Macbook Pro Can't Run CRAP

Question

Hey guys!  Long time acount-less lurker, first time poster.   Go easy on me if I come off as long-winded or nubile, I made an account to post only because I know you guys are a strong, knowledgeable community!
Here are my specs before I get into my problem:
Macbook Pro 13" NON-Retina
Mid 2013
2.9ghz Intel Core i7
16gb corsair RAM @1600mhz
Intel HD 4000 512mb (with that much RAM, shouldn't it be bumped up to at least 1GB???)
512GB SSD
Latest version of Lion
Bootcamp'd Windows 8 Build 9200 (I think)
I bought this computer less than a week ago for college; I am a film major who intends to focus primarily on editing.  However, I also enjoying video games, so allocating 100GB of my SSD to Win8 gaming was a no-brainer.
The first game I tried was Far Cry 3.  I was expecting it to run perfectly, even at medium settings, but I have to say I was extremely disappointed when I was barely pushing 20-25fps when playing at 800x600 and on the lowest (and practically unplayably ugly) settings.  Next game I tried was Dishonored, which I initially put at max settings.  It ran considerably well (30-35fps), but, after about 20 minutes of sustained play, it started "jumping." By that I mean the game would continue to run fine, but it would, several times a minute, drop about a dozen frames for no good reason.  This would just get worse and worse until I just got frustrated and turned the game off.  If I turn the graphics down to the minimum settings, it only takes longer (about 30 minutes) before the fps starts dropping again.  Next was Skyrim, which I had seen older, crappier Macbook Pros run at 40-50fps on medium settings on YouTube (meaning that's with FRAPS running too!).  Not only was I unable to run the game on anything higher than lowest settings, but the same problem that I had with Dishonored would kick in after about 30 minutes or so!  I also tested TF2, which had the same issue pop up in about 5 minutes (at max settings).  The only other game I've tried is Dota 2, but I didn't play for more than 5 minutes on max settings, so I probably would have had to play longer for the frames to start dropping.
Needless to say, this *****.  It kills all my ambition for PC gaming when all I'm trying to do is get into a game.  All of these games are relatively old and not notoriously graphics-intensive (except Far Cry 3, of course).  The only pattern I've noticed is that the longer I have my game on, the more likely it is for me to start having fps problems.  I even thought it had something to do with when my fans came on/heats levels getting high/CPU throttling, and that might still be an option.  I played around with ThrottleStop and SpeedFan but to no avail.  Basically, I just want my new MBP to play old games the way it should.  Should I try installing Windows 7?  Should I play my games off an external SSD?  Do I need to figure out how to ventilate my MBP better?  Any and all advice is welcome.  Thanks so much in advance!

Answer 1

Well, you did a nice upgrade on the RAM and installing the SSD, I assume boot time is rather pleasant in line with a standard macbook AIr, ..or 4 seconds more.
As much as I love Apple/Mac, and own everything Apple makes,...its not the best platform for gaming nor sold as such. However even my macbook Pro with 8Gig Ram and conventional HD will run HalfLife2 just fine,....and AOEII
I would agree with you that bootcamping WIn8 might certainly be the worst of the two choices, and would have Win7 on it.
However, the games im using are wineskin'd and running in Mac OSX Mountain Lion.
As for gaming, I stay, as I should, off gaming on my Air and Pro, and save the games for my quad core Mac Mini with 16GB
As a productivity platform, even maxed out, I wouldnt consider the Mac pro or Mac Air "gaming" machines,... however my definition of "Gaming" stops at the level of HalfLife2, and my Pro works fine on same
Lets see what some "Mac gamers" here say