Horrible FPS with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 on 10.9.4

[richneerd]

Hi everyone!

Just finish flashing a reference GTX 680 2GB, installed the latest NVIDIA Web and CUDA drivers. I'm getting horrible FPS's in all my games on 10.9.4. I just can't figure it out. I reflashed this morning, then PRAM reset, still no go.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per Processor): 8 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 5.86 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.39f5
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f5

- I have EFI Boot screen

- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 2048 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x1180
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3731
Displays:
HP 2310:
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: 3CQ03214NP
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported

Was getting better FPS on my AMD 5870.

AMD
League of Legends 80-100 FPS
NVIDIA
League of Legends 45-60 FPS

Something is wrong!

Is anyone getting the same benchmarks with Unigine Heaven and Cinebench?

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[MacVidCards]

I recently posted in a Cinebench thread where everything from a GT640 to a Titan Black got identical score. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. (in a 3.2Ghz 8 core 3,1)

Oddly some Cinebench adherents defended this as rational. It only shows how your machine runs Cinebench, doesn't apply to anything else.

What is important to you? CUDA? OpenCl? OpenGl? Test for what you do. The GTX680 stinks for compute but typically does well for OpenGl.

 

[h9826790]

The Cinebench is a known issue to the Nvidia card.

Your Unigine Heaven score is very normal.

 

[richneerd]

I recently posted in a Cinebench thread where everything from a GT640 to a Titan Black got identical score. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. (in a 3.2Ghz 8 core 3,1)

Oddly some Cinebench adherents defended this as rational. It only shows how your machine runs Cinebench, doesn't apply to anything else.

What is important to you? CUDA? OpenCl? OpenGl? Test for what you do. The GTX680 stinks for compute but typically does well for OpenGl.

Thanks for the reply MacVidCards,

Regarding to your questions, OpenGL preferability since I'm playing a lot of games now. I'm playing a lot of Starcraft, Diablo 3, CIV 5, and League of Legends. Getting horrible FPS in all games. If I switch to Win 7 in bootcamp, it performs like a dream. I really want to just stay in OSX.

The Cinebench is a known issue to the Nvidia card.

Your Unigine Heaven score is very normal.

Thanks for the reply,

So my GTX680 is performing at spec? If it is then I'm really disappointed, I'll be using my AMD 5870 for gaming then at this rate. I wanted better FPS for League of Legends and Diablo 3. Maybe I should try out Yosemite? What do you think?

Thanks

 

[666sheep]

In OS X your CPUs are the limiting factor, especially for gaming. Drivers performance matters as well, but most games "like" highest possible single threaded performance, especially under OpenGL IMO. You're getting better FPS in Win due to Direct3D and drivers.

 

[Gav Mack]

Thanks for the reply MacVidCards,

Regarding to your questions, OpenGL preferability since I'm playing a lot of games now. I'm playing a lot of Starcraft, Diablo 3, CIV 5, and League of Legends. Getting horrible FPS in all games. If I switch to Win 7 in bootcamp, it performs like a dream. I really want to just stay in OSX.



Thanks for the reply,

So my GTX680 is performing at spec? If it is then I'm really disappointed, I'll be using my AMD 5870 for gaming then at this rate. I wanted better FPS for League of Legends and Diablo 3. Maybe I should try out Yosemite? What do you think?

Thanks

For performance in games on a Mac never mind just a Mac Pro windows is the only way to go. OSX sadly can't compete. Though as others have said dropping a W3680/3690 high clock hex CPU will alleviate that pain somewhat but Windows will get even faster too.

 

[omvs]

...
Regarding to your questions, OpenGL preferability since I'm playing a lot of games now. I'm playing a lot of Starcraft, Diablo 3, CIV 5, and League of Legends. Getting horrible FPS in all games. If I switch to Win 7 in bootcamp, it performs like a dream. I really want to just stay in OSX.
...

I'm running a 4,1 (2x 5675's) with a 4GB GTX 680, and wouldn't say I'm getting horrible frame rates - I run Civ5 and Diablo3 at 3840x2160 and it seems usable to me. I believe I have the quality at max, other than maybe shadows. I believe Borderlands 2 was playable in UHD as well, though its been a while since I've fired it up.

Things are better in Windows though - it doesn't tend to slow as much in D3 during insane battles. But its not a dramatic difference for me.


I also have a 3GB 7950, and if anything its slightly slower for games (though better for computes as others say). The fan is also a crapload louder...

