Anyone played Civ5 on the new 2011 MacBook Pro?

[aznin]

I'm considering making the switch from PC to Mac, and am wondering if anyone here has played Civ5 on one of the new Winter 2011 MBP's with the Sandy Bridge CPU's and stronger GPU? I'm specifically looking at the 15" model with the 2.2 Ghz i7 processor and a 500GB 7200 RPM drive. I'm truly hoping that a notebook that costs 2 grand plus will be able to run this thing properly!

 

[CGPanama]

Just a perspective... I have a 17" MacBook Pro circa 2009 (2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) with 8 GB RAM and have had few problems since the earlier patches fixed the major bugs. Have played up to Huge maps multiple times in both Mac and Windows (via BootCamp) and have few problems other than still the inevitable slow down in later rounds on the Mac Version (remaining only until the next patch I hope).

The only game recently that caused me a problem was a huge map of the tiny islands format which seems to have challenged the graphics card as in later rounds it began to give the red/white checkerboard for a few turns before crashing. This was on the PC version BTW; post patch.

I have wondered if my maxed out RAM has helped, as I have always had fewer problems than most players on both platforms have reported with similar, and even superior, specs otherwise.

Anyway, despite the fact that I am a diehard mac user (though I don't mind using Win7 for work), I would caution against buying a Mac solely for this game. As I advise any one who asks me about computer buying choices, try out all of the apps that you would regularly use on the computer you are considering buying to make sure that the entire computing experience is what would meet your needs. And speaking as someone who has played many hours of CiV on both platforms, I would argue the differences in-game between them is not that great (and when you factor in limitation on mod browsing, delayed patches -- though not as bad as some games in the past, and multi-player across platforms the Mac still trails the PC version by a bit).

Be seeing you,

Craig

 

[aznin]

Thanks for your response! Just to clarify, I'm really not buying the Mac just for Civ 5. It's more that I've had a handful of PC laptops fail on me in the last 3 years, with various defects, motherboard failures, bad construction, and so on. I haven't been able to keep one running satisfactorily for more than 6 months, and I'm kinda running out of PC manufacturers to try, so that's why I'm considering making the switch. The price tag is my main concern, as well as just making the adjustment to a new environment after using PC's exclusively up to now, but I'm getting over the first concern and I'm pretty sure I can figure out the new OS etc.

Anyway, the Civ series has been my favorite bunch of games ever since I played the first one all those years ago, so if I'd be able to run Civ5 properly on the new MBP, it'd be a bonus - but it's not my only motivation.

 

[AlanH]

The Civ series should have no problems with the CPU and memory in the new systems, but the games seem to trip over quite often when new graphics cards/drivers arrive. So you are wise to check here.

I don't know anyone with the newest AMD graphics, so I can't help. I do know there was a problem with the previous range using the Intel chip, because of a missing OpenGL function in its driver.

I hope you get a positive answer here, but I would also recommend contacting Aspyr directly to make sure they are testing the new patch with that hardware.

 

[Bruinbown]

I'm using the new MBP. I got the 15" i7 2.2Ghz. Any specific questions? I haven't had any issues with the game thus far. Runs fine in a window with all of the settings on max. Though I have yet to get late into a game. I'm about 100 turns into my game. I can keep ya posted. (My job makes more than 10 turns a day difficult.)

 

[aznin]

All the settings on max? Yikes, that means it can pull a lot more than the previous generation of MBP's. My main questions would be 1) whether the laptop runs super-hot when you're playing it with those settings, and 2) whether it still runs smoothly once you get in the later stages of a game, or on a large/huge map.

I spent part of the afternoon drooling on the laptops in the local Apple store. It's kinda sad that they don't carry the specific model I want in the stores (with hi-res/anti-glare screen and the 7200 rpm HD) so I'd have to order it from the website.

 

[civ_king]

All the settings on max? Yikes, that means it can pull a lot more than the previous generation of MBP's. My main questions would be 1) whether the laptop runs super-hot when you're playing it with those settings, and 2) whether it still runs smoothly once you get in the later stages of a game, or on a large/huge map.

