“When I got my Dual Quad-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro running Mac OS X 10.5.2 with the upgraded graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT, I was disappointed in its graphics performance relative to my former MacBook Pro with slower graphics, an Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT. But I was hopeful that the subsequent update of Mac OS X would improve the Mac Pro’s graphics performance but it did not happen with 10.5.3 nor with 10.5.4,” Bill Fox reports for Macs Only!
“Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.5 on Monday, 9/15, with new graphics drivers so my hope of improved performance was again renewed. I installed Mac OS X 10.5.5 on a number of Macs: Mac Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Core 2 Duo, PowerMac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4,” Fox reports.
“Curiously, Mac OS X 10.5.5 is not only overall no faster than 10.5.3, it may be even slower for some graphics tasks,” Fox reports.
Full article, with benchmarks results of Mac OS X 10.5.5 vs 10.5.3 here.
well, i guess we’re going to get a taste of what its like to be Windows users….
LOL, anyone who gets an nvidia card in their mac just because it costs more, thinking its an “upgrade” deserves their dissapointment.
grab an ATI card for snappier pro apps.
it takes about 3 minutes of research to know that.
Nicaragon, for pro apps yes, not for 3D or gaming. Nvidia easily beats out the ATI cards there.
@the other steve jobs
been there done that.. I was brainwashed into liking microsoft starting off at DOS and going to XP until 2004 when I switched….
I saw the light and followed it! and haven’t turned back since.
Oh for goodness’ sake, if you will run it on that sort of stuff: a PowerMac G4 Cube isn’t designed to run 10.5.5. For all we know, it’s two steps away from Snow Leopard, which is to be so intensive that G4s and G5s won’t even take it. No wonder.
The 10.5.5 update fixes a glitch so that Morphx now works again! (first time since Leopard came out)
Since the release of 10.5.5 I am getting .me sync errors again!!! It was fixed with 10.5.4.
@Macintosher
Snow Leopard won’t run on non-intel chips due to architecture changes, not raw processing power.
lol @ benchmarks being run on a PowerMac G4 Cube. Is it 2000 already?
“Curiously, Mac OS X 10.5.5 is not only overall no faster than 10.5.3, it may be even slower for some graphics tasks”.
And this is curious, why ?
Perhaps it never occurred to Fox that there’s more overhead in the OS now – for MobileMe, synching, security, etc…
photoshop is faster on windows xp than on a Mac.
and on a mac, photoshop is faster on windows xp than just photoshop on a mac.
just my personal testing.
who said that 10.5.5 would be faster anyway?
Yeah, I’ve been getting lots of complaints about this from gamers mostly. Most other people don’t really notice.
I’m on a 8-core 3Ghz MacPro and I haven’t seen a big change. Then again, I’m using an ATI video card.
This appears to be related only to graphics as I considered overhead and turned everything, and I mean EVERYTHING off. Graphics app are still slower.
The Blizzard forums are full of complaints.
Nvidia’s cards and drivers suck. That’s the problem, not the 10.5.5 update.
So.. no snap? Snapless?
its still true… if you’re a gamer, dont get a mac…
@Randy Deems: That may be true, I don’t have a way to test myself. But current versions of Photoshop are running on very UN-optimized code; the software was not really designed for Intel Macs. Whereas, on the Windows side, they’ve been fine-tuning it for Intel running Windows all along. So Photoshop is not really a fair comparison.
It’s best to stick to benchmarks based on code optimized for each respective architecture.
Who is developing the drivers that Apple uses for these products? If it’s Apple you should try griping on Nvidia or ATI’s forums for them to write some decent drivers. If Nvidia and ATI develops the drivers for Apple the suggestion still holds.
“is not only overall no faster”
Huh?
Wanker, playing with video cards.
For you, get a Window box!
@El Gaupo
Yoda! You seek Yoda!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”sick” style=”border:0;” /> (hey, it’s green)
“But current versions of Photoshop are running on very UN-optimized code; the software was not really designed for Intel Macs”
But when they weren’t really optimized for Intel PCs Fanboys loved to trot out Photshop benchmarks as the (Only) test where otherwise slow PPC Macs could beat Intel PCs.
Why now is it invalid just because Intel Macs Suck running it?
Photoshop may or may not be faster running on a Windows platform but Id still use in on my Mac over a PC any day. I don’t go for localized speed, I go for overall productivity and lack of problems. Factor in likelihood of problems and PC’s are slower overall.
Haha! Apple sucks! They are the most PATHETHIC comany that I have seen in the world.
Thanks for the 10 year old’s opinion on the matter.
I’m pretty underwhelmed with nVidia myself. I’m a Mac lover but am forced to use Windows at work and at home due to cost. I’ve switched to ATI and had no problems with Windows since. nVidia’s software is just not what it should be and their motherboard chipsets are unstable. Also, their marketing is far superior to their products. Their model numbering scheme borders on fraudulent and tricks people into thinking they are getting better performance by “upgrading” to a higher model number graphics card.
So on the Windows side I’m sticking with Intel chipsets and ATI GPU’s until someone can convince me otherwise. I was using a 650i and two 7900gs cards. Now I’m using an X38 and an ATI 4850. Things are much smoother now. I’m not talking speed I’m talking stability. Of course it’s MUCH faster.