My suspicion is your processor is too weak - core count you're fine (civ5 only seems to use 1-2 cores), but 2.26GHz (2.5GHz turbo) probably not helping. Unfortunately it looks like your machine is really a 4,1 (no E5520 in 5,1 models), so its not a easy processor upgrade. For gaming the single-socket board almost be better...

 

[richneerd]

Thanks for the reply guys,

In OS X your CPUs are the limiting factor, especially for gaming. Drivers performance matters as well, but most games "like" highest possible single threaded performance, especially under OpenGL IMO. You're getting better FPS in Win due to Direct3D and drivers.

Hmm... I thought that might of been the cause too but then again when I put back in my AMD 5870, I get better FPS in my games. Could it be NVIDIA's drivers?

What do you think about a pair of these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...US_Server_CPUs_Processors&hash=item20d9db624e

Thanks,

For performance in games on a Mac never mind just a Mac Pro windows is the only way to go. OSX sadly can't compete. Though as others have said dropping a W3680/3690 high clock hex CPU will alleviate that pain somewhat but Windows will get even faster too.

True.... ugh... disappointed, I don't really want to install windows or buy a windows pc just to play League of Legends and the Blizzard games. (D3, Starcraft, etc). Just trying to get better FPS on my Mac Pro .

I'm running a 4,1 (2x 5675's) with a 4GB GTX 680, and wouldn't say I'm getting horrible frame rates - I run Civ5 and Diablo3 at 3840x2160 and it seems usable to me. I believe I have the quality at max, other than maybe shadows. I believe Borderlands 2 was playable in UHD as well, though its been a while since I've fired it up.

Things are better in Windows though - it doesn't tend to slow as much in D3 during insane battles. But its not a dramatic difference for me.


I also have a 3GB 7950, and if anything its slightly slower for games (though better for computes as others say). The fan is also a crapload louder...

My suspicion is your processor is too weak - core count you're fine (civ5 only seems to use 1-2 cores), but 2.26GHz (2.5GHz turbo) probably not helping. Unfortunately it looks like your machine is really a 4,1 (no E5520 in 5,1 models), so its not a easy processor upgrade. For gaming the single-socket board almost be better...

Hmm... 666sheep also said the same thing, should I get a pair of these?

2x -X5650?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...US_Server_CPUs_Processors&hash=item20d9db624e

I could delid them easily since I have the tools, I have been deliding processors since 2008.

Any input or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Gav Mack]

Thanks for the reply guys,

True.... ugh... disappointed, I don't really want to install windows or buy a windows pc just to play League of Legends and the Blizzard games. (D3, Starcraft, etc). Just trying to get better FPS on my Mac Pro .


Any input or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

It's just the way it is, same way if you keep getting infested with malware from email it's best to switch to OSX. All the games are coded for windows first, the patches and optimisations come first too.

Just stick a small SSD in one of the sleds with an adapter like the NWT AdaptaDrive and install 7x64. Games really do rock on a Mac Pro at 1080p with a gtx 680, run pretty much all the settings maxed out and that's on my 3,1 3.2 octo, in fact mine run at 1920x1200 and not 1080.

And a pair of faster Xeons will certainly help out a lot in single core use. X5675 run at 3.06ghz

 

[richneerd]

It's just the way it is, same way if you keep getting infested with malware from email it's best to switch to OSX. All the games are coded for windows first, the patches and optimisations come first too.

Just stick a small SSD in one of the sleds with an adapter like the NWT AdaptaDrive and install 7x64. Games really do rock on a Mac Pro at 1080p with a gtx 680, run pretty much all the settings maxed out and that's on my 3,1 3.2 octo, in fact mine run at 1920x1200 and not 1080.

And a pair of faster Xeons will certainly help out a lot in single core use. X5675 run at 3.06ghz

Thanks for the reply,

Ugh... I seriously thought the GTX680 was going to give me better FPS. I'll go ahead and order the 6 core xeons tonight, I'll report back once I get them delided and installed.

Let's hope I get better FPS!

Thanks,

 

[Gav Mack]

Thanks for the reply,

Ugh... I seriously thought the GTX680 was going to give me better FPS. I'll go ahead and order the 6 core xeons tonight, I'll report back once I get them delided and installed.

Let's hope I get better FPS!

Thanks,

With windows absolutely, but OSX and gaming it doesn't have the architecture underneath to run them fast like windows does. Those Xeons you linked were only 2.66 ghz I would go for the 5675/5680's which do run much faster single core.

I would be interested in some de-lidding tools if you know any links, that would save me pulling invisible hairs out doing the occasional 4,1!

