New 13" MacBook Air for 3D development and light gaming ?

[Pewou]

Hi guys !

I'm looking to buy a Macbook to replace my Asus laptop (i5 480M 2.4 GHz, 15.6" 1366*768, 5400 rpm HD, 4 GB DDR3 1066 SDRAM), and I was wondering if the new Macbook Air released yesterday during the WWDC would suits my needs ?

I'd using it for some 3D development (using Unity 3D engine), coding, light gaming (Dota 2, Team Fortress 2...) and the basic stuff.

I was planning to go with this specs :
- 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz)
- 8 GB RAM
- 256 GB Flash Storage

What do you think about it ?

 

[mdapple]

you could probably run games on low settings fairly well. medium/high settings even the HD5000 will struggle compared to a dedicated card

 

[Pewou]

I'm not planning to run very graphics intensive games on it, it would just be occasional. If I want gaming with high settings I still have my desktop PC for it.

 

[radiohead14]

my current MBA is the mid 2011 which has the HD3000.. i can run Skyrim on medium (with mods) and Dead Space 3 on low settings pretty smoothly. those games you mentioned i believe are less demanding, so you'll def be able to run them probably on medium settings easily.

 

[blabliblu]

Hi guys !

I'm looking to buy a Macbook to replace my Asus laptop (i5 480M 2.4 GHz, 15.6" 1366*768, 5400 rpm HD, 4 GB DDR3 1066 SDRAM), and I was wondering if the new Macbook Air released yesterday during the WWDC would suits my needs ?

I'd using it for some 3D development (using Unity 3D engine), coding, light gaming (Dota 2, Team Fortress 2...) and the basic stuff.

I was planning to go with this specs :
- 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz)
- 8 GB RAM
- 256 GB Flash Storage

What do you think about it ?

Never go with a Macbook for gaming except the rMBP 15" which is fairly expensive for what it is.

If you take any 13" Macbook Air or Retina you'll regret it.

 

[identity]

I have the 2012 base 13 MBA and it's fine in Unity3D which runs well on my 3-4 year old Samsung too. I recommend 8gb of ram as 4gb is not big enough and the more HD space, the better.

 

[Pewou]

my current MBA is the mid 2011 which has the HD3000.. i can run Skyrim on medium (with mods) and Dead Space 3 on low settings pretty smoothly. those games you mentioned i believe are less demanding, so you'll def be able to run them probably on medium settings easily.

That sounds really great !
I went on YouTube and watched some guys playing the games I mentioned and it was running very smoothly on their MBA, so I think I don't have to worry about that.

Never go with a Macbook for gaming except the rMBP 15" which is fairly expensive for what it is.

If you take any 13" Macbook Air or Retina you'll regret it.

As I said, it's more for occasional light gaming, and the few feedbacks I've had 'til now are good about it.

I have the 2012 base 13 MBA and it's fine in Unity3D which runs well on my 3-4 year old Samsung too. I recommend 8gb of ram as 4gb is not big enough and the more HD space, the better.

I'm glad to hear it. And yep I going to max up the ram !
Regarding the HD, I think I'll stay with the basic one at 256 GB and buy an external HD where I'll put all my media files, etc.

Any others feedbacks are welcomed.