Forums | MacLife

sparkn · 2007-12-13 10:03 pm

I want to rid myself of playing WoW on a 1 GHz eMac and am looking at a bare bones iMac with added memory. Anyone know what kind of framerates I can expect in, say, AV? Would you recommend a better system? I can't even do AV with this eMac. Framerates drop under 1 fps with 40-50 peeps on the screen. Hell, Shat slows down to 2 fps. I'm stuck in WSG and AB just to be slightly competitive in PVP.

iMan · 2007-12-14 4:45 am

Barefeats wrote:
(Our World of Warcraft test is to go to FireTree realm. Our warrior stands next to the totem pole at the entrance to Camp Narache (Red Cloud Mesa). He runs East toward the large tree at the top of the hill. Turns around and runs West back to the totem pole. Using Titan Performance addon, we are able to capture min, max, and average frame rate. All settings were maxed, 24 bit 1X multi-sampling, no vertical sync, no glow effect. We not only get consistent results but we confirmed that this stresses the GPU mightily.)

At 1280x800 Windowed they got 65 FPS with that above ^.
http://www.barefeats.com/imacal.html The 2.4 iMac blows it away with 106 FPS.

Bat · 2007-12-14 7:27 am

'All settings maxed' is a bit misleading with essentially no FSAA nor AF, tho. Enabling either to any real degree makes framerates go South fast with the 1.1 Update that enables AF in the driver. Anisotropy = High in WoW cuts framerates by nearly half at 1920x1200, before any FSAA. Add full-screen glow and it'd likely be murderous.

INSIGHTS
If you enable Anisotropy when gaming, you will see a slowdown in frame rates on the new iMacs with iMac Update 1.1. That's due to the fact that Anisotropy was DISABLED in the iMac Update 1.0. In other words, you are going to take a hit now that Anisotropiy is truly enabled.

If you do NOT enable Anisotropy or use the lowest setting (as in WoW), then Update 1.1 will cause only a slight drop in frame rates. It will probably not be noticeable without a benchmarking tool.

The main purpose of iMac Update 1.1 is bug fixes. That's a good thing. Meanwhile, AMD is working feverishly on optimizing the Radeon HD 2600 Pro and 2400 XT drivers. We will certainly alert you when those optimized drivers are officially released by Apple Support.

iMac Update 1.0 versus 1.1

It should still be playable and a large improvement, but the 2600 Pro is no gaming powerhouse.

NightCougar_37 · 2007-12-14 2:54 pm

Just don't get an Intel graphics Mac and you'll be ok. Tho for performance, try to find an older iMac model with the 7600GT in it.

sparkn · 2008-05-27 9:38 pm

Finally got a new iMac. Can't say I'm disappointed. I've seen over 200 fps and never drop below 50 in Kara. AV about 40. Got a 4 GB upgrade coming in the mail.

2.4 GHz
20" iMac
2600 HD Pro

P.S. was using 10.3.9, now Leopard. Memory management is MUCH better IMO as I can play, browse, use vent, and check Mail at the same time with no loss of performance in WoW. The faster HD and duo don't hurt either. I am all around amazed with this machine. The 4GB upgrade should enhance thing even more.

NightCougar_37 · 2008-05-28 1:29 pm

Probably also the dual CPU helping you manage background stuff.

sparkn · 2008-05-28 4:31 pm

True.

Memory just came in and it's installed. Haven't seen a pageout yet and, while Wow is marginally faster, the loading jitters are completely gone.

I still can't believe how much better my mage is. Before this iMac, 525-550 DPS in Kara, after 850-900 DPS on average. I knew the jitters were causing spellcasting to be longer, but the difference has been noticed by my raid group and the locks are pretty much silent now.

BTW, Activity monitor shows WoW using 143% of processor, so it is taking advantage of the duo core.

NightCougar_37 · 2008-05-29 1:53 am

Yep. As i've argued with many who tell ppl its fine playing on Minis/etc. Once you play on a good rig, you never want to go back. Your skill really jumps when you don't have to deal with poor frames.

Really if you want to raid and do endgame, you can't play on crap machines. Its as simple as that. Get a good 30-60fps without slowdown and you're set. It can drop to 20 at times but as long as its not dropping below that on big raids, you got a raid worthy rig.

Forums | MacLife

#1 2007-12-13 10:03 pm

New iMac on WoW

#2 2007-12-14 4:45 am

Re: New iMac on WoW

Barefeats wrote:

#3 2007-12-14 7:27 am

Re: New iMac on WoW

#4 2007-12-14 2:54 pm

Re: New iMac on WoW

#5 2008-05-27 9:38 pm

Re: New iMac on WoW

#6 2008-05-28 1:29 pm

Re: New iMac on WoW

#7 2008-05-28 4:31 pm

Re: New iMac on WoW

#8 2008-05-29 1:53 am

Re: New iMac on WoW

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