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SC2 Mac OSX vs Bootcamp

Forum Index > Tech Support
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1 2 Next All
_KiM_
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada498 Posts
August 08 2010 16:48 GMT
#1
So I have a MacBook Pro, and I ran it on Snow Leopard 64bit. I could BARELY play it on medium, it was way more comfortable playing it with everything to the lowest..

I was running out of room on my OSX so I reinstalled it on Windows XP SP3 which I can run through bootcamp. I now can play comfortably with a slightly modified "high" graphic setting.

Just wanted to throw that out there for all Mac users, get a copy of windows, bootcamp and run it on there. Way better experience, no lag and windows uses WAY less RAM.

Anyone contradict this?
Kambing
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1176 Posts
August 08 2010 16:52 GMT
#2
No, I endorse it. I run win7 on my macbook purely because starcraft 2 is far less enjoyable on OSX currently. To their benefit, the blizzard mac devs are working on the issues (some of which are not their problem to solve), but I won't switch back until there's some semblance of parity between the two versions.
Selemender
Profile Joined May 2010
Netherlands54 Posts
August 08 2010 16:53 GMT
#3
The recommended system requirements are higher for the mac so it is less efficient than windows. I play on pc and mac and the mac settings are just terrible
_KiM_
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada498 Posts
August 08 2010 16:54 GMT
#4
I also looked on activity monitor while sc2 was running and it uses more than 1gb of real memory, which can seriously slow down your whole computer if you only have 2gb of ram
Hapahauli
Profile Joined May 2009
United States9305 Posts
August 08 2010 18:47 GMT
#5
For some reason, I get more FPS on my mac OSX than my Windows Vista Partition. I only have a macbook though... either that or Vista's more of a steaming pile than I thought it was =/
a talking rock that sprouts among the waves woosh
wikitiki
Profile Joined May 2010
United States4 Posts
August 08 2010 19:06 GMT
#6
Totally agree. Although I am not even able to install it in Mac OS X, and am able to run everything on low with a comfortable resolution. I really don't have a choice. I'm just praying that I'll either have a new comp or still be able to play Diablo 3 once that comes out.
IndecisivePenguin
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
United States771 Posts
August 08 2010 19:09 GMT
#7
I play it on the OSX and everything works fine. The only thing set to low for me is Shaders, but that's fine. I don't really care to be playing with super high settings anyway. Texture Quality is High, Physics are good, everything's working pretty well.
Shadowed
Profile Joined August 2010
United States679 Posts
August 08 2010 19:13 GMT
#8
Yea I haven't had issues with most of the settings on medium/high except shaders. I know there were reported issues with game graphics in the lastest Snow Leopard version, but that's potentially being fixed in an update that was seeded to developers a few days ago.

What MBP are you playing on?
WookieSlayer2007
Profile Joined August 2010
Australia6 Posts
August 08 2010 23:37 GMT
#9
I have gotta try this on PC i'll let you know how it goes with duel boot! I'm currently using a macbook pro 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR 3 ram and (lol) 9400m.
Some people don't take online battleship games seriously
Wire
Profile Joined July 2009
United States494 Posts
August 08 2010 23:43 GMT
#10
It's really weird because based on the tech specs alone you wouldn't expect there to be such a huge disparity, but agreed there is. Bootcamp really runs far more efficiently than mac osx.

time will fix maybe?
"You sacced your ovie, which is great, but then you didn't watch it die, which is bad :("
phl0w
Profile Joined August 2010
Austria3 Posts
August 09 2010 08:07 GMT
#11
WookiSlayer, I have the exact same spec as you, could you please update me on how it went? Plan on switching SC2 to XP on a bootcamped partition too. Although I fear the 9400M is the bottle neck and it's not getting any better. I'd gladly save myself the hassle of installing and tweaking Windows if the performance gain is negligible.
GaussWaffle
Profile Joined May 2010
United States211 Posts
August 09 2010 08:13 GMT
#12
I use bootcamp because I play games other than Sc2

But to my experience SC2 just plain runs better on windows than it does on the mac side. I'm not sure how to put my finger on it but everything just felt off while playing on the Mac side as opposed to the windows side.
stafu
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia1196 Posts
August 09 2010 08:13 GMT
#13
Apart from the performance benefits of running via Windows, the most important thing for me is the mouse input! It's an absolute joke on OS X—which I love as a general purpose/work OS, btw, it's just not built for gaming. Mouse input is far better in Windows.
IndecisivePenguin
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
United States771 Posts
August 09 2010 08:59 GMT
#14
On August 09 2010 17:13 stafu wrote:
Apart from the performance benefits of running via Windows, the most important thing for me is the mouse input! It's an absolute joke on OS X—which I love as a general purpose/work OS, btw, it's just not built for gaming. Mouse input is far better in Windows.


A simple freeware dl fixed this no problem.
Grape
Profile Joined April 2010
145 Posts
August 09 2010 09:02 GMT
#15
It is quite sad but it is true. My MBP runs SC2 way more efficiently in Windows 7.
esperanto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany357 Posts
August 09 2010 09:59 GMT
#16
SC2 runs smooth for me on my simple white macbook, i dont mind cutting down the graphic settings a lil bit. During the beta it worked better.

If u have problems with the mouse-accelleration (i got used to it) there are several guides how to turn it off. (http://osxdaily.com/2010/06/02/kill-os-x-mouse-acceleration-from-the-command-line/)

Does anyone know why sc2 is slower on macOS? Normally i have the feeling that macOS is much better in managing the cpu-capacity than windows.
phl0w
Profile Joined August 2010
Austria3 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-09 10:17:57
August 09 2010 10:17 GMT
#17
Esperanto, it's got something to do with Apple's and Nvidia's subpar drivers for OS X, that and some technical blah I don't know much about Something with precompiled shaders that Mac OS X has trouble processing...
Aaanyway, what's the word on which Windows to use, XP or 7(32/64? Ultimate)?
Lysenko
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Iceland2128 Posts
August 09 2010 10:22 GMT
#18
I have noticed that lowering the screen resolution has been a huge help for performance on both my Macbook Pro with a 9600M and my Mac Pro with an 8600GT. Both are running on High at less than 1/2 screen resolution, but it's more than enough res to play and it looks good and runs smoothly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism
BluzMan
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
Russian Federation4235 Posts
August 09 2010 10:27 GMT
#19
On August 09 2010 19:17 phl0w wrote:
Esperanto, it's got something to do with Apple's and Nvidia's subpar drivers for OS X, that and some technical blah I don't know much about Something with precompiled shaders that Mac OS X has trouble processing...
Aaanyway, what's the word on which Windows to use, XP or 7(32/64? Ultimate)?


SC2 runs badly on 2 gb RAM even though it's listed as a recommended setting. Having more than 3 gb RAM is a problem with a 32-bit OS. WinXP 64 is an unbelievable pile of trash, so I guess 7/64 is a better choice.
You want 20 good men, but you need a bad pussy.
stafu
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia1196 Posts
August 09 2010 11:23 GMT
#20
It's not just mouse acceleration that's the issue though — I disabled that long ago. OS X has no ability to force 500/1000Hz and still feels strange overall in comparison to Windows.
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