Frame Rates

[wylie233]

This all sounds great!

The problem is, I am very new on the whole Graphics Card thing.

So i would need some guidance - sorry.

So are there any pacific recommendations for a new GPU that will be BETTER than my current one?

Also, I would have no clue as how to install them!

Thanks to everyone for the time!!

[Cameron]

This all sounds great!

The problem is, I am very new on the whole Graphics Card thing.

So i would need some guidance - sorry.

So are there any pacific recommendations for a new GPU that will be BETTER than my current one?

Also, I would have no clue as how to install them!

Thanks to everyone for the time!!

You're on an iMac, which does not have an upgrade path for the GPU, unfortunately. You are 'stuck' with what you have until you purchase a new computer!

[wylie233]

Ok. Well its great for all the help you guys have given me. If anyone has more to say that would be very kind.

Thanks!

[Ntr09]

Move away from MACs. Linux or Windows systems pack way more bang for your buck. $800 is a good starting point. Look for something with an i5/i7 and an nvidia GTX550-560. At least 8GB of ram is recommended. An SSD would be nice also.

-NR

[wylie233]

You are gunnu have to psychically make me change from Mac to PC!

Haha

Thanks.

[Ntr09]

Linux isn't half bad. http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

-NR

Edited April 24, 2012 by Ntr09

[chris k]

If you can afford it (and you want to stay on OSX), a MacPro offers upgradable graphics capability. However, it sounds like you may not necessarily be in a position to pickup one of these (from what Im reading into here..)

- CK.

[philipp]

Neither the iMac (even the top model) nor the MacBook Pro are really good X-Plane machines, because they use notebook hardware, which means lower bus-bandwidth, lower GPU performance, more heat problems. They are designed to look slick and shiny, but not for sheer, raw power.

On the other hand, half the price of a top-notch iMac buys you a really fast PC. For a guideline which components to choose, take a look here: http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=46908

I personally use a Mac for everyday work, for programming, for photos, it's my workhorse, it's on like 16hrs every day. But, I have a dedicated PC for "gaming", which besides X-Plane includes AeroflyFS, Rise of Flight, DCS BlackShark... etc. It runs Windows 7 and occasionally Ubuntu Linux. So my advise would be to consider a dedicated X-Plane or gaming machine running Ubuntu, which actually borrows a lot of user interface elements from Mac OSX. It's of course not like the real thing, but it's less shocking to a Mac user than Windows 7, in my opinion.

If you really can't stand having two machines, you either need a Mac Pro or a Hackintosh.

Buying a MacPro RIGHT NOW is a bad idea, since the MacPro hasn't been updated for quite some time and still has old-generation Xeon CPUs. While HP, Fujitsu and Dell all have upgraded their top-workstations to E5-Xeons the MacPro still uses the previous generation ("Nehalem").

So either the MacPro is due for a major upgrade real soon now, or Apple will discontinue this product line entirely.

[john82088]

If I recall correctly, I thought there were many things in xplane that did not work in Linux? Planes? Plugins? Is this still true?

John

[wylie233]

Hello, The problem with a new computer is that i am 12.

Yep, big problem.

[woweezowee]

that depends on your future… . Sometimes it's easier to afford something as long as you are 12-18 and can safe your pocket money. When you have your own car, appartment or house, a wife and kids, pay taxes, well … …

[wylie233]

HAHA, i agree,

Thanks

[dpny]

Buying a MacPro RIGHT NOW is a bad idea, since the MacPro hasn't been updated for quite some time and still has old-generation Xeon CPUs. While HP, Fujitsu and Dell all have upgraded their top-workstations to E5-Xeons the MacPro still uses the previous generation ("Nehalem").

So either the MacPro is due for a major upgrade real soon now, or Apple will discontinue this product line entirely.

Price aside, the issue with the Mac Pro right now isn't the CPU: the Nehalem/Westmere's are more than enough CPU for v10. The problem is the last officially supported GPU is the 5870, which v10 is more than capable of bringing to its knees. It's possible to run the 6000 series ATi cards in the current Mac Pros, but that family of cards is an incremental improvement over the 5000 series.

The 7000 series, however, is a whole, new beast. People poking around have found references to the 7000 series cards in the 10.7.4 developer releases, but to my knowledge no one has yet gotten one to work in a Mac Pro. if Apple does kill the Mac Pros--and I hope to God, or whatever, they don't--then Mac users will face the real problem of becoming second-class citizens in the X-Plane world simply because of the lack of GPU options.

However, if Apple does introduce new Max Pros at WWDC, with the 7970, I will be first in line to buy the new card.

edit: looks like, even if Apple does kill the Mac Pros, if the new iMacs ship with 7000 series cards it's very likely one could use the .kexts to power 7000-series cards in MPs.

Edited April 27, 2012 by dpny

[woweezowee]

I'm still in that boat (or plane?) with you, dpny. But I am very optimistic that Apple does not kill the Mac Pros. It's just no longer the priority and the product cycle is anything but comparabe to their other stuff. Wich is reasonable I think given the circumstances of the changing market.

But hell yeah! I am very impatient too to buy that new ATI (or NVIDIA) card for my Mac Pro!

(edit: on the other hand my optimism might be unjustified:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/is-the-17-inch-macbook-pro-headed-for-extinction/20069

reports very pessimistic in regards to the future of the "big stuff".)

Edited April 27, 2012 by woweezowee

[s839sd82k]

Hopefully this hasn't been mentioned.

Find a freeware memory indicator. MemStatus 2.65 works great on a Windows XP PC. You need something to at least show system memory and graphics card memory usage. Then you can tell what's happening to your system. On my system, somewhere between low graphics and higher graphics, X-Plane 10 maxes out the video card. According to the utility, system memory is not a problem here.

Display frame rate (FPS)

"Move your mouse to the top of the screen (causing the menu to appear) and click Settings,

then Data Input & Output. Check the far right box next to frame rate (item 0, in the upper left

corner of the window). This will cause X-Plane to display the current frame rate in the upper left

of the screen during flight."

Edited June 14, 2012 by s839sd82k