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Edited by jorian on 01/08/10 11:19 (UTC)
THIS GUIDE WILL HELP YOUR MAC RUN THE GAME MUCH BETTER AND WAS WRITTEN BY "FROST" WHO WROTE THE WoW GUIDE AS WELL. ALL CREDIT GOES TO HIM AND SEE THE U.S. FORUM (STICKY THREAD IN US SUPPORT) FOR UPDATES TO IT.
original post found here: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/224842575?page=1 follow these instructions to see hopefully great performance improvements and vote this up if it helps you so we can get this thing planted. i am running a late 2007 macbook pro 17" fully loaded with the 8600 and 4gb of ram. since i followed the instructions for the late 2008 macbook pro and initiated the mentioned FPS cap i have not had a freeze and my machine runs cool. the game is running fine but eith lesser graphics until this is patched. admins, i cant post in the US forum, but it would be nice if any updates that come to the original thread (which is stickied) could be automatically forwarded to here as well. The Starcraft II Performance Guide For Macs - Updated 07/29/2010 Table of Contents 1. Introduction - 1-A. Current Conditions - 1-B. Things To Know Before Changing Any Settings 2. The Settings - 2-B. iMac - 2-B. Macbook Pro - 2-C. Macbook, Macbook Air, & Intel-based Mac Mini 3. The Changelog - 3-A. Upcoming Revisions - 3-B. Past Changes Introduction Hello and welcome to the Starcraft 2 Performance Guide for Macs. My name is Frost, but most of you existing Blizzard fans on the Mac will recognize me as Stoneblade/Vedeyndal, author of the WoW Performance Guide For Macs over on the WoW Mac Tech Forums. As such, the two guides are very similar. (alright, they're almost identical… I'm lazy.) This guide is designed to help you get the most out of your Mac while running Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, as well as keep you updated on known widespread performance issues. This guide WILL be updated and refreshed as the game evolves and gets patched. 1-A. Current Conditions Right now, the Mac client is seeing some pretty major performance issues due to bugs with both the nVidia graphics drivers in 10.6.4. Snow Leopard, and a bug within Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. The Shaders, Lighting, Shadow options eat up all of the available video memory, or VRAM, very quickly. This results in the computer paging out to the standard RAM and to the Hard Drive to store the shader details, which is much slower than VRAM. This makes the game slow to a crawl. I personally recommend capping the frame rate of Starcraft 2 so your computer doesn't overwork itself, wasting resources on the shaders, leaking all of the VRAM and overheating itself in the process. See below in "Things to Know Before Changing Any Settings" for more information on how to do this. Blizzard, Apple, and nVidia are aware of these two issues, along with others, and are each working on fixes for their respective bugs. For now, I recommend capping the frame rate of the game. Current Mac System 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 System Requirements: - Intel Core 2 Duo processor - 4 GB system RAM - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 4670 or better Note that as of right now, ATI Radeon is by far the better vendor to go with over nVidia if you have a choice. nVidia's graphics drivers on OS X tend to be of poor quality and have sub-par performance. 1-B. Things To Know Before Changing Any Settings For the sake of keeping the actual settings section of this guide clean and easy to read, I'm going to list most all of the innate, machine unspecific requirements here. For starters, if you're running Leopard, most machines will indeed see a minor increase in performance upgrading to Snow Leopard. Second, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have the latest software for your chosen OS. This software fixes bugs, enhances your security, and improves the overall stability of your computer. It's free and it's simple to get. To get the latest possible software for your Mac's version of OS X, go to the Apple icon on the top left corner of your desktop, click the "Software Update" option from the list, and then download everything on the list that pops up. 10.5 Leopard users should be at 10.5.8, and 10.6 Snow Leopard users should be at 10.6.4. Note however that as mentioned above, there are bugs in the nVidia drivers under 10.6.4. Remaining at 10.6.3 is your best option right now if you're using an nVidia graphics card. You can check to see what version you're running by clicking on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your desktop, and then clicking the "About This Mac" option on the drop-down list. Limiting the in-game frame rate to 30 or 40fps will help