Steam Games on Intel Mac via Boot Camp [Archive]

Lopez.T.H.

Apr 6, 2006, 08:53 PM

How do they run? I have nearly every Steam game and if these games run good. (Above 30FPs) I think I may have bought a MBP. That is a major selling point for me. Benchmarks please!

Josh396

Apr 6, 2006, 09:35 PM

Well I'm currently downloading CS:S as we speak but I've played WoW on Windows just to see how it would compare. I get about the same FPS on Windows as I did in OS X. I have no doubt that CS:S will get at least 30 FPS, but I think it's going to come down to what settings you will be able to play with. If you need all max settings then I don't know if that's a realistic number. However if you can play on Medium to High settings then I think you should be fine. Once I get it up and running I'll report back with FPS numbers but I think I read somewhere else on the board that someone was getting 102 FPS. I highly doubt he had Max settings but I'd be surprised if you couldn't get at least 30 out of any of your games.

Lopez.T.H.

Apr 6, 2006, 09:57 PM

Then in this forum theres a topic on overclocking the graphics chip. That may boost performance. Its probably better than what I get running on my PC now.

greenry

Apr 7, 2006, 12:42 AM

I'm getting about an average of 100fps at 1440x900 with all the details at high in Half Life 2. Go for it, you will be impressed.

MacBookJoePro

Apr 7, 2006, 02:02 AM

Greenry, did you overclock your grpahics card? that is a really good score. Think i gotta go get Half-life 2.

-JoE

Nermal

Apr 7, 2006, 03:02 AM

I just downloaded the HL2 demo, or at least I thought I did. The first thing it does is ask me to create an account. Why on earth do I need an account to play a (non-MMO) game? And now that I've actually tried to launch the thing, it seems to be updating itself (without asking whether I wanted to) and I'm having to wait another 10 minutes :mad:

In other words, no benchmarks yet.

MacRumorUser

Apr 7, 2006, 05:26 AM

takao

Apr 7, 2006, 05:28 AM

i take steam over starforce etc. everyday

MacRumorUser

Apr 7, 2006, 07:35 AM

i take steam over starforce etc. everyday

That's like comparing piles to diarrhea. Better to have neither..

Haoshiro

Apr 7, 2006, 08:09 AM

Personally I like Steam. Last time I want to install from my retail CDs one of the discs would not work, but I was still able to login to steam and download my game... plus it lets me put it on as many PCs as I want and I have no need for the CD... good stuff I think, but that is me.

greenry

Apr 7, 2006, 08:48 AM

Greenry, did you overclock your grpahics card? that is a really good score. Think i gotta go get Half-life 2.

-JoE

No, no overclocking. Yeah, I was suprised too, I guess the XT1600 is a decent middle of the road card. But the dual core processer and 1.5GB of ram doesnt hurt either :)

Lopez.T.H.

Apr 7, 2006, 04:24 PM

I'm getting about an average of 100fps at 1440x900 with all the details at high in Half Life 2. Go for it, you will be impressed.

Wow! Thats better than what my PC runs HL2 at. Damn, I will be able to play games! And does anybody know if the Apple Remote works with Windows Media Center?

Nermal

Apr 7, 2006, 04:57 PM

And does anybody know if the Apple Remote works with Windows Media Center?

I don't know, but are you aware that Media Centre won't run under Boot Camp?

Lopez.T.H.

Apr 7, 2006, 05:45 PM

I don't know, but are you aware that Media Centre won't run under Boot Camp?

Engadget says so.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/06/boot-camp-the-day-after/

Dagless

Apr 7, 2006, 05:56 PM

Welcome to the world of STEAM! Valve Steam is a big pile of ****!
When I pay to play I dont expect to have to put up with propierty rubbish like this :(

At least HL2 & CS run great though :0

I run HL2 at 1680x1050 full settings except no anti aliasing.

