MBP GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB - Still sucks for Starcraft???

[Sean Dempsey]

I have a 2009 MBP 17" with the GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB.

The dang thing can barely run SC2 at medium settings, and at a greatly reduced resolution.

What gives?

 

[Eidorian]

The 9600M GT is a higher clocked, lower process version of the older 8600M GT. It's not that much of an improvement.

The game is more CPU bottlenecked than anything else.

 

[Cougarcat]

Are you running 10.6.4? Apparently it killed Apple's Nvidia drivers.

If you have Bootcamp, you'll see a nice speed boost.

 

[lpolarityl]

Are you running 10.6.4? Apparently it killed Apple's Nvidia drivers.

If you have Bootcamp, you'll see a nice speed boost.

Yep, definitely try bootcamp. You're going to need every advantage you can get to make the most out of the 9600GT.

 

[rasmasyean]

They should make a sticky.

READ THIS if running Starcraft 2!

BOOTCAMP IT!

 

[lpolarityl]

They should make a sticky.

READ THIS if running Starcraft 2!

BOOTCAMP IT!

Yes they should, I'm surprised how horrible it runs on my MacBook i5. It's not that the hardware can't handle it, its just the terrible Nvidia OSX drivers. They really need to release drivers that improve performance in OSX.

 

[bolen]

Anyone tried these?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce-macosx-19.5.8f03-driver.html

NVIDIA claims that they are for G285GTXs only, but apparently they work with any NVIDIA card on OS 10.6.4. To be able to install them, you have to right click on the installation file and press "Show Package Contents", then extract the 3 separate sub-installers. Install all 3 of the installers and then reboot. Make sure to backup first to be on the safe side!

 

[lpolarityl]

My 10.6.4 experience was so horrid that I went back to 10.6.3. I'm scared of 10.6.4.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

how do you roll back a version of SL?

 

[bigcat318]

I dont understand the issues people are having. I ran the Beta and the retail version of SCII with the 9600 and have no problems using a mix of high-ultra settings at the full 1440x900 resolution of the display.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I dont understand the issues people are having. I ran the Beta and the retail version of SCII with the 9600 and have no problems using a mix of high-ultra settings at the full 1440x900 resolution of the display.

This is a lie.

at 1440x900 on the 9600, there's considerable video stutter and god forbid any particle effects come into play. The first time I ran into a dust storm, it was like the machine was going to lock up completely.

 

[Kelmon]

how do you roll back a version of SL?

As far as I am aware you can't roll back an update but it does look like older updates (e.g. 10.6.3) remain available from Apple so if you reinstalled the OS (perhaps as an Archive & Install) then you should be able to update it to a previous version.

 

[bigcat318]

Why would I lie? I havent played the campaign yet but I have had no problems playing multiplayer that werent internet related.

 

[Mikey7c8]

I dont understand the issues people are having. I ran the Beta and the retail version of SCII with the 9600 and have no problems using a mix of high-ultra settings at the full 1440x900 resolution of the display.

The OP is running a 17" and given the results most likely at 1920x1200.

 

[Scorecard]

I think some people's definition of problems and performance are different than others.

My i7 plays ok at ultra settings but the video and inbetween mission scenes are slow and painful (probably 10-15FPS).

On High it's a good mix running probably (25-35FPS)

On Medium it's super smooth (40-60FPS)

All at 1680X1050, It actually even runs fine at 2560X1600 on medium. It seems to be very CPU intensive game as well. Also remember that mac requirements are mentioning mobile cards compared to the PC Desktop cards. But the 8600M GT is a better card than the 6600 GT.

 

[Vanarak19]

Yes they should, I'm surprised how horrible it runs on my MacBook i5. It's not that the hardware can't handle it, its just the terrible Nvidia OSX drivers. They really need to release drivers that improve performance in OSX.

mine runs more than fine on 10.6.3.

.4 is the issue, the game runs 95% the same in osx for me.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I'm on a 17", but running at like 1100x800 or whatever.

Gameplay itself, I am on "medium" settings with other things set to low or off. Scrolling around the map with the keyboard arrow keys is very choppy, and having alot of units on the screen or weather/particle effects makes it even worse.


I'm on a 2.8ghz C2D, 8 gigs of ram, 512mb on the video card, 7200 rpm drive. And SL .4.

Maybe it is SL. Perhaps I'll video my screen to show you my settings and resolution.