 

[brentsg]

Thanks for the reply,

Ugh... I seriously thought the GTX680 was going to give me better FPS. I'll go ahead and order the 6 core xeons tonight, I'll report back once I get them delided and installed.

Let's hope I get better FPS!

Thanks,

I haven't any experience with that particular game, but I use an NV 680 in my MP with a 6 core 3.33 CPU and though games perform better in Windows, it's not such a stark difference like you're citing. In fact I just play in OSX rather than reboot to my Windows partition just b/c it's not worth it. Perhaps that particular game tends to favor AMD hardware vs NV even in Windows?

 

[gpzjock]

Have you tried Furmark as a bench?
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=451647&d=1386978350

This is my GTX770 in an i7 Hackintosh for Heaven comparison:
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=449236&d=1385517427
Try turning tessellation off in OpenGL.

 

[richneerd]

I haven't any experience with that particular game, but I use an NV 680 in my MP with a 6 core 3.33 CPU and though games perform better in Windows, it's not such a stark difference like you're citing. In fact I just play in OSX rather than reboot to my Windows partition just b/c it's not worth it. Perhaps that particular game tends to favor AMD hardware vs NV even in Windows?

Thanks for the reply,

Not sure but in windows the GTX680 performs better than the AMD 5870. In OSX the AMD 5870 performs better than the GTX680.

I'm frustrated, my Macbook Pro 15" GT650m performs better than my GTX680.

Thanks,

----------

Have you tried Furmark as a bench?
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=451647&d=1386978350

This is my GTX770 in an i7 Hackintosh for Heaven comparison:
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=449236&d=1385517427
Try turning tessellation off in OpenGL.

Thanks for the reply,

I'll run FurMark tonight and I'll let know once I get the results. As for Heaven comparison those are amazing results. I'll try that and install Yosemite on a spare HDD I have laying around.

I'm starting to think 10.9.4 is giving me low fps in games.

 

[omvs]

Thanks for the reply,

Not sure but in windows the GTX680 performs better than the AMD 5870. In OSX the AMD 5870 performs better than the GTX680.

I'm frustrated, my Macbook Pro 15" GT650m performs better than my GTX680.
...

Thats strange. My 4,1 w/ GTX680 clobbers my rMBP w/ 650 -- I'd say by at least a factor of 2x, but going by feel, not numbers. Granted I run a resolution with 4x the pixels you do, so I may feel more of the video card muscle before getting CPU limited. The rMBP's single-threaded performance is liekly better than your E5520...

Still, I'd suggest more testing before concluding its a CPU.
As much of a pain as it would be, I'd try doing a fresh install on a spare drive and seeing how that would behave.

As far as the X5650's, that's only a 2.66GHZ cpu, so 20% improvement. I'd try going higher if you could, though cost certainly increases.

 

[omvs]

FYI: Did a quick test in D3 w/ 1920x1080 and I'm getting 90-150fps. 50-60fps for 3840x2160

 

[Irishman]

For performance in games on a Mac never mind just a Mac Pro windows is the only way to go. OSX sadly can't compete. Though as others have said dropping a W3680/3690 high clock hex CPU will alleviate that pain somewhat but Windows will get even faster too.

You say this based on a couple of benchmarks??

----------

Hi everyone!

Just finish flashing a reference GTX 680 2GB, installed the latest NVIDIA Web and CUDA drivers. I'm getting horrible FPS's in all my games on 10.9.4. I just can't figure it out. I reflashed this morning, then PRAM reset, still no go.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per Processor): 8 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 5.86 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.39f5
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f5

- I have EFI Boot screen

- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 2048 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x1180
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3731
Displays:
HP 2310:
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: 3CQ03214NP
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported

Was getting better FPS on my AMD 5870.

AMD
League of Legends 80-100 FPS
NVIDIA
League of Legends 45-60 FPS

Something is wrong!

Is anyone getting the same benchmarks with Unigine Heaven and Cinebench?

Image
Image

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

Yeah. Change Heaven to full-screen and see if it runs better. My 2012 iMac running Mavericks does as well as that (but it does is full-screen).

 

[chaosbunny]

Something is very wrong here. I upgraded from an ati 5870 to a nvidia gtx 670 and saw significant improvements.

 

[xav8tor]

I'm not a gamer, but I do use X-Plane 10 professionally, which is essentially coded like a number of OpenGL games in that single thread (core) performance is still very important, and therefore, within a generation or two, even three of Intel chips CPU GHz is of paramount importance. Cores, not so much. On the OS X side, AMD cards will give better performance. In Windows, Nvidia will be better. Run Nvidia under OS X, bench it, then boot into Win. Often, FPS will leap ahead, sometimes double, at least in XP 10. Bottom line: mate the GPU to the OS, and either way, boost your clock speed as high as possible for many games. The twin CPU upgrade is more tricky than the single, but it can be done.

