Pro 15" - Can it handle WOW

yjchua95 · Sep 5, 2014

Ainippe said:
Without drawing catcalls of derision i would like to ask a question that includes a bit of history:

Back in the early 2000's I had a mac desktop which I loved. However I fell in love with Gaming and moved away to generic PC's. I also travel a great deal so having an Alienware for 8 years has helped my addiction to WOW.This is finally on its last legs. Rather than cart another 11lb monster around with me I was wondering if a top spec MacPro 15" laptop would be able to cope comfortably with wow? Does anyone have experience in this area?

I love the simplicity and asthetics, plus of course the build quality of Apple and would love to return to the fold.

I have a late-2013 15" rMBP with GT 750M and it handles BF4 pretty well.

1680x1050, mix of high and ultra, FXAA and 16xAF, and it gets 47-50 fps on average, with the lowest being 35 and easily shooting past 60 fps in quite a number of situations. So I'd say it's somewhat decent.

maflynn · Sep 5, 2014

Based on what other's post in various other threads, I'd say the top end machine is capable.

eezacque · Sep 5, 2014

Be aware that the high-end MBP don't dissipate their heat effectively, which means they will run hot under stress, which affects the longevity of its solderings and components. Because nowadays, everything is soldered/glued onto the logic board, this means your machine cannot be repaired, so it is economically dead after applecare has expired.

JPIndustrie · Sep 5, 2014

Ainippe said:
MMMM one wonders why they put high end graphics cards and processors in there, surely if after the AppleCare runs out you effectively throw it in the bin applies to any macbook?

Not unlike any other PC manufacturer...

I wouldn't let other people's talk about heat dissipation scare you. It comes down to one thing, do you absolutely need/want mac OS X in your life? There are some compromises to be had but I have full confidence in Apple when it comes to their notebook design.

I personally have had 2 portable macs die on me due to gfx cards but it is only after a reasonable amt of ownership time has passed (5-7 years) and I'm already at the point of upgrading.

Personally though i will probably go with the integrated gfx model this time - the most I play is iRacing and that is optimized for intel/HD graphics.

Giev · Sep 5, 2014

I do have a high end mid-2014 15" rMBP, but I ordered it this spec becase of my other requirements, and not gaming.

I do play games incuding WoW, and we used to raid 25 men (heavy load).

The high end model can handle WoW, but it gets very hot. The thing is my 4-5 year old gaming PC still beats the rMBP by FAAAAARRR. If you dont need to do gaming on the move, and play mostly from home (my case) just get the base model for your portable computing needs and get a gaming Rig. A 13' rMBP +Gaming Rig would probably cost less than a rMBP, and have much better longetivity/performance. (a PC that with similar gmaing performance of a 750 doesnt cost much).

Edit: Any MBP can handle simple daily wow activities, AH, daily Quess etc ...

UBS28 · Sep 5, 2014

Wow runs fine with the 750m.

I play it at 1920 x 1200 at high with 8xAA and fps stays above 60fps generally.

You can play it at retina resolution or on ultra but i prefer smooth gameplay.

Under Windows performance might be bettrr.

JPIndustrie · Sep 5, 2014

Ainippe said:
I understand macs are probably not the greatest gaming machines but then they are designed for business / college users. Is the latest OS that difficult to use or bad enough to warrant not considering buying a mac? My main priority is something light that I can travel with and use as a gaming machine when the urge hits me. I love facetime and the options that can be had from itunes etc. I already own an iphone and an Ipad.

It's not the OS that's the problem my friend, it's that pretty .71 of an inch tall enclosure that's the issue

What does 'light' mean to you? Some gamers consider a 5+ lb 14" or 15" screen, 2 inch tall enclosure gaming laptops 'light'.

If you're like me, I would consider something like a retina macbook the limit - if so the computer is already fast enough to handle I would say 'last gen' game, if WOW falls under that. If I was playing BF4, Destiny, Titanfall or any other new 'PS4/XOne' class games I'd consider something else.

----------

UBS28 said:
.

Under Windows performance might be bettrr.

This.

I learned this is the key.

I'm ok with spending $70-99 on a Windows license for gaming, granted I can also run Mac OS X on the same hardware (without hacking!).

Freyqq · Sep 5, 2014

Either the Iris Pro or the 750M would run it just fine at 1920x1200 on high, I think.

Uggbits · Sep 5, 2014

My experience with the 2012 15" rmbp (quite close to the newest offerings in gaming, even for wow despite the cpu intensive nature of the program) is that it can play WoW at a high framerate on a wide range of graphics (high at 1920x1200 might have been one of them) but even on fair at 1440x800 it can stutter like crazy when turning in a place like the Shrine. Input also feels delayed relative to my desktop, which is only moderately more powerful than my rmbp on paper.

