Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone – just got a new Macbook Air with the Intel HD 5000 chipset.

Figured many of you would be keen to know how GW2’s Mac Client plays on this new chipset!

I’m happy to run some other specific tests – let me know in the thread; I’ve got some time coming up to play around.

My config is the base level – 1.3 GHz processor, 4 gigs ram and 256 gig storage. In a few weeks I’ll have the 1.7 GHz, 8 gigs ram model for comparison.

But want you really want are the framerates:

Resolution – Fullscreen 1440×900
1st setting – Autodetect: low everything, native sampling, no reflections, no post processing, no AA.
In LA strafing Zommoros: 15-20 FPS
In Cursed Shore & Gendarran: 20-30 FPS

2nd setting – Best Appearance: high everything except: no AA, textures medium, shaders medium (can set to high but then you get 1 FPS!), native sampling, reflection terrain & sky
In LA strafing Zommoros: 8-15 FPS
In Gendarran: 15-22 FPS

Funny thing – setting AA to ON (FXAA) doesn’t actually affect framerate noticeably!

Also ran it on Best Appearance in windowed mode – 1024×600 – that boosted FPS up to 30 in many cases.

Impressions:
1) OMG. Expectations = blown away. The HD 5000 chipset is a gamechanger as far as integrated graphics go. I’m expecting to see those FPS numbers +5-10 when I install bootcamp. But this game was basically unplayable using the mac client on my MBP mid-2010 – was OK in bootcamp. Now my MBA is my go-to gaming rig. Crazy.

2) I’m really curious to compare these #s when I get the 1.7 GHz model – I have a funny feeling that some of these FPS #s are CPU and memory limited – might get a bump there. Will also be very interested to get actual #s with bootcamp (but waiting for the maxxed out MBA for that). That said, GW2 was one of the last reasons I had to go to bootcamp and now it’s not necessary.

For me:
- “Best appearance” with FXAA feels nice for world exploration and just enjoying how beautiful the game is.
- Running dungeons or doing any serious stuff, I’ll throw it into Auto-detect and enjoy 20-30 FPS
- Haven’t yet tried a WvWvW zerg yet… will update when I do…

Hope this excites some of you debating whether to get the MBA now or wait till fall for the 13 inch MBPro. Bear in mind that the MBA might actually perform better if they shove a retina display in the 13 in MBPro since there are less pixels to drive….

Wow, you’re getting far better results than I would have expected on a MBA, so I guess that’s good news for anyone planning on buying a new MBA.

Nice! Thanks for posting this and looking forward to your upcoming comparison.

Overall, very playable. Just ran around farming holos w/a group in windowed mode (1024×768) with the “best appearance” + AA settings. framerate didn’t drop below 20 FPS.

I would appreciate some tests in Full HD (1920×1080) if it’s at all possible Would be really interesting to find if GW2 is able to run at 30fps and low setting on 1080p
Edit: If it was not clear, i meant on external display ( i know it is bigger than airs native resolution)

Anyone able to provide bootcamp impressions yet?

alexei.9364:

Anyone able to provide bootcamp impressions yet?

The game runs incredibly well in bootcamp of course. If you do have windows installed via bootcamp then I would suggest playing GW2 on there, it will run much better.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

alexei.9364:

Anyone able to provide bootcamp impressions yet?

The game runs incredibly well in bootcamp of course.

Define incredibly well in terms of FPS on best performance settings Also state what processor and RAM you have please.

Here’s the basic rundown of why it works better on bootcamp:

The game is a native windows program that runs using direct x, therefore, the game requires HALF of the minimum system requirements for windows (Mac requires 4 gb ram & windows only needs 2gb min). The Mac client is a cider wrapper/port so you have to run one piece of software (cider) just to run the second (gw2) while “emulating” a direct x environment… So it’s much harder on your Mac system.

Also, on windows, all of the graphics settings are enabled, while on Mac high res character textures is disabled as well as some higher performance settings.

In general, the pc client requires much less in terms of ram and processor, therefore, your performance will be much better there versus fighting to get by on the Mac client with min specs.

I haven’t run my of client (bootcamp) on my system since the Mac client launched,but I remember the graphics were prettier and smoother, and with the recent optimisations made, I can only imagine them being better now than before. (especially considering the graphical improvements we’ve seen on the Mac client)

Hope that helps until someone who has run bootcamp lately can chime in. (MBP late 2011, 2.2ghz intel core i7 and 8gb ram, amd radeon hd 6750m with 512mb)

Vajqo.1346:

FlamingFoxx.1305:

alexei.9364:

Anyone able to provide bootcamp impressions yet?

The game runs incredibly well in bootcamp of course.

Define incredibly well in terms of FPS on best performance settings Also state what processor and RAM you have please.

All settings on max with Native sampling and I get 30-40FPS. Which for a laptop that isn’t designed for gaming is pretty amazing and it’s smooth enough that I don’t notice any stutter. Of course in highly populated areas and during events the FPS goes down to 20-25. Lowering the Shader and Shadows a bit increases FPS up to 50.
15’ MBP, 2.2 i7 processor, 4GB RAM, Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB vRAM.

Thanks, but i was kind of hoping for results on MBA.

got the 11inch i7 model coming on Friday, can’t wait to try it out. been playing on the 2012 MBA i5 using the mac client, and while it’s definitely playable, it leaves a lot to be desired, very excited to see how this new one performs!

I would by lying if I said I haven’t thought of selling my 17" MBP for a maxed out 13" MBA.

this is on the 11inch i7 Macbook Air 2013 w/ the HD5000 haswell chip.

