Guild Wars 2

Dev team,

I’ve compiled a list of specific nVidia 6-series issues with Guild Wars 2 on a new Macbook Pro mid-2012 (classic MBP and retina MBP). This is catered to nVidia issues only, as the ATi counterparts on other systems are not experiencing the same issues. This is primarily due to adapted ‘beta’ drivers that have not been updated since the launch of Mountain Lion. Essentially, Mac users with the 6 series chipset are using modified pre v.300 drivers which are known to have performance issues with Guild Wars 2, and it’s amplified due to the Mac/Cider transfer.

1) FPS Issues – FPS’ hover anywhere from 15-35 on 1680×1050 (and lower resolutions, surprisingly). Simply moving the camera with or without VSync on will cause a drastic reduction in FPS’ when rendering. This is a driver issue, not a Cider one. However, the legacy ATi chipsets are not having this issue.

2) VSync/Default Refresh Rate – VSync causes a major performance hit (more than it should). If VSync is set on while the default refresh rate is at 60hz, the game will periodically lock at 30FPS, with space to go lower.

3) Settings Not Differentiating – Whether on ‘Better Performance’ or ‘Default’, changing the settings/sliders does not change performance. This is tantamount for diagnosing issues with this chipset and the beta. The system will fade performance down, but won’t change performance with added settings. You should have a noticable hit with everything turned up, but the performance is locked at the lowest setting.

TL;DR – There are significant driver issues for this card. Can you work with nVidia and Apple to get these updated on the 8.2 or 8.3 updates? This client would be amazing without having to switch to Windows all the time. For the record, nVidia users, keep using Boot Camp for now.

System(s) Test Settings:
MacBook Pro mid-2012 classic/retina
OS 10.8.1 – Mountain Lion
Intel i7 2.6ghz Ivy Bridge
nVidia 650m (default clock speeds)
16GB DDR3 1600mhz RAM
512GB SSD
1680×1050 resolutions and lower (not optimized for retina)

vsync is supposed to force you at 15fps when you go down from 30 and so on, so I think it’s working as intended, you should disable it if you want to maximize your fps.
That said, would be cool to have a drivers update, but don’t hold your breath, Apple doesn’t care much about graphic drivers.

mak.9027:

vsync is supposed to force you at 15fps when you go down from 30 and so on, so I think it’s working as intended, you should disable it if you want to maximize your fps.
That said, would be cool to have a drivers update, but don’t hold your breath, Apple doesn’t care much about graphic drivers.

The only issue is that it’s going from 30 to, well, into the single digits. With everything on low, the 1GB 650M should not be performing this way. Same exact settings on Boot Camp lock me at 60FPS.

I too am having the same issues with my Macbook pro (same model.) just throwing that out there so the dev team knows it is repeatable

Having the same issues listed above with my 2012 MacBook Pro.

I’d like to contribute to the Mac beta test but with the drastically reduced frame rate, I’ll continue to run with Boot Camp and Windows 8.

Hopefully there will be updated drivers soon and I can help out again.

Cheers.

skitzogreg.1457:

The only issue is that it’s going from 30 to, well, into the single digits.

The frame drops is a problem sure, but vsync is only going to make it worse.

I vouch for the OP , i have the same retina configuration as him, and have the same issues with the mac client.

Having nvidia and apple help here would be nice.