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World of Warcraft & Half-Life 2 on Mac Mini?

pilot1226

pilot1226

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 18, 2010
601
15
USA
Hi,

I'm considering a Mac Mini to connect to my TV (Samsung 42" LED). I don't play very many games, but when I have the opportunity to, I play World of Warcraft and occasionally Half-Life 2.

I have a free to play account for World of Warcraft if that makes a difference. I know most of the high-end content is very graphic-intensive. Since I'm restricted to Level 20 content and below, this might not be a big factor.

Ideally I'd like to run in at least the maximum resolution that both games have to offer, but I don't need to be running the absolute maximum for the detail settings.

In terms of a gameplay setup, I'd probably use a wireless keyboard and either my iPhone 4S as a trackpad, or I'd find some type of desk to use as a mouse. Either one is fine, and that's neither here nor there - it's more about the horsepower of the machine itself.

So, does the Mac Mini have enough horsepower to run both World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2 (and associated mods, like Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat)? I've heard mixed reviews over the integrated graphics card - is the entry level Mini enough?
 
I'm running the mid level with the 6630 for gaming. Half Life 2, Day of Defeat, CSS etc i'm running in pretty much highest settings at 1920x1080.

I don't play WoW so can't help with that, but if my mini can handle Battlefield 3 bootcamped in Windows 7 at 1920x1080 with low settings it should be able to handle WoW.

Whilst i've heard good things about the integrated graphics i'd say if you're serious about doing any gaming definitely go for mid level. :D
 
do yourself a favor and wait for the 2012 minis. the gpu on the 2011 is meh . maybe the 2012 will be worthwhile. I have a lot of minis both 2011 gpu and integrated intel are not that good.

I just built my first pc I want a really quiet machine with good graphics below is the card in the machine.

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6670ULT

this card scores a windows 7.1 on its internal bench test windows experience.

the best cards score 7.9

my mini has windows on it it scores 5.6 IIRC with the integrated intel 3000

the discrete is 6.2.

my point is when I do a simple streaming of netflix both computer share my 46 inch sony. the new pc with the 7.1 gpu kills crushes buries annihilates the picture of either mini
 
Last edited:
philipma1957 said:
do yourself a favor and wait for the 2012 minis. the gpu on the 2011 is meh . maybe the 2012 will be worthwhile. I have a lot of minis both 2011 gpu and integrated intel are not that good.

I just built my first pc I want a really quiet machine with good graphics below is the card in the machine.

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6670ULT

this card scores a windows 7.1 on its internal bench test windows experience.

the best cards score 7.9

my mini has windows on it it scores 5.6 IIRC with the integrated intel 3000

the discrete is 6.2.

my point is when I do a simple streaming of netflix both computer share my 46 inch sony. the new pc with the 7.1 gpu kills crushes buries annihilates the picture of either mini
Click to expand...

I think the 2012 is supposed to have the Intel 4000, which I read somewhere maybe cnet that it is improved like 40% better GPU, I have the Base with the Intel 3000 and I can play Red Crucible 2 which is free in the App store, however the unit gets really hot after like 30-40 minutes of playing, in fact I can not touch the case after I play, so not sure how much better the Mid level Mac Mini's are
 
I've played quite a bit of the Diablo III beta on my Mini with the Radeon 6630 and it runs like a champ. Older games like WOW should be fine. Make sure you grab the beta 64-bit client for WOW.
 
Good to know, thanks for the replies. I will certainly be waiting for the new launch of the 2012 if I decide to go that route. I do have a desktop computer upstairs, but I don't really care for Windows 7 and would prefer to be back on Mac OS. So I suppose for gaming I could still use this Windows rig, and I'll consider either an Apple TV "3" for the downstairs one or I'll hold out for the entry-level Mini.

Thanks.
 
I played WoW on my 2009 Mac Mini with the 9400m for a long time at 1920x1200 without any real issues. The newer minis should be able to play it with all settings cranked.

The only game I've ever played on it that made me want to upgrade is swtor. It's a bit of a beast. To play it, I would at least have a mini with the 6630m.
 
SuperRob said:
I've played quite a bit of the Diablo III beta on my Mini with the Radeon 6630 and it runs like a champ. Older games like WOW should be fine. Make sure you grab the beta 64-bit client for WOW.
Click to expand...
Since WoW's graphics engine gets overhauled with each expansion, and gets tweaked with patches, I'm not sure it really counts as an older game.

I do second the 64bit client suggestion.

pilot1226 said:
...is the entry level Mini enough?
Click to expand...
Not quite. You'd want 4GB our ram minimum. And if you buy the memory from someplace other than Apple, I suggest just upgrading to 8GB, it'll be inexpensive.
 
Bear said:
Since WoW's graphics engine gets overhauled with each expansion, and gets tweaked with patches, I'm not sure it really counts as an older game.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, and I haven't played WOW in a long time. I would think they wouldn't have the game stop running on hardware it used to support, but maybe WOW-fiends are more hardcore than I imagine they are. ;)
 
I played WoW on a Mac Mini base model 2011 with just the integrated. Worked fine on low +projected textures settings at 1280x800. 60 FPS.

I was very impressed.
 
They've certainly upgraded the graphics every expansion and every patch there seems to be some new features to play with.

Obviously my free-to-play account keeps me away from most of the content, but having played this game since it launched, I needed an intervention. While I do miss the tens of thousands of gold from my main account, this was fun and I have the willpower to walk away as needed. Unfortunately I had a difficult time doing so, since I was in a pretty hardcore raiding group that demanded a lot of time and consistency.

I like the free account. My goal is to play every class to Level 20. I'm working on a Blood Elf warrior right now; I haven't played the warrior class since probably the Battleground Patch in 2005, so the game is certainly different from what it used to be. I love the changes. I can now level as a tank without taking 2 minutes to kill a monster. It's certainly not as fast as my Retribution paladin, but it's a close second!

Thanks for all your advice. I was looking for a comparison to the previous generation mini.

I've heard of some people on the forum getting 8 GB of RAM for around $40 after mail-in-rebates off the internet. I'll have to keep an eye out for this.

Now, I just have to decide if I want an Apple TV 3 which is supposed to launch next week, or if I want to wait for the new Mini which could be summer or even as late as fall. Toughest. Decision. Ever. I imagine the new ATV will have the ability to stream 1080p content from iTunes (or at least that's what the rumors are), so if that's the case, I'm good with that. As long as there's a Hulu app.
 
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