Guild Wars 2

Hi,

I have an iMac Mid 2011 with the basic configuration:

2,7 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6770m with 512 MB RAM
OS X 10.8.4

I would like to know if anyone can say something about the performance on this Mac with the Beta-Client.

Bought Guild Wars 2 yesterday and the question is: Download the beta client or install Windows via Bootcamp and use the Windows client?

Usually, I don’t want to run Windows on my Mac. Usings Macs now for 4 years, and very happy with it. I do play some Games on my Mac (Bioshock 1&2, Diablo III, Legend of Grimrock, Torchlight) and they all run fine in best quality.

But then I read that the Guild Wars 2 Performance should be up to 50% better when using Bootcamp … and no one knows how long the Mac Client will still be Beta.

I don’t need the best graphics (so Settings don’t have to be on Max), but the game should be playable all time at least with 30 FPS … nothing worse than a laggy game.

The download of the Mac client is very big, so I’m asking in advance. And please forgive my english, it’s not my native language. Thanks.

As much as I hate to say it, I’m going to highly recommend you use bootcamp with that configuration.

I have a current-gen maxed out 27" imac (nvidia 680mx, i7, 756gb ssd, etc.), and on max settings on the mac client (which don’t even include high rez textures), i get on average maybe 30-40 fps with v-sync off. With it on, it can drop down to 5-15 fps in crowded areas.

Conversely, when I use bootcamp, with max settings (including v sync and high rez textures), I get 45-60 fps on average depending on the area. That’s almost up to double the fps while using even higher settings.

Sadly, with a machine like yours using the highly unoptimized cider port mac client, you will either have to tone settings way way down, or the resolution way down to get good fps. Because of this I think you’d get the best experience going the bootcamp route.

I don’t know. If you don’t want to install windows I can understand that and I don’t want to either. I was running GW2 on my 2009

Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256 MB

And it worked okay at the lower graphics settings. I messed around with them a fair amount and got decent, 20-30 FPS in many areas. Granted I wasn’t running around WvW in 60 player zergs. It was playable for sure. I just had to deal with low graphics settings.

@Lunaire, what graphics settings are you using? I’m on a 2012 with lower specs than yours and with several settings at medium including using FXAA I stay in the 30-45 range in most moderately crowded areas. I’m looking at it now as I am in LA moving around the TP and mystic forge and the lowest it has dropped was 25 but hovers in low 30s.

Edit:

@OP you should be able to download the Mac client and test it and if it doesn’t work to your satisfaction you can always download the Windows client later.

@JustTrogdor: The Mac Client is installing right now … 10% done, about 240.000 files left

I looked at some other sites today, and some people say that with the Mac client, they only have 5 FPS less than with Bootcamp. Others say that they have 60 FPS with Bootcamp and only 20 with the Mac client.

So I will give the Mac client a chance … downloading 18 GB takes about 2 hours for me, but if the game runs at decent speed, it’s still better than installing Windows on a Mac.

^— Just a side note, if you do want to try it on bootcamp you don’t have to re-download the 18GB, you can grab the GW2.dat file from inside the app and copy it across. So if you find that the performance in OSX isn’t as good as you want it to be then there is always a not too difficult second option.

Played the game today for about three hours.

Did not use my iMac’s native fullscreen resolution of 2560 × 1440. Instead, I used a windowed mode with 1920 × 1080 and all settings on medium (shadows and reflexions off) – may sound bad, but the graphics look actually very good.

Game runs really smooth, never dropped below 30 FPS (except for 1 or 2 really crowded areas). Definitely runs much better than expected.

Only downside: My iMac really heats up when running the game.

Running on Bootcamp not needed with an iMac Mid 2011

AnimeStation.2769:

Played the game today for about three hours.

Did not use my iMac’s native fullscreen resolution of 2560 × 1440. Instead, I used a windowed mode with 1920 × 1080 and all settings on medium (shadows and reflexions off) – may sound bad, but the graphics look actually very good.

Game runs really smooth, never dropped below 30 FPS (except for 1 or 2 really crowded areas). Definitely runs much better than expected.

Only downside: My iMac really heats up when running the game.

Running on Bootcamp not needed with an iMac Mid 2011

What are your temperatures do you know? In many cases heating up isn’t that much of a problem and is kind of expected when it’s using a lot of resources. My 09 used to get pretty hot but it was within acceptable range. My 2012 doesn’t seem to get as hot but I have never actually checked since I’m not concerned. My Macbook gets some temps around 65 Celsius with fan speeds around 6000 rpm when I have been playing for a bit.

I don’t have a program to see the actual temperature. But if I touch my iMac on top, it’s usually only “low warm”.

While GW2, the top of my iMac felt really hot. I couldn’t touch it for longer than 5 seconds. Didn’t hear the fans though. And it’s aluminium, so maybe it’s normal to heat up that much.

My 2009 got that way in the upper left corner when I ran GW2 as well. It never seemed to be an issue though.

There is a free program for the dashboard called iStat Pro. It will tell you temps, fan speeds and all sorts of useful stuff. I think you have to get it from Cnet these days. I use it on all 3 of my Macs and find it useful. I have not had any problems with it.

http://download.cnet.com/iStat-pro/3000-12565_4-71074.html

If you decide to use it you will find it in your dashboard. You can set it to show Celsius or Farenheit.

Just to give you an idea I’m running GW2 on my iMac now and everything is below 50 Celsius aside from the GPU which is 65. But I think the 2012s run cooler.