OS X CSGO FPS lag, spikes, etc on MAC

[Josh4]

Hey guys was wondering if anyone here was able to help me fix this issue, I know a lot of mac users are able to play csgo full screen on the highest resolution! Start off I just want you guys to know what im working with here;

Macbook Pro Version 10.10.1
Processor 2.5Ghz Intel Core i5
Memory 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB
I also use a monitor instead of my laptop screen

Just to let you guys know, that I also turned down every setting on csgo to the lowest settings, even with low resolution I still have FPS problems

I did research and what I've been told is prioritize csgo to the highest by doing certain things such as creating a script editor or "renice" but I dont know how to do any of those.

Please any help will help I just wanna be able to play the game with friends without worrying about the fps. This mac was specifically for my university and I can't afford a $500 computer, even if I could I wouldn't just to play a game I got other important things to worry about but I'm sure there are a lot of genius people out there who knows a solution to this !!

 

[Trautman]

And no dynamic shadows.

 

[Josh4]

And no dynamic shadows.

Not sure what you mean about dynamic shadows?

 

[Irishman]

Hey guys was wondering if anyone here was able to help me fix this issue, I know a lot of mac users are able to play csgo full screen on the highest resolution! Start off I just want you guys to know what im working with here;

Macbook Pro Version 10.10.1
Processor 2.5Ghz Intel Core i5
Memory 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB
I also use a monitor instead of my laptop screen

Just to let you guys know, that I also turned down every setting on csgo to the lowest settings, even with low resolution I still have FPS problems

I did research and what I've been told is prioritize csgo to the highest by doing certain things such as creating a script editor or "renice" but I dont know how to do any of those.

Please any help will help I just wanna be able to play the game with friends without worrying about the fps. This mac was specifically for my university and I can't afford a $500 computer, even if I could I wouldn't just to play a game I got other important things to worry about but I'm sure there are a lot of genius people out there who knows a solution to this !!

Do you have a Time Machine backup connected to your Mac?

 

[Josh4]

Do you have a Time Machine backup connected to your Mac?

I have a Time Machine but I haven't used it

 

[Irishman]

I have a Time Machine but I haven't used it

Sometimes I have really bad game slowdowns while my Time Machine backup is running.

Sometimes I have really bad game slowdowns while apps are updating on Steam.

Any automatic download that runs for more than a few minutes can drag down game performance.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I have a Time Machine but I haven't used it

Learn to use Time Machine and use it regularly if you care about your schoolwork not being lost to an unexpected disk failure or accidental deletion. It is simple to use and will save your bacon sooner or later. Just read the online help for it if you don't find the options obvious when you open it up the first time.

As for CS, you mention running it on an external monitor but you do not specify what size it is and what native resolution it is which presumably is what you are trying to play at with that GPU? That might be the problem.

The simplest way to increase FPS generally without changing anything else is to lower resolution. Within reason you are likely to find this still looks quite good with other settings options at high for the most part. Shadows tend to hurt performance as a rule and you may want to turn these down as well.

First though, I would experiment with a lower resolution appropriate to the external monitor you are using. In case you do not know this, there is an option you can turn on in Steam's settings to always display an FPS counter. You can turn this on while experimenting to test the effect or resolution and other settings changes then turn it back off if you like when satisfied with how it is looking and running.

I have a feeling that trying to drive an external monitor for this game with that integrated GPU may be your problem with performance at whatever your current settings are.

As for whatever a lot of other Mac users are doing, the only fair comparison you could make would be to other Mac users running the exact same hardware setup that you are. In other words most especially, the same GPU, same external screen and same settings overall.

Lastly, I agree with the good points above about downloads or backups running while gaming. These can do a number on performance. Time Machine you can toggle off any time you are playing and turn it back on after so it doesn't cause any performance issues while you play. Steam by default does not download anything while a game is running. It does now allow you to override this but I would not suggest doing that when playing any online game in particular.

