Gaming On Lion

[Stilface]

I have a late 2008 iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz, 4gm ddr2 ram and an nVidia 8800 GS 512MB. I struggle to play games such as Starcraft 2 at any real graphical level, most options set to low/medium.

Currently using SL just wondering if anyone can report and solid information in regards to perfomance on Lion.

Thanks

 

[Macman45]

Your Issue Is Twofold

I have a late 2008 iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz, 4gm ddr2 ram and an nVidia 8800 GS 512MB. I struggle to play games such as Starcraft 2 at any real graphical level, most options set to low/medium. Currently using SL just wondering if anyone can report and solid information on gaming on Lion.

Thanks

But main problem is the 512VRAM. My 2011 (July) i7 plays anything, but I'm not really big on games....I tend to play things like RAGE and Dead Space on my iPad.

More games are becoming available through the mac app store now, but with your spec you are going to struggle to find anything that will play in high RES.

 

[Stilface]

Yeah, im not expecting full graphics settings by any means. Just looking for the best performance i can get from what i have.

 

[Hansr]

I have a late 2008 iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz, 4gm ddr2 ram and an nVidia 8800 GS 512MB. I struggle to play games such as Starcraft 2 at any real graphical level, most options set to low/medium. Currently using SL just wondering if anyone can report and solid information on gaming on Lion.

Thanks

SC2 is a new game that's quite demanding graphics wise and you have an "old" computer. Medium settings is to be expected.

 

[DoFoT9]

i shall find somebody who knows this question better then i - i have yet to compare benchmarks of games such as these from SL to Lion. i would imagine that the differences are negligible, to be honest...

 

[MacsRgr8]

But main problem is the 512VRAM.

512 MB VRAM usually isn't the issue.
A Radeon 4870 with 512 MB VRAM in a Mac Pro is capable of playing most games at the highest settings.
The GPU is mostly the bottleneck. The "8800 GS" part slows you down the most.

 

[Stilface]

And iMacs have no options for upgrade in the display department?

 

[DoFoT9]

And iMacs have no options for upgrade in the display department?

technically, yes. its not financially feasible though...

the 8800GS is a fairly old card, superseded many many times.

 

[Stilface]

Would i get better performance from Boot Camp, rather than OSX?

 

[Hansr]

Would i get better performance from Boot Camp, rather than OSX?

Only marginally, when I tested it with SC2 it was about 10-15% higher FPS on same settings.

 

[Macman45]

True

512 MB VRAM usually isn't the issue.
A Radeon 4870 with 512 MB VRAM in a Mac Pro is capable of playing most games at the highest settings.
The GPU is mostly the bottleneck. The "8800 GS" part slows you down the most.

And that is one wicked signature you have there