Will Mac Mini work for WoW/Warcraft 3?

Been playing since vanilla, started out on a PC desktop, but switched to MacBook in 2009. (To make a long story short, I went to college for graphic design, had to use a Mac for the program, and since then I’ve only been using Apple devices. I prefer them.)

About two years ago, my old 2009 really started having problems, and about a year ago it turned off and would not turn back on. Recently I changed the battery out, and that’s fixed it. Booted it back up, downloaded WoW to see if it’ll play it, and my graphics card isn’t compatible according to the startup messages.

After tax season I’d planned on getting anew computer. I want to get a brand new Mac Mini, since I still need Mac for my old files and my design/art software, and I don’t need a laptop anymore per se because I have a newish iPad. The only games I want it for are WoW and WC3, since I’m otherwise a console gamer.

so, tl;dr will the new Mac Mini (specs on the apple website, for some reason it won’t let me include a link) work for WoW and Warcraft 3? I would prefer the $799 model but I can save for the $1099 if I must.

See here:

WoW on Mac after Wow Patch 8.3 - Issues.

There’s an Intel iGPU Driver bug that now requires Apple or Intel, or both, to come up with a patch for the Integrated Intel GPUs on Macs. Blizzard, in the meantime, has crippled/disabled MOST “Spell Effects”-visualizations to mitigate the problem.

Many Mac Users are now stating that IF you have a TB3 access point on a newer Mac, to purchase a good eGPU Enclosure and get a good AMD/ATI Discrete GPU.

Your plan for a Mac Mini would be a perfect choice to add on an eGPU with AMD/ATI GPU Card. Though, again, at another additional expense to whichever Mac Mini that you decide to purchase.

TimeLord04

[EDIT:]

OH, and MAX out the RAM to as much as you can afford. You won’t regret it.

Also, (mentioned somewhere in the WoW Forum), for MacOS - WoW is BEST run on an HFS+ Drive. So, IF you are running Mojave or Catalina - the OS Drive will most likely be APFS Format. You’d then need an External Drive formatted in HFS+ to put WoW onto.

TimeLord04

Another option, IF you are PC Hardware knowledgeable, is to build a gaming PC to your own personal specifications, then turn it into a Hackintosh.

Many MacOS enthusiasts that are game players have done this. I built my Hackintosh for other uses than games.

Here’s my Specs:

[Hackintosh-Andromeda]
[Built December, 2018]

Profile: iMac 18,3. (5K Retina, 27" 2017)

i7 7700K 4.2GHz, 4c/8t.
CoolerMaster Hyper212-EVO
Gigabyte GA-H270-HD3 MOBO
32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-CL14 2400MHz RAM - (4x 8GB Sticks)
Fenvi FV-T919 WiFi-AC & Bluetooth 4 PCI-e x1 Card.
Lite-On DVD-Burner
Silverstone FS303B 3-Bay Hot Swap Bay.

(Bay-1) - Samsung VNAND 860 Pro 1TB SSD - High Sierra 10.13.6 - (17G11023),
(APFS), w/Web Driver 387.10.10.10.40.134 & CUDA Driver 418.163.

(Bay-2) - Samsung VNAND 860 Pro 1TB SSD - Win 7 Pro SP-1 x64 w/NVIDIA
(WHQL) Driver 388.13.

(Bay-3) - Western Digital Black SATA 2TB HD - MacOS Time Machine/Games - (HFS+), 1TB Each Partition.

One MacVidCards’ GTX-1070 8GB GDDR5 VRAM - Low Power - (one 8 Pin Connector)
One EVGA GTX-1050 2GB GDDR5 VRAM.
SabreNT USB Audio.
Rosewill, NightHawk-117, E-ATX Case.
Corsair HX750i Platinum 750 Watt PSU.
UNITEK 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub.
ASUS VE278 27" Monitor on HDMI on GTX-1070.
Altec Lansing 45 2.1 Speaker Set.
Logitech M510 Cordless Mouse.
MacAlly iKey5 Full Sized Keyboard with 10-Key.
Logitech Extreme3DPro USB Joystick.

I use this System as my daily driver. I use the two NVIDIA GPUs for Scientific Number Crunching at SETI@Home. (CUDA90 App.)

Here, I play StarCraft:Remastered. (Single Player.) I also play some GOG . com games.

IF you choose the Hackintosh route, keep in mind that my hardware has already been discontinued. (CPU and MOBO.) So, you’d need to consider 9th or 10th Generation Intel Hardware. (My System is 7th Generation, i7.)

My System cost me about $3K. I saved for most of a year, buying parts one and two at a time. By the end of December, 2018 I had everything I needed to complete the System.

The i9 9900K is quite a powerful CPU and makes a fantastic Hackintosh. With an AMD/ATI GPU, (at least a Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX-580 8GB GPU), you can run Mojave or Catalina. (Mojave is easier to build a Hackintosh with, then you can Upgrade to Catalina IF you choose.)

IF you are an NVIDIA fan, you MUST stick with High Sierra 10.13.6 AND make use of Web Drivers for the 10x0 Pascal Card Lineup.

Options, options, options…

TimeLord04