Improving Mac Game Performance

Many of the readers on my blog have been asking about improving Mac game performance for World of War craft so I thought instead of replying to each of the messages individually I would create an article for the benefit of all. If Wow is running slowly on your Mac here is my recommendation on how to fix or at least improve Mac game performance.

Mac Game Performance for World of War craft

The first thing we Mac users need to understand is that we represent only about 10% of the computer users in the world and that game developers seldom put as much work into the Mac version as they do for Windows.

Honestly for most game developers a Mac version is usually an afterthought and is only available to generate a little more income. That's the cold honest truth.

Boot Camp and Windows Emulators

One way that you can improve Mac game performance for games with Windows as their native environment (Wow) is to run them in boot camp or other Windows emulation software.

More Ram

Mac game performance can sometimes be improved with more RAM. While this may improve the performance is not a guaranteed fix, but you can never have enough RAM.

Video Drivers

Wow seems to run better on some driver versions than others. Since video drivers change regularly and thus the best drivers change, I suggest that you consult the Wow official site and the forums to find out from players what is working the best currently.

Video Card

All video cards are not created equally. My advice here is to purchase the best video card that you can afford, preferably with DDR5.

Minimum and Recommended Specs

Minimum

Mac® OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.x (latest version):

Intel processor

2 GB RAM or higher

25.0 GB available HD space

4X DVD-ROM Drive

Broadband Internet connection

*Note: Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System Requirements for this game may change over time.

Recommended

In addition to those above

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor - NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon™ HD 4670 or better

4 GB system RAM

Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel

System Cleaning

One thing that most people over look in improving Mac game performance is good housekeeping. Most computers are absolutely loaded with useless junk.

Clean the desktop - too many icons can impede graphics performance

Clean the Hard Disk - clean out unnecessary files, mp3s, and graphics.

Optimize Your System - set up your system to shut down unnecessary processes to improve Mac game performance.

Utilities to improve Mac Game Performance

There are a number of utilities that automate the process of cleaning and optimization of your computer, but the one that I recommend is Mac Keeper. It's a great tool filled with 16 must have utilities, and best of all you can try before you buy with a trial edition.

Gaming is an important part of the life of many computer users regardless of the type of operating system. Use the simple tips in this article to improve Mac game performance and your enjoyment of World of War craft.