01/15/2016 11:29 AMPosted by
Korvac
Option 1:
- mac pro 5,1
- 3.46GHz 12 core (I run a lot of VMs)
- Titan or 980Ti
- 64GB RAM
- PCIE SSD
Not happening unless you go with an external PSU (either in the optical bay if you can find one of good quality or modding a real PSU to work externally - also not recommended unless you are an expert with electrical components).
If you can get the external PSU situation worked out without too much issue (i.e. you're good at doing so), then you can run a Ti or Titan. If not, your only real option is the GTX 980, and then only those that use dual six pin PCIe connectors.
As for the MP6,1 the D700s would only give you performance on par with an unhindered 7950, and you'd essentially be stuck with one GPU always powered down outside of OpenCL work. Crossfire's never happening on that model outside of Windows, especially with Apple shifting to Metal, which is its own proprietary set of APIs.
Your best bet is a tricked out 5,1. Even a lowly R9 270 in a 5,1 would outperform the D700 found in the MP6,1. The TrashCan Pros
can game, but they're trounced by a decked out 5,1 any day of the year.
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Tia, thanks for the input. FYI there are folks selling video cards modded to run off dual 6 pin connectors - from the Titan on down:
http://www.macvidcards.com/store/c2/Nvidia_GPUs.html
I'm not sure about the R9 270 outperforming the D700 though, as I understand it, the D700 is an underclocked 7970, and the R9 270 is a couple steps further down from that.
In any case, looks like I'll keep a cheese grater around for gaming purposes.
Thanks again. - if anyone has current WoW benchmarks, would still love to see them!
Barefeats.com is probably the most up to date for WoW benchmarks, but even that's limited. They were going to do a new set of benchmarks using routes I had suggested as theirs is woefully out of date (their test route is in a vanilla starting zone with no players and the least amount of textures to load - literally best case scenario when they need to be testing worst case scenarios for realistic performance evaluations).
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Tia, thanks for the input. FYI there are folks selling video cards modded to run off dual 6 pin connectors - from the Titan on down:
They aren't modded -- they just use a 6 to 8 pin converter. Don't do this on a Mac Pro tower -- the Titan and the 980 TI spec out at 250 watts and the MacPro can only deliver 225. I have first hand experience with this -- don't do it. If you want that 980 Ti or Titan you have to go with an external PSU.
I wound up ordering a 6,1 with 3,7GHz 4 core and D700s. I'll post FPS here if anyone is interested.
Thanks for the input.
Sagerremeseb, to the best of my understanding they have indeed been modded in the firmware; slightly under clocked in order to run safely at 100% utilization with (2) 6 pin connectors. The loss of performance is nominal and acceptable for my uses.
I got the 6,1 with dual d700s. Performance is solidly in the 80-90 FPS range at ultra settings. I will be testing with 970s or Titans in an external GPU solution (Thunderbolt chassis). Didn't see much interest for this result, but if anyone is curious I will post those as well.
Thanks.
They've modded the firmware not to reduce power (or if they did, they failed) but rather to give the full Apple boot screen. I ran into this (and so have others running other apps -- check the nvidia forums) while fighting Tectus as the particle displays force the card into high/max power to handle the load. It was enough to shut down my mac instantly as it tripped a safety on the mother board. As soon as I gave the card external power, the problem went away.
The problem was incredibly consistent. I put up a thread about it as it was repeatable.
That's good info, thanks! It also seems that I overestimated my FPS. Now that the game is fully installed, it dips into the high 40s in War Spear. If only they would enable crossfire, or metal would utilize both GPUs.
Speaking of metal, anyone have updates on this? How to enable, when it's going mainstream, performance deltas?
There is an option to select Metal as the API in the Legion Alpha. I believe the API in WoD is "GLL" by default. Not sure if OpenGL is an option these days.
On a side-note, since updating to El Capitan, I have experienced lag spikes that I believe are GFX related. Anyone else have the same issues?
04/15/2016 04:38 PMPosted by
Jagoex
There is an option to select Metal as the API in the Legion Alpha. I believe the API in WoD is "GLL" by default. Not sure if OpenGL is an option these days.
On a side-note, since updating to El Capitan, I have experienced lag spikes that I believe are GFX related. Anyone else have the same issues?
GLL
is OpenGL. There is no more separate GLL/OpenGL CVAR option. There is the MTL CVAR option in Legion, but currently it's got massive problems and is nowhere near ready for prime time.
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I was thinking of buying a new iMac and couldn't find a concrete answer to my question. If so, could I run it at the highest settings? These are the specs of the Mac: 21.5" iMac® - Intel Core i5 (1.6GHz) - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive. The one that costs $1,099. Here's the link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-21-5-imac-intel-core-i5-1-6ghz-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-silver/3093014.p?id=1219570899522&skuId=3093014&productCategoryId=pcmcat143400050013
Thanks for any help
I'm afraid you won't be running on anything higher than Fair, maybe Good with a few extra things turned down with that setup. Intel IGPs are not exactly great for games. They can get by, but barely. The screen may only be 1080p, but even that's difficult for that IGP to drive at decent framerates.
Expect no better than about 25 FPS unless you turn down literally everything in the game. And don't even think of using Ultra view distance. Not happening on that system.
To be completely honest with you, any Mac outside of the iMac 5k w/ M390X or M395X GPUs will take a massive framerate hit when WoW 7.0 hits (that's the pre-patch prior to the launch of Legion) because using OpenGL is going to be slower, and Metal, while improving with each iteration, isn't really much faster than the new slower OpenGL 3.2 yet, and not likely to enable the Intel IGPs much breathing room. Any Mac, be it an iMac or Macbook/Air/Pro that does not have a dedicated GPU in it will become obsolete very quickly with regard to Blizzard's game engines.
I'm not trying to be a downer here, but integrated graphics will never run ultra settings.
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I recently started playing again and am using a 27" late 2009 iMac with 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (12 GB 1067 MHz DDR3) and ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB. Just wanted to reassure anyone that this system seems to run WoD pretty well; I recently started raiding again and have been very surprised by how well it handles the graphics and lots of action on the screen.
The only time I have experienced any lag at all was when my system somehow reset itself to ultra graphics settings which of course a seven y.o. system was unable to handle.
I greatly appreciate all of your suggestions! Many thanks.
How do you think Mac Pro 6,1 3.7GHz quad core Xeon (tube) with D700s will handle it?
The guide has been updated for Legion! Let the demons come!
Rough Ride my !@#, all this means is WOW was paid & now I cannot play, paid but no customer satisfaction with these update problems.... thanks for the assist hopeful to be able to open toon and resume gaming!! Frustrated Mac user
I tried to reset all graphics to low but still get a spinning rainbow wheel freeze.. any other advice may be helpful
Stoneblade, you should add a note into your post about MSAA:
Also of note in what is probably the best news in this whole guide, Mac users finally got MSAA back! YAY!
You only get MSAA back if you are on a system whose GPU is capable of running the
Metal API. OpenGL does not support MSAA in WoW.
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Stoneblade, you should add a note into your post about MSAA:
Also of note in what is probably the best news in this whole guide, Mac users finally got MSAA back! YAY!
You only get MSAA back if you are on a system whose GPU is capable of running the Metal API. OpenGL does not support MSAA in WoW.
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We stand between the candle and the stars. We stand between the darkness and the light. We live for The One. We die for The One. We are An'la Shok.
Ah! Noted. I'll change it. Thanks!