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Steam for Mac.

MasterHowl

MasterHowl

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 3, 2010
1,067
182
North of England
Hey there Mac friends.

So Steam for Mac is great, and it's getting better all the time with new games coming all the time! Left4Dead 1 got released today, which I am very happy about. One problem that's been bugging me though.

Why can't I run L4D2 on high graphics on Mac OS X like I could on Windows XP on the same mac!

Is it the Mac OS X drivers, or something else?

Anyone else got the same problem?
 
Hmmmm thats strange! I have recently been having problems with my steam for Mac, I guess it's just not up to scratch with the PC steam yet which is understandable. How much was left for dead?? I own a ps3 so it's not available to me on console but it's one of my favorite games!!
 
The graphics drivers for OS X arent up to the standard of windows ones for gaming. They are being worked on all the time though by Apple and Steam. Things will improve over time :)
 
Dr. McKay said:
That must be the understatement of the century...


I believe you


That's what they say, but we've already been waiting a heck of a long time.
Click to expand...


OS X drivers aren't THAT bad, like 10-20% behind Windows which really isn't too much. And are you being sarcastic with the "I believe you"? Yes, we have waited a long time, but since Steam they have released one graphics update, which improved performance for everyone, and 10.6.5 has even more graphics improvements, so they are improving it.
 
Sambo110 said:
OS X drivers aren't THAT bad, like 10-20% behind Windows which really isn't too much.
Click to expand...
Anyone who has played the same game on the Mac & PC side of the same Mac using Bootcamp can tell you that there is a definite difference in how games perform, and certainly how they feel.

It doesn't stop me playing games on Mac ... in fact I killed my Bootcamp on my Macbook Pro a little while after Steam came out (have an Alienware laptop for main gaming anyway). But it is a real issue - especially when you are playing stuff that really tasks the hardware.

Sambo110 said:
Yes, we have waited a long time, but since Steam they have released one graphics update, which improved performance for everyone, and 10.6.5 has even more graphics improvements, so they are improving it.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention the same thing ... that update made a big difference!
 
AAPLaday said:
The graphics drivers for OS X arent up to the standard of windows ones for gaming. They are being worked on all the time though by Apple and Steam. Things will improve over time :)
Click to expand...

I don't believe you. At least not the "worked on all the time" part.

Fact is, that the OS X drivers are not up to par. Fact is, that it has been like that for years. Fact is, that nothing seems to be happening. Well, except that from time to time an update becomes available, that increases performance of present Macs to the performance of the Macs of yesterday. And people clap their hands and celebrate that Apple releases an update that makes them feel slightly less ****ed over.
 
racketeer71 said:
I don't believe you. At least not the "worked on all the time" part.

Fact is, that the OS X drivers are not up to par. Fact is, that it has been like that for years. Fact is, that nothing seems to be happening. Well, except that from time to time an update becomes available, that increases performance of present Macs to the performance of the Macs of yesterday. And people clap their hands and celebrate that Apple releases an update that makes them feel slightly less ****ed over.
Click to expand...

I dont get this. You said nothing seems to be happening then you said from time to time an update appears. Thats the point im making. They are updating it over time. I also don't understand your comment about improving performance of present macs to that of macs of yesterday. I saw a massive improvement on my 3 year old iMac, yet its not as good as the current imacs for gaming
 
AAPLaday said:
I dont get this. You said nothing seems to be happening then you said from time to time an update appears. Thats the point im making. They are updating it over time. I also don't understand your comment about improving performance of present macs to that of macs of yesterday. I saw a massive improvement on my 3 year old iMac, yet its not as good as the current imacs for gaming
Click to expand...

I said nothing >seems< to be happening. Have a look at Windows, and how often tweaked drivers are released.

Something that happens once every two years, is not an ongoing process, as far as I'm concerned. That Apple provides a graphics driver update after the whole world has laughed for a while, does not make me feel that they're continuously working to improve the drivers.
 
racketeer71 said:
I don't believe you. At least not the "worked on all the time" part.

Fact is, that the OS X drivers are not up to par. Fact is, that it has been like that for years. Fact is, that nothing seems to be happening. Well, except that from time to time an update becomes available, that increases performance of present Macs to the performance of the Macs of yesterday. And people clap their hands and celebrate that Apple releases an update that makes them feel slightly less ****ed over.
Click to expand...

But Mac hasn't had any serious gaming platform for the past few decades. With Steam, there's an incentive for Apple to get up to par with drivers. If they can dispel the "macs can't run games" myth (fact, whatever), they remove a road block for part of their demographic. We've already seen some improvement in the last year alone. There was no reason for improving performance before - there were too few games. Now there is.
 
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