[terrdactycalsrock]

How effective/efficient is it to run games on an Imac through bootcamp? I know bootcamp boots windows as the native OS and thus giving all of its resources to it, so does it simply come down to GPU and CPU performance? Also, I've never partitioned anything before, but I hear that can be complicated. What happens to the windows only applications I install but boot up OSX does it just act like its uninstalled?

[steadfast]

Bootcamp is really easy to set up. It does the vast majority of the work for you.

You just need to have a windows disc and license. When you're in Windows, it's just like any other computer at that point -- no OSX business in the background or anything.

[Quote]

It's like two different computers. And yes, it comes down to CPU/ram/GPU.

Boot Camp Assistant makes it very easy, just print out the guide in the first step if you're not familiar with installing an OS.

[The_Monk]

As far as the Difficulty goes for the partition it's really easy. All you have to do is follow the steps, choose how much space do you want to put on Windows, etc. There's an option to get 50-50 but you can put the way you like it better.

I have a MacBook Pro with no graphic card (and by this I mean, I have an Intel HD 3000, the reason why I need to try Diablo III first before buying...).

Try to see it as two PC's. Regarding the performance I'm not the best to answer since I don't have that many games to push my Pc. A game that I've run in the Windows part was Alien VS Predator from Steam and the noise became to really worry me. But that's because I'm on a MBP and these don't have any air flow.

Also, there may be some older Windows versions that may not work on Bootcamp. So if you can, go Windows 7. Sorry if I was not very specific to your questions!

[Typographenia]

The only significant problem I've encountered on my iMac is that it does an extremely poor job of venting itself. When I play newer games, the top right of my computer gets very hot, and I tend to stop playing for a while or turn settings down.

Oddly enough, Witcher 2 ran cooler on my system than some other titles I've tried that are years older or much less demanding graphically (I assume).



As for difficulty, it's actually way easier than you would probably imagine.
Here's the guides I followed while doing mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JbvkdcfVY
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computi...-7-on-an-imac/


It's basically creating two different brains to run with. Your windows stuff will never show up on your mac side outside of maybe a new harddrive icon representing that partition of the drive.
In order to access your windows side (as it will launch to mac by default unless you change it), you just have to hold down the alt key while it starts up. There will be a row of icons representing any and all drives, and you just choose to launch the windows drive.

edit: One of the most important things you'll want to do is create a cd that has the mac utility stuff for the windows side. It's really nice to still be able to control screen brightness, audio levels, and all that like you would on the mac side. I'm wanting to say it's actually mandatory in order for mouse/keyboard to work, but I might be wrong.

[SmithnCo]

Windows uses another partition so you won't see those programs on the mac side or vise versa.

Partitioning can be a pain. You might have to run some cleanup, and even then things might be all over the place.

[Arcteryx]

Yea I'd highly recommend using a fan controller(either Lubbo's fan controller or SMC), and just crank that shit up prior to gaming. Otherwise, you're going to burn your hands(if using a MB/P) and most likely suffer poor performance.

That aside, you'll see some pretty nice improvements in FPS. Experiment with drivers and what not etc.


Only downside: you have to boot back and forth :(

[Typographenia]

Yea I'd highly recommend using a fan controller(either Lubbo's fan controller or SMC), and just crank that shit up prior to gaming. Otherwise, you're going to burn your hands(if using a MB/P) and most likely suffer poor performance.

I asked about a fan controller in the "stupid questions" thread the other day, but I didn't get a response.

How effective are they? Is something like Lubbo really intrusive? I also read some people saying they were unable to alter fan speeds or stop them after uninstalling some of the programs, and I wondered if anyone had ever encountered these types of issues before here.

[d0c_zaius]

I asked about a fan controller in the "stupid questions" thread the other day, but I didn't get a response. How effective are they? Is something like Lubbo really intrusive? I also read some people saying they were unable to alter fan speeds or stop them after uninstalling some of the programs, and I wondered if anyone had ever encountered these types of issues before here.

SMC is good. Been using it since day 1.

Never had problems with it.

[terrdactycalsrock]

@Typographenia thanks for the youtube video, it really does look like an easy process. And yeah I was kinda expecting overheating to be a problem, which is seemingly the only downside

[Arcteryx]

I asked about a fan controller in the "stupid questions" thread the other day, but I didn't get a response. How effective are they? Is something like Lubbo really intrusive? I also read some people saying they were unable to alter fan speeds or stop them after uninstalling some of the programs, and I wondered if anyone had ever encountered these types of issues before here.

-Well it definitely helps a fair amount on my MBP, I usually set them ~5500(out of 6000 AFAIR). Without overriding it, I think it usually maxes out around 4750-5000(at least that's what Lubbo's reported).

-SMC is on Mac, so before booting into Windows you set the fanspeed, and then boot. Lubbo's is Windows native, so you boot into Windows and set it from there; it's just a small tray icon, nothing more.

