Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacBook Pro 2018 gaming?
- Thread starter ginofresh
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I recommend Razer Core X and get whatever GPU you can afford.
I believe the BlackMagic option is a waste of money as you can’t upgrade the GPU later. Razer Core X supports old, current and future GPUs. Both Nvidia and AMD.
I haven’t tested Razer Core X myself though but reviews on YouTube are good so far.
you cant with other eGPU....i am talking here about that the eGPU it POWERS the 5k monitor....not your mac
correct, no egpu can power a built in mac display. However, any should be able to power a 5k display
[doublepost=1531677082][/doublepost]
I agree about the other egpus to get that you can upgrade later.
I would recommend the mantiz enclosure over the core x. It is what I am using and it has 5 usb 3 ports, an ethernet port, and a data connection in the enclosure while also suppling 87W over the TB3 for laptop charging.
I didn't say I was playing it in macOS, it is not even available in macOS. I have Windows installed on my 2016 MacBook Pro too. And there is your proof that optimization is the key here. If the same game performs better in Windows using the same hardware, it is optimization issue not a hardware issue.
I love the overreaction that some gamers have when they cannot have games at Ultra settings at 4K resolution. So just because I cannot max out the settings you think it looks like a 16-bit SNES game? Okay......
The problem is actually not the graphics card performance but the Mac ports, they are terrible.
Example:
Shadow Tactics Blade of the Shogun running at 2K resolution with a base model iMac Pro
in Mac, can't even load the first mission, it crashes every single time
in Windows, completed the whole game at 60 FPS without a single issue
It's kind of the same trap as it was with Windows mobile: there are very few apps => no one wants to develop them => the ones that get developed are low priority and run terribly => there are very few apps that no one wants to develop
For gaming on the Macs, Apple should step up and get some "exclusives" optimized for AMD like PS4 does. So far there is nothing to showcase.
Example:
Shadow Tactics Blade of the Shogun running at 2K resolution with a base model iMac Pro
in Mac, can't even load the first mission, it crashes every single time
in Windows, completed the whole game at 60 FPS without a single issue
It's kind of the same trap as it was with Windows mobile: there are very few apps => no one wants to develop them => the ones that get developed are low priority and run terribly => there are very few apps that no one wants to develop
For gaming on the Macs, Apple should step up and get some "exclusives" optimized for AMD like PS4 does. So far there is nothing to showcase.
Yep. We can all agree that you won't get as good of performance as if you had a GTX 1080Ti. But these systems are more than capable of playing games. Some ports are horrible and require Windows. Not Apple's fault developers are too lazy to optimize for macOS. I have some games in Windows with my GTX 1080 that struggle to even reach 60fps at 1080p resolution because it was a horrible port from consoles.
Well to be fair it is actually Apple's fault, they have never tried to attract the gaming audience in at least the last 10 years. So there's no reason for devs to port to Mac - even unity games have Mac ports as third or fourth priority in development, there's just not a sufficient player base for that.
They are not building systems primarily for gaming. Is it Microsoft's fault if a developer makes a lazy PS4 port to Windows that performs horribly?
I have a 2015 Macbook Pro 15" with Thunderbolt 2.0, Intel Iris Pro, dGPU AMD Radeon R9 M370X and just by plugging an external 4K monitor, makes the dGPU really hot causing my fan to go nuts.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-2015-15-pro-connected-to-dell-u2718q-fan-nuts.2125626/
I also tested a Macbook 13" 2016 with only a Intel Iris Graphs 540, no dGPU and it runs cooler when connected to a 4K monitor.
Not much of a PC gamer, but playing something like Terraria/Starbound full screen without an external monitor on the 2015 Macbook Pro 15" makes it flaming hot. They're not even that graphic intensive.
Does it make sense to buy an eGPU for the 2015 Macbook Pro 15" with a TB 3.0 > TB2.0 converter just so the Macbook can stay quiet even when just browsing the web? I'm trying to solve the loud fan and heat problem.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-2015-15-pro-connected-to-dell-u2718q-fan-nuts.2125626/
I also tested a Macbook 13" 2016 with only a Intel Iris Graphs 540, no dGPU and it runs cooler when connected to a 4K monitor.
Not much of a PC gamer, but playing something like Terraria/Starbound full screen without an external monitor on the 2015 Macbook Pro 15" makes it flaming hot. They're not even that graphic intensive.
Does it make sense to buy an eGPU for the 2015 Macbook Pro 15" with a TB 3.0 > TB2.0 converter just so the Macbook can stay quiet even when just browsing the web? I'm trying to solve the loud fan and heat problem.
I say this because this is my experience on Macos, but if i run it on Windows I might get better results with reasonable heat pressure on my laptop's internals as you seem to imply
Yep. It all comes down to optimization optimization optimization. A lazy port taxes the hardware more and results in needing either playing at lower settings, or getting a GTX 1080Ti to even play at 1080p at 60 fps.
I was so thrilled when I read that GTA 5 was being delayed for optimization. And it shows how much they spent on it. Both that game and Doom 2016 perform perfectly.
It sucks that games do not perform as well on macOS. The gaming business prioritizes getting a game out quicker than spending time to optimize. The only thing Apple can do is to create a framework that makes developing games easier.
