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How well does the Mac Mini handle Cataclysm (World of Warcraft)

M

muadebe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 21, 2011
23
0
Hi all,

Looking at putting one of these under my 42" HDTV and a bit of WoW on it would be nice.

So I was wondering if anyone with a 2010 Mac Mini could tell me the performance they are getting whilst playing Cataclysm.

How much Ram do you have?
What settings are you using? (low - med etc will be sufficient)
How does it do in Dungeons (FPS)?
How does it handle 10 man Raids (FPS)?

Do you use OSX or Bootcamp and if any what's the difference in performance (FPS) ?

Thanks in advance.
 
Not sure how much this can help you, but I here are some specs for my late 2009 mac mini.

4GB Ram, 2.26ghz, 160gb hd
Setting- "Good"
Dungeon FPS- 18-30
FPS in Ogrimmar in high pop serv- 15 average

I would expect a good improvement with the NVIDIA 320m, compared to my 9200m.

I would also recommend running smc fan control while playing, my mini gets 70*+ at times.

Hope this helps!
 
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Thanks for the reply.

I reckon the 320m should see 20%-40% improvement on your fps which sounds good.

If any Mini owners with the 320m could confirm this I would appreciate it.
 
hm on 2.4ghz 15" mbp can reach 140fps with lowest graphic. busy area, raids, etc, 70ish fps at most. also locked max fps to 30 to maintain heat.


so hope you can get least 30 fps on low
 
When I had a Mini with the 320m it had no problem in WoW. This is at 1680x1050. I'm not sure about the exact settings though, but, they were a little over the medium settings.
 
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@powergamerx when you played wow on the Mini was it Cataclysm?
Do you have any idea what were the fps ?

Last one : Would you recommend the Mini for wow and general
Use (email, surfing, bit ov iPhoto) ?

Thanks
 
muadebe said:
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Thanks for the reply.

I reckon the 320m should see 20%-40% improvement on your fps which sounds good.

If any Mini owners with the 320m could confirm this I would appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention, thats while running at 1920x1080. Just for fun i brought the resolution down and was getting fps over 100.

The mini with the 320m will pump out pretty decent fps on Catacalysm
 
Hi,

Looks like I'll prob be getting a Mac Mini next month - I was going to add 8gb Ram myself as its cheaper than the 4gb option from apple lol!

Just hope new ones don't come out before then as I really don't want the Intel 3000 HD.

If anyone has any experience of gaming on the Mini then there feedback is welcome - WoW will be primary game - maybe some TF2 / LFD2. Poss Guild wars 2 ( via bootcamp ) when it arrives.

Thanks for all the replies.
 
I've been playing LFD2 and WoW for a while on my Mini and I don't have any issues. Graphics quality is usually medium. I don't remember my exact settings but the machine is pretty capable. The FPS don't drop down too low in most areas.

I've got a C2D 2.4Ghz with 8GB Ram
 
Had a 2010 mini. It struggled to run the game. I wouldn't recommend it. Try and go with the iMac that has the HD5760.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I'd love to get the iMac but I'd only be able to afford the basic model.
The main issue is persuading the Mrs to let me put one in front room lol.

The Mac Mini is a compromise - I want to try OSX as I have never used it before but I want to be able to play WoW too.

The alternative unfortunately is a Laptop. Seen some good ones but ofc no OSX and the 13" MBP are no better than the mini for WoW.

I guess I need to decide if OSX is worth the compromise to raw GPU performance.

DAMN - I wish Apple were a little more wallet friendly. :mad:
 
Hi,

I live in the UK so refurbished entry iMac (4670 gpu) is £867 ($1411), the 5670 gpu model is usually £1082 ($1761) if memory serves me correct.

Like I said before though convincing the Mrs is another task lol.
 
I just want it to be able to play Diablo III for whenever it comes out.

Hopefully the new Minis will be more comparable to some of the new MBP and I think I will be fine. I am not worried if I can not play it with everything set to ultra-max.
 
Hi,

I think I'm finally going to go with the Mini - was torn between it and the 13" MBP but I reckon the GPU (plus the bigger screen lol) on the Mini tips it in it's favour.

I will let u know how it gets on when I get it (early April) and ill report back with how well it plays Cataclysm.

Thanks.
 
meh

I've tried this myself on my 40": the mini handles WoW ok with 4Gb of RAM, however the UI is too small, and the screen too far away anyway whatever the resolution and UI scale. Couldn't see properly so I gave up.

I'd do it on a proper computer screen or a smaller tv used as such.
 
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Hi,

You can scale the UI I think (not played for over a year) so it shouldn't be a problem and I only plan on being just over 1m away from screen.

If it turns out to be a hdmi issue my tv accepts VGA input so I can always use that.

Glad to here first hand that it runs ok tho so thank you.
 
Yes you can scale the UI, I tried pushing it the max and it was better but still too uncomfortable from that distance (about 2.5 meters, don't know how much that is in feet). The problem I also had was to find a practical position for the mouse+keyboard while being in the sofa... My living-room table didn't help since it is too low.
I quickly gave up basically.

Also, when I said the mini handles WoW ok I was not very specific: I made it run on OS X, 1080p, all settings on low except view distance on good. In the goblins starting area the framerate was "ok" (like 30/35 fps). I feel the slow HD was a handicap too.
Haven't tried raids/pvp.

So don't get your hopes too high and maybe wait for the next refresh: if it uses a proper GPU unlike the MBP 13" it should kick ass. If the GPU is that "Intel graphics 3000" I don't know... WoW seems heavy on the CPU though.
 
Hi,

I dont mind dropping the resolution to help FPS if needed - Ill def be getting the Mini next month - already have the 8gb ram and a copy of cataclysm waiting.

Im not expecting earth shattering performance - so long as its playable I'll be happy.
My last desktop was a P4 3.0ghz / 2gb ram / 160gb hdd / 256mb 7600gt. :)
 
Eh, I just logged in using my mba ultimate and I had 50-60 fps, same settings... Different resolution though, and the fan kicked in loud after a minute.
 
muadebe said:
I dont mind dropping the resolution to help FPS if needed - Ill def be getting the Mini next month - already have the 8gb ram and a copy of cataclysm waiting. Im not expecting earth shattering performance - so long as its playable I'll be happy.
Click to expand...

I play on lower settings and it runs fine, although I set my max fps around 30 or 40; I can't remember exacly what i have it max at. The mid-2010 Mini can get quite warm so you may want to look at a fan control software such as smc. I haven't installed it yet but I plan to do it soon. I have most of my settings on the lower end. There are a couple things you probably want at least a little turned up, such as distance and particle density. The former is obvious, the latter is so you see special effects that can debuff or kill you. Here are my settings...

Resolution 1920 x 1200
Multisampling 1x
Vertical sync disabled
Texture resolution fair
Texture filtering bilinear
Projected textures disabled
Shadow quality low
Liquid detail low
Sunshafts disabled (graphics hog)
Particle density good (IMO this is the minimum)
View distance good (IMO this is the minimum)
Environment detail low
Ground clutter low
Triple buffering disabled
Reduce input lag disabled
Hardware cursor enabled

Yeah, I know these are low settings. I know I could get much higher fps, especially in non-busy areas but I really don't care to have "awesome" graphics while I'm standing in line at the auction house. I'd much rather have no lag while in 10-mans with my guildies. To be honest I haven't had the time to really tweak them in but it works for game play.
 
I thought mini was not good for heavy game and graphics. Have they put better video card in the core 2 duos or something?
 
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