How well does the 2010 Mac Mini Play Cataclysm

[Badpaladin]

Although the CPU is capable of running wow, the lack of a graphics card makes it utter trash. You'll regret buying this to play games on. This machine is nothing more then an email/word doc machine

Exactly. It's apple's budget machine, and I think they're discontinuing it because of how...useless....it is to such a big part of the population.

[Bobatea]

If your looking at playing WoW on something like that, do not even purchase it. I'd reccomend getting a Stock Macbook 2010 if your looking to play it on a Mac, I run at about 60 fps on Low when I have to use this laptop for playing WoW.
A MacBook Pro would probably be your best option, they are the 'gaming laptop' of Mac, and would have the most power. They also have a fairly cheap price label according to the last time I checked on the price of them.

[Saviourself]

I didn't know macs played games

[Jurwi]

Thanks for the replies.

Im only looking to play the game at med settings at around 30-40 fps (res can always be turned down to 720p if needed).

Been on a break form WoW for last 12months.
My last desktop was a P4 3.0ghz - 1g Ram - 7600gt 256mb so as you can see I'm not looking for earth shattering performance.

It would be nice to also have some feedback from Mac Mini owners if your out there. lol.........

You're not going to get even close to 30-40fps, especially with HD resolution. Might wanna try with 800x600 with everything on minimum. Even then you wouldn't propably see 30-40fps in any kind of group/raid situatio.

[Nukeshu]

I used the last version (2009) Mac Mini to play WoW on and in fairness it's does a pretty good job. You can use it in 25 mans just fine, but you'll need to turn it down to low. Questing you can have it set to medium or fair. I played for about a year ( in 25 man raids) with a Mac mini then just before Cat came out I decided to have a friend build me a gaming PC. I thought, If I'm spending this much time playing WoW, well I should be playing it on ultra all the time in any situation. If you don't care about playing it on the highest settings and just want it to work then the Mac mini will do the job just fine.

[Deleted]

Again thanks for the replies.

Im tempted with the Mini : Would be nice to try OSX, size is perfect for under TV. My only concern is that within 12months of purchase I'll need to upgrade/buy new.

Main obstacle is the Mrs - Ive been trying to pursuade her to let me put a desktop behind the TV, lol. If I can I've Seen a good system at Scan.
i5 760 @ stock, 4gb 1600mhz, 1TB F3 HDD, 1GB 5870. just over £700.

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

[vesseblah]

As I mentioned earlier on in this thread, it's possible to build aesthetically pleasing PC for living room use if you put some money and effort on it. Costs around the same as Mac Mini with 2-3x more powerful components and bit bigger size.

[Nukeshu]

You don't need to worry about having to upgrade in 12months time, because Apple controls both the software and hardware. You'll get many years out of that mini. The good things about the mini's are they make great entertainment centers and the resale value is very good. You'll have no trouble selling it down the road. And, they are very quiet. Thats one thing I really miss. Saying that, if playing WoW is the most important thing to you I'd try going for a gaming PC. I've had my PC for a few months now and I couldn't go back to the mini. I just love the way the water ripple's and the look of Deepholm. It looks so awesome. You could always get someone to make you a PC with a case that your wife goes for. Our local paper is full of adds with people offering to build gaming pc's. Or, you could go for an Alienware PC. They look cool, although they're overpriced.

[Deleted]

Hi all,

If anyone is interested :

Posted on Macrumors Forum had a few replies -http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1100474

Thanks