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

Discussion in 'MacBook Air' started by Pewou, Jun 11, 2013.

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  1. Pewou, Jun 11, 2013

    Pewou macrumors newbie

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    Jun 11, 2013
    #1
    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 ?
     
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  2. mdapple, Jun 11, 2013

    mdapple macrumors regular

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    Jun 29, 2012
    #2
    you could probably run games on low settings fairly well. medium/high settings even the HD5000 will struggle compared to a dedicated card
     
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  3. Pewou, Jun 11, 2013

    Pewou thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #3
    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. :)
     
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  4. radiohead14, Jun 11, 2013

    radiohead14 macrumors 6502a

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    #4
    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.
     
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  5. blabliblu, Jun 11, 2013

    blabliblu macrumors member

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    #5
    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.
     
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  6. identity, Jun 11, 2013

    identity macrumors 6502

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    #6
    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.
     
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  7. Pewou, Jun 11, 2013

    Pewou thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jun 11, 2013
    #7
    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.

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

    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. :)
     
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