UT 2003 Framerates. . . Holy shit

[Typhy]

Well, I've finally found the match for my computers.

UT 2003, 16 guys AI's ( click on Instant Play in Demo, and take 16 enimeys ), all on Expert.

My powerbook ( 1GHZ G4, 1Gig RAM, 64MB ATI Radeon 9000 Pro ) pulls about 15-30FPS.

My desktop ( 867g4, 1Gig RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 ) pulls 20-35FPS ( same settings ).

Both of these, of course, have everything set on highest.

Which leads to my question: Why are the framerates on my powerbook and desktop so much alike when one has twice the graphics power? Is it that 1GHZ and 867 G4 processors just aren't powerful enough?  

[Cobra]

Yeah, unfortunately graphics this nice come at a price.  It's a damn slideshow on my 700mhz iMac, but that's to be expected with GF2MX (at least it's a nice looking slideshow!  ).

The 9700 in your desktop is definitely not your bottleneck, as I'm not sure even UT2k3 can push that to it's limits.  The 867mhz processor is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but I'm pretty sure that this game, with all settings on high, is maxing that thing out.  Perhaps it's time to invest in a 970   (I may have to murder Steve Jobs if they're not announced at WWDC...).  In the Powerbook, it's most likely a combination of the video card and the processor, though the slightly higher clock speed seems to be keeping it just over unplayable territory.

[BTs_Colin]

Apple is paying for having slow processors

My buddy had an AMD 750Mhz with 768MB DDR 2700 and 64MB Radeon 8500.

He get performance similar to your 867 in FPS.

He recently upgraded to a 2200 XP+, 512MB DDR, kept the video card.

I won't tell you what he gets.

We gamers desperately need a real processor. The G4 just isn't good. Games don't use the DPs Apple provides anyway. I hope the 970 changes that somehow. I almost wish they'd stuck with a G3.

[Typhy]

Hmm, quitting my start up apps ( Weather Pop, iChat, Sherlock, iTunes, Quicktime Pro, Terminal, mlMac, adress book, Mail, and System Preferences ) did seem to help a bit. The biggest thing there, being the amazingly unoptimized mlMac. Ok, ok, it helped a lot. It brought my framerates from about a 30 high to a 45 high on my powerbook.  

[Mr. Lothario]

     Do you get better framerates with fewer AIs? Well-made modern game engines are not CPU-bound, except their AI routines. I would take a stab and say that 16 AIs is probably working the poor little G4 way too hard, so your FPS are dropping.

[Typhy]

While a 1GHZ G4 'aint bad, Lothario is right. The AI's are the processor demanding part of the game. 1-10 is about the same. Anything past 10, and the framerates start to drop ( about 35FPS now, with 16 AI's on my powerbook ).  

[Cobra]

Yes, definitely.  How about botless multiplayer?  Any framerate troubles with a good number of online opponents?

[.::|N| SeRP]

My G3 graphite iMac 2001 still pwns you!

[Typhy]

In multiplayer - a bit of slow down, but not bad at all. ( 40-60 FPS )