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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Notebook Hardware
Gaming - Macbook Air 11' mid-2013 vs Macbook Pro 13' Retina late-2013
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<blockquote data-quote="Algus" data-source="post: 1564387" data-attributes="member: 319021"><p>Integrated chips provide acceptable performance for gaming but you will have to cut somewhere - reduce settings, lower resolution, etc. I am happy gaming on my Mac Mini with an i5 and HD4000 but the settings I run on anything newer than 2008 or so are always dropped to low end. This is the price you will pay for trying to game without a dedicated graphics card.</p><p></p><p>Integrated chips "leech" system RAM to use as VRAM. Unfortunately, Apple BIOS does not allow you to dedicate how much system RAM will be pulled by the graphics chip, rather the number is based on the total RAM you have installed. You will get significantly improved performance by maxing the available RAM in your system as the chip will then be able to pull as much as it can for VRAM. This is 768 MB for the HD4000/5000 IIRC and the Iris chip can pull a full GB. </p><p></p><p>At 4GB system RAM, your HD5000 is not using a full GB of memory for VRAM. Probably only around 256 MB which is not much. My Mini for instance struggles to run Dawn of War II. The Air's i5 is probably also a deterrent if you are playing games that need to render a lot of things. I have issues in SWTOR because of this. </p><p></p><p>I wouldn't worry about waiting to buy a new MBP but like I said you will want to consider maxing RAM and Apple overcharges a bit for RAM so this will not be the most cost-efficient way to have a capable gaming device.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Algus, post: 1564387, member: 319021"] Integrated chips provide acceptable performance for gaming but you will have to cut somewhere - reduce settings, lower resolution, etc. I am happy gaming on my Mac Mini with an i5 and HD4000 but the settings I run on anything newer than 2008 or so are always dropped to low end. This is the price you will pay for trying to game without a dedicated graphics card. Integrated chips "leech" system RAM to use as VRAM. Unfortunately, Apple BIOS does not allow you to dedicate how much system RAM will be pulled by the graphics chip, rather the number is based on the total RAM you have installed. You will get significantly improved performance by maxing the available RAM in your system as the chip will then be able to pull as much as it can for VRAM. This is 768 MB for the HD4000/5000 IIRC and the Iris chip can pull a full GB. At 4GB system RAM, your HD5000 is not using a full GB of memory for VRAM. Probably only around 256 MB which is not much. My Mini for instance struggles to run Dawn of War II. The Air's i5 is probably also a deterrent if you are playing games that need to render a lot of things. I have issues in SWTOR because of this. I wouldn't worry about waiting to buy a new MBP but like I said you will want to consider maxing RAM and Apple overcharges a bit for RAM so this will not be the most cost-efficient way to have a capable gaming device. [/QUOTE]
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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Notebook Hardware
Gaming - Macbook Air 11' mid-2013 vs Macbook Pro 13' Retina late-2013
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