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Gaming Performance -- OSX vs. Windows XP

A

aaeyers

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 16, 2008
27
0
OS 10.6.8
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
128 GB SSD HDD
~4 years old


I've been trying to play the Diablo 3 beta on my MBP, however the performance has been shaky at best even at the lowest settings. Considering my system specs I should have no problem running this sort of game, so I don't know why I am having so many issues.

I was wondering if booting into Windows XP would help gaming performance. Does anyone have any experience as to whether gaming runs better in OSX or Windows on a MBP?

Does anyone have any other recommendations as to how to improve performance?
 
On older specs, I'd go with Windows XP as it will have more mature video drivers. But remember Diablo III is also still in beta, and probably isn't optomized for that card on OS X.
 
Lion would help a great deal with performance as it has some pretty improved Graphics Drivers as well as a whole step-up for OpenGl, 3.0 vs 2.0 I think.
 
psykick5 said:
Lol games on OS X?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't laugh too loud.. I play World of Warcraft very EASILY and pleasantly on my iMac 2008 quad core. Still on Snow Leopard. I have never had any issues and it's a pleasure to game on.

I have also dabbled in Unreal Tournament and plan on Diablo III when it comes out.

Lots of other people game with Macs as well. Apple may not design their machines with gaming in mind but they are quite capable of bearing the load.

The only thing that does suck with Apple and games, isn't Apple's fault. games like Starwars Old Republic etc are not designed for OSX systems. That is why I also have bootcamp on my MBA. I can game on my MBA but I admit the screen is just too small.... so I am planning on upgrading to a new MBP if I like what they decide to do with the update.

Cheers!
 
Wrathwitch said:
I wouldn't laugh too loud.. I play World of Warcraft very EASILY and pleasantly on my iMac 2008 quad core. Still on Snow Leopard. I have never had any issues and it's a pleasure to game on.

I have also dabbled in Unreal Tournament and plan on Diablo III when it comes out.

Lots of other people game with Macs as well. Apple may not design their machines with gaming in mind but they are quite capable of bearing the load.

The only thing that does suck with Apple and games, isn't Apple's fault. games like Starwars Old Republic etc are not designed for OSX systems. That is why I also have bootcamp on my MBA. I can game on my MBA but I admit the screen is just too small.... so I am planning on upgrading to a new MBP if I like what they decide to do with the update.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Fact of the matter is Windows is the better system to play games on. Being able to play WoW on your Macbook Pro doesn't change this.
 
Adamantoise said:
Fact of the matter is Windows is the better system to play games on. Being able to play WoW on your Macbook Pro doesn't change this.
Click to expand...

I never stated anywhere that Windows wasn't the better native platform to play on, did I? Nor did I claim that Mac OSX was a better platform. However, I did state that OSX can carry the load if need be.
 
Wrathwitch said:
I never stated anywhere that Windows wasn't the better native platform to play on, did I? Nor did I claim that Mac OSX was a better platform. However, I did state that OSX can carry the load if need be.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

For what it's worth though, most major games do get ported to OS X (albeit poorly). Playing Civ V on OS X is a nightmare, we got all the patches late and the bugs never got fixed until much much later. I'm not a huge gamer, so I don't know if this is the case with all games, but it seems to be an annoying trend.

In the end, I just gave up and played on my PC.
 
Adamantoise said:
Fair enough.

For what it's worth though, most major games do get ported to OS X (albeit poorly). Playing Civ V on OS X is a nightmare, we got all the patches late and the bugs never got fixed until much much later. I'm not a huge gamer, so I don't know if this is the case with all games, but it seems to be an annoying trend.

In the end, I just gave up and played on my PC.
Click to expand...

Very good point. This is why when I do buy my shiny new MBP I plan on setting up Bootcamp on it. :) I had debated buying a windows gaming laptop (I want portability for a back up) but I just can't stomach buying a windows gaming machine that will weigh like 8-12lbs (it would have to be this way because if I am going to choke on a windows machine it had better be slick)....
 
I do some light gaming in Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro which is one of the only reasons why I did install Windows on another partition. Windows not only has better drivers but for the most part the gaming selection is much better.
 
aaeyers said:
OS 10.6.8
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
128 GB SSD HDD
~4 years old

[...]

Does anyone have any other recommendations as to how to improve performance?
Click to expand...

Buy a new laptop! Your system barely passes the minimal system requirements, and is way below the recommended system requirements (mostly the graphics card of course). You might get slightly better performance on Windows, but I wouldn't expect wonders.

Did you try lowering the resolution?
 
thundersteele said:
Buy a new laptop! Your system barely passes the minimal system requirements, and is way below the recommended system requirements (mostly the graphics card of course). You might get slightly better performance on Windows, but I wouldn't expect wonders.

Did you try lowering the resolution?
Click to expand...
I find it hard to believe that a 2.5 GHz dual-core CPU with 4 GB of RAM and a SSD is outdated. I understand the 9600M isn't a gaming card, but 512 VRAM should be serviceable for moderate games at low settings.

----------
ScottishDuck said:
Why not use Windows 7?
Click to expand...
Because I don't want to buy Windows 7?
 
aaeyers said:
I find it hard to believe that a 2.5 GHz dual-core CPU with 4 GB of RAM and a SSD is outdated. I understand the 9600M isn't a gaming card, but 512 VRAM should be serviceable for moderate games at low settings.
Click to expand...

Well, it's a 4 years old system, with a 4 years old CPU and a 4 years old GPU, that was not a gaming GPU in the first place.

Given Blizzards history, yes, I would expect that you can play a newer title on low settings on that machine. But currently you're trying a beta version, that might not yet be fully optimized, on an operating system that seems to be slightly more demanding.
 
I guess in my younger days I would have played games on my pc (then) and would have tried on my mac also had I been on that platform at the time. Seems like xbox/ps/wii would work better than either mac or windows for gaming.

Am I off base on this?
 
aaeyers said:
I've been trying to play the Diablo 3 beta on my MBP, however the performance has been shaky at best even at the lowest settings. Considering my system specs I should have no problem running this sort of game, so I don't know why I am having so many issues.
Click to expand...

q: Why do you think a game that is yet to be released in 2012 should run smoothly on 4 year old mobile hardware?

The 9600M GT is around 15% slower (on 3dmark 06 - never mind more recent benchmarks) than the recommended GT330M card on the Diablo 3 system recommendations.


Running Windows may help as the drivers / openGL version are likely more recent, but really, expecting a 4 year old portable mac to run the latest games is a bit of a big ask.
 
Elevon said:
I sometimes play starcraft 2 on osx, runs really smoothly with no problems.
although some say there lag compared to windows but I don't feel it at all = ]
Click to expand...

I'm talking more about compatibility. Most games aren't even made for OS X, Blizzard being a major exception.
 
aaeyers said:
OS 10.6.8
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
128 GB SSD HDD
~4 years old


I've been trying to play the Diablo 3 beta on my MBP, however the performance has been shaky at best even at the lowest settings. Considering my system specs I should have no problem running this sort of game, so I don't know why I am having so many issues.

I was wondering if booting into Windows XP would help gaming performance. Does anyone have any experience as to whether gaming runs better in OSX or Windows on a MBP?

Does anyone have any other recommendations as to how to improve performance?
Click to expand...

install windows xp 64 and be surprised that after all these years and bragging abt kids windows 7 is better that xp still is better and plays your NEW games like fluid on i7 core systems
 
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