Marines Module with v1.10 on a MacBook Pro?

[CogNative]

Any one have experience with the new Marines Module with v1.10 on a MacBook Pro?

The CM:SF Version 1.10 Feature list looks impressive especially Interface and Infantry.

Thanks in advance.

CogNative

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MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz

GPU processor: GeForce 8600M GT /512 MB

System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.5

Apple BootCamp V2.1

Microsoft Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

CMSF V1.08

[Battlefront.com]

I use a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro as my daily computer, both for regular work and Windows based game stuff. I am running XP with SP3 on it as well. No problemos My old Dell desktop has been gathering dust for about a year!

Steve

[CogNative]

Thanks. Can you measure any graphics / FPS boost with Marines Module with v1.10?

CogNative

[Battlefront.com]

Big boost, for sure, but I don't have any FPS measurements to go by. I also hope that I can use the new nVidia drivers soon because usually they make improvements. New set was released yesterday.

Steve

[The_Red_Rage]

I can confirm that Marines runs much better under Bootcamp (I'm running older bootcamp 1.4 beta under Tiger as well, with ancient Nvidia drivers). After initial crashing problems caused by a third party mod (Red Air power), everything is going smooth now. Fewer redraws, better fps, and alot fewer graphical glitches. VAST improvement in performance and probably the best/most polished CM to date!

I got older MBP 2.2 Ghz too (second gen i believe, purchased in the beginning of Sept. 2007), so you should be able to get even more performance out of CM with a newer 2.5 model.

Steve,

You seem to have been using Macs for a while and I have abit of a Mac question - is it worth upgrading to Leopard just for newer Bootcamp vid drivers? Are they that much better for performance? (I'm primarily concerned with CM performance, and Call of Duty 4 to a lesser extent).

[CogNative]

Thanks. Much appreciated. I was hoping Marines Module & v1.10 tweaked the performance / graphics for the MBP. Ready to get the "hard-goods".

Are you all running on your MBP display or driving an external monitor?

I should note my MBP is in "single display mode" driving an external: Apple 23" Cinema Display 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hertz. I can use this large monitor and CMSF's smaller scenarios are very playable. That is plenty of real estate to fill with a laptop. With all graphics options maxed in CMSF the game looks immersive and impressive to me! The problems occur with Antialias / Multisample: ON, a thread in Tech Support. *

I installed the free version of FRAPS on the MBP to measure FPS.

Regarding new nVidia drivers, what are you currently using on your MBP?

I am using NVIDIA 167.63 version in BootCamp. I tried an upgrade to 175.19, with the "modified INF" file but could not get it to install properly.

"... is it worth upgrading to Leopard just for newer Bootcamp vid drivers? Are they that much better for performance?"

Sorry I can't answer this. Maybe someone else can?

The 2.5 MBP came with Leopard and my older Tiger Macs are not Intel models so no BootCamp. I prefer Leopard OS features over Tiger. 'Snow Leopard' won't show until next summer. Maybe by then CMx2 will be out in OSX? With 'Snow Leopard' I suspect stability and performance increases (full advantage of multi-core CPUs and GPUs).

CogNative

The summary of my MBP 'testing'

The Intel Chipset Installer made no difference in the MacBook Pro.

I gave up on Antialias / Multisample: ON as Schrullenhaft noted "Antialiasing / Multisampling WILL draw additional power since it makes the GPU work harder (provides additional "load" with the multiple passes of textures)... Not a CMSF problem but worth noting.

Nvidia control panel's 3D Settings: After many hours of mucking around to find the sweet spot, I don't think the CP 3D settings do much to enhance the graphics on my MBP. I do have "Threaded Optimization" turned OFF, "Extension Limit" OFF, and "Triple Buffering" ON...set the Processor Affinity so that only one CPU is running CMSF. This may keep the MBP a little less hot for a while.

Another item in CMSF that helps graphics is setting 'Alt-W' to "Shadows OFF". The FPS goes up, you can even use Antialias / Multisample: ON a while longer before the 3D image freeze and audio BUZZ occurs. The downside is the ability to use upper, higher perspectives in the game is lost without shadows.

So w/o Marines Module & v1.10, the CMSF 1.08 Options, Antialias / Multisample: OFF, "Balanced" 3D Model Texture and Quality, makes the big difference in greater FPS. Good to know for folks playing RT CMSF... which is lots of fun.

[CogNative]

Thanks Bumpy.

Are you running your MBP display or driving an external monitor?

