Applications :: Speedhack For Running Games Faster?
Dec 6, 2009
I am looking for a simple program like xspeed, just for Mac. Any offers? Nothing to make my mac faster, just making each application I am running like twice as fast (speedhack).
I have been thinking of purchasing Parallels. I have some games that play great in Windows 7 via Bootcamp on my iMac (see sig) but play horribly in Parallels. I understand that BootCamp is the far superior solution, but I do enjoy the ability to switch between Snow Leopard and Win7 on the fly. My question is really around whats holding me back. I am using the trial version of Parallels. Is it Parallels, my RAM (I have 2GB alotted to Win7) or because it emulates a video card I believe? These aren't intense games... things like Icewind Dale and Diablo II.
I have a 2010 13-inch Macbook Pro and I love it. I also recently fell in love with Team Fortress 2. How would I be able to make my (online) games run faster, smoother, and all around better?
Last night I installed the new Snow Leopard hoping to see an improvement in some of the programs I use (Photoshop, LR, Flash, AE etc�) but I don�t think any of these programs other than Safari, Finder and all those built-in applications in OSX benefited from this new 64-bit code, at least I haven�t seen any improvements in fact I went and checked the Activity Monitor and I don�t see the 64-bit in any of these programs.
Was this supposed to benefit all programs speed wise or the program itself should be 64-bit compatible?
Safari has been running slow for me lately. There is no problem with my internet connection. I have firefox too and it works blazing fast. So, why does safari run really slow?
So my kids wanted me to set up their computer with boot camp and Windows so that they could play games. We have XP service pack 2 installed. So far, Empire earth - wont run. NAscar Racing 20003 wont run. I want to try Sims 2 but is there something missing that these games are needing?
I download vista or windows 7 when it comes out, and I install it with bootcamp in my new imac 24". Will I be able to install and run non mac games? Like normal pc games and have then run just in bootcamp? Thats really my only motivation for using windows and if so how much hdd space would vista or windows 7 take up on my comp?
I'm debating on whether -- when they are upgraded -- to get the top of the line 15 inch macbook pro or the top of the line macbook air. I'm going to college in 2011 and I do hope to do a tad bit of gaming during part of my free time. I currently have a early 2008 Macbook Pro with a 2.4 ghz intel core 2 duo processor and 2 gb of ram along with a 256 nvidia 8600m GT graphics card and a 5400 rpm 200 gb hdd. I can run call of duty 4 at almost maximum settings with little to no tearing, blurring, or lag during both single player and online play. Would the macbook air be faster than my current system? Could I run games like left for dead 2 or the steam ww2 game (i forgot what it's called) at medium to good quality? How about with the current macbook air? Would the macbook pro be a better choice? I absolutely love the size of the macbook air and the appeal of steam is that I don't need to use a disk to run the games (which would be good on a macbook air).
Thinking of buying an iMac in the next couple of months and want to know know if anyone has experience of running games on Windows 7 under Bootcamp? Do they run ok? I know it depends what sort of game you are playing so I usually play MMO's & FPS. I will be using OSX for all non gaming stuff but if the gaming under Windows 7 is not that good I may just buy a Macbook for my OSX stuff and buy a seperate PC just for gaming.
My macbook is the new 2008 series with 2 gb of RAM, the Nvidia Geforce 9400m, and Intel processor with 2.4 ghz. I check on srtest.com and I am supposedly able to run games like Crysis very well. Yet, when I launch the new Warhammer: Dawn of War II game, I am at a loss. I can only run the gme on the very lowest settings at the lowest resolution in order to run without lag. Also, for some reason my bootcamp partition says I have only 1.72 gb of RAM. I have a feeling the partition is just not recognizing the power I have.
I'm gonna be installing Windows 7 on my Mini, and running Boot Camp. It's my plan to download some legacy games from Steam (like Doom II, and Half-Life); but does anyone here have any experience with using Steam? Steam appeals to me because it's gonna be easier than hunting-down some of these games on disc. Then there's all that faff with patches and stuff, which Steam deals with automatically.
Parallels is expected to announce as early as Thursday the sixth major upgrade to its Windows virtualization software for Mac OS X, delivering a significant performance boost over its predecessor, as well as 80 other new features.
The new Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac has been shown on average to run 40 percent faster than last year's edition, according to people familiar with the matter. Those same people said that the upgrade -- expected to retail for the same $79.99 price as its predecessor -- will also feature Windows boot times that are roughly two times faster than version 3.1 of its primary competitor: VMWare Fusion.