I have a 2012 retina MBP and 2014 retina iMac...Both have bootcamp (Windows 10) for gaming. The iMac also has Windows XP set up in a virtual machine for playing older games. Yes, you have to turn down settings. Admittedly, I'm not playing the newest games and the newer ones I do play, are usually at low settings...on the other hand, my computers are super old. I do make sure to max out RAM and get models with discrete GPUs. I play games like Civ VI in Mac OS, but honestly, most of the time I'd prefer to game in Windows (on my Macs).
If you are a gamer you figure out how to play games on what you have at your disposal. If you have a new custom built desktop, that's awesome. If you have a crappy old Palm Pilot you found you in the trash, you hack that thing and put an NES emulator on it, just because you can.
Edit:
I did buy an Akitio Node a while back in preparation for my next laptop which will have Thunderbolt 3...I just don't know if it will be a Mac at this point...MBP is a little blah these days.
If you are a gamer you figure out how to play games on what you have at your disposal. If you have a new custom built desktop, that's awesome. If you have a crappy old Palm Pilot you found you in the trash, you hack that thing and put an NES emulator on it, just because you can.
Edit:
I did buy an Akitio Node a while back in preparation for my next laptop which will have Thunderbolt 3...I just don't know if it will be a Mac at this point...MBP is a little blah these days.
Yep. Not all gamers need 4K at 60 fps for games to be playable. Looks come secondary to me as someone who enjoys Terraria and Ori and the Blind Forest and many other 2D games. Metal Gear Solid 1 is still a million times better than Metal Gear Solid 5 even though 1 looks horrible now. The stories, characters, how the game feels makes up for lower quality graphics.
Zelda Breath of the Wild is in my top 10 games of all time list. And it was only at 900p I believe. You spend a good few minutes enjoying the graphics or complaining about it, then you barely notice it the rest of the time.
Due to the (almost universally) [poop emoji] ports for mac it's worth spending the extra money for a Windows 10 License and running it through bootcamp. Unless you don't have enough disk space for both.
Just to give you an idea I get ~28 FPS in the Civilization VI Mac Version benchmark on the new i9 MBP on absolute minimum settings and 2560x1600 resolution (external monitor). But the stuttering makes the experience way worse than an "playable" FPS number like that implies. Serviceable, not fun, would need to play in strategic mode.
FWIW my 2014 i7 MBP could _barely_ play Civilization V (that's the 2010 game).
Just to give you an idea I get ~28 FPS in the Civilization VI Mac Version benchmark on the new i9 MBP on absolute minimum settings and 2560x1600 resolution (external monitor). But the stuttering makes the experience way worse than an "playable" FPS number like that implies. Serviceable, not fun, would need to play in strategic mode.
FWIW my 2014 i7 MBP could _barely_ play Civilization V (that's the 2010 game).
Metal is great and all but most devs aren't going to bother. Why should they when 99.99% of the gamers who want to game has a windows device or a console. Not every dev will take the work to utilize Metal specially since Apple is forcing them to instead of using Open GL.
I'm pretty surprised regarding the performance of the i9 model...I play on a 2014 iMac and turn off a lot of the animations...it's generally the AI demands that bugs me...late game it takes a long time between turns. I figured the new MBPs would be much more tolerable. But, yeah, I'd prefer to run stuff via Bootcamp...
The difference in performance from the 2017 15" 560 to 2018 15" 560X isn't that big, you get 5-10 fps more out if a cinebench OpenGL test.
Not many devs program their own graphical engine, they use a middleware solution — and the most popular ones already support Metal.
And yet there is no games on macOS. Not of any significance anyways. Actually a whole article about this issue when Apple announced they are forcing devs to use metal instead of open GL.
As far as middle wear engines not sure that’s true.
EA uses their own Frostbite engine for which no game is running on macOS I believe. EA does have games though Bentham like the sims.
Ubisoft has their own
Activision has themes and a lot of their games are not computable with macOS. Only games that come to mind is WoW and Diablo 3. Could be more
Square does have a few games like Tomb raider running on macOS
The only major graphics engine out there that supports it is Unreal engine.
Other smaller devs who uses other middle wear engines perhaps or just using older engines might support it
Well the whole line-up from Blizzard except overwatch runs on MacOS, and blizzard is actively keeping old games compatible (although not always fast) while still developing current game. As of now WoW and Starcraft 2 supports metal, Heroes of the Storm had a metal beta but it was pulled due to some technical issues in game (performance was reportedly much better, but some interactions did not work as intended).
I am not often interested on AAA titles, so I am happy that a good portion of indie games also develop for usage on Mac.
As I said wasn’t sure with Activision games. Knew most of blizzards lineup is there. Idc about indie games really and only care for AAA.
Not true. A lot of modern, critically acclaimed games are available for Mac. Maybe its not games you play, but these days its a rare for me to find a game on Steam that I like that doesn't have a Mac version.
And sure, don't expect AAA shooters on Mac anytime soon. Doesn't have anything to do with the API, the GPUs are simply not up to the task. Mac does have Fortnite though.
Unity, Unreal Engine are two huge ones
Ah yes, big-money publishers with their generic popular games. Don't worry, those guys would't be bringing games to Mac in any case. Not enough revenue to interest them. Not to mention that they also earn money through promotions, so they are interested in you playing their games on a shiny gaming PC.