Video Card News

[scho52386]

Ok, so i have a macbook 1.83ghz intel duo, 1.5 gigs of ram and that stupid 64mb vram thing. im not very good with computers at all, but i just installed bootcamp and installed xp. i also know that the video card or wutever is 64mb, but after installing xp and going to display properties and advanced, the adapter information says that the Intel GMA 950 has 128 mb of Memory size, not 64mb. For all people playing World of Warcraft, i am installing the game right now, and as soon as the updates are complete i will post FPS copmared to the 3.5-10 fps i got in OS X. And i have a lvl 60 character that does BWL, AQ, MC, and ZG so ill post framerates from those cuz everyone says they get anywhere from 10-40 fps on their OS X in IF, SW, Org, etc., which i was not getting. All my settings were low etc etc on OS X. I am also on a Medium to High populated server.

[Mackilroy]

Only in Mac OS X is the GMA950 limited to 64 Mb (plus 16 for 'setup' purposes or whatnot). In Windows it can use up to 224 Mb of RAM, if I recall correctly.

I look forward to seeing your FPS rates.

[scho52386]

ok so its done! now i have two wow accounts, one is my girlfrinds account, lvl 60 druid. i ran it next to my toshiba 1.8 centrino 1.0 gig, i ran on a macbook 1.83 dual, 1.25 gigs.

-old setup
Wow on 1.83 macbook 1.5 gigs operating on OS X. around 8ish fps in org, and 4 in SW

-New setup
Wow on 1.83 macbook 1.5 gigs operating on bootcamp xp. 15 LOWEST FPS and 45 highest fps. settings same except on bootcamp, i had my terrain distance ALL THE WAY UP.

*Running side by side in orgrimmar*
-Toshiba orgrimmar g/f's account - 18 FPS 1st check, 2nd check (30sec later) 23 fps, Facing wall, 31 FPS
-Macbook orgrimar my account - 19 FPS 1st check, 2nd check (same time as toshiba), 20 FPS, Facing same wall, 34 FPS

Outside- both hid mid 30's and stayed

Tested like 5 minutes ago
-over a 5 minute span sitting still outside of orgrimmar
Lowest - 15
Highest 46

the change is amazing, i couldnt believe it. if u have a macbook...get Bootcamp. it runs wow at 128 mb vram where as OS X runs it at 64 until it needs to pull out more, which doesnt happen often i dont think.

i will be posting FPS as soon as possible from end game instances. i was gonna do BWL but group was full in guild, update took longer than expected so i apologize.

Was gonna return my macbook for macbook pro, but now i am keeping it. im gettng a black one instead since i can get 100% in store credit for this one since i had it for about 2 weeks. I truly believe that this shared memory thing is actually better now, cuz its capable of going 224 mb vram. if you were able to put this onto 224 mb vram, i believe it will run almost as good as the macbook pro, and wont cost u 1000 dollars more. hope this was helpful, if u have any question, feel free to contact me on AIM scho52386

[greatdevourer]

Ouch, those benches hit X pretty damn hard. Good proof as to the difference software makes, though

[scho52386]

hmm...ok so another update. i played AV (alterac valley) today 40 vs 40....results were pretty poor. first game on os x....actually froze my game....i mean...i had to force quit, then i restarted in windows. FPS not available cuz it didnt even give me a chance, but in the room to Queue up for BG, i was getting 7 FPS MAX.

so...i restarted into bootcamp and ran wow and waited freaking 15 minutes for that stupid thing to go away so i can enter a BG again. I got in AV again and my FPS in Bootcamp was only hitting a max of 20, a min of 9, and avg of 13-15....

For everyone that doesnt do any end game instances yet such as BWL, AQ, MC etc...this is very very bad. Ill try to have some more updates on some 40 man Instances on not just Battlegrounds.

[Mackilroy]

Interestingly enough, elsewhere in this forum there's a topic about a guy with 2 gigs of RAM who's getting an average of 28-36 frames per second: Link (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=207176)

[Mord]

running without dual channel ram cuts the framerate by 20-40%, also it's not so much about vram, it's more that the graphics drivers are better for windows, applications are faster in mac os x but games are faster in windows.

[scho52386]

im sorry, i dont know much about computers. what does dual channel mean? two ram sticks? cuz i do have 2 ram sticks....and i dont know how 500 more mb of ram will actually make my FPS increast that much...one of my ram sticks is 1 gig and the other is 512

[scho52386]

oh and i read that dude's post. he is claiming to be getting ALOT more FPS with his STOCK macbook than i am with my 1.5 gig macbook....

[Mackilroy]

Dual-channel RAM means same RAM size, type, everything. You're not running in d-c if you've got a 1 Gb stick and a 512 stick. Best bet would be to get another 1 Gb stick, but 'tis your choice.

[dextertangocci]

Can't somebody write a firmware update to up the VRAM of the GMA 950!!!

I would NEVER install :mad: windoze:mad: on my precious MB, not even to play games, and I am happy to say that my MB is TOTALLY free of anything :mad: microsoft:mad: , and I intend to keep it that way

[Mord]

vram is not really the issue, it's more the drivers, oh and to the OP as i said running dual channel makes a huge difference in graphics as it cuts the latency in half

[GFLPraxis]

Can't somebody write a firmware update to up the VRAM of the GMA 950!!!

I would NEVER install :mad: windoze:mad: on my precious MB, not even to play games, and I am happy to say that my MB is TOTALLY free of anything :mad: microsoft:mad: , and I intend to keep it that way

Use CrossOver Office :)

[scho52386]

wellp.....traded my macbook in and ended up getting a macbook pro. hopefully it iwll play wow very well in mac OS x and in bootcamp. :-) thanks for the info on what dual channel was...now i know :-) ill post new FPS up soon. i also have FPS up for a raid in AQ20, Deadmines, and Blackwing Lair, but there back at my house and im at my parents right now, so ill post them later on :-) ill also post new FPS on the MBP

[Mackilroy]

Heh. Well, the MBP is betting for gaming anyways – you should definitely get much better frame rates with it.

[dextertangocci]

Use CrossOver Office :)

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