Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (for Windows) particularly power-hungry...?

[dh2005]

Hello,

I've finally got Boot Camp working. Had to do a zero-write of my hard drive and a clean reinstall of OS X, but hey...!

I've re-installed my old Steam games. For the most part, they're working as I'd expect. But CoD:MW seems oddly sluggish. With the graphical settings at 1080p with V-sync, no AA/AF, it's really rather chuggy.

Doom 3 runs at 1600 x 1200 with 8x AA fine. Fallout: New Vegas runs at 1080p with 4x AA fine. Batman: Arkham Asylum, the same. Half-Life 2 and Portal 2, the same, with AF. Bioshock 2, equally. Even Crysis, which has the most horrendously demanding graphics engine I've ever seen runs at 1080p with V-sync more smoothly than this.

Is MW known to be particularly demanding? Or should I keep looking for a problem?

Cheers,



DH.

 

[Mrguidogenio]

Do you know that is available for Mac on the App Store? It's much better to run it natively.

 

[dh2005]

Thanks for the reply.


Yes, I'm aware that it's available from the App Store. But it's £29.99, which is pisstake money. Plus, y'know, I already own it through Steam...!

Also, it's my understanding that running Windows on a Mac through Boot Camp is 'native'. It becomes a PC until you boot back to OS X.

 

[Dark Void]

Do you know that is available for Mac on the App Store? It's much better to run it natively.

how do you figure? in fact, people have reported more frames out of games ran in win7 even though they are supported by mac os x.

op, are you referring to cod4? if so, no, it's really not that demanding. which imac do you have? you shouldn't be experiencing sluggish behavior from cod4 if you are running the other games you have listed well.

in any case i would try reinstalling the game and see if that helps at all. edit: errr, steam game. i don't use steam, and i am not sure if reinstalling steam itself would help any.

 

[elithrar]

Update your graphics drivers; get the Catalyst Mobility (11.6) drivers. It will make a big difference if you're just running the standard Boot Camp ones.

 

[dh2005]

Update your graphics drivers; get the Catalyst Mobility (11.6) drivers. It will make a big difference if you're just running the standard Boot Camp ones.

Thanks for the idea, but I already did that.

For whatever reason, the game doesn't like my system. In addition to 1080p not working as well as I reckon it should, when I boot the game it insists that the 'optimum' resolution for my 27" iMac is 1024 x 768. Yeah, rrrrrrrrright...

 

[dh2005]

that helps at all. edit: errr, steam game. i don't use steam, and i am not sure if reinstalling steam itself would help any.

Thanks. I'll have a think about that.

I've just now had Mass Effect 2 at 1080p with trilinear filtering and AA, running like a dream. What the Hell can be going wrong with Modern Warfare...?

 

[elithrar]

Thanks. I'll have a think about that.

I've just now had Mass Effect 2 at 1080p with trilinear filtering and AA, running like a dream. What the Hell can be going wrong with Modern Warfare...?

Can you give a full dump of the settings you're using? Do you have any Catalyst Application Profiles installed? Have you tried rolling back to Catalyst 11.5b?

 

[MythicFrost]

I suggest the following: download and run Fraps (free) which will let you see your frame rate in games. Boot up MW, turn vsync off and check what frame rates you get at different settings. You want at least 30 FPS, but preferably 60.

Test Crysis as well as a few other games (vsync off) and check what frame rate you're getting. Generally turning AA off on everything is a good idea, as it is very demanding.

 

[dh2005]

I suggest the following: download and run Fraps (free) which will let you see your frame rate in games. Boot up MW, turn vsync off and check what frame rates you get at different settings. You want at least 30 FPS, but preferably 60.

Test Crysis as well as a few other games (vsync off) and check what frame rate you're getting. Generally turning AA off on everything is a good idea, as it is very demanding.

Okay. I'll give that a try.

It's generally my policy, when configuring games, to run them at 1080p without AA/AF, then to dial-up the post-processing until the performance begins to suffer. But V-sync is essential, to me. I absolute detest screen-tear. I think I'd rather run a game at 720p than put up with that.

