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MacBook Air 2013 Gaming Performance (Intel HD 5000)

I was previously asking about how playable would have been Metro Last Light, and I have tried for myself :D

All I can say is that I played on Mavericks with the Mac version (obviously) and I played it with medium settings I think, cos on this version of the game there aren't any chance to customize graphic settings apart from a unique "slider" to go trough... and that was settled at around half, meaning probably low/medium settings with a 1280x800 resolution I think.
By the way, this game it's not worth your time and money :( ;)

Furthermore I have installed Windows 8.1 Pro with Bootcamp just to play Batman Arkham Origins and the upcoming COD Ghosts!
I can say that BAO is really well playable (I think 25-35 fps) with the native 1440x900 resolution with all other things on low and with some tweaks I made manually into the BMEngine.ini.
Even though all the other settings are settled on low, the game is REALLY impressive graphically and technically, you have to try for yourself :D
Maybe I can use Fraps to see the actual FPS into the gameplay.

The major plus of having Windows is that you can even customize game files as I did, whereas Mac versions are almost locked...
 
Iperzampem0 said:
I was previously asking about how playable would have been Metro Last Light, and I have tried for myself :D

All I can say is that I played on Mavericks with the Mac version (obviously) and I played it with medium settings I think, cos on this version of the game there aren't any chance to customize graphic settings apart from a unique "slider" to go trough... and that was settled at around half, meaning probably low/medium settings with a 1280x800 resolution I think.
By the way, this game it's not worth your time and money :( ;)

Furthermore I have installed Windows 8.1 Pro with Bootcamp just to play Batman Arkham Origins and the upcoming COD Ghosts!
I can say that BAO is really well playable (I think 25-35 fps) with the native 1440x900 resolution with all other things on low and with some tweaks I made manually into the BMEngine.ini.
Even though all the other settings are settled on low, the game is REALLY impressive graphically and technically, you have to try for yourself :D
Maybe I can use Fraps to see the actual FPS into the gameplay.

The major plus of having Windows is that you can even customize game files as I did, whereas Mac versions are almost locked...
Click to expand...

You may want to try Metro Last Light on a computer that can actually run it properly. It's been suggested for game of the year awards and received glowing reviews. You may not like it, but misleading people to not buying it due to your personal point of view isn't fair to them or the game itself.
 
Hi,

What is exactly the difference in FPS between the 1.3 i5 and 1.7 i7.
I want to play casual gaming like Guildwars 2 on my new Mac, but haven't decided yet.
Will the hd5000 run GW2 on reasonable setting with good fps? and will the 1.3 do that, or only the 1.7?
 
Flowiee said:
Hi,

What is exactly the difference in FPS between the 1.3 i5 and 1.7 i7.
I want to play casual gaming like Guildwars 2 on my new Mac, but haven't decided yet.
Will the hd5000 run GW2 on reasonable setting with good fps? and will the 1.3 do that, or only the 1.7?
Click to expand...

I have similar question but related to Air i7 performance in TERA.
 
Just to give an update:
Arkham City on Steam seems to work better, especially on Mac now.

Dolphin 4.0 works great for any game, except Mario Kart Wii, but it did run perfect on 3.5, so I reckon give it a few more revisions, it'll be back to running at full speed.
Just don't go on their forums, the attitude given when someone needs help is incredible.

I've also got a second screen now, and there's no slowdown I've noticed at all.
 
Iperzampem0 said:
I was previously asking about how playable would have been Metro Last Light, and I have tried for myself :D

All I can say is that I played on Mavericks with the Mac version (obviously) and I played it with medium settings I think, cos on this version of the game there aren't any chance to customize graphic settings apart from a unique "slider" to go trough... and that was settled at around half, meaning probably low/medium settings with a 1280x800 resolution I think.
By the way, this game it's not worth your time and money :( ;)

Furthermore I have installed Windows 8.1 Pro with Bootcamp just to play Batman Arkham Origins and the upcoming COD Ghosts!
I can say that BAO is really well playable (I think 25-35 fps) with the native 1440x900 resolution with all other things on low and with some tweaks I made manually into the BMEngine.ini.
Even though all the other settings are settled on low, the game is REALLY impressive graphically and technically, you have to try for yourself :D
Maybe I can use Fraps to see the actual FPS into the gameplay.

The major plus of having Windows is that you can even customize game files as I did, whereas Mac versions are almost locked...
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to see how this changes with OS X Mavericks, given that it now dynamically allocates the shared system RAM for IGP use rather than sticking to a static limit.
 
Playing League of Legends (Mac, 60 fps) and Age of Empire II (Windows 7 Parallels).

Both run amazingly fast.
 
irDigital0l said:
Playing League of Legends (Mac, 60 fps) and Age of Empire II (Windows 7 Parallels).

Both run amazingly fast.
Click to expand...

I love Parallels. Works like a champ. Lately though I been getting pop ups from them about upgrading the software for Mavericks. They claim it is even faster.

Anyone upgraded to the latest version? And if so, is the performance boost good?
 
Anyone has some Guildwars 2 performance for the Air this days?
Would like to see a 1.3 and 1.7 FPS difference.
 
