Filed under: Gaming, Hardware, iMac, Leopard
10.5.2 makes your WoW go faster
Our good friends over at WoW Insider (disclaimer: I'm a lead over there) have unlocked one of the first secrets about 10.5.2 (which dropped today in Software Update): it'll make World of Warcraft play faster.After hearing that the patch made reader Jason's Mac play faster, WoW Insider's Adam Holisky saw his FPS jump from 30 to 50 on his first-gen Intel iMac (he also has 2gb of RAM, and installed the graphics update with 10.5.2). The picture on the upper right was a test under 10.5.1, and on the lower right was after the update.
Pretty slick. I'd imagine that this would probably affect most 3D games (although who knows how EA's games will work on the Mac at any given moment). The only note that might document this in the update itself is just a "general stability" fix for "third-party applications,' but if you see your 3D go faster after 10.5.2 let us know. Azeroth has never looked so good.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Matt Moriarity said 9:14PM on 2-11-2008
Is it possible this is a result of the Leopard Graphics Update? New graphics drivers would almost certainly improve FPS
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YoJIMbo said 10:06AM on 2-12-2008
Supposedly, after talking with an Apple Cert Engineer, he said that this version (10.5.2) of the OpenGL drivers are now multi-threaded. This would explain why you get a huge jump in FPS at low-standard settings and then, the more you rely on the graphics card, the less improvement you see (ie anti aliasing turned to max, etc.).
Frere said 9:24PM on 2-11-2008
Very very nice update indeed for wow players.
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delhokie said 9:25PM on 2-11-2008
Window animations and other items which I'm assuming use core animation are now smoother- minimizing windows had a slightly jerky appearance since the Leopard upgrade (intel imac, 2gig ram). Now, much more smooth in all areas after installing the graphics update (10.5.2 by itself did not improve it).
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alan westbrook said 12:19AM on 2-12-2008
Eve-Online looks a bit better on my MBA although there is now a really bad Z-order problem, but still crashes whenever I try and bring up the prefs pane.
Am *still* installing on the MBP, taking forever.
Interestingly the MBA version was ~340 megs, while the MBP one was only 180.
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Eric said 5:17PM on 2-12-2008
How well does Eve-online play on the MBA? I currently play it on a Mac Mini (GMA950) and get 15-30 FPS.
alan westbrook said 10:39PM on 2-12-2008
I only use it for skill switching and chat, if I actually need to do anything outside the station, I use the MPB. Too crashy otherwise.
Eric said 7:08PM on 2-13-2008
Ok, mind posting FPS in station so that I can compare?
alan westbrook said 12:22AM on 2-14-2008
16 fps in station, 10 fps out of station.
Fan spins up, and machine gets HOT! (something it doesn't ever do otherwise).
Eric said 5:53PM on 2-15-2008
Thanks a lot!!
Victor Agreda Jr said 9:49PM on 2-11-2008
I wonder if the graphic enhancements include the volume overlay not choking every time I invoke. Remember how volume "just worked" back in Panther? It works like a charm on my G3, but my MBP gggets allll stuttterrerr-y when I try to adjust the volume.
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Martin said 4:12AM on 2-12-2008
Volume adjustment works smoother indeed.
moo083 said 9:45PM on 2-11-2008
Is that with or without the leopard graphics update?
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MoonMan said 12:57AM on 2-12-2008
I think the part where he writes, "...and installed the graphics update with 10.5.2" might give us a clue to help answer your question.
Trevin Ward said 10:39PM on 2-11-2008
"(publish after 8:30pm please)"? What's the deal with that?
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Tom said 10:37PM on 2-11-2008
I don't see it anymore but I'm guessing that the one on WoW Insider was scheduled to be posted at 8:30 (because it was posted at 8:30) and the one here had to be posted afterward.
Mike Schramm said 11:13PM on 2-11-2008
Yes, it was a message that accidentally got through. Hopefully it didn't freak you out too much. :)
El Cartel said 9:49PM on 2-11-2008
THis has nothing to do with this post. But after updating to 10.5.2 isync no longer opens up. Am i doing something wrong.
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Felix said 10:16PM on 2-11-2008
isync works fine for me. Do you have any 3rd party apps installed?
El Cartel said 10:21PM on 2-11-2008
nope everything else is working. I have 3rd party apps that work with two other applications. But everytime i click on isync the icon bounces in the dock and does not open anything up.