World of Warcraft. Macbook PRO Santa Rosa nvidia 8600GT

[grossimassi]

Yes... it's true, under bootcamp it works much better.
I don't wanna give up and play from Winzoz partition... once u try OSX there is no way back!

 

[Block]

Would it be better to install WoW on my OSX partition or my Windows partition?

 

[bobber205]

There is no "better" option. If the drivers have been fixed, then do it on OS X. If not, do XP. On my macbook, once the multi-core/threaded OpenGL fix came along, I got much better FPS under OS X then in XP.

 

[cluthz]

Anyone got some new numbers after latest apple patch, which should contain new nvidia drivers?

Still waiting for my new SR, but kinda worried when i see the numbers aren't that very much better than i have on my PB12" (1,5ghz last gen)

I've had my SR MBP for a few days and it's really good!
Almost everything is maxed (except anis and aa and ofc no fullscreen glow)
and i have 30-40 fps in shattrah, 60+ in IF.

I did 3v3 arenas yesterday with IshowU (fraps alike app) fullscreen "Apple intermediate codec" and i was over 25 fps all the time!

Prolly doin' SSC tonight and i'll post some numbers from there aswell!

Tbh, I dunno how so many have reported crappy performance on theirs MPB-SRs, but mine is atleast very snappy.
Could it be the 1.4.10 patch and MPB update?

Btw, i'm running on a external screen 1280*1024 res

 

[rbarris]

I've had my SR MBP for a few days and it's really good!
Almost everything is maxed (except anis and aa and ofc no fullscreen glow)
and i have 30-40 fps in shattrah, 60+ in IF.

I did 3v3 arenas yesterday with IshowU (fraps alike app) fullscreen "Apple intermediate codec" and i was over 25 fps all the time!

Prolly doin' SSC tonight and i'll post some numbers from there aswell!

Tbh, I dunno how so many have reported crappy performance on theirs MPB-SRs, but mine is atleast very snappy.
Could it be the 1.4.10 patch and MPB update?

Btw, i'm running on a external screen 1280*1024 res

If you are interested in capturing WoW movies on OS X, you should check out the public beta of WoW 2.2.0 - we have integrated video capture in the client now. On a fast dual core machine it can capture quite nicely and with low impact on your gameplay. It is definitely beta - some bugs - but we're looking for as much feedback as we can get on it.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ptr/
(test realm setup)

https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11572
(test realm forum)

https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=174687448&sid=1
(movie recording thread)

 

[Donnie Blaze]

Issues with the nvidia 8600 and bootcamp

Hey you guys seem to know a ton about this video card. I'm having issues with it when running a video dj program called vdj. I think the problems may be driver related. While I'm sure most of you guys may not know vdj is I'm wondering if you can help me.

Are there any other drivers I can use for this card? When I'm in windows I go to nvidias website and look up the 8 series card drivers and it takes me to a forceware release 158.22. When I download and try to install this driver it says it's not compatible with my hardware and then it says setup will now exit.

Any thoughts?

 

[angelneo]

Hey you guys seem to know a ton about this video card. I'm having issues with it when running a video dj program called vdj. I think the problems may be driver related. While I'm sure most of you guys may not know vdj is I'm wondering if you can help me.

Are there any other drivers I can use for this card? When I'm in windows I go to nvidias website and look up the 8 series card drivers and it takes me to a forceware release 158.22. When I download and try to install this driver it says it's not compatible with my hardware and then it says setup will now exit.

Any thoughts?

Are you talking about the drivers and that software, not with WoW? If it is, I think you should open a new thread in the Mac Basics and Help section. You will get better responds over there.

 

[Eidorian]

Hey you guys seem to know a ton about this video card. I'm having issues with it when running a video dj program called vdj. I think the problems may be driver related. While I'm sure most of you guys may not know vdj is I'm wondering if you can help me.

Are there any other drivers I can use for this card? When I'm in windows I go to nvidias website and look up the 8 series card drivers and it takes me to a forceware release 158.22. When I download and try to install this driver it says it's not compatible with my hardware and then it says setup will now exit.

Any thoughts?

nVidia doesn't offer 8 Series drivers for the M line of cards. I suggest going to LaptopVideo2Go if you want the latest drivers. You're more then likely going to have to use the modified INF as well.

 

[Irishman]

Don't confuse the 8600 GT with the 8600M GT. If you are looking at benchmarks of the former regarding the Macbook Pro, you will be disappointed with the actual results. The 8600M GT is a bit faster than the go 7600 GT although it has DX10 whereas the 7600 does not.