-As far as not being able to set the speed, that depends on your computer. I've heard that some won't allow you to change it, but I don't know which models/gfx cards that entails. I haven't had any issues with Lubbo's/SMC, they always work fine and I'm able to default back to normal easily.

If you ever have issues with them, you can reset the PRAM/SMC; that should default the fans to normal settings.

[Typographenia]

@Typographenia thanks for the youtube video, it really does look like an easy process. And yeah I was kinda expecting overheating to be a problem, which is seemingly the only downside

I've never had it overheat to the point of it being a problem, but I've certainly noticed it get really warm with some games. I knew it would be an issue with some demanding games, since macs are built so air-tight, but it probably won't be an issue for most games if you just configure things to a reasonable degree and don't play really long periods of time.


Thanks a lot to d0c_zaius and Arcteryx! I really appreciate the answers.
I'll see if I can't dabble a bit with it this weekend or something.

[Quote]

EDIT: Didn't mean to bump.

[metalmania4evr]

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro that I've bootcamped with Windows 7 so that I can play Star Wars:ToR as well as Diablo 3. The games run fine and high settings w/o anti-aliasing. Running games on high specs with anti-aliasing makes my system crash and restart. I also tend to have it on my lap tilted slightly up for better venting because it does get hot. I plan on buying a laptop tray that tilts for me so I don't have to use my legs.
This seems pretty nice and is very affordable

[DUFFMCWALIN]

Yea I'd highly recommend using a fan controller(either Lubbo's fan controller or SMC), and just crank that shit up prior to gaming. Otherwise, you're going to burn your hands(if using a MB/P) and most likely suffer poor performance. That aside, you'll see some pretty nice improvements in FPS. Experiment with drivers and what not etc. Only downside: you have to boot back and forth :(

Thank you for this post I was looking for some good fan control options for the mac.

[StopMakingSense]

I've never had it overheat to the point of it being a problem, but I've certainly noticed it get really warm with some games. I knew it would be an issue with some demanding games, since macs are built so air-tight, but it probably won't be an issue for most games if you just configure things to a reasonable degree and don't play really long periods of time.

The iMac case acts as a heat sink itself, so the case will get quite hot. I've ran Skyrim at 1080p with an ENB mod for many hours at a time on my 6970m iMac and never ran into any actual overheating problems.

[DUFFMCWALIN]

The iMac case acts as a heat sink itself, so the case will get quite hot. I've ran Skyrim at 1080p with an ENB mod for many hours at a time on my 6970m iMac and never ran into any actual overheating problems.

I was curious about this as well as I got an mbp a couple of months ago and was shocked at how hot that case was getting. I thought I was melting something.

[Typographenia]

The iMac case acts as a heat sink itself, so the case will get quite hot. I've ran Skyrim at 1080p with an ENB mod for many hours at a time on my 6970m iMac and never ran into any actual overheating problems.

StopMakingSense

It always just worries me when I can feel hot air coming out of the vent port that's hot enough I can't hold my hand against it for very long. Good to know, though.


Update on the SMC stuff-
I installed it and it all seemed to be working fine, but I can't actually make new "profiles" or whatever they're called with varied settings. I tried making a new profile and changing them, I tried changing the settings on the default and creating a new profile from there, but nothing I did seemed to work. I'll probably mess around with it more at some point, but I'm just leaving it as a temperature reader for the time being.

[The Technomancer]

Yeah, you're installing Windows onto a partition so it really is like having a Windows machine with equivalent hardware (although you will need some drivers to get things like Wi-Fi working, but Apple provides all of that for free)

Installing Windows was extremely easy. Installing both Windows and Linux was another story...

[Magnus]

Hmm, so, I'm seeing lots of great advice here about how to effectively run things on Windows partitions via BC...but not much commentary on how much better the games run on BC vs the Mac OS.

Specifically interested in Blizzard titles (SC II, Diablo III and WoW) -- all of them run decently on Mac OS (low-mid settings), but I'm hoping for a performance improvement with the Win7 installation I just did?

[Miizy F Baby]

Hmm, so, I'm seeing lots of great advice here about how to effectively run things on Windows partitions via BC...but not much commentary on how much better the games run on BC vs the Mac OS. Specifically interested in Blizzard titles (SC II, Diablo III and WoW) -- all of them run decently on Mac OS (low-mid settings), but I'm hoping for a performance improvement with the Win7 installation I just did?

The same game - same hardware - different OS, in personal experience, Windows always wins, sometimes significantly. The OSX Drivers just aren't there yet.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Interestingly enough, you can still access at least some files on the Mac partition from the PC side. I play my music in Audiosurf off the Mac partition (labeled as the E drive for me).

And performance can be significantly better on some games in Windows even for multi-platform games.