VMware and Parallels have gone head to head in the virtualization market since 2008, when the Fusion product was first introduced. Parallels has existed since 2006, and both products retail for an identical prices. In a recent study, Parallels 5 was already found to be 30 percent faster on average than VMware Fusion 3.
Parallels 6 is also expected to showcase tighter integration with its users' natural environment, adopting support for the Mac OS X's keyboard shortcuts, Spotlight search engine, and Expose windows management features. Similarly, the upgrade will offer the option to automatically apply a Mac's parental controls to their corresponding Windows applications, according to those familiar with the product.
Another major focus for Parallels is said to be gaming. Version 6.0 will reportedly deliver up to two-fold performance improvements while adding support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound and better handling of 3G environments.
Parallels 6 will sport compatibility with an enhanced Parallels Mobile application that will offer users the option of remotely accessing their virtual machines on an iPad, as well as an iPhone or iPod touch.
Parallels Transporter, previously a standalone application that allowed users to migrate a virtual PC image to the Mac, will come built into the new release as well.
Earlier this week, Parallels Desktop 6 was spotted on the shelves of a Fry's Electronics store in California. The product has not yet been formally announced.[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
My father owns one of the original G5s, so its power pc not intel. Today while browsing an excel spreadsheet he says part of the screen turned black, then the monitor shut off, then the monitor came back on but not video. Mean while the fans started spinning out of control. Now when he tries to turn it on, he gets power, but all that happens is the fans spinning faster and faster and faster until he turns it off. No video or anything. Just speeding fans. He fears the CPUs died since they control the fans. Any suggestions? He also says the fans were spinning unusually fast these last few days.
Sorry for the incredibly stupid question, but I just got the gfxCardStatus application for my i5, and was wondering whether turning on the NVIDIA video card will make applications like Mail, Firefox, etc. faster?
I read something about OpenCL, but am not really sure whether it works for all applications.
I find that turning on the NVIDIA card, instead of using the integrated Intel one, makes my laptop hotter.
I just got a new external hard drive that I have been using for storage. I formatted it for Mac OS X (extended...not journaled). I realized a few days ago that I can run the movies from the HD in windows xp even though the drive is formatted for mac. Would I be able to install windows games onto the drive and run them in windows w/o having to format the drive for windows?
I found this odd: I have the most recent versions of Handbrake and VLC, both in the 64 bit build. When I boot my MacBook Pro (June, 2009, and running SL 10.6.1 with 4 GB of RAM) in 32 bit mode, handbrake encodes video about 10% FASTER than when I boot in 64 bit mode! How can this be? I would have thought that running the Mac in 64 bit mode would run 64 bit applications faster.
I am trying to back up my 2TB HD (27" iMac Quad i7) to an external 2 TB hard disk.
it is taking an eternity... really.
time machine took 36 hours and only did 1TB. of data (no program or other files)
Carbon Copy Cloner so far has taken over 25 hours and not even done 900 GB yet... (though it is making a bootable copy of everything even system and apps.)
I have been experimenting with many bittorrent clients for mac (utorrent, vuze, transmision, tomatotorrent) and they are all consistently slower to download a file that the original Bittorrent client for Windows. I compared them downloading the same file at the same time (the windows client running under parallels), and always the windows client beats the hell of the others. Is there a mac client comparably fast to the windows one?
I was just wondering what you guys think about this. I have both installed on my i5 Macbook Pro, and it seems that my Windows 7 installation is much snappier, especially in terms of playing video, opening and closing apps, etc, than my Snow Leopard installation is. (I installed the latest NVidia video drivers from laptop2go.) Games of course are much faster - Civ 4 is faster on Windows, but videos seem more vibrant as well.
Is it just me or have other people also noticed this?
I just got a new MBP and have been doing all kinds of work stuff.....but now I want to have some fun too!! What kinds of games are popular for the Mac?
Not sure if this should be under "Running Windows on a Mac", but this isn't exactly Windows... so here it goes.
I am trying to run TF2 via CrossOver Games 8.0.0 on Snow Leopard using the specs described in my sig. I've placed a support ticket with them, but they haven't been answering quick enough to my liking; I have an itchy trigger finger, I guess. So, has anybody had any experience with Wine and/or CrossOver that could help me out? For the sake of brevity (plus I don't want to type it out ), here's the link to the support ticket describing my problem.
I donwloaded crossover games on my macbook pro, and i tried downloading steam, but everywhere i download steam, i get a msi file, which crosover wont open?