 

[Gav Mack]

You say this based on a couple of benchmarks??

----------



Yeah. Change Heaven to full-screen and see if it runs better. My 2012 iMac running Mavericks does as well as that (but it does is full-screen).

Nope - mostly other clients who game on their macs and from playing dual format titles off steam and realising the games are coded for OSX pretty second rate. Understandable because Windoze has the architecture coded for them and nvidia rocks on bootcamp with a 680

 

[richneerd]

Thats strange. My 4,1 w/ GTX680 clobbers my rMBP w/ 650 -- I'd say by at least a factor of 2x, but going by feel, not numbers. Granted I run a resolution with 4x the pixels you do, so I may feel more of the video card muscle before getting CPU limited. The rMBP's single-threaded performance is liekly better than your E5520...

Still, I'd suggest more testing before concluding its a CPU.
As much of a pain as it would be, I'd try doing a fresh install on a spare drive and seeing how that would behave.

As far as the X5650's, that's only a 2.66GHZ cpu, so 20% improvement. I'd try going higher if you could, though cost certainly increases.

On a budget at the moment, the x5650's are on the way. I'll let you know how much fps I'll be getting with the new CPU's when they arrive.

FYI: Did a quick test in D3 w/ 1920x1080 and I'm getting 90-150fps. 50-60fps for 3840x2160

Thanks for the heads up, I'll rerun D3 tonight and I'll let you know how much FPS i'll be getting at 1920x1080.

You say this based on a couple of benchmarks??

----------



Yeah. Change Heaven to full-screen and see if it runs better. My 2012 iMac running Mavericks does as well as that (but it does is full-screen).

Will do, i'll change it to full-screen, but still disappointed I'm getting low FPS with League of Legends.

Something is very wrong here. I upgraded from an ati 5870 to a nvidia gtx 670 and saw significant improvements.

Nice! If you don't mind me asking, what games?

Thanks

I'm not a gamer, but I do use X-Plane 10 professionally, which is essentially coded like a number of OpenGL games in that single thread (core) performance is still very important, and therefore, within a generation or two, even three of Intel chips CPU GHz is of paramount importance. Cores, not so much. On the OS X side, AMD cards will give better performance. In Windows, Nvidia will be better. Run Nvidia under OS X, bench it, then boot into Win. Often, FPS will leap ahead, sometimes double, at least in XP 10. Bottom line: mate the GPU to the OS, and either way, boost your clock speed as high as possible for many games. The twin CPU upgrade is more tricky than the single, but it can be done.

Yeah, it's mind boggling, can't understand why my GTX680 is under performing, is it my system? is it the drivers? maybe it's the card itself? I got the new CPU's on the way. I'll be deliding them and just slap them in.

Thanks

 

[Cindori]

FWIW, I am using a GTX 670 on 10.9.4 without significant performance issues in games. I am running without any Nvidia drivers installed.

 

[CASLondon]

I'm not a gamer, but I do use X-Plane 10 professionally, which is essentially coded like a number of OpenGL games in that single thread (core) performance is still very important, and therefore, within a generation or two, even three of Intel chips CPU GHz is of paramount importance. Cores, not so much. On the OS X side, AMD cards will give better performance. In Windows, Nvidia will be better. Run Nvidia under OS X, bench it, then boot into Win. Often, FPS will leap ahead, sometimes double, at least in XP 10. Bottom line: mate the GPU to the OS, and either way, boost your clock speed as high as possible for many games. The twin CPU upgrade is more tricky than the single, but it can be done.

Can I ask what your x-plane set up is? I just upgraded my mac pro to a dual x5680, 24g ram, but I haven't set up a gpu or PCIe SSD yet. Any advice?

 

[richneerd]

FWIW, I am using a GTX 670 on 10.9.4 without significant performance issues in games. I am running without any Nvidia drivers installed.

Thanks for the reply,

That's interesting! Can you run some benchmarks for me if you don't mind? Uni and cinebench. I want to see if you're getting better than my scores.

Thanks!

 

[chaosbunny]

Nice! If you don't mind me asking, what games?

Diablo 3, The Witcher 2, the new Tomb Raider ... pretty much anything that's more demanding runs better on my machine with the gtx 670 than the ati 5870 in OSX - just as it should be. That was with the old 2.8 ghz quad installed, I have only had the hex for about 2 weeks.

I hope you find the source of this strange behaviour, good luck!