keep your Mac cool and prevent overheating. The Macbook Pros especially tend to run a little bit hot being in that nice tiny form factor. To limit the frame rate, type in and save the following into the Variables text file: frameratecap=30 frameratecapGlue=30 "30" being the value of whatever number you want to cap it at. You will find the Variables text file under: "Macintosh HD\Users\TheUserYouInstalledSC2Under\Documents\Blizzard\StarCraft II\" To see the current frame rate while playing the game, hold down Control+Option, and tap the F key. The Settings It should be noted that as of this writing, there are severe performance bugs in Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty on Mac OS X. Especially running on nVidia hardware. Even machines that "should" run the game just fine on High or Ultra settings are struggling to keep the game playable at Medium settings. This WILL change as the bugs are fixed. So don't get all bummed when you see your machine listed with the settings on Low. Once the bugs are fixed I will update this guide with the appropriate settings they would normally be capable of. Each setting in the game's graphics options menu has a mouse-over tooltip that describes it's function, and what part of the computer it taxes the most. So if you're having trouble getting smooth performance, think about what the weak points on your Mac are, and lower the appropriate settings. Also note that some settings, such as Lighting, are subsets of other settings, like Shaders. So depending on the parent settings, certain options for the child setting such as High and Ultra won't even show up as an option until the parent setting is set to High or Ultra to enable it on the child setting. From this point on, this guide will assume the following: 1. You have at LEAST 2GB of RAM in your computer, 6GB+ is preferred. 2. You have all of the latest updates for your version of OS X. 3. For now, the "Shaders", "Shadows", and "Lighting" options should be set to "Low". 4. You are not trying to run the game on an unsupported video card. 2-A. The iMac Mid 2010 Core i5/i7 iMac with ATI 5750 Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Medium Lighting: Low Shadows: Medium Terrain: High Reflections: On Effects: Ultra Post-Processing: High Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 60fps. Mid 2010 Core i3/i5 iMac with ATI 5670 Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Medium Lighting: Low Shadows: Medium Terrain: High Reflections: On Effects: High Post-Processing: High Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 60fps. Late 2009 Core i5/i7 iMac with ATI 4850 Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Medium Lighting: Low Shadows: Medium Terrain: High Reflections: On Effects: High Post-Processing: Medium Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 60fps. Late 2009 Core 2 Duo iMac with ATI 4670 Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Medium Lighting: Low Shadows: Medium Terrain: High Reflections: On Effects: High Post-Processing: Medium Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 60fps. Early 2009 Core 2 Duo iMac with ATI 4850 Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Medium Lighting: Low Shadows: Medium Terrain: Medium Reflections: On Effects: High Post-Processing: Medium Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 60fps. 2009 iMac with nVidia 9400m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Low Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Off Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated graphics. Late 2008 iMac with 256MB or 512MB nVidia 8800 GS Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: High Reflections: Off Effects: High Post-Processing: Low Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 40fps. 2-B. The Macbook Pro Mid 2010 15/17-inch Core i5/i7 Macbook Pro with 256MB or 512MB nVidia GT330M Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: High Post-Processing: Medium Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 50fps. Mid 2010 13-inch Macbook Pro with GT320m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. 2009 Unibody Macbook Pro with 256MB or 512MB nVidia 9600M GT Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: High Post-Processing: Medium Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. 2009 13-inch Unibody Macbook Pro with nVidia 9400m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: High Post-Processing: Low Physics: Off Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. Late 2008 Macbook Pro with 256MB or 512MB nVidia 8600M GT Graphics Card Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: High Post-Processing: Low Physics: High Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. 