I love it. I’m getting around 20-30fps with some relatively high settings at the machines native resolution. Still slows down a bit in LA when around a lot of ppl and at world bosses like the fire elemental and jorlag, but even my i7 3770k desktop rig doesn’t like those fights when I’m pushing the settings…

this is an amazing little computer.

Was thinking of ordering same i7 model.

How is the heat/noise? Also, I assume that is the osx wrap?

yah, that’s with the mac beta, you can definitely hear the fan kick up pretty quickly after playing for a minute or two and it does get pretty hot, but mostly on the bottom top left corner, I’ll have to do some more extensive tests / longer play sessions but I haven’t been noticing the top of the device getting too hot or uncomfortable.

Noxxagt.8695:

yah, that’s with the mac beta, you can definitely hear the fan kick up pretty quickly after playing for a minute or two and it does get pretty hot, but mostly on the bottom top left corner, I’ll have to do some more extensive tests / longer play sessions but I haven’t been noticing the top of the device getting too hot or uncomfortable.

Could you maybe try running it in botcamp, using external FullHD display? Using minimum details. Also try playing for like 30 minutes and find out if the processor is not limiting itself because of the heat

I know i’m asking a lot but this would really help people decide if MBA is really the machine they want.

Noxxagt.8695:

this is on the 11inch i7 Macbook Air 2013 w/ the HD5000 haswell chip.

I love it. I’m getting around 20-30fps with some relatively high settings at the machines native resolution. Still slows down a bit in LA when around a lot of ppl and at world bosses like the fire elemental and jorlag, but even my i7 3770k desktop rig doesn’t like those fights when I’m pushing the settings…

this is an amazing little computer.

Those colours are really really dull O_o.

This is the only screenshot I could find where I had left the UI in, but just look at the colour of my fire skill icons compared to yours.

not sure why the colors look washed out…they look fine to me when playing here’s another shot I took today.

I guess it does look a little muted? I don’t mind tho.

I’m going to try bootcamping the machine this evening and will report on that later, but as everyone ever who’s played the game in windows on a mac vs the native client as said before…it’s going to run better, there’s no doubt.

Will be back home in about 1 week and then will be able to benchmark side by side 13’’ 2013 i5 4gb MBA against 13’’ 2013 i7 8gb MBA.
- I will do Mac Client on both in several locations and settings.
- I will then do bootcamp Win7 (can’t bear to touch Win8) on the i7 8gb one, which should demonstrate the “best” possible performance.

This should help everyone figure out exactly what the parameters of the HD 5000 chipset are regarding GW2 gaming.

This is probably relevant beyond MBA as HD5000 is likely to be the standard netbook config for the coming few years. Might boost player #s if people know that the game actually plays on these cheap systems (e.g. 1st laptops for high school/uni students).

Soooo, anyone up for those FullHD external monitor tests i mentioned earlier in this thread?

bump for 1080i test

I don’t think you’re likely to find someone with both the new MBA and a 1080 screen…
Also bumping is against the forum codes of conduct.

Considering purchasing a new MBA (13", i7)…

I understand that bootcamping the MBA will serve to improve performance, I’m wondering if it would also lower the heat of the unit…

thanks all!

^— Yes it will lower the heat a bit and then fans won’t run anywhere near as loud.

So what do you get at settings and fps on a 2013 11" macbook air in bootcamp with the i7 and 8gb ram?

about 95% of my time is spent in PVE, just really exploring.

Another i7 MBA owner here, 8GB RAM.

The game is incredibly playable, even in the current live content areas. I’m beyond amazed at this little system!

Hey guys, so I was looking into getting a laptop to do my dailies while on my commute to work. Can anyone give me a battery estimate on the 2013 Mac Air? From what I’m gathering, the FPS will always be around 30 running it in boot camp, which is fine for me!

EDIT: Since I haven’t heard anything, and I’m sure people are interested, I’ll pick up a mac air and post what I find.

Just picked up the 13-inch air with i7 and 8G RAM. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this runs! Turned everything down except left native sampling and did dungeon, WvW and ran around the open world without any issues!

So I’ve been meaning to get around to updating this!

I’ve run it in bootcamp, I’ve run it in the Mac client. In my experience, there’s no practical difference. My gameplay tends to cluster into 2 modes: PvE wandering around and WvW and PvE Zergs. With PvE, framerate is not an issue. With zergs, lag and a gazillion other factors come into play. Sure, maybe you get 3-5 fps boost in some places, but it’s not like a 15+ fps boost and it doesn’t materially affect slowdowns due to those other factors like # of chars on screen, lag, etc.

I’ve been playing through a bunch of WvW and PvE content for the last several months exclusively with the Mac Client. I haven’t really ever felt like performance was an issue. Sure, I’d love super smooth 60fps at 1080p, but after about 10 minutes into the game I really don’t notice the periodic framerate drops (still playable, just makes rapid camera moves a bit jerky).

Now, I might feel a bit differently if I was a very competitive PvP player… but if you’re going to try to be competitive I don’t think the MBA is your go-to gaming rig!

Also, it’s worth noting that I often have plenty of other stuff running the the background. Like an IDE, Apache, Postgres, Chrome with 10 tabs open, Word, Excel, etc. Doesn’t seem to make too big of a difference either… which is a pleasant surprise.

I hope this thread and conversation was of help to MBA owners or prospective buyers. It’s far and away the best computer I’ve ever owned since my Amiga 4000 w/Video Toaster. Being able to just fire up the GW2 client whenever I want and hop in is really nice… vs. having to boot into windows.

I run a 13" MBPR. i5 2.3ghz-2.9ghz dual core 8gb ram 256gb hard drive and iris graphics and I only get around 30 fps. This makes me wonder if there is something wrong with iris or my mac. I should be achieving higher fps than a MBA IMO.
Does someone have an explanation?