OS X Starcraft 2 vs new Mac Mini 2014

[ratsg]

Starcraft 2 vs new Mac Mini 2014

I'm considering ordering one of the new 2014 Mac Mini's for home/personal use. Planned software use includes Adobe CS6 applications, several X11 based applications, either local or (graphics) exported from Unix/Solaris system(s).

Hardware wise, I was planning to purchase one of the higher end (if you can call it that) new Mini's, to include the 3.0 GHz i7 processor && 16 Gb of ram. Display wise, I'm planning to attach a couple of 27" generic displays either via DVI or HDMI interfaces, which I believe that I can achieve via misc adapters & cables.

I honestly don't believe that any of the above will be any problem, I'm just listing it all to be complete.

The real reason I'm posting in this section is I would like to be able to play Starcraft 2 on it.

I accept the new Mini for what it is, and I wouldn't be expecting to get the highest frame rates or the higest level of game detail. OTOH, I also know I wouldn't be happy with it if I was stuck with the lowest game detail level/resolution/etc and it was choppy at that.

And if this box isn't capable of doing what I want, would I be better off hunting down a high end/4 core version of the 2012 Mac Mini for Starcraft 2? Or is it really just going to take a Mac Pro? I know that SC2 was released in 2010, so I'm hoping that there is some way to play this game on OS X without footing for a 12 core system. I have absolutely no interest in loading up bootcamp+ms windows to play a game.

 

[ratsg]

I see a lot of people have looked at my question, and I thank everyone who has looked at it.

Possibly, it is too early to ask this question given the recent release/announcement of the 2014 Mac Mini's, and maybe 6 months down the line might be a more realistic timeline to be asking my question.

Thank you all for looking anyway.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I believe it should be playable on med-low setting.

This guy is playing it on a late-2013 MBP, which also has an Iris card in it, so it should be comparable. Notice how he says that it greatly improves performance, when he is not recording.

 

[Donoban]

Starcraft 2 vs new Mac Mini 2014

I'm considering ordering one of the new 2014 Mac Mini's for home/personal use. Planned software use includes Adobe CS6 applications, several X11 based applications, e...or a 12 core system. I have absolutely no interest in loading up bootcamp+ms windows to play a game.

It runs OK on my 2012 Mini so the 2014 will be no problems what so ever.

 

[ratsg]

I believe it should be playable on med-low setting.

This guy is playing it on a late-2013 MBP, which also has an Iris card in it, so it should be comparable. Notice how he says that it greatly improves performance, when he is not recording.

Hello, and thank you for the video link.

The author complains a lot about it being laggy, but its not clear, at least to me, if that is just because the recording process slows things down or if it is like that even without the recording.

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It runs OK on my 2012 Mini so the 2014 will be no problems what so ever.

Hello Donoban,

Thank you for your post.

What kind of detail level and resolution are you able to run SC2 at on your 2012 mini?

 

[Cakeove]

SC2 player here

Hi.

I play SC2 on Mac from WOL. here are some data

2010 Macbook PRO WOL on med settings.
2012 Imac CTO Core i7 ATI 6970 2GB RAM Resolution 1440P HOTS at full detail

Late 2013 MacbookPro Retina Core i5 Iris graphics Flash Storage. HOTS on med and some settings in low.

The big problem with MBP is the retina Display. Its so big that the Iris graphics can't handle the resolution of the game. Only play on low Settings.


I don't know if the Mini will be capable of handling 2 1080p monitors and play SC2 at the same time. Probably you should use only 1 monitor and play on low settings.

Because of that, I bought a mini gaming Barebone. Zotac EN-760 with a 256GB SSD 840 evo and 16 GB of ram.

Plays at full detail on 1080p. the last patched of SC2 make the game crash on windows 8.1 at full detail. if i play in high no problem at all.


I ended with a full desktop PC Core I7 3,9Ghz and Nvidia GTX-670 video card.

Tested with Windows 7 and 8.1 with both systems i can play a full detail 1080p with average 60~80 fps.

No problem at all.

GLHF!

 

[iMacFarlane]

I played through SC2 on a late 2009 iMac, so Core 2 Duo, ATI 4670 (I think) GPU, 3.06GHz CPU, 500MB video RAM.

I got about 25-40 FPS on medium details in 1080P.

Don't know exactly how much "better" Iris graphics are than that discrete 4000 series card from yesteryear, but I would imagine you could scare up 40s or 50s on high details, hopefully.

 

[ratsg]

Just going thru some old post and realized I never posted a summary on this thread.

I ended up purchasing a new mini. Maxed out on everything aside from SSD. Got the fastest CPU, 16 Gb memory. Bought everything aside from the SSD. Stuck with the Fusion drive as I wanted the space.

Just in summary, it plays SC2 just fine. Thank you again to everyone who provided input to me in this decision.