Gaming Capabilities of Macbook Air

[SneakyNeeky]

Hey, just wondering if anyone can tell me what's the most I could handle with this laptop, if anyone has a clue.

I recently got the 13in Macbook Air for college, which has a 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5, Intel HD Graphics 5000 card, and 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3.

I was playing Borderlands 2 earlier and within 15 minutes, the fan was blasting and the top left of my computer was hot (98 C, got a little program that told me).

Can I play CS:GO or Insurgency with pleasure, or are my gaming days numbered?

[kris.browne]

On a macbook air, the parts the above poster listed are integrated into the motherboard, and are not upgradeable.

Here are some more realistic options:

1. Dial graphics down to minimums on the games you're trying to play - In most cases you'll find that helps some.

2. Look for options to turn off the turbo-boost or whatever Intel calls it's overclocking system - it's not meant for prolonged use, as much as for bursts.

3. Setup an el-cheapo wintendo somewhere on your network. When you're on the network with it, you can setup Steam to do the heavy lifting on there and just pass the graphics across the air/wire to your laptop. That will also let you play games that aren't Mac friendly, though I make it a personal policy to give money to publishers that make Mac ports.

The Air is an amazing laptop for many things, but prolonged heavy lifting on 3d graphics isn't one of them.

[Perfect Player]

Can I play CS:GO or Insurgency with pleasure, or are my gaming days numbered?
- Absolutely, these games are not demanding.

Also if gaming bothers you a lot I suggest you to install Windows on ur Macbook via bootcamp utility, as gaming performance on OS X is pathetic compared to what you could get on Windows on the same hardware.

[Kikujiro]

I have been playing CS:GO on my Macbook Air for over a year. For convenience I have connected it to a bigger screen. Overall playability is good. So CS:GO is one of the few games u can play on it. ALso I have played Bordelands and other Half-Lifes...