Regarding nVidia drivers, what are you currently using on your MBP?

CogNative

[DaveDash]

I run it @ 1680x1050 using 174.16 (I think) nvidia drivers from laptop2go. Everything turned up on highest.

Runs like a charm.

I have 4GB of ram (only 3 under Windows), the nvidia 8600GTM 256MB card and Windows XP.

Are these new Windows drivers official ones supported by Apple Steve? The ones out of the box are horrible, so I've been using hacked inf drivers from laptop2go.

[Battlefront.com]

I've been using a Mac since 1987 10.5.x is worth the upgrade. It's one of those things where there are few bullet point features I find useful for my style/type of work. However, when I go back and use my 10.4.x MacBook Pro (the wife has that one!) I think "holy heck... I guess 10.5.x is more different than I'm conscious of!" So for me, anyway, it's a lot of little things that I like about 10.5.x over 10.4.x instead of being able to point to a couple of big ones (like the difference between previous 10.x releases).

I use a Dell 17" LCD as my primary monitor and my laptop screen as a secondary. Unfortunately, Windows has problems with this configuration. It insists of making my laptop screen the primary, despite the supposed ability to change this. Once, a long time ago, I figured out how to trick XP into giving me a choice but I've forgotten what that is! So I've been leaving the laptop screen off and using the Dell as my one and only screen.

I use whatever the resolution one above 1024 in the list is. I can never remember It works beautifully. I don't like higher than that on a 17" monitor because everything appears so dang'd small.

Steve

[DaveDash]

I've been using a Mac since 1987 10.5.x is worth the upgrade. It's one of those things where there are few bullet point features I find useful for my style/type of work. However, when I go back and use my 10.4.x MacBook Pro (the wife has that one!) I think "holy heck... I guess 10.5.x is more different than I'm conscious of!" So for me, anyway, it's a lot of little things that I like about 10.5.x over 10.4.x instead of being able to point to a couple of big ones (like the difference between previous 10.x releases).

I use a Dell 17" LCD as my primary monitor and my laptop screen as a secondary. Unfortunately, Windows has problems with this configuration. It insists of making my laptop screen the primary, despite the supposed ability to change this. Once, a long time ago, I figured out how to trick XP into giving me a choice but I've forgotten what that is! So I've been leaving the laptop screen off and using the Dell as my one and only screen.

I use whatever the resolution one above 1024 in the list is. I can never remember It works beautifully. I don't like higher than that on a 17" monitor because everything appears so dang'd small.

Steve

The out of the box Apple Windows XP drivers DONT support having your secondary monitor as your primary. However, the hacked inf drivers DO support it. There is some key command on some drivers that allow you to swap displays around, but I don't recall what they are (or if the apple drivers even suppor it).

[El Hombre]

The out of the box Apple Windows XP drivers DONT support having your secondary monitor as your primary. However, the hacked inf drivers DO support it. There is some key command on some drivers that allow you to swap displays around, but I don't recall what they are (or if the apple drivers even suppor it).

RivaTuner is your friend for NVIDIA drivers. Incidentally, my MBPs (the first version of feb 2006 and the new one from last month) play CMSF perfectly well, while my dual SLI 7800 AMD tower continues to randomly crash and freeze. Go figure

[El Hombre]

You seem to have been using Macs for a while and I have abit of a Mac question - is it worth upgrading to Leopard just for newer Bootcamp vid drivers? Are they that much better for performance? (I'm primarily concerned with CM performance, and Call of Duty 4 to a lesser extent).

Well purely for bootcamp, probably not. The new drivers and overall packaging of the setup are much better, but the change from CMSF to Marines will give you a hell of a lot more boost than a change in drivers.

However, on the Mac side you're better off with 10.5. Optimizations are significant (not least of which is that the whole OS is 64 bit now, including the UI parts). So I'd say go for the upgrade.

[CogNative]

Thanks.

DaveDash, No Audio / 3 D image issues with Antialias / Multisample: ON?

I am impressed. I tried hacked inf drivers from laptop2go but could not get it to work. Maybe I should try the newer drivers again.

I run the MBP in single display mode now for ease of hit on the GPU.

Steve sums it up well re: 10.5. "So for me, anyway, it's a lot of little things that I like about 10.5.x over 10.4.x..."

I disagree with Steve size matters... " Apple 23" Cinema Display 1920 x 1200" is addictive especially when all graphic options are set to maximum & working.

Thanks again guys,

CogNative ... work gets in the way of play some days 13 hours today ... so I play harder to balance