As someone noted, if you care about gaming, get a tower and a 13"rmbp. The thermal overhead and raw performance parts you gain by increasing the workable volume that much allows dramatically better performance gains. The 13" is portable, and still powerful enough to run WoW if you were away from home/on the go.

To put my situation, and the performance difference I feel into perspective, my tower (3770k, single 460gtx) has been having some issues lately, I'm assuming from an old component, likely my videocard. It can shutdown randomly. Despite that, I play 98% of my time on it running the risk because it is flat better than my much newer, and similarly powerful laptop. Every time I run my laptop I want my tower. Despite the old technology in my tower I haven't even plugged in the second 460 for an sli in the past month because it doesn't need more. On paper the gtx 460 and the gt650 in the rmbp are close. In my experience, outside of benchmarks they aren't.

ayeying · Sep 5, 2014

eezacque said:
Be aware that the high-end MBP don't dissipate their heat effectively, which means they will run hot under stress, which affects the longevity of its solderings and components. Because nowadays, everything is soldered/glued onto the logic board, this means your machine cannot be repaired, so it is economically dead after applecare has expired.

The MBP dissipate heat with the same efficiency or better then other laptops. As basic chemistry and physics show, aluminum or metal, absorbs heat better then plastic. Which is why the laptop feels HOTTER then a Dell. But because the laptop feels hotter doesn't mean its less efficient to get rid of heat. In fact, it's drawing heat away from the source more then a plastic enclosure.

exodiusprime · Sep 5, 2014

I play WoW on "Good" settings with a base model 13" 2014 rMBP and see 30-40 fps in raids, and higher when I'm not in a city (40-60fps).

eezacque · Sep 5, 2014

ayeying said:
The MBP dissipate heat with the same efficiency or better then other laptops. As basic chemistry and physics show, aluminum or metal, absorbs heat better then plastic. Which is why the laptop feels HOTTER then a Dell. But because the laptop feels hotter doesn't mean its less efficient to get rid of heat. In fact, it's drawing heat away from the source more then a plastic enclosure.

Heat is best dissipated through proper ventilation, instead of a fancy aluminium body. This is why serious hardware is equipped with fans, a lot of them, and a well-designed route which lets in a lot of cool air and gets rid of hot air. This is where Apple's high-end laptops fail.

ayeying · Sep 5, 2014

eezacque said:
Heat is best dissipated through proper ventilation, instead of a fancy aluminium body. This is why serious hardware is equipped with fans, a lot of them, and a well-designed route which lets in a lot of cool air and gets rid of hot air. This is where Apple's high-end laptops fail.

However, regardless if the laptop is Apple or Dell or HP, their heatsinks sit on the enclosure of the system. Therefore, plastic does not absorb heat like metal does. This is where an aluminum body helps a lot. The entire bottom part of the laptop becomes one big heatsink. Now you can remove the heat via the fans inside the laptop and the ambient air.

In a plastic enclosure, all the heat is trapped within that little heatsink. If, for whatever reason, the CPU/GPU produces more heat then what the heatsink can handle, then the system will fry.

If you looked at the back of the MBP, the entire area is one big vent. Only the two corners (for the 15") are the exhaust. The middle acts like a large intake. Not to mention for the retina models, there's side vents now too that draws air over the system board. On PCs I've owned before, they depend on little vent openings throughout the laptop or bottom for a type of intake.

I run my system hot all the time (for days at times too without rest and sometimes even on my bed) and I have yet to have any issues hardware wise. Remember, there's a lot more users in the world then there are forum members. Somehow, we think that one person or group who posts a failure of their system means a majority when really they're a very small minority.

Lachhh · Sep 5, 2014

As someone who's played WoW for 6 years across a wide variety of machines (old apple macbook pros to high-end PC towers) I can't really recommend the experience on a mac laptop of any description. (That being said I played WoW obsessively on an old blackbook and even though the keyboard was starting to burn my fingers, it kinda-sorta did the job on low-med settings without stuttering.)

It will run hot, and it will start burning your fingers. The temperature will be high and even though I've never experienced a thermal shutdown on any one of my machines, it does come too close for comfort a lot of the time. (Often operating at only a few degrees below the temperature at which thermal shutdown is supposed to occur according to vendor specifications)

td;lr: It's doable, but sub-optimal.

christarp · Sep 5, 2014

I run it just fine on my 13" as long as you're not looking to max out settings.

