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How capable is the hd3000 on the mac mini?

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PeeluckyDuckee

Diamond Member
I am considering getting the base 2011 mac mini for the living room as an htpc but wouldnt mind the occasional game if its capable. The games i'd like to play under bootcamp are

Medal of Honor
NFS Hot Pursuit and The Run
Civ 5
Just Cause 2
Batman arkham asylum
GTA IV
 
if it's a 3400 it's basically the same chip as the 4200 in my laptop (64 bit memory bus, 8 five way SIMD engines) and my chip is fast enough to play old games like homeworld 2 if i turn everything down. I haven't tried those games on my laptop but my guess would be they'll run very slowly.
 
I think he's talking about the integrated Intel HD graphics that's built into Sandy Bridge chips used on the base mac mini model, in which case no, it's probably not sufficient to play those games without dropping down to a very low resolution and lowering the details to minimum. The higher-end mini has a discrete AMD Radeon 6630M, which for the most part can handle those games, maybe not at the 1080p, but shouldn't have a problem at 720p.
 
I played around with a demo unit in one of the local shops last weekend. It had the 3000 and even moving windows around and what have you seemed to be a bit choppy. If 2D performance was noticeably iffy...
 
I'd definitely splurge and spend the extra $200 if you plan on using the machine to play some games as well.
 
Railgun said:
I played around with a demo unit in one of the local shops last weekend. It had the 3000 and even moving windows around and what have you seemed to be a bit choppy. If 2D performance was noticeably iffy...
Click to expand...

😵 I have a 2011 mini server and moving windows around doesn't at all seem choppy. I suspect the demo unit had other issues.
 
Gooberlx2 said:
😵 I have a 2011 mini server and moving windows around doesn't at all seem choppy. I suspect the demo unit had other issues.
Click to expand...

Same. I'm posting this from an i7 Mini server (8GB) that also happens to be running a linux vm in VMWare Fusion, with no issues.
 
PeeluckyDuckee said:
I am considering getting the base 2011 mac mini for the living room as an htpc but wouldnt mind the occasional game if its capable. The games i'd like to play under bootcamp are

Medal of Honor
NFS Hot Pursuit and The Run
Civ 5
Just Cause 2
Batman arkham asylum
GTA IV
Click to expand...

I think you are asking for too much. I'm on the Mini with the dedicated Radeon HD 6630M, and even overclocked, some of the mentioned games are barely playable at 720p. Notably Batman and GTA IV, and The Run.
 
Even if it could play those games you'll have a much better experience on a PS3 or Xbox in your living room to play games then the mini. If you're only planning on using it for an HTPC get the lowest end model and use the saved money for a console.
 
I already have a ps3 and 2011 imac, no intention to get anything but the base mac mini, but just curious where today's integrated gpu's are at in terms of gaming performance. Thanks for shattering any hopes i had for the hd3000 😉
 
I'd stick with a PC for gaming/HTPC. Those AMD F1 chips are awfully tempting. If you're not running Windows, though, don't know what to tell you.
 
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