Anyone play RTS games on their mac?

Andr3w

Andr3w

Andr3w

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
20,272
Location
England
Hi all, I have a 2010 13"MBP with the nVidia chip and the core 2 duo!

As I travel away a lot I was thinking about getting myself a strategy game or 2 to play on my Mac.

I always loved playing the old classics like Age of empires/command and conquer etc. I was thinking maybe civilisation V?

Do you guys play any, if so what do you suggest?? If I got one I would download it from the 'direct to drive'. Any problems with that?!

Finally, I have game on this mac before (tried WoW for a week or so) and the temp on my Mac was getting to around 85oc ....is this still a safe temperature? It gets me worried :o
 
I've played portal before. Might get that as well.

I'm swayed between Civ V and Rome:Total War

(Thats if I ever get bloody steam to update!! Keeps failing)
 
I've played portal before. Might get that as well.

I'm swayed between Civ V and Rome:Total War

(Thats if I ever get bloody steam to update!! Keeps failing)
 
I've been playing Starcraft 2 on my Macbook (late 2008) for 6 months or so now. Runs perfectly well on low graphics at native screen resolution :)
 
StarCraft 2
Sins of a Solar Empire
Supreme Commander
Company of Heroes
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

All should run relatively well.
 
Deku said:
I'm not into RTS games but am partial to a bit of Portal.

100'c+ is when you need to worry for macs.
Click to expand...

Intel and AMD have thermal management built into their CPUs. And 100c is not the thermal limit of Intel Core 2 mobile. The maximum thermal junction is 85c. That means ramping down the clock speed happens at much lower temperatures, 80c is where it peaks (the equivalent to holding your car on the redline) and 85c is when the computer will shut off (the equivalent of your engine exploding from constant redlining).

The thermal specifications for Core 2 is much lower than 80c. Dependent on chip it's as low as 60c. Running your CPU at temps above thermal specifications for long periods of time (while not hitting the redline) will shorten the lifespan of your chip.

This is why I don't get people who buy ordinary laptops to game on. The cooling systems in place (and GPUs) aren't made for that kind of work. Same with compiling / rendering, doing anything that maxes CPU or GPU for extended periods of time. Sure, you can do the actual work on the laptop. But when it comes time to actually render/compile, it's better to offload it to something with a better cooling system (and more powerful CPU/GPU). Particularly if it's anything that's going to take an extended period of time.
 
Last edited:
Surely that makes MacBook pros useless and a bit like a Vauxhall Nova with a V8 engine that can only go fast between traffic lights and then stop or you risk damaging it?

Seems a bit pointless putting in a fast CPU if the cooling can't take it and you are therefore limited to how hard you can use it?!
 
Totality said:
Surely that makes MacBook pros useless and a bit like a Vauxhall Nova with a V8 engine that can only go fast between traffic lights and then stop or you risk damaging it?

Seems a bit pointless putting in a fast CPU if the cooling can't take it and you are therefore limited to how hard you can use it?!
Click to expand...

Laptops are not a desktop replacement. Unless they're built to be. Like the plethora of gaming specific laptops you can buy with better CPUs/GPUs and cooling systems to match. Which MBPs ain't regardless of what owners (and I am one, C2D Nvidia 320m, probably the same as Andr3w's) believe.

The MBPs are fine for what they are. But they're not a replacement for an iMac or Mac Pro. Especially if you're doing any work that maxes the CPU and GPU for extended periods of time. Sure, they'll work. But their lifespan will be seriously affected. But considering the majority of Mac owners upgrade fairly regularly, they'll never notice. Sure, you can game on them, but don't be surprised when they're hitting their thermal limits, the fans are kicking into overdrive and/or they shut themselves off. Same when compiling code or rendering video footage. They're simply not built for it over extended periods of time. They get warm enough doing standard mundane everyday tasks.

