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Bioshock demo - performance tweaks?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2000
Location: northeast PA
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I recently tested the new Bioshock Mac demo on my 24" iMac (2.33GHz, 256MB NVidia 7600GT, 3GB RAM). The demo is a bit choppy even at the lowest resolution. And the mouse speed can change unexpectedly on occasion.
My iMac isn't new so I expected some slow down. Even so, my iMac specs are closer to the recommended settings than the minimum settings. So I'm hoping there are some adjustments I can make to smooth things out.
Are there any Bioshock fans here that know what settings to tweak to help performance? Is there a way to benchmark the various settings to help determine what combination works best on your particular hardware?
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Boot into Windows. Seriously.
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Baninated
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Yeah I have the same machine, 24" imac/7600GT. It ran fine in Windows, no problems. Played the whole game, right when it came out.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2000
Location: northeast PA
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It runs that much better in Windows? On the exact same iMac??
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Cape Cod, MA
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Driver support for video games is far superior on the Windows platform.
Just boot into XP and play BioShock without any fuss.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Apr 2000
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I almost purchased the Mac version the other day. i noticed that my MBU is over the minimum requirements and was hoping it would run decently. Thanks for sharing your experience and saving me some $$$ 
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
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I'm not sure why BioShock should run poor on the Mac. It's mostly based on the same engine as Unreal Tournament 2004, which runs pretty well.
I'm planning on buying BioShock for Mac, and I'm on a MacBook with 9400M.
If the same graphics options are in BioShock as UT2004, your best bet is to keep World Detail very low, because that involves optional geometry, as it's barely noticable.
And if you open the console (hit the ~ key), type STAT FPS for your framerate.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
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Apple downloads says a 1.0.1 update for BioShock was released on 4 Nov 2009. Probably improve performance for you. UPDATE: opps, demo for you, sorry.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2000
Location: northeast PA
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I found dropping to 16bit color helps. The mouse still arbitrarily accelerates, then slows down. It's still not really playable on my iMac under OSX (2.33GHz, 3GB RAM, 256MB 7600GT). But it's a great looking game.
Has anyone tried this game on a new high end iMac? I'm curious to see if throwing some high end specs (i7 quad or 3.33GHz core 2 w/R4850) at this demo will smooth things out. Yeah, I know running it under XP helps. But i'd rather support a Mac developer if possible.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2000
Location: northeast PA
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On a whim, I installed the Bioshock demo on my unibody 15" MacBook Pro. I didn't expect much difference vs my iMac because the specs are about the same.
The results were dramatic! My MBPro runs Bioshock a helluva lot faster and smoother than my iMac: no jerky mouse movement, at a higher resolution, more colors (24bit vs 16bit), and with plenty of extra graphic affects that look amazing!!! Rippling water, blurred vision, smooth light flashes, etc. These are not subtle increases in performance, video quality, and affects. It's amazing how much better this game looks and runs on my 15" MacBook Pro.
For comparison, specs of my 24" iMac vs my 15" MacBook Pro:
24" iMac: 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo (4MB L2), 256MB GeForce 7600GT, 3GB RAM 667MHz
15" MBPro: 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo (3MB L2), 256MB GeForce 9600GT, 2GB RAM 1067MHz
IMHO, the 9600GT is responsible for most of the increased performance and special effects. I was about to eBay my MBPro but those plans are on hold  I'm buying the Mac version of Bioshock since it's a kick ass game!
UPDATE: I maxed out Bioshock's resolution to 1440 x 900 (24bit) on my MBPro. While it slowed down a little, it's still faster than my iMac at low res 16bit. I think the 24" iMac uses a mini-PCIe graphics card. Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade this to a newer/faster card?
(
Last edited by joe; Dec 18, 2009 at 06:00 AM.
Reason: wrong specs)
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Moderator  Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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The MBP has a Geforce 9600M GT, not a Radeon. The computer is 2 years newer, and the GPU is 2 generations newer. In this case it means that it supports a newer rendering path for the graphics engine, which is why you're seeing a performance improvement.
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The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2000
Location: northeast PA
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You're right! And dam it is a sweet chip too. I wish I could upgrade my 24" iMac with the same chip.
Thanks for the info, I'll correct my lame post above 
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