I spent part of the afternoon drooling on the laptops in the local Apple store. It's kinda sad that they don't carry the specific model I want in the stores (with hi-res/anti-glare screen and the 7200 rpm HD) so I'd have to order it from the website.

1) it is bound to heat up over time, preempt the heat up by turning up the fans before hand and/or get a cooler for it.

2) the game gets clunky late game and on large/huge maps on Windows...

3) The drive is user serviceable, the 2011 owners manual actually details how to do it.

 

[aznin]

1) I'll figure out how to turn up the fans, I guess. I don't like laptop coolers - it's uncomfortable to work with the laptop when it's sitting on one.

2) True, although it never got unplayable for me, just a little slower, kinda like Civ4 BTS would slow down on huge maps in the endgame. I never experienced the really bad slowdowns, but that was on a fairly high-end PC (before it died on me, obviously).

3) Sure, but I'd rather get the drive I want from the start, rather than buy one I don't want just to replace it later

 

[AlanH]

I'd be surprised if the drive speed has much effect on Civ5 performance, unless you are running out of real memory and having to page swap to the hard drive. But it may affect other activities, of course.

 

[aznin]

I would love to spend an hour with two machines, one with the faster drive and one with the slower one, and compare the difference. I figure there must be a performance difference (not necessarily just with Civ 5 but with lots of things). I just don't know if it's worth it (plus, it just occurs to me, I guess a faster spinning drive must add a bit to the heat signature of the laptop too). Anyway, I guess I'm going way off topic here.

 

[borad]

Anyone who's used a SSD will tell you drive speed, especially in a laptop, is nowadays arguably the greatest determinant of how fast a computer feels.

 

[civ_king]

Anyone who's used a SSD will tell you drive speed, especially in a laptop, is nowadays arguably the greatest determinant of how fast a computer feels.

However a faster CPU is better for Civ V

 

[Java Junkie]

I've played about 290 turns of a small map/standard speed game on a 15" (2.3GHz quad core/Radeon 6750M) and I was quite happy with the performance. If anything, it was better
than the iMac (also quad-core) that I usually play Civ on. I'm running full screen (1680x1050), but most of the graphics options are set at medium or low.

 

[Bruinbown]

I haven't noticed any real heat issues, though I rarely play more than 20-25 turns in a sitting lately. I'm in mid-game now and it still runs pretty damn well. I'll keep ya posted as I progress more.

 

[kristinapetrico]

Thank you for sharing such wonderful information posted here, it is really a big help and give me ore ideas on the game.


-------------------
Binary Options Trading System

 

[marvelharvey]

I'm using the new MBP. I got the 15" i7 2.2Ghz. Any specific questions? I haven't had any issues with the game thus far. Runs fine in a window with all of the settings on max. Though I have yet to get late into a game. I'm about 100 turns into my game. I can keep ya posted. (My job makes more than 10 turns a day difficult.)

Wow, I've a 2010 17" i7 2.66Ghz and the game runs around 10-20fps (opening turns on a small map), with all settings on LOW. What on earth did Apple do to the 2011 models for such a speed increase?

 

[Mavfin]

Wow, I've a 2010 17" i7 2.66Ghz and the game runs around 10-20fps (opening turns on a small map), with all settings on LOW. What on earth did Apple do to the 2011 models for such a speed increase?

Probably ATI vs Nvidia GPUs.

 

[civ_king]

Wow, I've a 2010 17" i7 2.66Ghz and the game runs around 10-20fps (opening turns on a small map), with all settings on LOW. What on earth did Apple do to the 2011 models for such a speed increase?

the GPU is 50-100% better at everything and he is running a quad which will boost up to 3.2 GHz on dual core (for between turns)

 

[Bruinbown]

the GPU is 50-100% better at everything and he is running a quad which will boost up to 3.2 GHz on dual core (for between turns)

What he said. Quad core. 1GB video RAM (AMD Radeon HD 6750M)