Portal + 4870 or 4890… what are your frame rates like?

I found this online.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3726/quick-look-mac-os-x-portal-performance

How do I get framerates in portal? Let me know and I can measure it with my apple 4870 at 1920x1200.

I don't see how it would be different if we weren't using flashed cards. My framerate with a 4870 is disappointing. I noticed that it doesn't recommend cranking all the options up, and I can see why. It doesn't perform so well.

kellen said:

How do I get framerates in portal? Let me know and I can measure it with my apple 4870 at 1920x1200.

Click to expand...

From the main menu screen click Options -> Keyboard - > Advanced, then check "enable developer console." After doing this, you can press the ~ key to bring up the console. Type "cl_showfps 1" (without the quotes) into the console and press enter. Click the X in the upper-right of the console to close it. You should now see your FPS in the upper-right corner of the screen.

I'm interested to see your results.

I have 2009 2.66 quad with 4870.

At 2560x1600 I had to get rid of AA. After that it ran well - not 60 fps but close enough. Didn't check the actual fps numbers.

same for me, running a flashed 4890 in a 2008 machine and running 1600x1080. I can get around 60fps with vertical sync off, under 30 with it on. I had expected more. I am still running leopard, not sure if that puts me at an advantage or disadvantage?!

Ack said:

From the main menu screen click Options -> Keyboard - > Advanced, then check "enable developer console." After doing this, you can press the ~ key to bring up the console. Type "cl_showfps 1" (without the quotes) into the console and press enter. Click the X in the upper-right of the console to close it. You should now see your FPS in the upper-right corner of the screen.

I'm interested to see your results.

Click to expand...

With two 23" apple monitors, one off and playing at 1920x1200, all graphics set on high, it never dipped below 59. Kept going between 59/60 real quick. Saw a quick dip into 29, but it was a blip. Running around it kept it at 59/60.

Kellen, do you have vertical sync enabled or disabled? If its enabled then you are doing a whole lot better than me.

All are on high, water is reflect all, color correction is enabled, 4xMSAA, motion blur disabled, anistropic 4x, field of view 75, wait for v-sync enabled. What was recommended.

Still shows 59-60, as if there is a cap on frame rates at 60. Slight dips to 29/30, but only flickers.

I had my FOV set on 90˚ but aside from that I am running a similar system (2008 octo 2.8 but with only 6GB ram) and not doing as well at a lower res. Will try some more tests tonight. Are you on snow leopard?

Yes on snow leopard.

kellen, having v-sync enabled will lock your framerate to 30 or 60 to keep it in sync with your monitor's refresh rate and prevent tearing lines. If you disable v-sync you'll see the real framerate numbers that your system is capable of.

I have a flashed 1GB 4870 on the Mac Pro system in my sig. I'm getting 50-70 fps depending on the area. It drops to the 40's when I'm looking into a portal. I'm running fullscreen at 1920x1200 (native). Everything's maxed out except motion blur, AA at 4x, Anisotropic 4x. EDIT: These numbers are after the update they just released, which might affect the framerate as compared to pre-update.

I'm also having a problem with the Steam overlay (SHIFT-TAB) not working on any Steam games. The game pauses, but the overlay doesn't appear correctly over the game. I *do* have access for assistive devices enabled. Anyone have the overlay working correctly with a flashed 4870?

TheStrudel said:

I don't see how it would be different if we weren't using flashed cards.

Click to expand...

I you happen to have installed 10.6.2 drivers as a fix to dual monitor issues with flashed cards, that would be a good explanation for differences.
I have a flashed 4870 and I get good framerates (90 fps approx) at the highest settings (including 8x AA and 16x AF), 1680*1050. The FPS will occasionally drop below 60 when I look at portals, but I've found that my CPU was limiting in these cases, not my GPU.

Hello,

Just to add as comparison: 09MP with 24inch Apple LED, 120GT, every video settings maxed out (V sync disabled) = 33-35 fps in some maps, 20-25 in others.

With my set-up at least it varies a lot from map to map

Loa

Well it's obviously an ATI issue, whether it be drivers/hacked version or what ever.

Because I'm using a PC GTX285 running it with the netkas injector and with all settings at max on 2560x1600 the fps stay pretty well constantly at 60fps unless something in the background does something suddenly, then i might see a small drop.

My card is a flashed 4870, not a 4890, and I'm not employing any hacks or tricks of any kind. Mine is one of the cards that works without having to do anything.

The update seems to have helped, but the fact is that Anti-aliasing makes the game cry.

I was running at 1920 x 1200, and using AA any higher than 2x with the other settings cranked causes my framerate to go low.

Okay, so I'm using a 4870 card I just flashed earlier today... do I have something set up wrong in OS X? Because I'm getting like 5-7 fps in Portal!

I know this is not what it should be getting at all, considering my 512mb card in my MacBook Pro is playing with these same settings and it's very smooth.

Is there something special I need to install in OS X for this card to work better?

UPDATE:

I reflashed my card with a different firmware (using Zeus) and then ran a kext program recommended by Cindori in another topic. Now I'm getting solid 60fps

Again, I don't have any problem with my flashed 4870 (1GB), and as long as you have 3D acceleration working (shouldn't require any hacks with the 4870), games should be working well too. Be sure you haven't installed any hack that revert to older drivers, etc.

If I play the game with just my flashed 4870 I can run at 1600x1200 4x AA etc.. no hassle - smooth as butter.

If I play the game with my flashed 4870 & old 2600XT inside the game runs like 3 fps. ?

cpnotebook80 said:

I found this online.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3726/quick-look-mac-os-x-portal-performance

Click to expand...

Nobody mentioned this...but the article was updated on the 15th stating that there was a patch released that improved frame rates.

I haven't played the Mac version yet, but when running under Win 7 x64 bootcamp on my MP, Portal is very fast. 1600x1200 all settings at maximum, it's smooth as silk. If there are framerate issues in OSX then it's gotta be something w/ the drivers or the optimization of the game's code. A 4870 or 4890 is way more than enough to handle Portal.

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to let you guys know - I'm running Portal on a mid-2010 release iMac with 2.93Ghz and boost to 3.46Ghz, with 1GB of graphics. Vertical Sync is enabled and I'm getting a solid 60fps with GPU core at about 65 degrees celsius. Without vertical sync turned on, I was getting more than 100fps.

The Informer said:

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to let you guys know - I'm running Portal on a mid-2010 release iMac with 2.93Ghz and boost to 3.46Ghz, with 1GB of graphics. Vertical Sync is enabled and I'm getting a solid 60fps with GPU core at about 65 degrees celsius. Without vertical sync turned on, I was getting more than 100fps.

Click to expand...

This issue is pretty much dead as Apple and Valve have both fixed a lot of bugs since then.