Diablo III is the latest offender (although a fix is in the works - we'll see how well it does.)

Civ V is also pretty bad on OS X compared to Windows (though it's at least playable on OS X).

[Magnus]

Interesting. I'll be installing D3 tonight on my W7 partition then to check shit out. Thank you!

[JJD]

Just installed Windows 7 Ultimate on my 2011 15 inch Macbook Pro.

Bootcamp is amazingly easy to use and install. I could run Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on high settings, anti aliasing off with 20 to 25 fps natively on OSX. I've read that I can get more than 20% performance increase playing then on Windows, so hopefully I'll be over 30 fps now.

I'm installing D3 right now. I'll report back as soon as I can play it a little.

There'a also a nice bonus installing bootcamp if you're a fan of blizzard games. Many of their older classics like D2, Starcraft and others are not running on newer Macbooks anymore after Lion. With Bootcamp you'll be able to play then all.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Just installed Windows 7 Ultimate on my 2011 15 inch Macbook Pro. Bootcamp is amazingly easy to use and install. I could run Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on high settings, anti aliasing off with 20 to 25 fps natively on OSX. I've read that I can get more than 20% performance increase playing then on Windows, so hopefully I'll be over 30 fps now. I'm installing D3 right now. I'll report back as soon as I can play it a little. There'a also a nice bonus installing bootcamp if you're a fan of blizzard games. Many of their older classics like D2, Starcraft and others are not running on newer Macbooks anymore after Lion. With Bootcamp you'll be able to play then all.

Diablo 3 is awful on OS X at the moment. You'll probably get a 50% or more increase in performance.

[Nemo]

Can you just as easy install GFX drivers, directX (XNA and .net framework) etc. as well?

[The Technomancer]

Can you just as easy install GFX drivers, directX (XNA and .net framework) etc. as well?

Yeah, its literally Windows.

[Nemo]

Yeah, its literally Windows.

Sweet man, thanks!

[civilstrife]

Run all my games this way.

The only problem is overheating.

Apart from that, It really highlights how shitty OSX is as a gaming platform. All Blizzard games run butter smooth at full settings on my Windows partition and utter ass on even the lowest settings on my OSX partition.

Literally the same exact hardware, and yet Windows wins out every time.

[Seraphinianus]

If you're on a macbook, keep an eye on your temps. just listen for that screeeaaaammm coming from your fans!

[MrVargas]

Bootcamp is awesome! I just wrapped up a Skyrim session a few minutes ago. I have a wired 360 controller hooked up to my iMac at all times so whenever I want to do some 1080p on that big beautiful screen I am good to go. I also have a utility installed on my iMac that can restart into Windows automatically which also helps the process.

[Zekes!]

This is good to know. I've been planning on installing Windows 7 on my 2010 MBP so I can play Phantasy Star Online 2.

[JJD]

Diablo 3 is awful on OS X at the moment. You'll probably get a 50% or more increase in performance.

Holy shit! Really??? Man I'm so glad I hold off playing D3 until I could install Windows...

[The Technomancer]

Also if you're OCD about aspects of your computer and don't like holding down option every time you boot up and having to select between ugly disc icons check out rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/

(I needed it to install 3 OS's but its nice as just a slick GUI bootloader)

[JJD]

Also if you're OCD about aspects of your computer and don't like holding down option every time you boot up and having to select between ugly disc icons check out rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/ (I needed it to install 3 OS's but its nice as just a slick GUI bootloader)

I already have rEFIT installed, but how do I make the select boot disk screen the default screen every time I boot the computer?

[The Technomancer]

I already have rEFIT installed, but how do I make the select boot disk screen the default screen every time I boot the computer?

If it doesn't do it automatically...hmm, if you hold down option while the computer restarts does a hard-drive icon called rEFIt show up? I've noticed that happening occasionally on fresh installs, once you've selected that even once then it should go straight to rEFIt by default from then on.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Run all my games this way. The only problem is overheating. Apart from that, It really highlights how shitty OSX is as a gaming platform. All Blizzard games run butter smooth at full settings on my Windows partition and utter ass on even the lowest settings on my OSX partition. Literally the same exact hardware, and yet Windows wins out every time.

Eh, WoW at least is fine. SC2 is playable, but certainly better on Windows. Diablo 3 is currently broken for me on OS X though.

[Zekes!]

I haven't had any problems with D3 yet :/

[Cannon Goose]

Um, how do I stop Lubbo's fan control? Even while rebooting the computer the fans were still spinning up like crazy.

Edit: Never mind, a proper shutdown stopped it.

[JJD]

If it doesn't do it automatically...hmm, if you hold down option while the computer restarts does a hard-drive icon called rEFIt show up? I've noticed that happening occasionally on fresh installs, once you've selected that even once then it should go straight to rEFIt by default from then on.

