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John123 · Dec 26, 2004, 02:04 PM

Let me throw this out there to you folks and see what you think. I've done some searching on the forums but haven't quite found an explanation.

1. Sometimes the screen will flicker a little, and then it will dim, as if it were trying to do so for Energy Saver. That's not what's happening however, as the display is still in use. Sometimes it just dims a bit without the flickering.

2. Quake III Arena (demo or full version) launches with serious graphical artifacts that shouldn't be there. It's impossible to use -- polygons are everywhere. Even on the main screen, where you would click single game or multi or settings, there are graphics anomalies.

Anyone had problems like these? Thoughts?

Thanks!

Romeo · Dec 26, 2004, 08:38 PM

I have heard that the graphics card is not the best for gaming. In my view, a PC would be a gaming machine and so an X-Box or similar. Most iMac users are not concerned with games and such. I could be wrong, of course, but in my case at least I have no plans to use my iMac G5 to play games.

John123 · Dec 26, 2004, 11:56 PM

Originally posted by Romeo:
I have heard that the graphics card is not the best for gaming. In my view, a PC would be a gaming machine and so an X-Box or similar. Most iMac users are not concerned with games and such. I could be wrong, of course, but in my case at least I have no plans to use my iMac G5 to play games.

Yeah, but not the best isn't the same as incompatible. And I know people have run Quake III on the iMac (to get benchmarks), so it is supposed to function at the least...

Romeo · Dec 27, 2004, 02:41 AM

Perhaps you are correct. I don't know enough about the iMac G5 to give an accurate opinion. Mine is supposed to be delivered to my home in the morning.

Now, if the iMac G5 was designed so the CPU, modem, and graphics card could be removed and replaced, then it would leave room for upgrading. Are these components soldered to the motherboard?

John123 · Dec 27, 2004, 04:15 AM

Originally posted by Romeo:
Perhaps you are correct. I don't know enough about the iMac G5 to give an accurate opinion. Mine is supposed to be delivered to my home in the morning.

Now, if the iMac G5 was designed so the CPU, modem, and graphics card could be removed and replaced, then it would leave room for upgrading. Are these components soldered to the motherboard?

yes

Crusoe · Dec 27, 2004, 06:22 AM

If you haven't already, run the software update to 10.3.7. Also I would try to adjust settings, removing lighting, antialiasing, etc; change the resolution, and check some Quake III gaming forums. QIII should run fine on the GFX chipset, it may just be a driver or setting incompatibility.

John123 · Dec 27, 2004, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by Crusoe:
If you haven't already, run the software update to 10.3.7. Also I would try to adjust settings, removing lighting, antialiasing, etc; change the resolution, and check some Quake III gaming forums. QIII should run fine on the GFX chipset, it may just be a driver or setting incompatibility.

The artifacts are so bad upon launch that I can't even change the settings.

I'm running 10.3.7....

PBG4 User · Dec 27, 2004, 12:03 PM

Originally posted by John123:
The artifacts are so bad upon launch that I can't even change the settings.

I'm running 10.3.7....

I haven't had a problem running Q3:A at all on my 20" iMac G5. I would contact Apple support and if they don't have an answer, I would do a complete erase & install of OS X. I have no problems at all playing Q3:A with all settings at maximum.

mrgreen4242 · Dec 27, 2004, 12:19 PM

I had this same problem with UT2k4 on my sisters iBook 933mhz. UT2k3 always worked fine on it, and I was just checking the 2k4 demo to see how the iBook handled it. Polygons everywhere, walls clipped off and whatnot. Character models and textures looked good, tho, and the frame rate was pretty smooth ;-).

Anyways, I didn't find any 'cure' but I tried the demo out on a store demo 1.6ghz iMac and had no problems. Q3:A should run perfectly on your machine, it runs at 60+ fps on a 933mhz iBook! While the iMac isn't a GREAT gaming machine, it is a pretty good one for a 'casual' gamer who enjoys the older 'bargin bin' game

. Apple even advertises it as such!

Sorry I can't be of any help, I just wanted to let you know that this has happened to other people, it's not just your machine, and that you iMac is more than capable of playing that game properly.

Rob

John123 · Dec 27, 2004, 01:02 PM

Did it ever clear up on your sister's iBook?

Just FYI, the Quake III demo seems to run in Classic -- is that correct? I guess I had never noticed until now...

I've tried downloading the OS X patch, but it doesn't actually seem to patch the application, or do anything for that matter.

mrgreen4242 · Dec 27, 2004, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by John123:
Did it ever clear up on your sister's iBook?

No it didn't, but I didn't really try to hard... she was just visiting from school for the holidays, and she's gone now, so I just deleted the disc image, as she doesn't play any games.

Rob

John123 · Dec 30, 2004, 01:44 PM

I figure I'll try one more time, since my first call to Apple wasn't very helpful:

Has anyone seen a flickering/dimming of their LCD screen while using the computer?

Has anyone launched Quake III to these sorts of strange artifacts?

PBG4 User · Dec 30, 2004, 02:19 PM

Originally posted by John123:
I figure I'll try one more time, since my first call to Apple wasn't very helpful:

Has anyone seen a flickering/dimming of their LCD screen while using the computer?

Has anyone launched Quake III to these sorts of strange artifacts?

Is it possible you configured Q3:A to a screen resolution not supported by your computer?

Like I posted before, I have no problems running the full version of Q3:A on my iMac G5.

I haven't seen flickering/dimming of my LCD screen other than the normal brightness step-down after a period of inactivity.