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MacBook Air 2013 Gaming Performance (Intel HD 5000)

Rucku5 said:
Your looking at around 14-15FPS with everything on medium and around 18-19fps with everything on low.

Specs:

Haswell 13" MBA with i7, 256GB SSD and 8GB Ram.
Click to expand...

Hey Ruku5, thanks for the info.

Do you have bootcamp with windows? I hear that running it on bootcamp you get better performance.

Also, i'd like to check image quality, apparently the OSX version is much worse even at the same settings... I'm one of those who dont actually hate EA for no reason, but they seriously screwed up SimCity.

Archie7 said:
Rucku5 I have the same specs of Macbook. I had to make everything low expect textures are on medium. I'm using external monitor. At 1344 x 756 or 1920 x 1080 fans are crazy loud.... :confused: So i'm not sure should I care about fans? They are not disturbing me by loudness. I'm wondering if it will not get too hot and mess. Can I don't care about hot and loud fans when using long hours?
Click to expand...

Components can handle up ro 110C to 120C. You're probably hitting high 80's which is within operating limits, but if your MBA starts to turn off on its own then that's an issue. As is true with anything, the hotter something runs the shorter its operating life becomes, but truth be told, the MBA will be worthless and you will have replaced it before it dies because you pushed it too hard.

I'd get a temp monitor and see the temps though. If they're too high, maybe consider getting a laptop fan.

Also, the MBA uses the keyboard as a vent, so dont close your lid all the way down when you game, that'll help a bit with temps.

disclaimer: I'm a PC gamer, and hardware's my thing :)
 
achuandblessyou said:
Hey Ruku5, thanks for the info.

Do you have bootcamp with windows? I hear that running it on bootcamp you get better performance.

Also, i'd like to check image quality, apparently the OSX version is much worse even at the same settings... I'm one of those who dont actually hate EA for no reason, but they seriously screwed up SimCity.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do but its a pain. On my Mac Book Pro 15" i7 3rd gen and nVidia 650M I was getting silky smooth 40fps+ with everything on ultra while using Bootcamp. I will try it native and see what happens.
 
Rucku5 said:
Yeah, I do but its a pain. On my Mac Book Pro 15" i7 3rd gen and nVidia 650M I was getting silky smooth 40fps+ with everything on ultra while using Bootcamp. I will try it native and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rucku :)

although a 650M is much better than an HD5000
 
I should be receiving my 13" 256GB i7 8GB Air in a few days and I'll be trying out a load of games. If there are any from my Steam account list below that you're interested in let me know and I will try to test them for you :)

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snapper64 said:
I should be receiving my 13" 256GB i7 8GB Air in a few days and I'll be trying out a load of games. If there are any from my Steam account list below that you're interested in let me know and I will try to test them for you :)
Click to expand...

Wow lol, tons of games. Hmm, could you try GTA IV? I fear it'll be very bad since it was horribly optimized for PCs
 
snapper64, could you try Need For Speed? And also on clamshell mode with external display if possible at all (with full hd resolution, perhaps).

Or basically any game in clamshell mode with a higher than native resolution. :)
 
Anybody know how borderlands 2 runs? I'm also wondering about the mac exclusive version of the game.
 
Last edited:
achuandblessyou said:
Components can handle up ro 110C to 120C. You're probably hitting high 80's which is within operating limits, but if your MBA starts to turn off on its own then that's an issue. As is true with anything, the hotter something runs the shorter its operating life becomes, but truth be told, the MBA will be worthless and you will have replaced it before it dies because you pushed it too hard.
Click to expand...

So I used istat pro during game shows "mem bank a1 - 68C" and "heatsink b - 50C" FANS are at 6500rpm. I have laptop fan on.

do you think is not healthy for MBA to play hours when he behave like this?
 
Reposting what I wrote in the Bioshock thread - this is the Mac port.

