New MacBook Air gaming capability is amazing

[DisplacedMic]

Did anybody try the following games:

- Guild Wars 2 (beta or beta weekends)
- WoW Mists of Pandaria (beta)
- Skyrim
- Shogun 2
- Starcraft 2

@native res or bare minimum hd resolution (minimum 720p vertical)? I have an external 21'' 1366x768 to use with.

I only play/will play these games (or old ones like TF2 or CS:S), not really a gamer just about 1h/day on average.

I'm torn between rMBP and maxed out Air 13''. Budget is not a problem (luckily), but portability is. The lighter/smaller, the better. I will use the laptop mainly for other non graphical tasks, I'm not buying it for those games, I just wondered if I could play them. But at the same time, if I can't play those games fluently, rMBP will do in weight/dimensions.

What's your experience?

starcraft 2 works great on my 11"
i have even gotten perfectly proficient using the trackpad 🙂

the fans will run and the bottom will get too warm to have it on bare skin, but otherwise you'll do fine at default settings.

 

[coldjeanzzz]

I just installed Batman Arkham Asylum. The game looks amazing, and its running smoothly. Gaming performance is a non issue with the new airs.

I got Batman Arkham City today and just played it for about an hour, very smooth. I put the settings on medium, but it probably could have handled high. My fans were going full speed for the entire time though, I guess it's normal but man I can't help but feel like I'm hurting my poor little MBA when I do that to it lol.

 

[eezacque]

OMFG,*you make me angry - you're so wrong, you can stress test it (which is far more demanding than just playing a 3d game) and it would still be fine - you can have it do that 24/7 - only if it shutdown (which would indicate it hit 100 degrees celsius I believe) would it be too hot, otherwise it would be just fine.

A complete stress test includes high temperatures on a regular basis, over a period of several years. Only if your MBA doesn't die, or if Apple replaces your logic board free of charge and hassle, am I convinced that an MBA can take the heat...

I have seen too many complaints about Apple laptops that fail beyond repair because the current compact design doesn't allow these to be repaired without swapping the complete logic board. I cannot prove it, but I'm afraid heat plays a role here.