Ruoh · Sep 5, 2014

The Iris Pro runs it perfectly fine. Personally, I chose the "lessor" GPU due to not wanting to deal with throttling issues due to heat.

blooperz · Sep 6, 2014

Ruoh said:
The Iris Pro runs it perfectly fine. Personally, I chose the "lessor" GPU due to not wanting to deal with throttling issues due to heat.

The Iris pro model will still get just as hot under stress...and system throttling will still occur under those situations. Heat is heat is heat =p. That being said...WoW can run on most computers these days its a pretty old game..sounds like you need a macbook air..great portabiliy, great battery..and can handle light gaming when you get the urge.

Anitramane · Sep 6, 2014

ayeying said:
The MBP dissipate heat with the same efficiency or better then other laptops. As basic chemistry and physics show, aluminum or metal, absorbs heat better then plastic. Which is why the laptop feels HOTTER then a Dell. But because the laptop feels hotter doesn't mean its less efficient to get rid of heat. In fact, it's drawing heat away from the source more then a plastic enclosure.

If it feels hotter does it burn my legs better?

dylin · Sep 6, 2014

Hello,

Just giving some more info, I have a mid 2012 13" macbook pro, and i play WoW. The intel HD 4000 is capable of playing at the "Fair" quality preset with a resolution of 1280 by 800, at about 30FPS on average with it hitting up to around 45FPS. As far as heat goes, the CPU and heatsink reach about 60 degrees C.

To battle this, i just set the settings to low, with the exception of view distance and i placed that on high. then i also decided to cap the FPS to 24FPS so the CPU doesn't have to do so much work, and temps don't go above 50 degrees C while playing in raids.

Im sure you can have an enjoyable experience if you set the quality settings to the "Good" preset, with a resolution of 1440 by 900 (The resolution of the non retina 15 inch). and capping the FPS to 30 for smooth play. your Temps shouldn't go too high maybe even stay below 55 degrees C.

Hope this may help with your gaming in wow

cosmicjoke · Sep 6, 2014

Uggbits said:
My experience with the 2012 15" rmbp (quite close to the newest offerings in gaming, even for wow despite the cpu intensive nature of the program) is that it can play WoW at a high framerate on a wide range of graphics (high at 1920x1200 might have been one of them) but even on fair at 1440x800 it can stutter like crazy when turning in a place like the Shrine. Input also feels delayed relative to my desktop, which is only moderately more powerful than my rmbp on paper.

As someone noted, if you care about gaming, get a tower and a 13"rmbp. The thermal overhead and raw performance parts you gain by increasing the workable volume that much allows dramatically better performance gains. The 13" is portable, and still powerful enough to run WoW if you were away from home/on the go.

To put my situation, and the performance difference I feel into perspective, my tower (3770k, single 460gtx) has been having some issues lately, I'm assuming from an old component, likely my videocard. It can shutdown randomly. Despite that, I play 98% of my time on it running the risk because it is flat better than my much newer, and similarly powerful laptop. Every time I run my laptop I want my tower. Despite the old technology in my tower I haven't even plugged in the second 460 for an sli in the past month because it doesn't need more. On paper the gtx 460 and the gt650 in the rmbp are close. In my experience, outside of benchmarks they aren't.

I'd suspect it was PSU related, but also worth keeping an eye on your thermals w/ real temp and gpuz (or something like evga precision) you may just need to clean out dust caked in fans, reapply some thermal paste...

My retina macbook pro 15" is hard freezing of late, have taken it in for 3 repairs and they've had my macbook for a totality of three weeks... I wish it was like a PC, I have so many old parts I could swap out that I could easily determine what was going wrong lol, it is driving me insane leaving it to them.... probably gonna buy a new one in two weeks, let them work on it for as long as it takes to make sure it's absolutely fixed, and sell it.. One thing that I do not like w/ the rMBP (mine is 2.7ghz gtx 650m) is that the keyboard gets real hot on mine around the WASD keys (helps to cap the frame rate, lower the gpu settings a bit).... it's more enjoyable docked to a display w/ an external keyboard mouse imho.

yjchua95 · Sep 6, 2014

Ruoh said:
The Iris Pro runs it perfectly fine. Personally, I chose the "lessor" GPU due to not wanting to deal with throttling issues due to heat.

The model with iGPU actually reaches throttling point faster than the 750M variant, since all tasks are done on a single chip.

On models with the 750M, tasks are spread across two chips, which gives better heat dissipation.

In Macoh stress tests, the Iris Pro model throttle fairly quickly into the test, while the model with the 750M did not throttle at all.

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