mac mini vs imac

[PJfry]

Been using my imac for about 4-5 years and its been fine up until the new patch and all the graphical changes.

Since then I've been forced to used the lowest settings by that red blocking bar on the video options.

I also have a mini mac in the house which I tried wow on, seeing as how all the basic specs are far better: 4gb sdram, 2.5 ghz intel core 2 duo processor, 350gb backing storage and an Nvidia geforce 9400m graphics card as opposed to imac's 1.5gb sdram, 1.8 ghz intel core duo processor, 80gb backing and a much older radeon x1600 graphics card.

Wow ran fine and i was able to put the graphics up all the way on the mini but my framerate never got over 15, unlike my much older imac wich runs it fine at 25 fps (since i limited it to 25 to improve performance)

I was wondering if there's anything I can do to improve the framerate on the mini, or if it just the limitations of such a small machine?

[Lebronchanez]

I also use an imac......It's not really for gaming. It's possibly your OS issue. Once OS lion comes out, you should be able to set the bars higher.

I'm buying myself/ making a i7950/ with a 6990 when it comes out.. with water cooling OC'd to 4gig Will keep be busy over the holidays. Although i think i have to work

Anyhow, the human eye can't see anything beyond 26.7 fps, and i defiantly can't see anything > 20. I'm not too sure on your mini mac, it looks better than your imac. Maybe it's drivers?

Get an intel PC. ><

[vesseblah]

Wow ran fine and i was able to put the graphics up all the way on the mini but my framerate never got over 15, unlike my much older imac wich runs it fine at 25 fps (since i limited it to 25 to improve performance)

First thing to try is to put both computers on exact same settings and see what's the FPS difference then, instead of wondering why you get different numbers with different settings.

Also if you dont want flaming, don't use flamebait topics. The current topic is begging to be noted and flamed.

[Moobious]

My bet is that the mac mini is at a higher resolution than the imac.

As it is neither computer is a gaming machine and both are old tech so you can't really expect either to run current games well.

[Cilraaz]

I modified the title of the thread, as the title would have actually invited flames. Seriously, there's no reason to title a thread in that manner.

[PJfry]

My bet is that the mac mini is at a higher resolution than the imac.

As it is neither computer is a gaming machine and both are old tech so you can't really expect either to run current games well.

Probably this then, since the mini is on a bigger screen. I just stuck wow on a portable hard drive and walked it thru to a different room to install and try out quickly.

also vesseblah, i tried both out on lowest graphics settings bcos yeah otherwise itd be a shitty comparison

[vesseblah]

Screen resolution is one of the biggest variables when it comes to framerate.

1920x1080 has nearly three times the pixels of 1024x768 screen, making it run at 1/3 speed if everything else is the same. (oversimplified example)

[Wries]

Anyhow, the human eye can't see anything beyond 26.7 fps, and i defiantly can't see anything > 20.

Better that you hear this from a random internet dude than your doctor then, but you have the worst eyes in the world. With those slow updating eyes you must've been terrible at sports in school! Not saying you were, just that your statement stinks incorrect all over.

The human eye, and for that matter: the brain, can recognize FAR MORE frames per second than your made up number of 26.7. Where in the world did you get that number anyway? 25 fps is CHOPPY in a computer game, but might not be perceived as that before you've actually compared it to say 60 fps.

The limit of many LCD screens is 60Hz, which makes 60 fps the limit, but the human eye can definitely see even more than that. That's why there are 120Hz monitors, and so on!

[Lebronchanez]

My eyes aren't great... i'm looking at someone...then next moment...they become fuzzy. Don't really know what's going on. I wear glasses too.

I read that black and white pictures the frame rate that we can see is <30 (some people say this figure is <20), however our brain puts them into focus -

I was just saying there is no point in getting massive frame rates, where another above 30-40 does the job

Not making it up

[Deleted]

Anyhow, the human eye can't see anything beyond 26.7 fps, and i defiantly can't see anything > 20. I'm not too sure on your mini mac, it looks better than your imac. Maybe it's drivers?

I am so sick and tired of seeing this age old argument, here's a fact for you; the human eyes has no real limit to "how many fps it can see".

http://whisper.ausgamers.com/wiki/in...an_eye_can_see

Read and learn.

[Wries]

You don't need more than say 18-20 fps before our brain starts perceiving it as if it was real motion, but it really depends on how much motion blur there is. 24 fps is fine when it comes to movies because of all the motion blur to put it simple.

Pause any movie and see what I mean


A still from Resident Evil Extinction. See how the monster approaching in a VERY fast manner is made into a blurry mess? If you'd play the movie you wouldn't think on how blurry it was because the motion blur added to the smoothness of the movement it made.

If you make a screenshot of something in action in WoW, there is no motion blur. Instead we have a very detailed monster who needs to not have moved very much at all in the next rendered frame in order not to make the motion look choppy. That's why we need many more frames per second so that the frame that comes after the previous one don't differ that much when it comes to object positions.

[Asera]

1 frame in a movie = several "frames" due to film exposure time.

1 frame in a game = 1 frame because there is no exposure time.

[PJfry]

i must have brain damage or something then, since 25 fps looks pretty smooth to me.

[Wries]

i must have brain damage or something then, since 25 fps looks pretty smooth to me.

You're you're own grandfather so it may very well be the case!

But really. Adjust graphical settings so that you can render wow in 60 fps, observe how smooth things are. Go into advanced video options and limit your framerate to 25, observe the difference!

[Deleted]

i must have brain damage or something then, since 25 fps looks pretty smooth to me.

"Thanks to my trusty safety sphere, I sublibed with only trivial brain dablage!"

[Cilraaz]

i must have brain damage or something then, since 25 fps looks pretty smooth to me.

When you play with poor framerate long enough, you become accustomed to it. Do what Wries said. Set everything at minimum so that your framerate leaps up. Check out how smooth it is (regardless of how crappy the graphics are). When you set it back and you're back to 25fps, you'll notice the difference.