Gaming on MacBook Pro

[At_Op45]

Hi there. I want to know how I can better set up my MacBook Pro for some light Steam gaming. Beyond installing an SSD and more RAM, in addition to bootcamp Windows 10, are there any other changes I can make to my system for the best quality gaming? Thanks.

Specs:
MacBook Pro (13", Mid 2012)
Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
Storage: 500GB HDD

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

There aren't any other changes you can make besides installing an SSD and more RAM. It's a notebook after all so that's pretty much it.

 

[leman]

Not much you can do except of getting a newer computer. I am afraid that your laptop will struggle with all but most simple (or well written) games at this moment.

 

[Sterkenburg]

Short answer: no, there aren't any other upgrades available aside from those you said. Unfortunately, the weak integrated graphics in your laptop will be a major bottleneck for everything except for some very light/basic gaming.

Try to see how it fares for the games you want to play, but if it doesn't cut it I don't think there's anything you can do except for getting a newer machine.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Gaming is all about graphics cards and that one was weak even at the time of release, it was just before intel started to get their igpu to a level of some use i’m Afraid.

 

[Poki]

I'm not sure if this works without issues, but you could try getting an external GPU using Thunderbolt 3 and connect it via a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I'm not sure if this works without issues, but you could try getting an external GPU using Thunderbolt 3 and connect it via a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter.

They have a 2012 machine with thunderbolt one it just hasn’t got the bandwidth to get the most out of egpu.

 

[Poki]

They have a 2012 machine with thunderbolt one it just hasn’t got the bandwidth to get the most out of egpu.

No, but the bandwidth is more than enough to get a significant boost in gaming performance compared to the Intel HD 5000. Obviously it won't be able to take advantage of a GTX 1080 Ti, but you could use a nice, small enclosure with a GTX 1050 or Radeon 560 and you'd increase the GPU power of that machine by a lot.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

No, but the bandwidth is more than enough to get a significant boost in gaming performance compared to the Intel HD 5000. Obviously it won't be able to take advantage of a GTX 1080 Ti, but you could use a nice, small enclosure with a GTX 1050 or Radeon 560 and you'd increase the GPU power of that machine by a lot.

Unfortunately not enough in conjunction with the limited dual core cpu to make it worth the cost when you can just buy a second hand pc a couple of years old for less money that will run all the games you want the some degree.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/gaming-computer

 

[At_Op45]

Thanks for the insight everyone. I suppose I'll just leave my MacBook Pro as is unless the price for an SSD or RAM goes down. Beyond that, I'll see if I can build a pc. Maybe I'll turn it into a Hackintosh or something.

 

[TommyilRomano]

Hi there. I want to know how I can better set up my MacBook Pro for some light Steam gaming. Beyond installing an SSD and more RAM, in addition to bootcamp Windows 10, are there any other changes I can make to my system for the best quality gaming? Thanks.

Specs:
MacBook Pro (13", Mid 2012)
Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
Storage: 500GB HDD

You would have to buy a new system as the processor and GPU are critical for gaming. Adding more ram would help to a very small degree.

 

[Yasser94]

Bootcamping and playing trough a Windows OS might speed things up a notch, other than that hardware investments won't get you a good value for your buck

 

[shardey]

I'm fairly certain you can run 1867MHZ ram in that MacBook, which would help the hd4000 graphic speeds as well.

My early 2011 17" with the hd3000 had about 10-15% improvements when I used 8GB of 1867mhz ram (Hyperx).