Anyone gaming on Rev B HDD (not SSD)?

[glitch44]

I know the first batch of "gaming on Rev B" threads were all on SSD Airs, but I'm curious if anyone's tried games on the HDD version?

In theory, for first person shooters the levels would load slower because of the 4200rpm hard drive but once loaded you might get similar performance as long as the levels don't require constant drive access-- but I wonder if anyone has real-world experiences to report.

 

[glitch44]

(1 week later bump)

 

[andrewp]

Yes I can confirm that the HDD version can handle games with lesser requirements. I've been able to play World of Warcraft on maxed resolution and with specs on middle to low. It's not perfect but definitely playable, only lagging when too many obstacles move- but again even my new gamer pc can drop fps to 30-40 when too many things are active.

I also tried Need for speed pro street, it went okay, but had everything on low so it looked awful.

Next to that I haven't tried much more. This might give you the idea that it can handle older games but in no way any of the uptodate games at more than low visuals...

tested on 1,86 120gb

 

[mattcube64]

Yes I can confirm that the HDD version can handle games with lesser requirements. I've been able to play World of Warcraft on maxed resolution and with specs on middle to low. It's not perfect but definitely playable, only lagging when too many obstacles move- but again even my new gamer pc can drop fps to 30-40 when too many things are active.

I also tried Need for speed pro street, it went okay, but had everything on low so it looked awful.

Next to that I haven't tried much more. This might give you the idea that it can handle older games but in no way any of the uptodate games at more than low visuals...

tested on 1,86 120gb

Any chance you can tell me how it runs Source games, ala Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2, and L4D?

 

[andrewp]

Well I haven't tried it out but I can ensure you that you'll be able to play it without problems. These are the specs for CS source:

Minimum: 1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
Recommended: 2.4 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX 9 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection


I've seen it running smoothly on many older computers and 9400GS with duo core 2 will perform perfectly.

As mentioned, it's only new games that won't be playable. I think that you need to lower the visuals from Halflife and up to be able to play.

 

[Maven1975]

I have been doing all types of testing on my MBA.

I had some issues with XP SP3 jerking games all over the place. They would play fine for about 15 minutes or so, then would just get all bogged down. (Esp L4D)

Solution? Believe it or not.. Vista 64. Huge difference... Except for the 15GB OS

However, you will not get full bootcamp support under vista 64. The drivers are there, but you will not be able to use the multi touch trackpad features and keyboard functions. (Dimming/Volume/ECT)

 

[mattcube64]

I have been doing all types of testing on my MBA.

I had some issues with XP SP3 jerking games all over the place. They would play fine for about 15 minutes or so, then would just get all bogged down. (Esp L4D)

Solution? Believe it or not.. Vista 64. Huge difference... Except for the 15GB OS

However, you will not get full bootcamp support under vista 64. The drivers are there, but you will not be able to use the multi touch trackpad features and keyboard functions. (Dimming/Volume/ECT)

Huh... I'd really like to get a MBA. As a journalism major at a large university, having a light laptop would be quite handy. However, in addition to notes and internet, I know I'd want to load up a 32GB partition for gaming. Probably just for TF2 and Quake, and maybe some WoW.

But for the price, I could just get a MBP and have a lot more power. Ahh!!

 

[glitch44]

I'm curious if anyone has new gaming experiences to report?

Air + Windows 7 boot camp partition?

Mostly I'm interested in Left 4 Dead and TF2

 

[Maven1975]

I'm curious if anyone has new gaming experiences to report?

Air + Windows 7 boot camp partition?

Mostly I'm interested in Left 4 Dead and TF2

1.86 Ver. 2 will run both of those under Windows 7