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Can i run skyrim?

I

ivorito

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 29, 2010
41
0
Hi i have windows 7 installed on my macbook and was wondering if i can run skyrim reasonably well on it before i spend £35... How would its performance compare to an Xbox? It is the last 13" white macbook with all the normal specs apart from 4gb memory. The relevant specs are:

Intel core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Processor
4 GB memory
NVIDIA GeForce 320M

Let me know if theres anything else that can help you. Thank you very much for your time.
Ivor.
 
Thankyou :) Do you think it will have a better performance on my computer or xbox?
 
ivorito said:
Thankyou :) Do you think it will have a better performance on my computer or xbox?
Click to expand...


Do you have a 360s? A couple of times I have played Skyrim for eight hours and my 360s or the "slim" model, have not become too hot. I play Skyrim a lot. I cannot attest whether your MacBook can indeed handle Skyrim. Personally, I'm a console person, but to each their own!
 
Umm.. no, it is just the old original xbox 360. But i dont think overheating is an issue because i only play for like up to 2 hours in a session. If they both will play the same on the laptop and xbox, I would prefer it on the computer though because i can move it around and stuff... But i just want to check that it will work alright.
 
How much memory is there on the gpu? And what is the computer's native resolution? I would guess that you'll be able to play on low settings only, in order to run smooth the whole time (skyrim requires lot of memory on the gpu for the textures). Still, I'd choose the computer any day over a console for an rpg game.
 
antonis said:
How much memory is there on the gpu? And what is the computer's native resolution? I would guess that you'll be able to play on low settings only, in order to run smooth the whole time (skyrim requires lot of memory on the gpu for the textures). Still, I'd choose the computer any day over a console for an rpg game.
Click to expand...

This should contain the majority of the specs:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-13-polycarbonate-unibody-mid-2010-specs.html

The native resulution is 1280 by 800. And the memory is shared. So according to "can you run it" it says i had 1.9Gb of memory on the video card.. so im not sure. Thanks by the way
 
I think Skyrim is slighty more beautiful on my air with intel hd3000 than on my ps3 and the 320m runs skyrim a lot better especially if you overclock it a bit. So i would assume it looks better on the macbook than on the xbox.
 
So I assume that that you are all using Bootcamp and not a virtual environment like Parallels? I've never used Bootcamp, only Parallels, but I haven't PC gamed on my 2011 15" MBP.
 
DoctorTim said:
So I assume that that you are all using Bootcamp and not a virtual environment like Parallels? I've never used Bootcamp, only Parallels, but I haven't PC gamed on my 2011 15" MBP.
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Oh sorry for not clarifying. Yes, i use bootcamp and im running windows seven home premium 64 bit. So do people suggest getting it on the computer?
 
I've run it and finished it using wineskin (bought the original game ofc) which is the best option for me in order to play Skyrim on a Mac (or any other game so far). I've not used my MBA though, that was on an iMac.

Now, if you don't want to mess up much with these things and don't mind installing windows, then the computer should give you the best experience (since it's an RPG after all). Not sure if the video card will allocate enough graphics memory to cover Skyrim's high requirements in textures. Should be playable on low settings.
 
I would recommend using skyboost since it improves the perfomance ;)

personally I would upgrade to 8gb ram :p just because it can :D but that's me :p

and Skyrim doesn't use awful alot of vram though, usually around 500mb but that's with max everything except: medium shadows, no AA,object fade and 1440x900 :D
 
Last edited:
Thank you all very much, im going to buy it now. On the computer by the way ;) On the ram front, how much can i expect it to cost. And will it void warrantee if i do it? thanks again.
 
ivorito said:
Umm.. no, it is just the old original xbox 360. But i dont think overheating is an issue because i only play for like up to 2 hours in a session. If they both will play the same on the laptop and xbox, I would prefer it on the computer though because i can move it around and stuff... But i just want to check that it will work alright.
Click to expand...

2 hours of Skyrim? :eek:
35pb2c.jpg


Anyways your Mac should handle Skyrim fine, but with mostly low details and no AA/AF. There are many areas in Skyrim that put some serious stress on the CPU and can severely hurt your performance.
 
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