 

[dh2005]

Right. Solved.

Turning off most of the post-processing options has fixed it - like, 'Glow' and 'Depth of Field', and all that. In fact, it's 'fixed it' so well that I am now able to run the game at 1080p with 4x AA! Which is much more like the performance that I expected from it.


Odd, though, that it wants to reset my graphics settings whenever I start it.

 

[dh2005]

Do you know that is available for Mac on the App Store? It's much better to run it natively.

I've had some experiences this week that give me something to say about this. I hope the poster won't consider this a flaming of any sort - I just want to set the record straight.

I downloaded BioShock and Borderlands from the App Store last week, but only got around to playing them a couple of days ago. These were the Mac versions, converted by Feral Interactive, being run natively in OS X. They were un-be-lieeevably terrible.

The framerates absolutely stank. Borderlands, in particular, stank to the point of being unplayable. At 1080p, I had all the graphical touches switched off, and all model and texture options down on 'low', and I couldn't get a consistent 30fps out of it.

Look at my sig. My iMac isn't exactly a piece o'crap. It's one of the quickest consumer-level Macs that money can buy. I thought I was going insane. Surely, I must've been doing something wrong...? But no. It was just rubbish.

I complained like my life depended on it, and Apple gave me a refund for both Borderlands and BioShock - which was good of them, because I didn't even ask for my money back on BioShock - and I spent some of that refunded money on the PC version of Borderlands through Steam... running on the same computer, the PC version of Borderlands runs smoothly at 1080p, with all detail settings on 'high', dynamic shadows switched on, and V-sync enabled. I swear to God: the difference is like night and day.


So, let me state once and for all that it is NOT true that a game runs more smoothly on a Mac through OS X, simply by virtue of being native.


Fin.

 

[MythicFrost]

Okay. I'll give that a try.

It's generally my policy, when configuring games, to run them at 1080p without AA/AF, then to dial-up the post-processing until the performance begins to suffer. But V-sync is essential, to me. I absolute detest screen-tear. I think I'd rather run a game at 720p than put up with that.

I hate screen tearing also, but for testing frame rates, etc., you can't use vsync as it prevents your frame rate going higher than 60 FPS.

 

[dh2005]

Point taken, mate. But I'm not really concerned about framerates of 60+. I'm concerned about framerates that visibly drag and stutter.

 

[Killery96]

Thanks for the idea, but I already did that.

For whatever reason, the game doesn't like my system. In addition to 1080p not working as well as I reckon it should, when I boot the game it insists that the 'optimum' resolution for my 27" iMac is 1024 x 768. Yeah, rrrrrrrrright...

looooooooooooooooooooool that's the recommended for my 13" 2009 macbook pro. something is seriously wrong, because maxed out at 1280x800 (native) on my machine with the 9400m I get around 18-20 FPS. I play on virtually all low settings and 800x600 for FPS's in the 60's, however you seem to be having issues. CoD4 IS NOT A DEMANDING GAME in comparison to crysis or something.

E.

 

[malman89]

Do you know that is available for Mac on the App Store? It's much better to run it natively.

Amateur. As stated, running a Windows game in Bootcamp Windows is native too. It's been proven time and again that the same GPU has anywhere from minor to considerably better performance for the same game at the same settings in Windows vs. OSX, typically due to better Windows drivers, but can be a variety of reasons.

 

[iSayuSay]

I've tried COD Modern Warfare 2 on my iMac, maxed out setting and resolution, look outdated as hell .. well I know the looks and colors are trying to be realistic and more like documentary instead of hollywood blockbuster. But it looks pale in comparison. Maybe I'm not getting used to look at it in 1440p display

But no .. it's not power hungry. In fact 6970M handle the game just fine, like it was nothing and came from 90s ... Crysis is different story though, All very high setting + 1440p make it almost unplayable.

Mafia II opening war scene is lag as hell too .. but not when you get in town. Wow, what am I saying here .. sorry for telling you too much