I've got an aging 2006 Mac Pro.
Here's the specs:
- Two 2.66 GHz 5150 Dual-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest
- 12gb 667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered
- Two 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives, raid 1 (soft raid)
- ATI 5770 1gb
I game on it in Windows 7 x64, and I'm noticing Starcraft II is lagging when playing in with graphics set to ultra and even extreme, at 1600x1050.
I don't believe it's network induced lag, I can reduce setting to say Low and it plays very smoothly, and I'm on 25mbit cable in Canada so I don't think it's network latency related.
What's happening is the game occasionally stutters, particularly when in combat or when there's a lot going on on-screen. This makes gameplay quite a lot more frustrating than it should be..
My options for upgrading this system are somewhat limited.. I can't (and don't want to) swap the mobo, and am somewhat limited in my graphics card choices. I dual boot into OS X and need the card to be compatible (ie I need to flash the firmware, currently my 5770 is probably about all I can do with it due to Apple not releasing anything better to yoink firmware from). If you know of newer OS X compatible (or flashable) cards I'm all ears..
My upgrade options, as far as I know, are:
- Install SSD, move OS (Windows 7) and Starcraft II to the SSD
- Upgrade CPUs from dual 2.66GHz 5150 dual-core Xeons to 3.0GHz 5160 dual-core or maybe even 3.0 GHz X5365 quad-core Xeon (Clovertown)
Would SSD help with SCII performance? I'm not sure which SSD I would go with, and would love some recommendations. I think this would be cheaper than upgrading the CPUs, but not knowing which SSD to go with makes this hard to determine.
Would upgrading from two dual-core 2.66 to two dual-core 3.0 make much of a difference? Cost is about $100 buying used off ebay, tops.
Would upgrading from two dual-core 2.66 woodcrest to two quad-core 3.0 clovertown make much of a difference, for gaming? Cost would be kinda crazy.. like $600+ off ebay.. yikes.
Any ideas or tips would be appreciated.
Here's the specs:
- Two 2.66 GHz 5150 Dual-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest
- 12gb 667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered
- Two 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives, raid 1 (soft raid)
- ATI 5770 1gb
I game on it in Windows 7 x64, and I'm noticing Starcraft II is lagging when playing in with graphics set to ultra and even extreme, at 1600x1050.
I don't believe it's network induced lag, I can reduce setting to say Low and it plays very smoothly, and I'm on 25mbit cable in Canada so I don't think it's network latency related.
What's happening is the game occasionally stutters, particularly when in combat or when there's a lot going on on-screen. This makes gameplay quite a lot more frustrating than it should be..
My options for upgrading this system are somewhat limited.. I can't (and don't want to) swap the mobo, and am somewhat limited in my graphics card choices. I dual boot into OS X and need the card to be compatible (ie I need to flash the firmware, currently my 5770 is probably about all I can do with it due to Apple not releasing anything better to yoink firmware from). If you know of newer OS X compatible (or flashable) cards I'm all ears..
My upgrade options, as far as I know, are:
- Install SSD, move OS (Windows 7) and Starcraft II to the SSD
- Upgrade CPUs from dual 2.66GHz 5150 dual-core Xeons to 3.0GHz 5160 dual-core or maybe even 3.0 GHz X5365 quad-core Xeon (Clovertown)
Would SSD help with SCII performance? I'm not sure which SSD I would go with, and would love some recommendations. I think this would be cheaper than upgrading the CPUs, but not knowing which SSD to go with makes this hard to determine.
Would upgrading from two dual-core 2.66 to two dual-core 3.0 make much of a difference? Cost is about $100 buying used off ebay, tops.
Would upgrading from two dual-core 2.66 woodcrest to two quad-core 3.0 clovertown make much of a difference, for gaming? Cost would be kinda crazy.. like $600+ off ebay.. yikes.
Any ideas or tips would be appreciated.