The App Store will download updates in the background whenever they are available if it is set to do this in Settings - App Store. I've never found this to be a problem personally but if you want to ensure nothing downloads without your express permission at a time good for you, you can uncheck this option in Settings.

If you use a file sharing app such as BitTorrent, close it before gaming as it can be eating bandwidth.

Close all apps you do not need running while gaming is another way to ensure you are not taking any performance hit because of them. For a lot of stuff it is a non-issue but where you are having problems, it can't hurt.

I would focus on the first suggestion of lowering resolution and monitoring FPS playing against bots for a while to see what level of improvement you get there.

Oh, and if for some reason you are running Antivirus software, get rid of it. You don't need that slowing down your computer. This is not necessary on a Mac if you have any sense at all about where you visit on the web and don't open email attachments from unknown sources. If you want to run a periodic scan ClamXav is free on the App Store and will find and quarantine any junk it finds but in the past three years the only thing it has ever found here and it's been rare are Windows trojans buried in attachments to junk email. What is good about ClamXav is that it is just a scanner. It does not run all the time slowing your Mac down.

Whatever you do, never, ever download MacKeeper or other junk like it. Your Mac takes care of itself very nicely. You don't need to "clean it." The one I mention is malware. No doubt there are others like it out there too.

Good luck!

 

[Josh4]

I appreciate you guys helping me I really do, My time machine is off. Also my problem now with fps is that every time I try to spray someone and they're spraying too I get fps spike, or smokes will give me fps spikes other than that the game runs fairly well but those r key to doing good

As of my external monitor It helped with the performance better, Without it the resolution is extremely low. Are you guys any good with knowing how to "priority" my csgo because that may help I think, In windows it was easy "right click set to high" but in make it is very confusing because I do not know how to use a script editor

This mac can run league of legends, world of warcraft and other different types of games but why not csgo

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I appreciate you guys helping me I really do, My time machine is off. Also my problem now with fps is that every time I try to spray someone and they're spraying too I get fps spike, or smokes will give me fps spikes other than that the game runs fairly well but those r key to doing good

As of my external monitor It helped with the performance better, Without it the resolution is extremely low. Are you guys any good with knowing how to "priority" my csgo because that may help I think, In windows it was easy "right click set to high" but in make it is very confusing because I do not know how to use a script editor

This mac can run league of legends, world of warcraft and other different types of games but why not csgo

I understand your preference for playing on the larger screen.

Did you try lowering the resolution in CS:GO to see if you can find a compromise between visual quality and fps being high enough for smooth play? I still think playing with that first is going to net you biggest performance gain.

Someone else may be able to suggest a specific settings change in this game to tone down the effects for smoke and sprays a little to improve performance there while not negatively impacting gameplay. Less particles being displayed for those effects may help also I'd think.

I sense you do not want to lower the resolution and I don't blame you but for a competitive shooter you might need to for the combination of GPU and display size you have to work with there to get the performance you need.

 

[Josh4]

I understand your preference for playing on the larger screen.

Did you try lowering the resolution in CS:GO to see if you can find a compromise between visual quality and fps being high enough for smooth play? I still think playing with that first is going to net you biggest performance gain.

Someone else may be able to suggest a specific settings change in this game to tone down the effects for smoke and sprays a little to improve performance there while not negatively impacting gameplay. Less particles being displayed for those effects may help also I'd think.

I sense you do not want to lower the resolution and I don't blame you but for a competitive shooter you might need to for the combination of GPU and display size you have to work with there to get the performance you need.

I agree with you 100% and yes I've played around with resolution and it does make it better but does feel smooth feels a little choppy but honestly I can handle that I just can't stand the spray and the spoke lag spike

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I agree with you 100% and yes I've played around with resolution and it does make it better but does feel smooth feels a little choppy but honestly I can handle that I just can't stand the spray and the spoke lag spike

In reference to lag with sprays and smoke, you might want to post about that on the CS:GO Steam forum and see if anybody there would be able to suggest which setting or settings in particular would help address that issue. I know there are many more Windows users there but it doesn't matter for this. The settings available for this would be the same for either version as far as I know.