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rMB 12"... How bad is the GPU?

danielwerner

danielwerner

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
153
0
Stockholm, Sweden
I know we don't know the exact benchmarks yet, but people seem to think the GPU almost won't handle the retina resolution. And will be really slow when using scaled mode (although Apple says it will do up to 1440x900).

So... How bad is it? Won't I even be able to play a 2D game from app store? Like a TD or so?

Will it play streamed 1080p flawlessly?

People are scaring me when they're suggesting the rMB's GPU is lowest of the low.
 
danielwerner said:
I know we don't know the exact benchmarks yet, but people seem to think the GPU almost won't handle the retina resolution. And will be really slow when using scaled mode (although Apple says it will do up to 1440x900).

So... How bad is it? Won't I even be able to play a 2D game from app store? Like a TD or so?

Will it play streamed 1080p flawlessly?

People are scaring me when they're suggesting the rMB's GPU is lowest of the low.
Click to expand...

It's not made for gaming, that's for sure.
 
danielwerner said:
Yeah, I'm not gonna try playing Starcraft 2 on it. But I mean... Won't it even play old (or old style) 2D-games without anti-aliasing etc?
Click to expand...

I would think it should be able to handle old style games. It depends on how much is GPU power is required for the retina display. Will there be any GPU power left?
 
danielwerner said:
Yeah, I'm not gonna try playing Starcraft 2 on it. But I mean... Won't it even play old (or old style) 2D-games without anti-aliasing etc?
Click to expand...

It'll probably handle Starcraft 2 on low settings reasonably well actually. Older games will be alright, but don't expect spectacular performance. I might try RCT3 for fun, but I certainly won't be using my rMB for any real gaming.
 
I think given the 800mhz version can run basic games gives us some hope.
 
Most older games or less intensive games will be fine on medium settings.
Company of Heroes, Bioshock, Portal, Prison Architect, CIV etc..

It's really not as tragic as it's been made out to be.
 
When similar 5 watt broadwell cpu's have been tested in PC laptops, the 5 watt TDP power limit seems to hit the GPU the hardest when compared to it's 15 watt peers seen in the MBA's. The only way the rMB would've had better GPU performance would've been for Apple to make it slightly thicker, add a fan, and put in the same broadwell cpu's with 3x the power budget as the 2015 MBA's. I think for regular browsing and 'burst use' it'll be ok, but for gaming with modern titles? You're going to have to put all the detail settings at minimum and you're still going to have issues keeping just 30 fps (and in many cases it won't even get there). Either that or run 3-4+ year old games.

TidyWorks said:
Most older games or less intensive games will be fine on medium settings.
Company of Heroes, Bioshock, Portal, Prison Architect, CIV etc..

It's really not as tragic as it's been made out to be.
Click to expand...

I wish company of heroes would run fine, but considering the much higher powered 15 watt version of Broadwell can't even get to 30fps on the lowest settings, I'm not convinced the 5 watt version will be much better....
 

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magbarn said:
When similar 5 watt broadwell cpu's have been tested in PC laptops, the 5 watt TDP power limit seems to hit the GPU the hardest when compared to it's 15 watt peers seen in the MBA's. The only way the rMB would've had better GPU performance would've been for Apple to make it slightly thicker, add a fan, and put in the same broadwell cpu's with 3x the power budget as the 2015 MBA's. I think for regular browsing and 'burst use' it'll be ok, but for gaming with modern titles? You're going to have to put all the detail settings at minimum and you're still going to have issues keeping just 30 fps (and in many cases it won't even get there). Either that or run 3-4+ year old games.



I wish company of heroes would run fine, but considering the much higher powered 15 watt version of Broadwell can't even get to 30fps on the lowest settings, I'm not convinced the 5 watt version will be much better....
Click to expand...

Company of Heroes 2 is a whole different story, but the first will be fine.
 
danielwerner said:
I know we don't know the exact benchmarks yet, but people seem to think the GPU almost won't handle the retina resolution. And will be really slow when using scaled mode (although Apple says it will do up to 1440x900).

So... How bad is it? Won't I even be able to play a 2D game from app store? Like a TD or so?

Will it play streamed 1080p flawlessly?

People are scaring me when they're suggesting the rMB's GPU is lowest of the low.
Click to expand...

There is a lot that won't be known until we see reviews and get our hands on it... I know that is not an answer, but it's the truth. :eek:
 
It'll be fine

danielwerner said:
I know we don't know the exact benchmarks yet, but people seem to think the GPU almost won't handle the retina resolution. And will be really slow when using scaled mode (although Apple says it will do up to 1440x900).

So... How bad is it? Won't I even be able to play a 2D game from app store? Like a TD or so?

Will it play streamed 1080p flawlessly?

