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Apple Seeds 'Snow Leopard Graphics Update' to Developers
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Oh my. Now you have me scared that mine will fail. It's been problem free for two years, but of course I haven't used the computer in a any GPU intensive ways. Is there a way to improve cooling or is it up to chance?
I guess this will help me keep my time gaming short and go to bed on time.
You have 4 years of warranty covered by Apple for those GPUs. If it failed more than 3 times, you're likely to get a new MBP instead.
Those who used pacifist to install the required extensions did you also install OpenGL,OpenCL, Quartz etc etc from Frameworks?
Just curious to know what else to install besides those from the extensions folder of the new imac update.
Just curious to know what else to install besides those from the extensions folder of the new imac update.
Before:
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After:
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macbook pro is the mid 2010 13inch 2.4GHz with Nvidia 320M, not too sure if the installation is done correctly but from the looks of it the 320M does not give much improvement. Correct me if I'm wrong
Note i did install the Quartz, OpenGL, OpenCL etc etc from the Frameworks so not sure if that has any effects.
After:
macbook pro is the mid 2010 13inch 2.4GHz with Nvidia 320M, not too sure if the installation is done correctly but from the looks of it the 320M does not give much improvement. Correct me if I'm wrong
Note i did install the Quartz, OpenGL, OpenCL etc etc from the Frameworks so not sure if that has any effects.
I'm on a Mac Pro 1,1 with an ATI 3870 HD graphics card.
I installed the ATI .kext files from the iMac update, "touched" the Extensions folder, then rebooted. My FPS tests on GL View increased from the 800s to the 1400s. A pretty big increase.
I installed the ATI .kext files from the iMac update, "touched" the Extensions folder, then rebooted. My FPS tests on GL View increased from the 800s to the 1400s. A pretty big increase.
I somehow think that the update is made for discrete gfx card in mind especially those iMac's & macbook pro's 15inch and above.
Those increase may indicated that those graphics update is meant for iMac's and not 13inch!!
Didn't do anything for me with an Nvidia 8800, I'd be curious if the 2600 worked. No harm in trying!
Just wanted to share my experiences with this update on my MacBook Pro 15"Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM and Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT with 512MB of VRAM.
Before the update I had my World of Warcraft settings at medium with additional things turned off and it lagged a lot. As soon as I installed this update I turned to ultra mode. At 6PM in Dalaran in Ultra mode I was getting between 18 and 30 fps. In Exodar, between 70 and 120fps. I then put eyeTV on my MacBooks display, and WoW on my 24" display. Was still getting around 15fps in a crowded Dalaran.
In addition, unplugging and replugging my miniDP is a lot faster and seems seamless now, as does waking up from sleep.
(And no, I will NOT torrent this)
Before the update I had my World of Warcraft settings at medium with additional things turned off and it lagged a lot. As soon as I installed this update I turned to ultra mode. At 6PM in Dalaran in Ultra mode I was getting between 18 and 30 fps. In Exodar, between 70 and 120fps. I then put eyeTV on my MacBooks display, and WoW on my 24" display. Was still getting around 15fps in a crowded Dalaran.
In addition, unplugging and replugging my miniDP is a lot faster and seems seamless now, as does waking up from sleep.
(And no, I will NOT torrent this)
Considering this is a seed, what do you think the chances are that it'll improve beyond what is provided in the update? could some of the performance issue also reside in the operating system itself?
Slightly off topic I wonder whether 10.6.5 will be a pre-requisit to the driver update because if the performance issues go beyond just the drivers there might need to be fixes/updates further down the stack.
PS: Could you try it with a website that has technology which exploits Core Animation; particularly a CSS3 heavy website such as the IE test one? I'd love to see whether it translates into better fps.
Before:
After:
macbook pro is the mid 2010 13inch 2.4GHz with Nvidia 320M, not too sure if the installation is done correctly but from the looks of it the 320M does not give much improvement. Correct me if I'm wrong
Note i did install the Quartz, OpenGL, OpenCL etc etc from the Frameworks so not sure if that has any effects.
I have got the same mbp and i am wondering the overall performance difference if anyone can help
Just downloaded the graphics card update via my developer account.
I am still at work and only installed it on my Macbook Pro i7 so far. When I return home I install it on my Mac Pro i7 with GTX 285 to test it.
Still need to find if there is a benchmark in Starcraft II. I think I will find the benchmark in the Steam games.
Does anybody know a site with benchmarks for the current graphics drivers so I can post the differences?
So far I only know barefeats but their benchmarks are often useless.
Also they also usually benchmark MacPro's with GTX 120's or even 4870's... beefier GTX285 are rare in their setups which is.
I am still at work and only installed it on my Macbook Pro i7 so far. When I return home I install it on my Mac Pro i7 with GTX 285 to test it.
Still need to find if there is a benchmark in Starcraft II. I think I will find the benchmark in the Steam games.
Does anybody know a site with benchmarks for the current graphics drivers so I can post the differences?
So far I only know barefeats but their benchmarks are often useless.
Also they also usually benchmark MacPro's with GTX 120's or even 4870's... beefier GTX285 are rare in their setups which is
.For people asking 9400 performance, atleast SC2 multiplayer is now more playable, I had everything medium except shaders and shadow as there was some problems with graphics with medium and some slowdowns.
