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Counter Strike: Global Offensive

dotcomet

dotcomet

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 23, 2011
31
0
This is interesting. One of their members is playing CS:GO on a Mac Mini. That member would be me. I am really please with the Mini's performance considering it is not a true gaming machine.

I'm considering upgrading to 16 GB ram.
 
Just downloaded CS: GO on my new Base Mini i5 2.3ghz HD3000 with 8gb ram and SSD.

Runs like charm, Mac mini will make some noise though! You can definitely hear the vent running.
 
Just an other question, is a Mac mini able to run Team Fortress 2 on high settings? I am planning to buy one..

Thanks for the answer!
 
I'm running the Mac Mini Server with 8GB ram...i was getting a modest 65-85 on Dust.
 
Finally got it on my base mini with 8gigs. Getting 35-45fps on 1080p resolution with the detected settings. What settings are you guys running? Kinda wish I had the discreet card that would probably easily get 60+
 
theRAMman said:
erm.. hate to disagree but in that case, why do almost all gaming computers come with 8gb plus of RAM...
Click to expand...

Because ram is incredibly cheap these days for how much you get. Games only generally use a certain amount of ram hence developers are able to specify minimum requirements.

Games run "live" in a way where they are loaded into memory and use the fastest components of the computer to run real time ie cpu, ram, gpu. If you run a game in a system without enough ram the computer would pagefile to the hard drive it and it would be a lot wors than just getting low fps.

Most games will not benefit from over 4 gigs of ram unless it is texture intensive such as flight sim games.

This of course is a lot different to how other software manages memory. For example photoshop and adobe premiere will use as much ram as you can throw at them with improving results because they use the ram as a incredibly fast cache for their calculations.

The recommended amount of ram for Global Offensive is about 2gb. I have yet to see it use more then 1.5gb while running.

More ram would help though if you like to keep things open while playing and even then 16gb would be over kill.
 
Last edited:
micrors4racer said:
Because ram is incredibly cheap these days for how much you get. Games only generally use a certain amount of ram hence developers are able to specify minimum requirements.

Games run "live" in a way where they are loaded into memory and use the fastest components of the computer to run real time ie cpu, ram, gpu. If you run a game in a system without enough ram the computer would pagefile to the hard drive it and it would be a lot wors than just getting low fps.

Most games will not benefit from over 4 gigs of ram unless it is texture intensive such as flight sim games.

This of course is a lot different to how other software manages memory. For example photoshop and adobe premiere will use as much ram as you can throw at them with improving results because they use the ram as a incredibly fast cache for their calculations.

The recommended amount of ram for Global Offensive is about 2gb. I have yet to see it use more then 1.5gb while running.

More ram would help though if you like to keep things open while playing and even then 16gb would be over kill.
Click to expand...

so, when i get my mac mini later this year, it would be better to upgrade to 4gb instead of the 8gb i was planning to (would minecaft count as as texture intensive?)
 
theRAMman said:
so, when i get my mac mini later this year, it would be better to upgrade to 4gb instead of the 8gb i was planning to (would minecaft count as as texture intensive?)
Click to expand...

I would still get 8 or 16 because it is so cheap. While more ram doesnt mean better game performance, your system will still be able to run more things at once. 4 Gigs will be cutting it quite close as Mtn. Lion needs around 2gigs minimum and your game will also need 2gigs which leaves you having to pagefile the rest of your open programs when you want to play.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
Because it is cheap and most consumers always think more is more.
Click to expand...

Yep. Unless you are a heavy user who needs to run Photoshop, Aperture, Motion and FCP the same time, 8 gig should be enough. 4 is a little bit low for Mountain Lion imho.
 
Runs pretty good on the mac mini...though have to switch to a USB mouse from my magic mouse, and the apple USB keyboard isn't very "gaming" ergonomic. Hate to say it, but although very happy I have the ability to run steam games on my mac....prefer using them on a gaming pc :p
 
dont listen to the other guy saying you dont need anything more than 4GB ram, if youre using a mini with integrated graphics like the HD3000 when you have 8GB+ RAM your VRAM is bumped from 384MB to 512MB
 
dan4patriots said:
dont listen to the other guy saying you dont need anything more than 4GB ram, if youre using a mini with integrated graphics like the HD3000 when you have 8GB+ RAM your VRAM is bumped from 384MB to 512MB
Click to expand...

This is a technicality of the mac mini and integrated graphics.

Do you still believe the same if the mini had discreet graphics?

What we were discussing was the theory that more ram will help because the computer is getting low fps due to lack of ram. Ram will not help past about 4 gigs maybe 6 since the OS it self requires more ram these days.

As you can see here the recommended requirements are 2 gigs of ram
http://digitalbattle.com/counter-strike-global-offensive-system-requirements/

Crysis 1 and 2 (one of the most graphically demanding games of its time) has similar system requirements with crysis 2 requiring 4gigs due to more textures.

http://www.crysisdemo.com/crysis-system-requirements.htm
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2011/02/18/crysis_2_recommended_system_requirements_unveiled

And the fact that most games are limited to running 32-bit mode or were originally designed for 32-bit makes the argument that more ram automatically helps games have higher fps or performance is invalid as 32-bit programs are not able to address over 3 gigs as far as I recall.

But this is all just rambling on about the original argument. :D in the end 8GB is so cheap why the hell not :) and if you have an integrated graphics mini it adds more ram for it and that actually helps. But beyond that you reach the point of diminishing returns if your only intention is to play games (pro software is another story). For me putting that money towards an SSD will have more visible performance increases.
 
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