Runs smooth as butter :)

Just the way I used to think! I hated Steam. Just bought HL2, couldn't download for busy servers. But I find it invaluable now. The whole integrated friends and server listing, before you even enter the game! And of course you can browse servers for games you have. I dunno. It's grown on me a load.

Haoshiro

Apr 7, 2006, 06:20 PM

Yeah, Steam is great, they just need more games... and the Mac version that will never happen. ;)

Nermal

Apr 7, 2006, 07:02 PM

Engadget says so.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/06/boot-camp-the-day-after/

OK, but officially it's unsupported.

Lopez.T.H.

Apr 7, 2006, 11:04 PM

Ok, so when I get this I should get XP Home or XP Pro.

7on

Apr 8, 2006, 05:51 PM

Ok, so when I get this I should get XP Home or XP Pro.

I'd go Home because that's cheaper.

DisFrikkenWill

Apr 9, 2006, 03:06 AM

all i play is cs 1.6 so it would probly be faster since it isnt a high end graphics game

s4in7

Apr 17, 2006, 07:24 PM

hey all...i have an iMac 20" Core Duo with the x1600 w/128 vRAM. i was pretty worried that i would have to play games in a different resolution than the monitor's native 1680x1050, or else dumb them down a whole lot to get a playable framerate. at first run-through i played UT2k4 & CS:s and i got decent FPS at 1680x1050, but nothing to get excited about. then i downloaded the beta 14 version of ATi Tool and overclocked my X1600 from a paltry 400/400 to a ravishing 525/500 and now im getting 50+ FPS with all settings maxed (sans AA & AF; well 0xAA, but i am using 2xAF) in CS:S/HL2 & 80+ FPS in UT2k4. pretty decent performance...im very happy :D

.:s4in7:.

Josh396

Apr 17, 2006, 07:49 PM

hey all...i have an iMac 20" Core Duo with the x1600 w/128 vRAM. i was pretty worried that i would have to play games in a different resolution than the monitor's native 1680x1050, or else dumb them down a whole lot to get a playable framerate. at first run-through i played UT2k4 & CS:s and i got decent FPS at 1680x1050, but nothing to get excited about. .
How much RAM do you have? I have a 20" Core Duo with 256 VRAM and 2 GB of RAM and have every setting maxed out on CS:S and get over 60 FPS the whole time. I also play at 1680x1050. I'm more than amazed. I have friends that have some pretty kick ass PC's that don't approach these numbers. I see no reason for anyone to buy a PC for gaming anymore, especially when the new Power Macs come out.

t1rider321

Apr 17, 2006, 09:01 PM

will overclocking my graphics card void my apple care?

Josh396

Apr 18, 2006, 08:49 AM

will overclocking my graphics card void my apple care?
I'm sure it will. Some people say no because it's software that overclocks it and doesn't actually involve any work to the actual graphics card. However, I still think if Apple found out you overclocked the graphics card they wouldn't repair your machine. Although I have heard stories of people that have overclocked it and Apple never realized it.

jdechko

Apr 18, 2006, 09:26 AM

And of course you can browse servers for games you have.

I'm in the middle with Steam. I think its great in that you can download every Valve game you've registered on Steam... it's great for work when I'm not busy. I was able to download HL, CS, BS, and OF and play them here at work without the CD. However, I really hate that it forces upgrades before you can play. It seems to be slow at updating the games, and it puts another step between me and my game (Launch Steam, launch game vs launch game).

Josh396

Apr 18, 2006, 09:33 AM

I'm in the middle with Steam. I think its great in that you can download every Valve game you've registered on Steam... it's great for work when I'm not busy. I was able to download HL, CS, BS, and OF and play them here at work without the CD. However, I really hate that it forces upgrades before you can play. It seems to be slow at updating the games, and it puts another step between me and my game (Launch Steam, launch game vs launch game).
I couldn't agree anymore. I love the fact that I can play any Steam game anywhere just by downloading it. However, last week it had to update CS:S and it took forever. Also, I agree with another poster about the friends list they now have. I can see whatever game my friends are playing on and what server, which is a nice plus.