OS X 10.7.2 Graphics Driver Improvements

[rossip]

OpenGL graphics drivers have been updated in 10.7.2. Specific changes I've noticed are the Intel HD 3000 now supports opengl 3.2 (the core profile), and core profile performance seems to have improved significantly for my ATi gpu (iMac 7,1 ATi HD 2600 Pro) based on opengl extension viewer rendering tests. Perhaps game devs were waiting for Core profile performance to improve before supporting it, probably wishful thinking on my part!

Is anyone seeing performance differences on opengl apps/games in 10.7.2?

All games utilize opengl 2.1, so improvements in 3.2 don't automatically mean 2.1 performance has improved. Some useful links:

http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/opengl/capabilities/GLInfo_1072_Core.html

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/opengl-extensions-viewer/id444052073?mt=12

 

[dlord69]

worse than before

Unfortunately, nope. In fact, it's even worse for me.

I have a late 2009 15" MBP. trying to utilize the discrete nvidia GPU causes crashes in games like TF2. haven't tried the other games yet.

Also, switching video cards can make my system hang on logout. If I use gfxcardstatus to switch video cards, weird things happen…even worse than 10.7.1

And I was hoping they've fixed most of the issues for nvidia-based MBP's.

 

[Ungibbed]

I've only noticed a slight improvement on the 320m. Window animations are a bit smoother and apps that use Core Animation have shown gains. When it comes to gaming I really haven't noticed any improvements but I haven't popped a game in my Mac since the update.

One thing I can say (or wish for) is Nvidia supporting driver releases for Mac OS X.

 

[ghall]

I have noticed a slight improvement with animations and I really like it. Unfortunately the new drivers screw with The Sims 3.

 

[Sambo110]

Terrible, terrible performance for Source games. For other reasons, I hadn't played any Steam games since upgrading to Lion, except a bit of TF2, well my cousin did. Finally got it working today, and Source games used to run crappy with no sound for about 10 or so seconds at the start of a game. Played today, ran at 3 FPS and no sound, and didn't improve. Extremely disappointed.

 

[rossip]

Terrible, terrible performance for Source games. For other reasons, I hadn't played any Steam games since upgrading to Lion, except a bit of TF2, well my cousin did. Finally got it working today, and Source games used to run crappy with no sound for about 10 or so seconds at the start of a game. Played today, ran at 3 FPS and no sound, and didn't improve. Extremely disappointed.

sounds like you need to do a clean install and get more ram

 

[Sambo110]

sounds like you need to do a clean install and get more ram

Yeah, I'm thinking I need to get more ram. Though I don't know if it's worth $75 or so, when I'm going to be building a PC exclusively for gaming when the AMD 7000 cards come out.

 

[iNeko]

With my 2011 Air, the HD 3000 chip seems to have been transformed. Borderlands now works properly (without rotating the crosshairs/etc 90˚) and I can actually play Two Worlds II (and it works really well)

Definitely better graphics performance here

 

[some-dude]

World of Warcraft runs smoother, even after ratcheting up the graphics detail. It also seems to run cooler as the fan kicks into high far less often.

From what I understand WOW suffered from a flaw in Apple's 10.6.X OpenGL drivers and would cause stuttering when rotating the camera unless the graphics were running in middle of the road settings with most of the cool ***** turned off (dynamic shadows, sun-shafts, water detail, etc). They seem to have fixed it as of 10.7.2.