Haha.. But I want to be able to play the new Rome 2 when it releases..

So im guessing that the solution is to make a Bootcamp or what ever it's called.
But with only 128 GB of hard drive, im thinking that theres not enough space to install windows plus games? And also my personal files, pictures etc?


Also i need the computer for scool purposes, therefore i need to install windows and the officepackage..

Would it be a bad choice to pick this MBA?


Lasse
 
Last edited:
Laaassseee said:
Hi all.. Im thinking about getting myself the New Macbook Air 13,3"

Specs are:
Intel core i5
4GB Ram
Intel Hd5000 Grafics
128 GB ssd Hard drive.


Now, im not used to apple or computer.. Haha.. But I want to be able to play the new Rome 2 when it releases..

So im guessing that the solution is to make a Bootcamp or what ever it's called.
But with only 128 GB of hard drive, im thinking that theres not enough space to install windows plus games? And also my personal files, pictures etc?


Also i need the computer for scool purposes, therefore i need to install windows and the officepackage..

Would it be a bad choice to pick this MBA?


Lasse
Click to expand...

If you are putting windows on and using this as your main computer then 128GB might start cutting it too close for comfort. Also, getting 8gb ram would be a good idea if you plan on playing some games here and there.
 
SteveJobs2.0 said:
If you are putting windows on and using this as your main computer then 128GB might start cutting it too close for comfort. Also, getting 8gb ram would be a good idea if you plan on playing some games here and there.
Click to expand...

Hmm... Ok Thank you MR. Steve Jobs :)
 
really to play something as intensive as rome total war you want a desktop, ideally a PC

I had a chance to play RTW2 a couple of months ago, and it was stuggling on the demo machines they had set up. I dread to think how a MBA would handle it
 
radiohead14 said:
has there been a definitive answer to whether the i7 cpu and 8gb ram noticeably improves gaming performance?
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From what I've read, the i7 gives you an extra 100Mhz on the GPU side, so graphics improvement will be minimal if anything. 8GB will help future proof your machine. A maximum of 1GB is set aside for the GPU, so 8 will help keep your system running smoother for longer i.e. Future proof.
 
Dookieman said:
From what I've read, the i7 gives you an extra 100Mhz on the GPU side, so graphics improvement will be minimal if anything. 8GB will help future proof your machine. A maximum of 1GB is set aside for the GPU, so 8 will help keep your system running smoother for longer i.e. Future proof.
Click to expand...

i see it was mentioned here (i5 vs i7 - gaming performance), but i'm not seeing benchmark comparisons between the two. though they concluded that it's a minimal difference:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Air-11-inch-Mid-2013-1-7-GHz-256-GB-Subnotebook.97445.0.html

i hope to see more benchmarks comparing the two, plus also with the ram (4 vs 8)
 
radiohead14 said:
thanks. i've seen those, but i meant gaming benchmarks, considering the topic at hand.
Click to expand...
It's a bit of a mess over at Anandtech since they touch on different aspects every time they decide to review a new piece of Haswell hardware. :rolleyes:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/intel-hd-5000-vs-hd-4000-vs-hd-4400

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7182/90-minutes-with-the-clevo-w740su-featuring-iris-pro-hd-5200

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-5000.91978.0.html

Those are going to be the big ones for now.
 
Eidorian said:
It's a bit of a mess over at Anandtech since they touch on different aspects every time they decide to review a new piece of Haswell hardware. :rolleyes:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/intel-hd-5000-vs-hd-4000-vs-hd-4400

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7182/90-minutes-with-the-clevo-w740su-featuring-iris-pro-hd-5200

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-5000.91978.0.html

Those are going to be the big ones for now.
Click to expand...

thanks. yea i've seen those also. i wish there would be a clear cut macbook air i5 vs i7 / 4gb vs 8gb benchmark comparison though. all those other articles are just tempting me to reconsider just waiting for the haswell rmbp, since the iris gpu's are much better than the hd5000. :)
 
radiohead14 said:
thanks. yea i've seen those also. i wish there would be a clear cut macbook air i5 vs i7 / 4gb vs 8gb benchmark comparison though. all those other articles are just tempting me to reconsider just waiting for the haswell rmbp, since the iris gpu's are much better than the hd5000. :)
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I'm debating getting a Clevo for $1,099 with a GTX 765M or a lighter one with an Iris Pro. :(
 
So, is it safe to assume everyone is using the Intel HD 5000 driver released in May by intel for boot camp gaming? The ones included in boot camp are a little older. But i don't see anything newer than May.

Was hoping to squeeze every ounce of performance out of this iGPU :)
 
Eidorian said:
I'm debating getting a Clevo for $1,099 with a GTX 765M or a lighter one with an Iris Pro. :(
Click to expand...

yea i was checking out the lenovo y series. but you mentioned what's really keeping me from seriously considering them.. the weight. trying to wait and see what the haswell mbp's will def have before i make a final decision.
 
radiohead14 said:
yea i was checking out the lenovo y series. but you mentioned what's really keeping me from seriously considering them.. the weight. trying to wait and see what the haswell mbp's will def have before i make a final decision.
Click to expand...
I could pick one up before my vacation to have something newer than my 70 month old Macbook.
 
Flash games eat up Mac Air's battery like crazy.

3 hours to 4 hours then in the red zone.
 
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