And it all depends on the individual chips and stepping. And not all temperature measuring software is accurate and can be out 10c or more in relation to the BIOS. But your fans should be kicking in and making an absolute racket long before reaching those temps. But if your machine shuts off with the fans going crazy, you should probably stop what you're doing and offload the task to something with a much more substantial cooling system.
 
The fact remains for some people such as myself that they don't necessarily buy the Mac with gaming in mind. Starcraft came along for me a long time after I bought my Mac, and after I'd sold my gaming PC for my Xbox.
 
Brian8bit said:
Intel and AMD have thermal management built into their CPUs. And 100c is not the thermal limit of Intel Core 2 mobile. The maximum thermal junction is 85c. That means ramping down the clock speed happens at much lower temperatures, 80c is where it peaks (the equivalent to holding your car on the redline) and 85c is when the computer will shut off (the equivalent of your engine exploding from constant redlining).

The thermal specifications for Core 2 is much lower than 80c. Dependent on chip it's as low as 60c. Running your CPU at temps above thermal specifications for long periods of time (while not hitting the redline) will shorten the lifespan of your chip.

This is why I don't get people who buy ordinary laptops to game on. The cooling systems in place (and GPUs) aren't made for that kind of work. Same with compiling / rendering, doing anything that maxes CPU or GPU for extended periods of time. Sure, you can do the actual work on the laptop. But when it comes time to actually render/compile, it's better to offload it to something with a better cooling system (and more powerful CPU/GPU). Particularly if it's anything that's going to take an extended period of time.
Click to expand...

I assumed it was 2011 mbp - my bad. (hopefully I'd be right then!)
 
Andr3w said:
Those comments make me worry about wanting to play the odd game now and then :(
Click to expand...

The odd game now and then shouldn't be a problem. But I certainly wouldn't do any extended periods of gaming on a MBP (or any laptop that wasn't specifically designed to game on). Nor would I do any code compilation or video rendering that's going to take several hours.

If your temps are hitting 85c, it's possible that your BIOS might only be reading 75c or there about. Which to me is still warm. Particularly in a notebook chassis that isn't designed to game on.

Everyone agrees that those kinds of temps with desktops are bad, but when it comes to notebooks people are like "oh it's not a problem". Sure desktop processors might be taking more volts through them, but they have better cooling in place. The cooling system for the MBP is, to put it bluntly, cack. Most laptop cooling is cack in an effort to thin down and make notebooks prettier. On my 13" there's only the rear vent that's blocked by the LCD hinge and the chassis which dissipates extra heat as well. But when you're running CPU and GPU max for hours on end, it's just not effective cooling. The rear vent blocked by the hinge isn't large enough to expel lots of heat and the chassis heats up and stays warm. There's a reason a plethora of notebook coolers exist in the market.
 
Only time I'd worry about those temperatures in a laptop are if you're running the Macbook with the 8600GT... Or any laptop with an 8400/8600 chip actually.

Notebook coolers do serve a purpose but I'd usually just be of the opinion that if the thing fails when running around 80 degrees, it'd fail anyway and it's more co-incidence.
 
company of hereos runs fine on my 13inch MBP in Bootcamp always wished they released mac osx version
 
It was the nVidia 8600M GT that had the nVidia bump-gate court case around it.

Just about to move world of tanks form my PC to my VM. Should be fast enough.
 
Brian8bit said:
The odd game now and then shouldn't be a problem. But I certainly wouldn't do any extended periods of gaming on a MBP (or any laptop that wasn't specifically designed to game on).
Click to expand...

Hmm if the machine fails through use then get it replaced under warrantee.

I spent the entire life of my 8600GT M using smc and avoiding gaming.

Apple have sold a laptop that has a CPU and a GPU. Using these to their full potential is a reasonable expectation of the purchaser. Thus if the machine fails because you're using them - after all the machine is designed with these chips in mind and you're not modifying or overclocking them - then I would have thought you're on good grounds in a court of law.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom