Starcraft II on OS X (MBP 15" Core i7 - 330M)

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if any of you have picked up Starcraft II for OS X for your 2.66 Core i7 15" MBP.

I have played the beta on W7 and the GT 330M was pretty decent with medium-to-high details at 1440x900.

I'm really curious how OS X handles the full game now that it's out.

I still have like two weeks before I get to a city with a proper game store (GameStop) and I can buy it then.

Cheers!

 

i have it on the core i5 2.4 + 330m and it runs fine at medium-high settings -- a pretty rock solid 30 fps. heats up the machine like a mofo, which can you address a bit by adding the following settings to the variables.txt text file in documents\blizzard\starcraft ii:

--

frameratecapglue=30
frameratecap=60

--

apparently, this keeps the gpu from rendering unused frames (above 30 or 60/sec) in less intense scenes and thus giving yer gpu a chance to run at something less than max load

it's apparently a core issue blizzard is aware of and will address in the future

 

Are you running it in OSX or Windows?

 

os x, 10.6.4.

 

I"ve heard Windows is better for starcraft 2 because Open GL is just not as good as Direct X for gaming (understandable as before steam it was only Blizzard).....can you run it on high well?

If you have a Zalman notebook cooler can you run it cool? Like basically a high end aluminum cooler with 3 fans?

 

sounds likely, xfiregrunt.

the Beta ALWAYS ran noticably better on Windows 7 vs. OSX on my 17" i7 MBP.

but it also helps that I can OVERCLOCK my GPU in Windows 7...and the GPU driver support is significantly better on Windows than OSX.

 

opengl isn't inherently better than direct3d for graphics. Now how Windows runs it... and with very optimized drivers... if your running fullscreen almost all the power of your machine is going to the game. In OSX, with the poorer drivers, where not as much resources will be dedicated to the game even in fullscreen... well the frame rates wont get as high.

Apple needs to update some things with OSX... not just the drivers... to get better gaming performance.

 

word.

10char

 

Yeah, I've heard people running on all settings on high with bootcamp.

 

Yes, the bootcamp side is much, much better.

 

final version runs no less than 50% better on Win7 via Bootcamp.

looks like Apple is going to soon release some better GPU drivers. we can only hope. their GPU drivers really are -poor.

I've not run with all settings on "high" via bootcamp...but almost all of them are on "High"....and at 1920x1200. in OSX, most of my settings are at "Medium", and at 1680x1040. fail.

 

Actually I have experienced a huge increase of performance since patch no.2 came out.

I play at 1440x900 with everything high and it's the same performance I got before patch no.2 with a combination of mid-low details at 1280x800...

Thanks everybody for their replies. I got the game and I'm loving it

 

Can anyone help me out?

I am looking into buying the i7 macbook pro and im wondering how many fps sc2 runs at the low preset and at the medium preset, talking for instance 2v2 with units on the screen not the first 5 minutes of the game.

And more importantly is it smooth at that fps? because just because you have over 30 fps it does not mean the game feels and responds smooth.

Thanks a lot guys!!!

edit: Also at what resolution? you guys have the 1400x900 or the 1680x1080 screen?

 

I THINK, starcraft only uses 2 cores. so the i7 would be overkill.

 

Eerr no, the i7 in the macbook pro is a duo core, not a quad core. so its kind of perfect with its 2.66 Ghz.

 

you'd be able to get better than 30fps at either resolution. on medium.

 

Thanks, sweet.. I might be converting to mac from PC soon 20 years of knowledge down the drain

 

nah. you'll be dual-booting Windows 7. because there will be some games you want to play that just aren't available on OSX...and because some games just run better on Windows drivers and with Windows overclocking.

 

well actually.. I am only playing starcraft II don't have the time to do else than do the graphical work i do for a living and starcraft II.

But im glad to hear it should run decent, maybe even with the new osx update? also is 30-40fps on the macbook pro smooth and responsive? or do you actually need 60fps for that like I have seen on several other laptops (HP and alienware).

 

Free Games
it's apparently a core issue blizzard is aware of and will address in the future[/QUOTE]
it's apparently a core issue blizzard is aware of and will address in the future
__________________

 

lol so what's the final verdict then. Should I purchase SC2 for PC or Mac?

 

whats your budget? a laptop for starcraft only?

 

Not for Starcraft only but that will be probably one of only two games I will play (the other being MW2 and most likely Black Ops). Budget is like $3000 AUD, which translates to roughly 2600 USD.

Power isn't really a priority, mainly form and battery life but when a laptop can't even max out SC2 (which isn't the most demanding game out), it seems a bit worrying. And going to Boot Camp just for normal performance seems like an awkward trade-off, having to purchase the extra software and whatnot.

Mainly between the Vaio Z, Envy 14 and MBP 15 for me.

 

The DVD Starcraft II comes on is both for PC and Mac.

So just buy it and install it on both OS X and Windows. Then you can decide which one you want to run. It's an awesome game, so it's worth buying.

edit: I prefer running it on OS X just so I don't have to reboot every time I want to play. And with the new graphics update from Apple and patches from Blizz I've seen major performance boosts: 1280x720 with high and medium details, runs a perfect 35-40FPS.

 

I am looking forward to getting my MBP 15 i7 with SSD

 

I just ordered a MBP 15' with the i7, 8gb of ram, and an SSD. Could I expect to play it at 1680x1050 with medium-high in OSX? or willl I need boot camp to get that type of performance

 

Most people with the GPU and processor indicate that it's playable on medium. However, one or two have said that it's playable on high (bootcamp).

 

OHHHH, right. I thought that they had seperate versions for both PC + Mac, which was my dilemma lol.

So wait, from my understanding, you can install on both Operating Systems and you can use them both providing you use the one Battle.net login right?

 

yes its global login.