Anyone playing Starcraft 2 on their MBP?

[Illusio]

I got SC2 this week and was hoping to get a bit better performance out of my MBP. I have 4GB ram and a Nvidia 9400m GT w/256mb.

But the game recommends I set all graphic settings to low. I tried medium and it's ok. But I was thinking the performance would be a bit better.

Anyone have any issues or experience with it?

 

[gorcorps]

Keep in mind that the 256mb is SHARED memory, it's not a dedicated video card in there. I also just read a review saying that the 9400m struggled running CoD4 on mediumish settings at native resolution, and that's a decently older game and engine by comparison. There's a ton of stuff happening on screen and it's not going to run that great on your machine. I think you had your hopes just a bit too high on this one.

 

[mmntech]

I can't even run Sins of a Solar Empire on high settings so I doubt a new game like SCII would. The 9400M is ok for old stuff but it's not powerful enough for newer games.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

How would it fair on the 9600m?

 

[ViRGE]

Supposedly the performance of NVIDIA GPUs is so-so under 10.6.4. You could try these NVIDIA drivers and see if they do anything for you.

 

[Anubis]

while this is a PC (windows) based list other then the OS it should be pretty easy to compare for apple users

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/13501357

 

[sourceninja]

The game is working great on my mbp with high settings.

 

[MJinZ]

I got SC2 this week and was hoping to get a bit better performance out of my MBP. I have 4GB ram and a Nvidia 9400m GT w/256mb.

But the game recommends I set all graphic settings to low. I tried medium and it's ok. But I was thinking the performance would be a bit better.

Anyone have any issues or experience with it?

Even a brand new Core i7 17" MBP would choke.

 

[FuryofFive]

i dont know macs, but the game might run choppy with a lower speed cpu. Due to all the units on the screen.

 

[sourceninja]

Even a brand new Core i7 17" MBP would choke.

I have a brand new 15inch i7 mbp and it runs perfectly at high settings.

 

[MJinZ]

I have a brand new 15inch i7 mbp and it runs perfectly at high settings.

I think that would depend on your definition of "perfectly". A dual core low clocked i7 and a weak GPU with shared memory doesn't compute with my definition.

 

[sourceninja]

As in 3v3 match with graphics set to high with no lag. I mean it didn't make me any better at starcraft itself, but it ran perfectly on those settings.

As far as I know the Nvidia 330M with 512megs of ram does not use shared memory.

 

[MJinZ]

As in 3v3 match with graphics set to high with no lag. I mean it didn't make me any better at starcraft itself, but it ran perfectly on those settings.

As far as I know the Nvidia 330M with 512megs of ram does not use shared memory.

If you have the top of line 2.66 MBP 15, then I think you're right. The other ones have 256mb.

 

[Kmax82]

As in 3v3 match with graphics set to high with no lag. I mean it didn't make me any better at starcraft itself, but it ran perfectly on those settings.

As far as I know the Nvidia 330M with 512megs of ram does not use shared memory.

The 320M still uses shared memory, but the 330M is a dedicated GPU.

 

[Illusio]

Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll just dump all the graphic settings to low. I hear that still look pretty nice, even at that setting.

 

[Kmax82]

Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll just dump all the graphic settings to low. I hear that still look pretty nice, even at that setting.

Yea, in general, the 9400m isn't a bad GPU.. but it just can't compete with a dedicated card, especially when it comes to gaming.

On a side note, tried it on my '08 Macbook Pro with a 2.4 Ghz C2D and a 8600GTM (256 MB) with textures on Medium and Graphical Quality set to High.. and it runs much better than I expected.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Yea, in general, the 9400m isn't a bad GPU.. but it just can't compete with a dedicated card, especially when it comes to gaming.

On a side note, tried it on my '08 Macbook Pro with a 2.4 Ghz C2D and a 8600GTM (256 MB) with textures on Medium and Graphical Quality set to High.. and it runs much better than I expected.

i have the same mbp as you kmax, and it will only play those settings okay for 1 vs 1 online... i played through the beta, and the only way to get our mbps to play sc2 butter smooth is to have everything set on low. try doing a 2 vs 2 or something to see what i'm talking about. it becomes unplayably choppy.

 

[Kmax82]

i have the same mbp as you kmax, and it will only play those settings okay for 1 vs 1 online... i played through the beta, and the only way to get our mbps to play sc2 butter smooth is to have everything set on low. try doing a 2 vs 2 or something to see what i'm talking about. it becomes unplayably choppy.

Ah.. ok. I haven't gotten that far.. just the first level. Oh well.. I won't be gaming much on it anyway, that's what I have my Hackintosh for, although, I might be upgrading the graphics card soon.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

So nothing on the 9600m?

 

[sourceninja]

Mac Requirements
Mac Minimum System Requirements:

Mac® OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer
Intel® Processor
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X1600 or better
12 GB available HD space
2 GB Ram
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution
Mac Recommended Specifications:

Intel® Core 2 Duo processor
4 GB system RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon® HD 4670 or better

So I'd expect it to run well on a 9600

 

[tokie]

It plays good for me under OS X with a 320m MBP. I have most settings set to low/medium.

 

[secretanchitman]

installing it right now on my 15" mbp with 1680x1050 and 330m 512MB.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

installing it right now on my 15" mbp with 1680x1050 and 330m 512MB.

under os x, it'll run super smooth on all medium. i've tried it myself - os x blows for gaming.

 

[secretanchitman]

under os x, it'll run super smooth on all medium. i've tried it myself - os x blows for gaming.

yeah thats what i thought. i also specifically didnt update to 10.6.4 because i know the nvidia drivers are bugged.

 

[gorcorps]

under os x, it'll run super smooth on all medium. i've tried it myself - os x blows for gaming.

shocker