How well does SimCity run on a base model 2012 Mac Mini?

[SamSmith]

I'm thinking about getting the new 2013 Mac Mini when it is released, to replace my very old 2009 MacBook. Since the new Mini will presumably have a better graphics card than the current one, I am hoping to run SC for Mac on it. But how well does the game run on the current Mini? My MacBook technically supports SimCity but it is virtually unplayable - extremely laggy. So, hopefully I'll finally be able to play soon!

 

[Cory5412]

Just the other day I downloaded origin and SimCity onto my Mac mini. I have the model from 2011 with an Intel HD 3000 graphics chip and an i5 processor. I have 5 gigs of ram in mine, but I'm actually not sure at what point the game starts complaining about that. If you had 4 or more, I don't think ram would ever be the limiting factor.

It does run, but the lighting effects do not work well. I have two monitors connected, one at 1600x900 and the other at 1440x900 and I run SimCity in a window at 1366x768. It's not optimal, but it does work about as well as it does on my PC with similar hardware.

HD 4000 on the 2012 mini should be even better, and if you happened to be able to get your hands on the 2011 mini with discrete graphics, that may be slightly better yet, although a 2013 mini with IRIS Pro graphics (if Apple were to be so kind to us) would be even better than that.

 

[SamSmith]

Just the other day I downloaded origin and SimCity onto my Mac mini. I have the model from 2011 with an Intel HD 3000 graphics chip and an i5 processor. I have 5 gigs of ram in mine, but I'm actually not sure at what point the game starts complaining about that. If you had 4 or more, I don't think ram would ever be the limiting factor.

It does run, but the lighting effects do not work well. I have two monitors connected, one at 1600x900 and the other at 1440x900 and I run SimCity in a window at 1366x768. It's not optimal, but it does work about as well as it does on my PC with similar hardware.

HD 4000 on the 2012 mini should be even better, and if you happened to be able to get your hands on the 2011 mini with discrete graphics, that may be slightly better yet, although a 2013 mini with IRIS Pro graphics (if Apple were to be so kind to us) would be even better than that.

Thanks. Hopefully everything will work OK - I wish Apple would install it on the Minis at the Apple Store but I'm sure Origin would have stopped them.

 

[corvus32]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/SimCity-Benchmarked.89763.0.html

Dated: 03/15/2013

The graphics prove to be surprisingly demanding. According to our benchmarks, low-end graphics cards (ex. the HD Graphics 4000) and lower middle class cards (ex. the GeForce GT 630M) only manage the game at its lowest settings. For a normal level of detail and 1366x768 pixels you'll need a GPU from the upper middle class, like the GeForce GT 650M.

High graphics options and active anti-aliasing can only be shouldered by high-end cards (starting with the GeForce GTX 660M). To run the game at maximum settings and 1920x1080 pixels you'll need a bona fide current top model (GeForce GTX 680M or Radeon HD 7970M).