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New 24" iMac: 65 fps in Windows, 20 fps in Mac OS

S

SilentCrs

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
215
0
Not amused, Apple. :p

Bought the top of the line iMac with top of the line hardware (what they offer, anyway). 3 ghz, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB nVidia, 1 TB HD. Set up Bootcamp (Windows XP, not Vista), load up Wow and set the settings identical. The pictures speak for themselves:

Mac: http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3163/picture1pg7.jpg
Windows: http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/7148/wowscrnshot050408041332eq4.jpg

Can someone explain this to me how there can be this drastic a difference rendering the same exact scene with the same exact settings on the same exact hardware? Problem with Wow? Drivers (what I'm leaning to)? I mean, a 3x difference is definitely notable.

(And for those about to ask: Spotlight was done and Time Machine wasn't backing up. The only thing running on both sides was Wow).
 
Glow

Do u use glow effect ? it seems like glow effect on all macs makes it do down under... Even blizzard recommends not to use glow effect..
 
This has two reasons:
1. The Windows GPU drivers are better
2. The Windows version of the game is better written

I first noticed it when playing Halo for the Mac for the first time. I played it under Windows on my MBP before it came out as a Universal Binary for the Mac. So I expected the Mac version to perform about the same as the Windows version. Well, this wasn't the case.

Most of the Intel-only Mac games are just Windows versions made compatible for the Mac using the Cider engine from TransGaming. This allows them to run under OS X with almost no modification but with performance loss.

I don't know if WoW uses the Cider engine (I think not), but if not, then the game is just much more poorly written than the Windows version. Worse GPU drivers make the matter even worse. Although I didn't image the difference would be this dramatic.

As Windows versions of games are also cheaper than the Mac version, I don't buy Mac games anymore. As I quit all apps before playing a game and then play it for at least an hour anyway, I don't mind starting Windows to play games.
 
To see DRASTICALLY better frame rates on the mac with little to no graphical difference, turn OFF vertical sync, turn ON windowed mode and check maximized.

If you are still not satisfied with the results, turn down the color multisampling (I can't see what yours is set to, but on the Mac, anything above x2 makes little difference graphically, but reduces the framerate significantly.)

Hope this helps!
 
SilentCrs said:
Not amused, Apple. :p

Bought the top of the line iMac with top of the line hardware (what they offer, anyway). 3 ghz, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB nVidia, 1 TB HD. Set up Bootcamp (Windows XP, not Vista), load up Wow and set the settings identical. The pictures speak for themselves:

Mac: http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3163/picture1pg7.jpg
Windows: http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/7148/wowscrnshot050408041332eq4.jpg

Can someone explain this to me how there can be this drastic a difference rendering the same exact scene with the same exact settings on the same exact hardware? Problem with Wow? Drivers (what I'm leaning to)? I mean, a 3x difference is definitely notable.

(And for those about to ask: Spotlight was done and Time Machine wasn't backing up. The only thing running on both sides was Wow).
Click to expand...

Ok, the only thing I notice is that the Mac version's buttons are dimmed, they look identical.
 
The OP stupidly blames Apple in his opening line without applying a little thought. This is squarely an issue with the differing versions of the game. Blaming the hardware vendor is just plain moronic.
 
The OP stupidly blames Apple in his opening line without applying a little thought. This is squarely an issue with the differing versions of the game. Blaming the hardware vendor is just plain moronic.
Click to expand...

Excuse me?

The code is essentially identical between the Mac and PC versions of Wow. You can even play with OpenGL on PC side if you want to.

If you've followed Mac gaming at all, you would know that Apple has a history of not shipping Macs with the latest drivers for 3rd-party vendor cards. In particular, nVidia driver cards are behind the curve. I think it's only reasonable to assume that's the case now -- especially since Blizzard is one of the few companies who really cares about Mac performance (they had a universal binary practically 1 month after the Intel machines were released).

Ok, the only thing I notice is that the Mac version's buttons are dimmed, they look identical.
Click to expand...

Aside from the fps numbers at the bottom? :p

Offtopic, but which addon are you using for that extra map?
Click to expand...

No addon, it's built into the game. Press Shift-M.
 
SilentCrs said:
Excuse me?

The code is essentially identical between the Mac and PC versions of Wow. You can even play with OpenGL on PC side if you want to.

If you've followed Mac gaming at all, you would know that Apple has a history of not shipping Macs with the latest drivers for 3rd-party vendor cards. In particular, nVidia driver cards are behind the curve. I think it's only reasonable to assume that's the case now -- especially since Blizzard is one of the few companies who really cares about Mac performance (they had a universal binary practically 1 month after the Intel machines were released).



Aside from the number fps numbers at the bottom? :p



No addon, it's built into the game. Press Shift-M.
Click to expand...

I see that too....
 
Ok, I can't explain it, but I tried raiding last night and the framerate was pretty much pinned to 60 with vsync on. *Something* was running in the background that first night. It wasn't Spotlight or Time Machine -- Activity Log didn't say much.

So anyway, carry on. It plays Wow fine. :p
 
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