DX10 only works in Vista, keep in mind.

 

[FluJunkie]

On my new SR MBP, the "high end" stock 15" model:

1. How many FPS do you get while playing it on either of the models, 128ddr, 256ddr? This question should be answered considering:
Different graphics mode. Solo playing in Outland, Party on a dungeon, Raiding 25 or 40 man.

Not sure what 128 or 256 ddr means. My settings are usually very high graphically, and I range between about 75 fps (hanging out in Stormwind) to about 30 fps (Serpent Shrine Cavern)

2. Have any of you been able to play in on Windows XP or Vista with Boot camp using any kind of official or non official drivers?

I prefer my Mac, so haven't tried.

3. How much compromised is performanced while playing listeing to music with Itunes and using Ventrilo or Teamspeak.

None for Ventrilo. iTunes has some small performance decrease, but unless I'm raiding, its not noticeable.

4. Heat questions such as fan noise while playing for more than one or two hours. Temperature on different parts of the MBP such as keyboard, bottom side, etc.

No noted problems.

5. Difference on heat & performance while playing on windows and OSX.

Don't use Windows.

6. FPS using a full UI with all the raiding addons such as ORA2, Swstats, Sraidframes, etc.

The FPS listed above is with a full UI. Serpent Shrine is a very graphics intensive instance (the old PBG4 ran at <5 fps most times). So I'm getting ~30 fps with ORA2, SWStats, SRaidframes, Omen, Deadly Boss Mods, Vent open and...oh, did I mention all of this was windowed so I could be looking at WoWwiki at the same time?

7. Batterly life while playing it unpluged.

I play at home with my headset, comfy chair and iced chai.

8. Ping, heat, lifetime battery and performance differences while playing with Ethernet or Wireless adapter.

No noticeable difference over an 802.11g network.

I should not that I've been nothing but happy with the new computer. It's buttery smooth, the game is *beautiful*, and it's like playing a different game. In a Serpent Shrine raid, I was 3rd on the DPS meters (behind two Warlocks). This is a big deal for a feral Druid! It was almost entirely an issue of frame rate, seeing what was happening and being able to maneuver.

 

[CJM]

If you are interested in capturing WoW movies on OS X, you should check out the public beta of WoW 2.2.0 - we have integrated video capture in the client now. On a fast dual core machine it can capture quite nicely and with low impact on your gameplay. It is definitely beta - some bugs - but we're looking for as much feedback as we can get on it.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ptr/
(test realm setup)

https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11572
(test realm forum)

https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=174687448&sid=1
(movie recording thread)

Ooh, can you tell them to give pre-mades, too ;P Testing out new classes was a great feature of the PTRs (admittedly, the constant duels outside towns weren't...)

But yes, I do love the new features you've implemented, it's nice to have some special features that the PC client doesn't get ^^

 

[senc01a]

After playing it more intensively id like to tell you:

Wow does run much faster (fps terms) in WinXP than in OSX but it runs smoothier in WinXP. Ill explain myself. When I'm raiding in SSC or The Eye in Windows every 5 to 10 secs I get some kind of freeze, its like 0.25 secs freeze but its a pain in the ass. In OSX fps are lower but that doesn't happen.
Another funny thing is that if I play in OSX I get from 50-150 ms of ping and in windows i get like 150-300 ms and when I'm in a Boss Combat like Lady Vashj or somesthing like that ping can go up to 500-15000 ms. That doesn't happen in OSX (using same DSL or Cable modem etc).

OSX also makes the laptop stay a bit cooler even though it gets as hot as hell!

 

[killmoms]

DX10 only works in Vista, keep in mind.

Okay, this sort of misleading terminology NEEDS to stop. The only thing DirectX 10 about the 8000-series GPUs is that they have an integrated shader model, which is a minimum specification of DX10. The graphics made possible by that hardware are provided for in DX10, but are just as possible to create in OpenGL if the hardware is capable.

 

[noodle654]

I don't play anymore but my iBook with only ATI Radeon 9550 32MB worked with no problems. The graphics were actually very very good and I was very suprised. So I will say this, if my iBook that came out 3 years ago can handle WOW, then a brand new MacBook Pro will have no problems.

 

[cluthz]

I don't play anymore but my iBook with only ATI Radeon 9550 32MB worked with no problems. The graphics were actually very very good and I was very suprised. So I will say this, if my iBook that came out 3 years ago can handle WOW, then a brand new MacBook Pro will have no problems.