I'm sorry, but this port needed more time in the oven. I tried running this on my 2013 (Haswell) 13" MBA - base specs (4GB, i5, HD5000). No dice. It plays, but the frame rate is atrocious, and aiming is nigh impossible with the constant dips. The only way to get a stable 30FPS (or even 25+) is to set everything to the bare minimum, and run at 640X480. Not acceptable, seeing as on Windows (via Bootcamp) it could easily run at 1280X720 on medium with this config. I realize Macs, particularly laptops, are not built as gaming powerhouses, but this is a brand new machine with a competent graphics card. Hopefully, Mavericks will improve performance.
Click to expand...
 
The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition works flawlessly on Windows (obviously - the engine is fairly old).

I wish I could figure out how to make my Wineskin wrapper work, so I wouldn't have to boot to Windows all the time. (It is somewhat playable on Parallels heh)
 
Could anyone measure a performance of any game ran on the main display and then on the external display in clamshell mode?

With external display set to at least a full HD resolution, sure thing. :)
 
achuandblessyou said:
Wow lol, tons of games. Hmm, could you try GTA IV? I fear it'll be very bad since it was horribly optimized for PCs
Click to expand...

archman said:
snapper64, could you try Need For Speed? And also on clamshell mode with external display if possible at all (with full hd resolution, perhaps).

Or basically any game in clamshell mode with a higher than native resolution. :)
Click to expand...

Doublea6 said:
Anybody know how borderlands 2 runs? I'm also wondering about the mac exclusive version of the game.
Click to expand...
I'll try all three on Wednesday when the Air arrives, assuming someone else hasn't already by then.
 
achuandblessyou said:
Hey Ruku5, thanks for the info.

Do you have bootcamp with windows? I hear that running it on bootcamp you get better performance.

Also, i'd like to check image quality, apparently the OSX version is much worse even at the same settings... I'm one of those who dont actually hate EA for no reason, but they seriously screwed up SimCity.
Click to expand...

I've heard that Sim City on OSX is very unoptimised right now... as in near unplayable on the latest Macbook Pros with discrete cards. Lets hope it's something they can fix across the board because I'd be interested in checking it out despite all the negative press.

/ i7 air '13
 
I've been playing the Hearthstone Beta on my base model 13".
It runs very smooth.
 
So I downloaded the mac version of borderlands 2, it seems to be working good. I was wondering does anyone know how to see the frame rates while I play? And what settings are recommended to be on or off?
 
archman said:
snapper64, could you try Need For Speed? And also on clamshell mode with external display if possible at all (with full hd resolution, perhaps).

Or basically any game in clamshell mode with a higher than native resolution. :)
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late reply. My fibre broadband has been down the past few days so I've had to use my much slower mobile connection to download the games.

I've just tested it and the results are good! My system is 13" MacBook Air i7 8GB 256GB running Windows 8. I've installed the latest Intel driver for the HD5000 and set everything to max performance.

Other than changing the resolution the in game settings for Hot Pursuit don't really affect performance to any significant degree so everything was on max. I tried running the game in and out of clamshell mode and didn't notice any performance change.

720p

Min: 26
Max: 42
Avg: 34

1080p

Min: 16
Max: 25
Avg: 20

Overall the game runs perfectly and looks good at 720p with all the graphics settings turned up :)
 
Doublea6 said:
Anybody know how borderlands 2 runs? I'm also wondering about the mac exclusive version of the game.
Click to expand...

BL2 runs fine in OS X (tested on the 13" i7/8GB/256GB version).

----------
snapper64 said:
I should be receiving my 13" 256GB i7 8GB Air in a few days and I'll be trying out a load of games. If there are any from my Steam account list below that you're interested in let me know and I will try to test them for you :)
Click to expand...

And I thought I had a long list of games on Steam... Would you mind taking the Mac OS X version of BioShock Infinite for a spin? Thank you in advance!
 
I was wondering if the MBA 11 (base model with 8gigs of ram) can run XCOM? I bought the game on steam and checked on the settings. Everything was set on high but I moved some stuff down so I wouldn't work my laptop too hard. The fan turned on playing the game but everything seemed to run pretty smooth. Maybe it's because I'm new to the MBA, will that be a problem for casual gaming?

Also want to play civ 5, but I've been reading its kind of buggy. So I wouldn't mind going for civ 4 but I was wondering if anyone plays it casually and how it runs? Does it get too hot? Fans are loud? Does it lag? Thanks!
 
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