2-C. The Macbook, Macbook Air, and Mac Mini Mid 2010 Macbook with GT320m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. Mid 2010 Mac Mini with GT320m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. Late 2009 Polycarbonate Unibody Macbook with nVidia 9400m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. Late 2009 Mac Mini with nVidia 9400m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Medium Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Medium Reflections: Off Effects: Medium Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: High Unit Portraits: 3D Movies: High Definition Notes: Expect an average of 30fps. Integrated Graphics. 2009 Macbook Air with nVidia 9400m Integrated Graphics Textures: Texture Quality: Low Graphics: Graphics Quality: Custom Shaders: Low Lighting: Low Shadows: Low Terrain: Low Reflections: Off Effects: Low Post-Processing: Low Physics: Low Models: Low Unit Portraits: 2D Movies: Low Definition Notes: Expect an average of 15fps. Integrated Graphics. The Changelog 3-A. Upcoming Planned Revisions - Revisions for the OS X 10.6.5 update. - Tweaked settings as Blizzard improves Shaders and Shadow performance. - Updates for new Mac models 3-B. Past Changes - 07/30/2010 - Fixed a few typos and errors. - 07/29/2010: Wrote Performance Guide 1.0 |
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It would be great to get this stickied, as it highlights the problems (which are really making me unhappy, I only have a 2009 iMac with the GT130 but it was an expensive piece of kit that I now apparently need to bootcamp), and it also actually gives some useful advice.
So please forum admins, do as you did on the Mac Tech Support WoW forums, and keep this at the top where all us sad Mac users can refer to it! |
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Edited by Baal on 31/07/10 10:01 (UTC)
Thanks very much for this Guide. The game still freezes some times during gaming but nontheless.. it runs better now :)
yet again showing that mac community is far more mature and helpful than windows. And you just proved this wrong |
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I think the best way is just wait for a new starcraft 2 patch or play on windows via boot camp.
Im playing on windows 7 with these settings. Textures = Ultra Shaders = Low Lighting = Low Shadows = Low Terrain = High Reflections = on Effects = Medium Post Processing = Low Physics = Low Models = Low Unit Portrait = 3D Movies = High And everything works good but not great. iMac 20 inch 1680x1050 intel core 2 duo Ati Radeon HD 2600 with 256 ram 4 GB ram ddr2 667 mhz |
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The shaders explanation makes perfect sense, given what I've seen on my own Mac. After changing the settings a few times or loading new levels I'd suddenly go from 30-60fps to 1-2fps. I've since loaded the game on the same machine under Windows 7, and I'm running at 1920x1200 with almost everything on max (just shaders and some other GPU-related stuff on high or medium) and it's smooth as anything.
2006 Mac Pro 4x2.66, 6GB /w nVidia 8800GT In short, I'm gonna keep playing the game under windows for now, inconvenient as it may be. But it just goes to show how awesome my 4-year old hardware is, even today! :) |
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MB Pro with 9600M GT with Low Shader, native resolution (15") settings and it is very playable. Thank you for your explanation on why I need low shader settings.. hope Apple/nVidia fixes it.
I'm very glad I have my C300 SSD. Played beta without it. The SSD makes a BIG difference! |
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Blizzard should put this on sticky, it's very useful for Mac users. But let's be honest, before the bugs are fixed, we should all play the game on bootcamp for the time being, I have a MacBook Pro 5.3 and the game easily run with texture and graphics quality settings on high.
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Please make this post sticky.
Unlike many of Mac users, I don't own a windows licence, hence bootcamp is not an option for me. This guide helps understand and play with the problematic settings until you find that balance between eye candy and playability. |
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Edited by jorian on 31/07/10 23:33 (UTC)
@hybrid
Pardon me, but my Late 2008 Macbook Pro has a nVidia 9600M GT Graphics Card with 256MB or 512MB VRAM. Just figured I could help you out with correcting the that in your settings section. its not a complete collectively exhaustive list. its only the machines he had access to test on. if your late 2008 has the 9600 maybe you should figure out the best settings and post them. that would probably be more helpful. |
