Snow Leopard Graphics Update available

Starcraft 2 still pretty slow comparing to windows 7. Maybe they should fix the frame rate issue for that.

It works!! When i plug in external display it won't flicker or black out no more!!

Was running OS X 10.6.3 and yesterday upgraded using the combo updater to OS X 10.6.4 and then applied the graphics update.

I have no actual numbers, just qualitative measurements.

Starcraft II: When running 10.6.3, I would get occasional stutters in the menus, and the game would run choppy for 15-20 seconds when the match first started. Framerate slowdowns would only really occur with really big battles and/or a lot of shader effects.

Post-10.6.4 & Graphics update the menus are as smooth as silk, and the only slowdown occurs with extreme amounts of shader effects (notably with a lot of water) and huge armies. The game runs (as a guess) about 5-6 FPS faster all around.

Torchlight: Only really noticed problems when a lot of shader effects were being used when attacking large quantities of enemies at once. Still some slowdown, but all around probably 2-4 FPS faster and a steadier framerate.

TF2: Definitely runs better than it did 10.6.3. I'd say 5-10 FPS on my Spring 2010 Core i5 MBP. Big improvement. Similar improvements in the other source-engine based games.

So from my limited testing, definitely a framerate improvement across the board with the new drivers. Oh to dream that Apple would actually try to optimize the drivers...there's obviously room for improvement and it could make the Mac an actual viable gaming platform. I still go to windows quite often for better performance on the same games.

This patch keeps me in OS X a little more now, though :)

Here are the steps to repeat it. It seems to be relatively benign. Is this repeatable on anyone else's system?

1. Leave laptop unplugged
2. Go to Apple Menu, choose Software update.
3. Choose Install and Restart button.
4. Choose Restart button.
5. Computer complains about not being connected to a power source. Plug in Power supply
6. Error screen pops up stating "Backupd-helper canceled restart".

I've found a repeatable error in the install on my MacBookPro 2,2. Any one know how to get a hold of Apple to let them know? I haven't seen this behavior in the past.

Too bad the update screws up Safari -- now there is a pronounced screen-tearing effect when you scroll up and down. (This may be limited to Nvidia cards, and doesn't happen to Firefox.)

Will I be able to shut off my displays via the hotkey combo again?

For the rest of us that have Macs not included in this update, can we safely ignore it? Seems pointless for me to even bother with it.

Every time there is a graphics update I hope it will fix the zorder problems my mac has, and every single time, it seems to get worse rather than better.

*sigh*

Secondlife has been crashing like a cheap whore for like a month on my Santa Rosa MBP. Blue screening for godssake, and the second running would crash even faster, I'd have to do a full restart to clear any problems, only to see it return soon after. Until last month or so no such issues occurred. Several crashes per session, hoping this works. New (winter 2009) iMac suffers no such issues.