Retina Macbook Pro: Is it yet known if it can run Guild Wars 2 with settings maxed?

Hey everyone,

Concerning Guild Wars 2 in Bootcamp:

1) Does anyone know if the Retina Macbook Pro (whichever i7 CPU you choose) will be able to play Guild Wars 2 with settings fully maxed/enabled at 30+fps in even the most hectic scenarios (i.e., World PvP with 50+ people on screen), at any of it's available resolutions?

This ( Guild Wars 2 on Macbook Pro Retina - YouTube) is the only video I've seen showing Guild Wars 2 on the rMBP. However, FRAPS isn't on (though the poster says it runs 40-60fps at 1920x1200), and most importantly, none of the footage is in big scale combat.

2) In the absence of definitive videos or forum posts (here and elsewhere) on this matter, I've also just looked at the performance of the GT 650m card in other games, with settings maxed. I found this site's data possibly quite helpful/predictive: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I don't follow gaming much anymore, but from the list of games on that site's list, I'm guessing Skyrim and Battlefield 3 would be the most, or amongst the most, demanding. It shows that with the 650m, with settings maxed, and resolution unspecified, that Skyrim and Battlefield are not very playable and not at all playable, respectively. If Guild Wars is close to Skyrim/Battlefield, then perhaps the Retina MBP won't fare so well with settings maxed. But if it's graphical demand and consequent performance is closer to other 2012 games on that list, like Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and Mass Effect 3, then perhaps all will be well.

So where does Guild Wars 2 stand graphically compared to the games on that list?

3) I presume the difference between the i7 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz and 2.7GHz isn't anything meaningful to game performance? At most a few frames per second difference?

EDIT:
4) Can Guild Wars 2 be played at an effective 1400x900 resolution (like the 1400x900 on every other non-HDPI screen, not the quadrupled pixel version of 1400x900 on the Retina) even though it's not one of the available scaled resolutions in OSX?

Welcome your thoughts, predictions on this.

 

You will probably be able to max the game at lower/med resolution (especially in Bootcamp). The thing is, it's not as demanding as BF3 or even D3, so don't worry too much. I have my doubts, however, regarding long term stability of the Retina MBP with gaming in mind. You might have to force the fans 100% during gaming and still gonna hit 90c. Personally, I wouldn't consider the rmbp for gaming.

 

looks a bit choppy at 2880x1800. I would probably keep it 1920x1200 or under.

 

That's good to hear.

Would Windows 7 not automatically bring the fans to 100% when needed? With OSX games like Team Fortress 2, Eve Online, my regular MBP 15" always hits around 90C, while the fans automatically run at 100%. I saw someone share his Retina MBP temps running Battlefield 3 in Bootcamp, and it was also around 90C for all cores and the GPU ( BWE3 Optimized client - Guild Wars 2 Guru. I haven't seen why it should be more cautionary to game on the rMBP.

If I decide to get it, I will have Applecare coverage to cover the period I'll have it, since it's got so many non-standard parts.

 

I just read that the Guild Wars 2 Beta versions everyone's played so far hasn't been optimized much at all ( http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/42242-bwe3-optimized-client/). One person running a rig with a CPU at 5GHz and a GTX 680 (2nd most powerful consumer card on the market, I believe) said the game hasn't even utilized 50% of the CPU and GPU for him. So for now, there's good reason to believe that the smooth seeming 1920x1200 footage in the above vid will be improved upon...

 

well, it's a beta. did you want definite answers about the final release?

 

My rMBP gets much less hot on the bottom than my t500 did as far as to the touch goes, and it is metal instead of plastic, and should transfer the heat much more... (Playing skyrim.)

The keys on the left side do get a little warm.. Enough for you to notice... But the machine doesn't get that hot as a whole.

Basically, I could put the bottom of the machine up to my face and not care after a gaming session. With my thinkpad I would never do that...

 

really...? I don't think I'd ever do that with any computer...

 

I wouldn't have thought so either, but I was really pleasantly surprised by this one.