Make WoW run faster

[ATTACKM4N]

is there anyway to make WoW run faster like better fps on a black macbook?

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

Originally Posted by ATTACKM4N

is there anyway to make WoW run faster like better fps on a black macbook?

You can over clock your GPU to squeeze some more juice out of it. I don't recommend it but you could do that. Or you can install hacked drivers too.

[ATTACKM4N]

where can i get hacked drivers?

[windywoo]

Have you already turned all the details as low as they can go, and reduced screen size? Reducing the draw distance tends to give the biggest gains, and never turn shadow detail above 1 or 2.

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

Before you start tweeking your hardware I suggest that you lower all your settings and your resolultion first. If your still too slow then go to google.com and search "hacked drives (insert your video card here)".

[ATTACKM4N]

would increasing the RAM do anything?

[Cboss]

Originally Posted by ATTACKM4N

would increasing the RAM do anything?

I would recommend having at least 2 GB of RAM. If you already have that much then I don't think you would notice much improvement by upgrading to 4 GB or beyond.

[spencecb]

Originally Posted by Cboss

I would recommend having at least 2 GB of RAM. If you already have that much then I don't think you would notice much improvement by upgrading to 4 GB or beyond.

Not to mention a black MacBook can not have 4GB of RAM or more.

[OZMP]

cap the FPS to ~30 as it isnt massivly noticable over that, and then it will be smoother.... and then you can turn the quality up. or buy a mac pro

[Wolf Gang]

You could always upgrade graphics card and ram... That will always help.

[Huntn]

Don't think graphic card upgrade is an option for the a macbook...

[cammydoom]

ive been reading into how to squeeze as much performance out of my 2.4ghz macbook 13.3 unibody and honostly i love this device but no matter what they market this device for it just isnt meant to game. with this said i understand this doesnt actualy answer the stated question, but as i read late one night i was on a forum talking about starwars the old republic and what it would take to get it for mac clients and i found that most games are initial produced using directx but mac doesnt offer directx i found that this is actually the whole downside to a mac. aparently the api mac uses is just not nearly as good as directx and the entire process to emulate games like WOW to play on it leaves you lacking. so as you play WOW you will notice terrible fps and the sad truth is as long as you use a mac to play said games their emulated conterparts will never be to par of a PC version. But there is a catch to all of this ive mentioned macs come with bootcamp if you look in finder go to apps then utilities and you will find it. if you own a copy of windows simply install it run it and bam directx and awesome fps again. now if you run dual os' id recommend you find how much ram has allowed you to install and you do so so you dont suffer lack there of. anyways i hope this helps im no computer wizz but ive read alot at this point and this appears to be the best solution to mac gamming issues at this point

[Exhale]

Originally Posted by cammydoom

aparently the api mac uses is just not nearly as good as directx and the entire process to emulate games like WOW to play on it leaves you lacking.

A problem with Mac OS in terms of games is indeed the API that the operating system supports.

Wheras Windows supports not only DirectX11, it is also capable of handling the very latest OpenGL versions - through a process as simple as upgrading the Graphics Card driver. Somewhat current Windows boxes as such are going to be sporting DX11 and OpenGL 4.2 support.

XP machines will be limited to DX9, but can still run OpenGL 4.2. Linux machines handle 4.2 as well.

Mac OS machines however will have no DirectX support (for obvious reasons), but more problematically - only OpenGL 2.1 support if its Snow Leopard. Or OpenGL 3 support for Lion & Mountain Lion.

Newer revisions of both are used not only to add more types of graphical shaders, but to improve performance through more effective rendering and programming techniques. DirectX 11 in WoW for example is one of the top priorities for improving performance - and Mac OS simply does not have any way to enjoy the same efficiency improvements.

In the end, not only does Mac OS require developers to code against a completely different API - it requires them to code against a different API that is obsolete.

The second problem is one of optimization. On Windows & Linux, new revisions of drivers are released monthly whose job it is to remove glitches (many specific, based on individual titles), but also to enhance performance and efficiency. In most cases, these will be only a few percent - anywhere between 3-6% tends to be more common. But 10%, and even extreme cases as 40% have been known. Mac OS, due to Apple's display driver model, simply does not enjoy this luxury, and will be behind the competitor systems even on the same types of loads.

Of course, some houses just employ a wrapper around the whole thing - which throws performance out the window; simple to implement though.