People are scaring me when they're suggesting the rMB's GPU is lowest of the low.
Click to expand...



for 1080p video a bit of video editing, photos etc.

It won't be much cop for gaming but will probably run the older stuff at low resolutions and settings ok. On the windows stuff with these processors and no fan they throttle down fairly quickly due to heat on the GPU.

If you want to game on a laptop in any sort of serious way for any serious amount of time buy a gaming laptop and accept that it will be a bit fat, hot, heavy and loud.

For casual gaming and good performance a 13 inch rMBP will be much better than this rMB. In essence it is not designed for gaming and it won't game very well.

You'd be better off with an Ipad air 2 and the IOS optimised games for a gaming experience....
 
newellj said:
There is a lot that won't be known until we see reviews and get our hands on it... I know that is not an answer, but it's the truth. :eek:
Click to expand...

Well, we can take existing Core M-powered notebooks as a good indication; while the rMB may not yield the exact same numbers, they're bound to be within the same general realm.

Caveat: the GPU is the same, but it may not try to push as many pixels, and thus performance is not the same; for instance, the Yoga 3 Pro has a 3200x1800 screen, that's a good deal more than what the rMB's Core M GPU will be trying to deal with.
 
crsh1976 said:
Well, we can take existing Core M-powered notebooks as a good indication; while the rMB may not yield the exact same numbers, they're bound to be within the same general realm.

Caveat: the GPU is the same, but it may not try to push as many pixels, and thus performance is not the same; for instance, the Yoga 3 Pro has a 3200x1800 screen, that's a good deal more than what the rMB's Core M GPU will be trying to deal with.
Click to expand...

Excellent points - thank you. I was playing around with the Heaven benchmark software last weekend on some MBAs and my rMBP. The display settings on the rMBP (obviously) made a HUGE difference in the results, both quantitatively and subjectively. In other words, you could definitely see the difference even without checking numbers.
 
Nee412 said:
It'll probably handle Starcraft 2 on low settings reasonably well actually. Older games will be alright, but don't expect spectacular performance. I might try RCT3 for fun, but I certainly won't be using my rMB for any real gaming.
Click to expand...

I can run StarCraft on my 2010 MacBook Air. I am willing to bet it will run on the upcoming rMB.
 
Just did a quick search and found this Intel site showing

Intel® HD Graphics 5300 for Intel® Core™ M Processors
Playable Games List for Intel® HD Graphics 5300

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/hdgraphics-corem/sb/CS-035025.htm

note from site: Configuration: Intel tested these games on a computer with Intel® Core™ M 5Y71 processor featuring Intel® Iris™ HD Graphics 5300, 4GB of system memory Microsoft Windows 8.1* with the power policy set to balanced mode.
 
tom vilsack said:
Just did a quick search and found this Intel site showing

Intel® HD Graphics 5300 for Intel® Core™ M Processors
Playable Games List for Intel® HD Graphics 5300

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/hdgraphics-corem/sb/CS-035025.htm

note from site: Configuration: Intel tested these games on a computer with Intel® Core™ M 5Y71 processor featuring Intel® Iris™ HD Graphics 5300, 4GB of system memory Microsoft Windows 8.1* with the power policy set to balanced mode.
Click to expand...

The trouble with this list is that it merely says the games will run, there's not even some general indication of frame rates for whatever screen resolution with whatever quality settings used - just that those games effectively will run in some capacity.
 
danielwerner said:
I know we don't know the exact benchmarks yet, but people seem to think the GPU almost won't handle the retina resolution. And will be really slow when using scaled mode (although Apple says it will do up to 1440x900).

So... How bad is it? Won't I even be able to play a 2D game from app store? Like a TD or so?

Will it play streamed 1080p flawlessly?

People are scaring me when they're suggesting the rMB's GPU is lowest of the low.
Click to expand...

Here is a game test on the same core M cpu and 5300 GPU.

http://youtu.be/Bj3TIIRc03o

I think the performace is very well on such a lightly notebook.
 
1440x900 just won't do for me. I plan to scale past that even if I have to use 3rd party software. That is, if the GPU can handle it.
 
Mentioning gaming and the rMB together is pointless. People on this forum love to complain about a product and the complaints usually refer to things the product wasn't even made to do. Pointing out that the rMB will struggle with gaming is like pointing out that an SUV will struggle with track use compared to a car that is designed for that use. Matter of fact, you sound totally lost if you're buying any Mac for gaming. If you want to game, buy a PC. The rMB was made for web browsing, checking emails, watching videos, listening to music, and other various tasks that would be similar. The rMBP was made for all those reasons + for those who do professional photography/graphic design. Gaming with a higher end Mac is obviously possible, but it's probably reason 50 why you would want to buy one.
 
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