Snow Leopard Graphics Update

[dexthageek]

Has anyone ran some tests with the new Snow Leopard Graphics Update Apple just released.

I am primarily interested in the performance increases it offers SC2.

I am at work and will not be able to install it until late tonight, after which I will post before and after FPS and settings for SC2

 

[TMRaven]

For the 27 inch iMac with mobility 4850:

before patch: native resolution and all settings maxed: 4fps
after patch: native resolution and all settings maxed: 23fps

 

[hedgehogmac]

For the 27 inch iMac with mobility 4850:

before patch: native resolution and all settings maxed: 4fps
after patch: native resolution and all settings maxed: 23fps

does this update now eliminate the need to install the mid-2010 imac graphics drivers on the previous imac (macOSXUpd10.6.4foriMacMid2010.pkg using kexthelper or pacifist), or is that something slightly different? Do we know?

 

[TMRaven]

As far as I'm concerned, yes. With the new graphics update, Starcraft2 in particular sees roughly 80-90% of the performance as its windows counterpart. Before, it was only around 30-40%.

Other games will most likely share the same results.

 

[MacRodster]

I was playing Starcraft 2 with most settings med to high. With the update I am now playing with most settings High to Ultra in OsX. HUGE performance increase!!! Well Done Apple!

My system is the late 2009/early 2010 i5 27" with 4 gb ram and 4850.

 

[aki]

I was playing Starcraft 2 with most settings med to high. With the update I am now playing with most settings High to Ultra in OsX. HUGE performance increase!!! Well Done Apple!

My system is the late 2009/early 2010 i5 27" with 4 gb ram and 4850.

Woah! I sort of presumed it was focused on fixing nvidia performance. I had no idea there was that kind of improvement for the 4850.

Oh well, time to finally update to 10.6.4 then. Wheeeee!

P.S. Thanks for passing on the info. Much appreciated.

 

[shiseido]

I'll test it on my new iMac 27 tomorrow when it arrives! However, running SC2 on my 13.3 Macbook is noticeable improvement. Before I had the resolution on the lowest setting...now I have it on the highest 1920/1080 external monitor. I assume the iMac will be able to run on ultra with decent fps.

How do I know my FPS on mac?

 

[geoelectric]

So, I initially had concerns, because running the Graphics Update didn't change any of the file modification timestamps. It looked like the kexts I installed from the 2010 iMac were still there unmodified.

However, I just took a closer look in Get Info, and there's a definite version bump.

The original 2009 kexts were 1.6.8.11 and the 2010 kexts were 1.6.8.13. The kexts post-update are 1.6.8.18. So yeah, definite upgrade, even from the 2010 versions.

Don't install the 2010 kexts anymore after running this update. They're obsolete.

You can see these versions for yourself under /System/Library/Extensions, look at the kexts starting with ATI.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Some thoughts...

You can detect framerates using GLview.

My framerates were even a little higher yet from the 2010 updates for the mid-2010 iMac updates and they were higher before.

At native resolution they were around 800fps and after close to 1300fps.

At 1920x1080 they're over 2000 after.

Weirdly, my geekbench numbers rose after the update and geekbench doesn't even USE the graphics subsystem.

 

[scienide09]

Never used GLview before. Neat little tool.

I thought I'd upload my results for you, to give you a point of reference. I just ran the standard test on my 27" i7 iMac (2009) with the Radeon 4850. Pre- and post-update results attached.

 

[nobias]

Never used GLview before. Neat little tool.

I thought I'd upload my results for you, to give you a point of reference. I just ran the standard test on my 27" i7 iMac (2009) with the Radeon 4850. Pre- and post-update results attached.

Quite an improvement. Impressive for Apple to issue such an update instead of planned obsolescence we are used to these days.

 

[MacRodster]

I'll test it on my new iMac 27 tomorrow when it arrives! However, running SC2 on my 13.3 Macbook is noticeable improvement. Before I had the resolution on the lowest setting...now I have it on the highest 1920/1080 external monitor. I assume the iMac will be able to run on ultra with decent fps.

How do I know my FPS on mac?

Press ctrl, alt and F at the same time in game and your fps will display on the top right hand side of your screen.