[appleaddicted]

how can i make overclock un gpu?

[MattA]

The Black Macbook had a GMA950 graphics chip in it. If you were really lucky, you got the x3000, but that wasn't much better.

These chips are pretty much useless for gaming. By the time they switched them to the Geforce 9400m, the unibody macbook was the new machine.

I remember reading that someone put a macbook with a GMA 950 and a Macbook with the 9400m side by side. They had both of them sitting in Ironforge on WoW. the GMA950 got 5fps. The 9400m got 50.

[JordanNZ]

Originally Posted by cammydoom

ive been reading into how to squeeze as much performance out of my 2.4ghz macbook 13.3 unibody and honostly i love this device but no matter what they market this device for it just isnt meant to game. with this said i understand this doesnt actualy answer the stated question, but as i read late one night i was on a forum talking about starwars the old republic and what it would take to get it for mac clients and i found that most games are initial produced using directx but mac doesnt offer directx i found that this is actually the whole downside to a mac. aparently the api mac uses is just not nearly as good as directx and the entire process to emulate games like WOW to play on it leaves you lacking. so as you play WOW you will notice terrible fps and the sad truth is as long as you use a mac to play said games their emulated conterparts will never be to par of a PC version. But there is a catch to all of this ive mentioned macs come with bootcamp if you look in finder go to apps then utilities and you will find it. if you own a copy of windows simply install it run it and bam directx and awesome fps again. now if you run dual os' id recommend you find how much ram has allowed you to install and you do so so you dont suffer lack there of. anyways i hope this helps im no computer wizz but ive read alot at this point and this appears to be the best solution to mac gamming issues at this point

All of Blizzards games are native on OSX. Nothing is being Emulated.
So this is false.

[iMacFarlane]

Mac OS machines however will have no DirectX support (for obvious reasons), but more problematically - only OpenGL 2.1 support if its Snow Leopard. Or OpenGL 3 support for Lion & Mountain Lion.
. . .
In the end, not only does Mac OS require developers to code against a completely different API - it requires them to code against a different API that is obsolete.

. . .

And just why is this? I've been gaming for over 20 years, and as such part of my computer housekeeping was periodic driver update installs. When I came to Mac about 2 years ago, I was impressed with the capabilities of my new iMac, but became frustrated after Starcraft 2's release, and the buzz that surrounded the poor framerates of the OS X client vs the awesome framerates of the Windows client on the same hardware. Apple released a focused SL update (10.6.5 I think) that was targeted at OpenGL performance. But the original question remains: why on Earth is an abstract software layer 'protected' in a way that periodic updates or upgrades can't be performed? Does it somehow tie in to the security scheme of OS X? Why wouldn't Apple attempt to update OS X's OpenGL support to the most recent stable version?

[JordanNZ]

Originally Posted by bchen1977

he has valid points man. i think it surely has a connection, the OS.

Of course.

But Blizzard aren't emulating anything. Their games are native.
So that's not the reason some of the games run slower on the mac side.

----------

Originally Posted by iMacFarlane

. . .
But the original question remains: why on Earth is an abstract software layer 'protected' in a way that periodic updates or upgrades can't be performed? Does it somehow tie in to the security scheme of OS X? Why wouldn't Apple attempt to update OS X's OpenGL support to the most recent stable version?

Because the entire OS GUI and a lot of it's underlying API's run on it.
Many things would break.

They've made a clean break with the core profile in Lion. But I don't know of any game developers using it yet.

[Mackilroy]

Originally Posted by bchen1977

so for you, what causes the game to run smoothly on windows and not on mac? i also think that you have a point but he showed more evidences on why it would run slow on mac.

It's fairly simple: with a PC you get better GPUs and more optimization through drivers.

Speaking of Starcraft 2, I got the same performance under both Windows and OS X on my machine.

[JordanNZ]

Originally Posted by bchen1977

so for you, what causes the game to run smoothly on windows and not on mac? i also think that you have a point but he showed more evidences on why it would run slow on mac.

Graphics drivers, Bugs, the way opengl works on OSX, also the fact that the mac team at Blizzard is tiny compared to the windows team. They have the same programmers working on all of the mac games, so they're stretched.

But all of their games are native. Nothing is being emulated. Blizzard themselves have stated this. Take a look at the WoW forums for more info.

Cheers