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    2011 Macbook Air Performance on Old Games (Deus Ex, Thief, Morrowind)

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Arche, Nov 16, 2011.

  1. Arche

    Arche Newbie

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    I'm about to buy a 2011 Macbook Air, 11inch, with 4gb Ram. I am definitely not buying it for gaming. That being said, there are a few specific old games which I would love to be able to play on it, if they will run, either in Bootcamp or some other method (I'm a total beginner at this so I have no idea what the options are). The three I'm interested in are Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights (1 not 2), Deus Ex (the original), and Thief 1 and 2. Given how old these games are, and with the possible exception of Morrowind, am I right to assume that the Air could run these at high settings without any problem?
     
    Arche, Nov 16, 2011
    #1
  2. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    Nick, Nov 16, 2011
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  3. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    I think all of those games would run fine...

    If you really want to get into gaming.. using Windows games on Mac OS X, I'd suggest becoming part of the community at the forums over at portingteam.com. Everyone makes and shares wrappers for basically do-it-yourself porting of games.

    Just like.. Skyrim just came out, and I'm already playing it fine on Mac OS X... no Windows needed. People there do the hard work for you, you just use what they made and supply your own game. Skyrim might not run so well, but if you run really low res and low graphics settings, it'll probably run on a Macbook Air. People have already tested and are able to run it on Intel HD 3000 graphics. The older games you mentioned though should run fantastic. I have Wineskin Morrowind and NWN ports that both run great.
     
    doh123, Nov 16, 2011
    #3
  4. xfiregrunt

    xfiregrunt Notebook Evangelist

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    Do you have a performance drop?
     
    xfiregrunt, Nov 16, 2011
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  5. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    of course... but its not major enough to worry about.
     
    doh123, Nov 17, 2011
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  6. Lieto

    Lieto Notebook Deity

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    I am even thinking that those games will look good on 11 inch so go for it xD
     
    Lieto, Nov 17, 2011
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  7. gman901

    gman901 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm playing Skyrim on the Air at 1440x900 at low settings and 2x AA, getting 28-35 fps consistently.
     
    gman901, Nov 17, 2011
    #7
  8. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    I would just use bootcamp. You won't have to put any effort into worrying about compatibility and you'll get the best performance that way.
     
    masterchef341, Nov 17, 2011
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  9. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    if that works for you... some of us would rather not play at all than have to set up a dual boot and use Windows...
     
    doh123, Nov 18, 2011
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  10. Lieto

    Lieto Notebook Deity

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    ^^ low capacity SSD may also be a problem.
    How much of those 128gb u really get? Like 105?
     
    Lieto, Nov 18, 2011
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  11. shurcooL

    shurcooL Notebook Deity

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    If you live in North America or UK and have a decent internet connection, you can use OnLive as an additional source of gaming. They have a native client for OS X.
     
    shurcooL, Nov 18, 2011
    #11