Gaming Performace

[xodus]

Hello all,

I need some help with increasing my gaming perfomance on my Mac.

Specs:

iMac G4 17"
1.25Ghz (PPC)
64MB GeForce FX 5200
786 MB DDR SDRAM
1440 x 900 (32bit)

Game of Choice: World of Warcraft running (in windowed mode) at 1440x900.

Does anyone have any hints as to how I can boost the perfomance of my Mac? Such as like more RAM, overclock videocard/proccesor (new video card)? Or perhaps reducing resolution for the game/display?

Anything is helpful!

Thanks.

 

[Scarlet Fever]

overclocking the cards in iMacs is generally extremely difficult and dangerous ie you destroy your computer.

The only other ways to increase performance is to get more RAM in it, reduce the quality, and make sure all other apps are closed.

 

[CDailey]

You have more than the required ammount of ram, so you are fine there (for the most part - the more ram the better )

The video card you have though is not the best, and pretty much your only option is to turn down some in game settings. I suggest turning down the "terrain distance" option, as well as turning off the AA. There's not a big difference in quality between maxed settings and default settings in WoW, so you won't be missing anything really.

Also, why are you running in window'd mode?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Try moving your resolution down to 800 x 600, adding more ram and have nothing running but the game and turning down the settings. Thats it.

 

[CDailey]

800x600 looks like crap compared to 1440x900. I wouldn't go any lower than the lowest widescreen resolution available.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

800x600 looks like crap compared to 1440x900. I wouldn't go any lower than the lowest widescreen resolution available.

And there is your problem, Fx5200 isnt going to push that resolution and give you decent frames. Welcome to the world of video cards.

 

[CDailey]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if it would return respectable FPS if he turned the settings to default. I used to run games that came out around the same time as WoW at 1280x1024 with medium settings (normally what default is anyway) using a Radeon 9200, which, IIRC, was comparable to the Fx5200. 1280x1024 and 1440x900 have almost the same pixel count (2304 compared to 2340 respectivly) so I think he should keep it set at 1440x900 and turn the settings to default and see how that works. If not, lower the resolution.