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gman901

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 1, 2007
607
14
Houston, TX
I noticed some Mac games do not have the ability to limit the frame rate within the game itself. Is there something within Mountain Lion that can limit frame rates in games without an option to do so?
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,466
26,587
The Misty Mountains
Wondering why would you want to limit frames that a game might naturally generate on specific hardware capable of handling it? It's not usually a concern you hear bandied about the MacRumor's Game forum. :D
 

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
Some games have this built in and its very nice to have actually... I do not know of a good way to do it if its not built into the game.

On some games they look and work great limiting it to 30 or 60 fps or whatever... instead of having them run like 100 fps and cook your hardware for no reason, when its just as good limited and your machine runs much cooler.
 
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cluthz

macrumors 68040
Jun 15, 2004
3,118
4
Norway
Limiting frame rates can give a better overall experience in games.

When I played WoW on an MBP a few years ago I did limit frame rates in raids to 30FPS as that would give me a consistent FPS, instead of the machine heating up and give huge FPS drops when things started to get ugly :)

Strategy games can also benefit from running in 30 FPS instead of 60 FPS on a laptop if you play on the lap :) Instead of having a warm noisy machine you can have a more quiet and not so hot machine on your lap and games that are turn based are just as fine in 30 FPS imo.

Unfortunately most games only have v-sync which will limit it at 60 FPS, which is usually full blast on a laptop :(
 
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gman901

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 1, 2007
607
14
Houston, TX
Wondering why would you want to limit frames that a game might naturally generate on specific hardware capable of handling it? It's not usually a concern you hear bandied about the MacRumor's Game forum. :D

Honestly, when I limited my FPS in Diablo 3 to 30 on my 2012 Air, I noticed the fans went from full blown to very low at that FPS. The gaming experience to me was not impacted, in fact I could play at full resolution without the fan noise. I just have some games, like Deathspank and Sam & Max 301 that I did not see a FPS limiter, and the fans kick in like crazy. I figure these point and click games should easily play between 25-30 FPS without the fans kicking to overdrive.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,466
26,587
The Misty Mountains
Honestly, when I limited my FPS in Diablo 3 to 30 on my 2012 Air, I noticed the fans went from full blown to very low at that FPS. The gaming experience to me was not impacted, in fact I could play at full resolution without the fan noise. I just have some games, like Deathspank and Sam & Max 301 that I did not see a FPS limiter, and the fans kick in like crazy. I figure these point and click games should easily play between 25-30 FPS without the fans kicking to overdrive.

Thanks for the clarification! I understand now. :)
 

jblagden

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2013
1,162
641
Wondering why would you want to limit frames that a game might naturally generate on specific hardware capable of handling it? It's not usually a concern you hear bandied about the MacRumor's Game forum. :D
It would be nice to be able to limit the frame rate because Most Macs only have integrated graphics; limiting the frame rate could help to lengthen the life of the CPU. When you have a dedicated GPU, frame rates are of little consequence, but when your CPU is handling the graphics computations, it can be a bit worrisome.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,466
26,587
The Misty Mountains
It would be nice to be able to limit the frame rate because Most Macs only have integrated graphics; limiting the frame rate could help to lengthen the life of the CPU. When you have a dedicated GPU, frame rates are of little consequence, but when your CPU is handling the graphics computations, it can be a bit worrisome.

Would'nt this be more of an issue of performance versus "saving" your CPU?
 

jblagden

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2013
1,162
641
Would'nt this be more of an issue of performance versus "saving" your CPU?
For most gamers, yes. For me, no. I'm more concerned with extending the life of my CPU. Though, limiting the frame rate will help with the little hiccups I experience when I play Starcraft II with medium graphics settings.
 
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