You haven't tried raiding instances in BC
In SSC you would probaly have less than 4 FPS on that machine.

 

[Oberon]

Hi Guys, new to the forum.

I have a MacBook Pro 17" with all the googies on, 7,200rpm and so on, except the 4gb RAM, I kept it in 2gb. So, the problem is that when I play WoW though I have around 40 to 60 fps (110 in buildings) and no server lag, the experience in the whole is laggy. I've turned off AF, kept the settings to default but the problem seems to linger on. Anyone has a solution?

Thx

 

[rbarris]

Hi Guys, new to the forum.

I have a MacBook Pro 17" with all the googies on, 7,200rpm and so on, except the 4gb RAM, I kept it in 2gb. So, the problem is that when I play WoW though I have around 40 to 60 fps (110 in buildings) and no server lag, the experience in the whole is laggy. I've turned off AF, kept the settings to default but the problem seems to linger on. Anyone has a solution?

Thx

There is an anomaly in the MBP Update 1.1 OpenGL drivers which leads to an unsteadiness in the frame rate. Best thing to do until the drivers are updated is cap your frame rate which may improve smoothness:

/console maxfps 30

 

[Oberon]

Will Leopard offer a built in fix for this?

 

[senc01a]

Has anyone tried it under Leopard? I wonder whats the difference of speed between Tiger and Leopard. I haven't tried with any of the non-master-builds but Im really curious.

Hope to get some feedback before Leopard comes out.

Gl and have fun

PD: I now only play in OSX with 20-40 fps in raid encounters (Vashj, Kaelthas,etc etc) with many many addons and almost highest graphics

 

[senc01a]

Well I just tried in Leopard. It pretty much runs the same speed. If you turn off spaces it seems to be a little bit faster.
Waiting for your opinions

 

[rbarris]

We'd love to get more Leopard performance reports, I'll just add my usual reminder that good perf reports include machine specs and a rough description of settings and scene.

 

[rbarris]

Please try out the new MBP Software Update, this issue on the MBP's with 8600M GPU should be resolved.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2720513968&sid=1

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookprosoftwareupdate12.html

 

[Oberon]

Any news about what happened with WoW and Leopard? Is the issue resolved in 10.5 or do we have to wait for a MacBook Pro firmware update too?

 

[rbarris]

Any news about what happened with WoW and Leopard? Is the issue resolved in 10.5 or do we have to wait for a MacBook Pro firmware update too?

No, should be resolved in 10.5.0.

 

[vascott]

I have an 8600m GT and its a peice of ****. I really am not happy with it playing wow at full rez or even 1200x800 wide. Let me answer your questions though.

Hi. I've just ordered a new MBP SR nvidia 8600
128 ddr memory.
I've searched the forums very intensively and I havn't found a nice thread about Wow on the new macbooks.
I hope that any of you can answer the following questions.

1. How many FPS do you get while playing it on either of the models, 128ddr, 256ddr? This question should be answered considering:
Different graphics mode. Solo playing in Outland, Party on a dungeon, Raiding 25 or 40 man.

Running around the Barrens right now I am getting 20fps on average.

2. Have any of you been able to play in on Windows XP or Vista with Boot camp using any kind of official or non official drivers?

Have not tried xp on my mac. I gave up Windows when I came to mac. I think I might go back to XP

[/quote]3. How much compromised is performanced while playing listeing to music with Itunes and using Ventrilo or Teamspeak.[/quote]

Have not noticed that much really (using an external display for gaming and laptop display for everything else).

4. Heat questions such as fan noise while playing for more than one or two hours. Temperature on different parts of the MBP such as keyboard, bottom side, etc.

Fans are loud when they are playing wow. Mine max out at 6000rpm. I use the in board mic and everyone can hear them. Temps are hot. Burnable hot.

5. Difference on heat & performance while playing on windows and OSX.

I have not used a notebook for gaming before my MBP.

6. FPS using a full UI with all the raiding addons such as ORA2, Swstats, Sraidframes, etc.

Have not looked for fps while raiding.

7. Battery life while playing it unplugged.

About an hour.

8. Ping, heat, lifetime battery and performance differences while playing with Ethernet or Wireless adapter.

Please add up any other questions.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my spelling (I'm from Europe and english is not my "born language").[/QUOTE]

I am posting right now because I'm really getting annoyed with this. A mac tower with a better video card might make a difference. Would I buy a MBP again for other uses. Sure. Would I buy it again for gaming? I am on the line. I still use it and it works...but the video lag is a pain in the ass and sometimes drives me nuts.

Good luck.