Yebubbleman said:
It would be interesting to see how this changes with OS X Mavericks, given that it now dynamically allocates the shared system RAM for IGP use rather than sticking to a static limit.
Click to expand...

Hi, I played Metro Last Light right on Mavericks, so the things I reported are real.

Other than Batman Arkham Origins on the Windows side, I've also played COD Ghosts which as of now it has lots of lags during intro videos but it's well playable in game with all Texture and Image Quality to High except Antialiasing and all the rest to Off.
Note that I've played the Single Player campaign only.

Today I've tried also Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and I can say that I really love this game but even because it's not well-playable on our Airs (15-25 fps will all settled on low, native 1440x900 resolution btw) I'll buy the PS3 version later on.

Just my 2 cents ;)
 
Last edited:
i played borderlands 2 on 800x 600 everything low...game is very smooth and fun to play

fan still comes on loud though
 
Iperzampem0 said:
Hi, I played Metro Last Light right on Mavericks, so the things I reported are real.

Other than Batman Arkham Origins on the Windows side, I've also played COD Ghosts which as of now it has lots of lags during intro videos but it's well playable in game with all Texture and Image Quality to High except Antialiasing and all the rest to Off.
Note that I've played the Single Player campaign only.

Today I've tried also Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and I can say that I really love this game but even because it's not well-playable on our Airs (15-25 fps will all settled on low) I'll buy the PS3 version later on.

Just my 2 cents ;)
Click to expand...

Didn't see your post. Sorry.
 
Does anyone have the Elder Scrolls Online beta? How does it run on the Macbook Air 11" 2013?
 
davecom said:
Has anyone tried out Company of Heroes 2?
Click to expand...

Yep, I did. It was a slide show :(

I had a 2013 i5 4/256 13". I have now returned it and bought a MBPr13 and it is still a slide show! I have tried lowest setting and 1024x768 and still unplayable in snow scenes
 
Deus Ex
Xcom
BioShock Infinite

any of these worth the discount on the Mac App Store?

How well do they run because some reviews say they don't.
 
ninja2000 said:
Yep, I did. It was a slide show :(

I had a 2013 i5 4/256 13". I have now returned it and bought a MBPr13 and it is still a slide show! I have tried lowest setting and 1024x768 and still unplayable in snow scenes
Click to expand...

Well at least I can learn from your experience. Sometimes it's as important to know what not to buy as it is to know what to buy.
 
davecom said:
Well at least I can learn from your experience. Sometimes it's as important to know what not to buy as it is to know what to buy.
Click to expand...

so true....I wish I hadn't pre-ordered COH2 at all, the original was better, it doesn't play well on all but high end systems and the balancing is terrible :(
 
Jyby said:
Does anyone have the Elder Scrolls Online beta? How does it run on the Macbook Air 11" 2013?
Click to expand...

Everyone in the ESO beta is bound by the NDA, which states you can't discuss the game publically, technically including the fact that you're in it in the first place.
 
Could i get buy with this

so if I bought a 2013 13 inch mba with the i5 and 4gb of ram could I get buy with some steam games on low for in-between classes?
 
verseafterverse said:
so if I bought a 2013 13 inch mba with the i5 and 4gb of ram could I get buy with some steam games on low for in-between classes?
Click to expand...

4GB is going to push it.

MBA still aren't good for gaming.

It runs ok but the fan starts kicking in and doesn't stop. It gets so loud and hot especially near the left keys (1234QWERASD).

I just bought Left 4 Dead 2 and the fan kicked in within 2 minutes. I had Team Fortress 2 and it doesn't kick in until about 7-10 minutes.

I was going to buy CS:GO and BioShock Infinite but I don't think those will fare much better.

Note: I'm using i5, 8GB, non-Bootcamp.

Game look good and usually have good frame rates but it gets really loud and hot.
 
irDigital0l said:
4GB is going to push it.

MBA still aren't good for gaming.

It runs ok but the fan starts kicking in and doesn't stop. It gets so loud and hot especially near the left keys (1234QWERASD).

I just bought Left 4 Dead 2 and the fan kicked in within 2 minutes. I had Team Fortress 2 and it doesn't kick in until about 7-10 minutes.

I was going to buy CS:GO and BioShock Infinite but I don't think those will fare much better.

Note: I'm using i5, 8GB, non-Bootcamp.

Game look good and usually have good frame rates but it gets really loud and hot.
Click to expand...
I ended up getting a early 2013 rmbp 8/256 thanks for info though :).
 
irDigital0l said:
4GB is going to push it.

MBA still aren't good for gaming.

It runs ok but the fan starts kicking in and doesn't stop. It gets so loud and hot especially near the left keys (1234QWERASD).

I just bought Left 4 Dead 2 and the fan kicked in within 2 minutes. I had Team Fortress 2 and it doesn't kick in until about 7-10 minutes.

I was going to buy CS:GO and BioShock Infinite but I don't think those will fare much better.

Note: I'm using i5, 8GB, non-Bootcamp.

Game look good and usually have good frame rates but it gets really loud and hot.
Click to expand...

I think that its normal for a computer to get loud and hot when gaming :)
 
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