Gack!
All of you folks asking for Torrents are missing the boat.
I suppose it is theoretically possible that the Snow Leopard Graphics Update may have more kexts than in the "Mid 2010 iMac Graphics Update" but it seems unlikely.
All you need to do is download "Pacifist" and the "Mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update" and do as I said before:
First:
Back up your extensions folder at system/library/extensions - just make a copy somewhere just in case.
Then:
1. Download the mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update from Apple.
2. Double click on the disc image but don't run the installer.
2. Download Pacifist if you don't already have it.
3. use Pacifist to open the Mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update.
4. go to system/library/extensions and highlight all of the entries that start with ATI.
5. at the top of the Pacifist masthead is an icon marked 'install'. Click it.
6. You're done. Reboot.
-don't highlight the entire extensions folder.
-don't update any bits you don't want to install.
-if you have an Nvidia card highlight the Nvidia kexts instead of the ATI.
-if this bricks your machine it's not my fault.
All of you folks asking for Torrents are missing the boat.
I suppose it is theoretically possible that the Snow Leopard Graphics Update may have more kexts than in the "Mid 2010 iMac Graphics Update" but it seems unlikely.
All you need to do is download "Pacifist" and the "Mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update" and do as I said before:
First:
Back up your extensions folder at system/library/extensions - just make a copy somewhere just in case.
Then:
1. Download the mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update from Apple.
2. Double click on the disc image but don't run the installer.
2. Download Pacifist if you don't already have it.
3. use Pacifist to open the Mid-2010 iMac Graphics Update.
4. go to system/library/extensions and highlight all of the entries that start with ATI.
5. at the top of the Pacifist masthead is an icon marked 'install'. Click it.
6. You're done. Reboot.
-don't highlight the entire extensions folder.
-don't update any bits you don't want to install.
-if you have an Nvidia card highlight the Nvidia kexts instead of the ATI.
-if this bricks your machine it's not my fault.
Mac Pro / GTX 285
10.6.0
10.6.4
WTF?
Apple placed on the wall FPS??
Yikes, that's TERRIBLE.
I would immediately try to do the graphics update as previously described in this thread.
Sigh
At least GLView (of which screenshots have been liberally spread throughout this thread) have framerate data per OpenGL level. You could try that.
Just downloaded the graphics card update via my developer account.
I am still at work and only installed it on my Macbook Pro i7 so far. When I return home I install it on my Mac Pro i7 with GTX 285 to test it.
Still need to find if there is a benchmark in Starcraft II. I think I will find the benchmark in the Steam games.
Does anybody know a site with benchmarks for the current graphics drivers so I can post the differences?
So far I only know barefeats but their benchmarks are often useless.
Also they also usually benchmark MacPro's with GTX 120's or even 4870's... beefier GTX285 are rare in their setups which is
At least GLView (of which screenshots have been liberally spread throughout this thread) have framerate data per OpenGL level. You could try that.
Well, I'll be following this thread and anticipating the release. Hopefully I'll see some improvements on my NVIDIA 330M.
Time will tell.
Time will tell.
I've been having issues with youtube on my Mac Mini. I keep getting a spinning ball when it stops every few seconds. Very annoying to have happen on a computer that's less than a year old! With 4Gm RAM.
Have you installed this driver from NVIDIA yet?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce-macosx-19.5.8f03-driver.html
It fixes some issues with the GTX 285 on 10.6.4.
My system:
Mac Pro quad core early 2009 2.93ghz
Ram = 3gb
Graphics Card = ATI radeon 4870
Installed the updated ATI drivers using Pacifist.
Half Life 2
Benchmarked using a gun battle in the beginning, still only equipped with a pistol. The PC benchmarking tool doesn't appear to be present in the mac version of the game, hence the results are what I witnessed during game play.
Everything maxed, motion blur on, max AA and AF, 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Before = 50 - 60 fps
After = 140 - 160fps
Starcraft 2
Benchmarked by loading up my last save point, the start of Mission 22 supernova. I believe the results are also limited by my Ram.
1920 x 1080, all settings on ultra apart from texture quality which is set at high.
Before = Approx 25 fps
After = Approx 45 fps
Mac Pro quad core early 2009 2.93ghz
Ram = 3gb
Graphics Card = ATI radeon 4870
Installed the updated ATI drivers using Pacifist.
Half Life 2
Benchmarked using a gun battle in the beginning, still only equipped with a pistol. The PC benchmarking tool doesn't appear to be present in the mac version of the game, hence the results are what I witnessed during game play.
Everything maxed, motion blur on, max AA and AF, 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Before = 50 - 60 fps
After = 140 - 160fps
Starcraft 2
Benchmarked by loading up my last save point, the start of Mission 22 supernova. I believe the results are also limited by my Ram.
1920 x 1080, all settings on ultra apart from texture quality which is set at high.
Before = Approx 25 fps
After = Approx 45 fps
Both the test have been done with the 9600M chip enabled.
To be noted: as of 10.6.3, I used to have that 60+ fps in Dalaran with the old drivers. The 10.6.4 made the drivers utterly painful, so I got such an high drop in frame rate, at the point where I had no more fun playing with all the settings at minimum and low fps everywhere...