The hard drive icon shows up fine. I did a fresh install on the whole computer. My mac was beggining to get kinda slow so I backed up, formated it, and reinstalled OSX, then I ran bootcamp and installed Windows 7.

Next time I boot it I'll pick the rEFIT icon! Thanks my friend!

[Calavera520]

Diablo 3 is awful on OS X at the moment. You'll probably get a 50% or more increase in performance.

awful? I've played through for many hours on my iMac without any issues. slowdown occasionally but running at 1080 resolution with all high settings around 30-40 fps consistently.

[subversus]

my friend plays everything on his bootcamp and he has no problems even with the buggiest software.

[twentytwo22]

I have an iMac and a 11 inch MacBook air and I've got bootcamp setup on both. It was a bit more work on the air simply because it doesn't have a cd drive (if you have a USB cd drive it solves this, but I got it going without it, all off the USB... Somehow!) and have played around with gaming on both. It is pretty surprising and usually works better than I expect it to.

About 85% of my PSO2 play during the beta was on my MacBook air. Blew me away that it ran on there.

I also have read a lot about 'overheating' -- yes, these things are acting as heat conductors themselves so they are supposed to get hot. The official word is that if it gets so hot that it's going to cause any problems, the computer will automatically shut itself down. I recommend playing with your fan controls if you are sensitive (like me), but I wouldn't say it's 100% necessary.

[JJD]

awful? I've played through for many hours on my iMac without any issues. slowdown occasionally but running at 1080 resolution with all high settings around 30-40 fps consistently.

Think like this, if you were running the game on the same specs and settings but on a Windows machine you would be getting 60-80fps consistently.

Most blizzard games are not well optimized for OSX. Hell, what multiplatform games are? I bet I can count then on both hands.

Since you're playing it on an iMac you have the horsepower to run the game satisfactorily regardless of optimization, but people playing on Macbooks (like me!) are not so lucky. D3 requirements are kinda low, so recent Macbooks with dedicated GPUs should be running it way better than they are right now.

It's been fun getting back on Windows after 5 years using exclusively Apple computers. But it's amazing how clunky everything feels after getting used to OSX (specially on a laptop since Apple's trackpad and gesture controls are so freaking good). If Apple nailed gaming on their OS MS would be in real trouble.

Still it felt good to be back!

[Syph Medwes]

Quick question.
I want to install Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. (10.6.8)
My version of bootcamp is 3.0.4.
I read that I need bootcamp 3.1 or higher for Windows 7, but the update files on Apple's site are .exe files. So do I just use my 3.0.4 version of bootcamp to install Windows 7 and then update?


I just want to play DayZ/Arma II :P

[JJD]

Quick question. I want to install Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. (10.6.8) My version of bootcamp is 3.0.4. I read that I need bootcamp 3.1 or higher for Windows 7, but the update files on Apple's site are .exe files. So do I just use my 3.0.4 version of bootcamp to install Windows 7 and then update? I just want to play DayZ/Arma II :P

Are you on Lion? Is your mac updated?

Try checking for updates on your computer first, not on Apple's site, then check your bootcamp version.

If you can wait a bit until D3 finishes downloading I'll check which version of Bootcamp I'm running. I just installed W7 today and it was really fast and painless.

In the meantime check if your Macbook specs are good enough to run Arma II, I've heard that the game is demanding and badly optimized even on Windows! Lol!

[JJD]

I just remembered, those .exe drivers on Apple's site are meant to make your Windows partition recognize components on your Macbook like the the trackpad and video camera.

You're supposed to intall then just after you install Windows. Without then the trackpad will work like a regular Windows trackpad, and your camera won't work among other stuff.

It's just compactibility issues.

When you start Bootcamp you'll have the option to automatically download those drivers to an USB stick or DVD disc. You can do this anytime.

Try to update your Mac clicking on that little apple icon on the upper left corner of the screen, and then on check for updates. If that doesn't make your Bootcamp update to the latest version you might have to buy Lion.

It's just 30 bucks and it adds lots of good features so you should have done that long ago! ;-)

[Syph Medwes]

Are you on Lion? Is your mac updated? Try checking for updates on your computer first, not on Apple's site, then check your bootcamp version. If you can wait a bit until D3 finishes downloading I'll check which version of Bootcamp I'm running. I just installed W7 today and it was really fast and painless. In the meantime check if your Macbook specs are good enough to run Arma II, I've heard that game is badly optimized even on Windows! Lol!

I'm running Snow Leopard and my Mac is up-to-date. And sure I'll be up for another couple hours so let me know, thanks!

[Killthee]

Have you tried launching Boot Camp Assistant in OS X? It should look something like this:



That option should let you download updated drivers for Windows.

[Cloudius12]

You may need to defrag the drive to push all your OSX stuff to one side so you can make your Windows Partition.