So these three operating systems walk into a bar one night ... alright, we'll behave. With all the
Steamy conversation about
gaming on non-Windows desktop platforms going on, we thought you might care to peek at a little OpenGL performance comparison review. As the chief cross-platform API, it's the only way we're going to be seeing the latest games running natively on Mac OS and Linux, but how will that experience compare to the market leader? As it turned out,
Windows maintains superiority in this field, with frame rates that were habitually above those on the
latest Ubuntu and well ahead of what you might get on
Mac OS 10.6.3. It's still early days -- after all, Steam's non-DirectX cupboard is pretty bare right now -- but at this point in time, OpenGL gaming is a crown that Microsoft retains with relative ease. Hit the source for all the line graph evidence, and let's hope things improve for the rest of us in rapid fashion.
posted May 12th 2010 4:09AM
PC gaming < XBox gaming
@The Joker Someone read the article...
@The Joker
Quick post < Good post
Yes, if you like dumbed down games, often whacky controls and vastly inferior visuals on the downside and a simpler casual gaming experience on the upside, then consoles are for you.
@Bahumbug
Oh please....
I am a gamer therefore I like games. It does not matter if they are on 360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS, PSP or a bloody abacus! No wonder gaming has not yet fully grown up when people are still arguing over which system is better. It is all about the games, Mario Galaxy is stupendously great so does it matter that it is on Wii? Little Big Planet is brilliant so does it matter that it is on PS3? Seriously forget about the systems and just play the best games regardless.
@The Joker
ubuntu doesnt use that logo anymore with those colors., its sad that you need to use the windows box design with ubuntu. Nice photoshop skills, amateur.
also osx is horrid and laughable.
@account5
So in summary, EVERYTHING SUCKS! GOD, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO STUPID!
Get over it, little troll.
@The Joker
Since his comment was downranked into oblivion, I'll go ahead and top-post.
As much as I obviously love Ubuntu -- the box art should have been printed for a re-purposed DVD case, or on a CD with "ubuntu" written in magic marker ;-)
Moral of the story? Nintendo can sleep tonight : )
@coolblue2000 OF COURSE it matters which platform it is on.
PC games can all be downscaled to run on low graphics mode and look like the Wii, but guess what, people buy better processors and graphics cards so that they can max everything out for three times the visual experience that even a PS3 is capable of.
And yes, I own a Nintendo Wii, PS3 Slim, and quad crossfire rig.
If I could run all the games on the PC, I would, because it has far more horsepower with the widest array of peripherals that work with it, but alas, there are exclusive titles. =(
@Ducman69 I completely agree - I only own a PS3 and 360 for exclusives; everything else I get on PC because they just look better on it (and before anyone says anything about not wanting to be sat on a PC chair all day you can hook the computer up to a TV and use a 360 controller if you so wish).
The PSP, DS and iPod Touch do however hold up on their own merits at times - there are some games for each that simply wouldn't feel right on any other platform.
@coolblue2000 thank you!
@account5 seriously do you go on every engadget story and bash it. Sir you are the biggest troll you hate EVERYTHING. Move out your parents basement and get a life!
@account5
Seeing as Ubuntu doesn't ship to retail stores (Something to do with it being free, I guess, what d'you think?) what do you suggest they use as a box for it?
And at the end of the day does it really matter? No.
Your a sad, sad little boy.
@coolblue2000 Bomberman on a TI-84 calculator is fun too. Any system can be entertaining with the right attitude.
@Shanebenn Joker must be joking.. Since i've used the windows 7, I completely forget all the past OS's i've used before. Epic. http://j.mp/windows-7-ads
This is no surprise. MACs are not suitable for gaming, even if they develop for it. Perhaps if Apple becomes more open and shares its codes, then it might surpass Microsoft. Remember, Apple already failed once on the gaming scenario and by simple luck got into the whole mobile gaming with apps. I just want more platforms for pc gaming so there can be competition among the different platforms
@chrisrottan What the heck are you smoking? There's no doubt that Apple's relationship with gaming on the Mac has been chequered, to say the least, but to describe it as "unsuitable for gaming" is the foaming rant of a lunatic.
And they got into mobile gaming by "simple luck"? Please.
@maddoguk69 Are you aware about what kind of piss poor hardware they use? How shitty the OS is?
There was a recent benchmark that showed games in OS X performed worse than Games on Windows USING BOOTCAMP.
OS X is shittier on the EXACT same hardware.
@Matt08642
This..
But this could be because of shitty ports.
@Matt08642
I tend to think that you didn't think that response through fully. Bad software is bad software no matter what the platform and ported software invariably tends to throw up differences (just look at how many Windows users complain about iTunes).
@maddoguk69 mobile gaming? lol. Yeah the iphone is a GREAT gaming platform, if you're 7 years old.
@flyboy A What 7 year old can afford a iPhone and plan?
iPhone "gaming" isn't bad, but only in comparison to what is available on other cellphones.
@maddoguk69 What are you talking about?? I own machines running Mac, 7, and Linux, and my Apple products are just not meant to be able to game. I can dual boot into 7 and it's STILL crap. Can't even play TF2 at high settings on my new MBP, whereas I have 4-5 year old XP machines that can. It's how they "optimize' their hardware.
@Matt08642 I'm no apologist for Apple (in fact I don't generally like their practices) but shitty isn't the term that I would use to describe OS X. I think you meant to say brilliant. Maybe it's not the best for gaming, but at the end of the day it's a wonderful environment to work and play in.
@Mekkakat Can you list the specs of your recent MacBook pro and the specs of your ~5 year old pc?
@chrisrottan
"Perhaps if Apple becomes more open and shares its codes, then it might surpass Microsoft."
The only proprietary thing in OSX is the user interface. If you would like to know OSX's internals, download the BSD Unix source. Please educate before you open your mouth.
@chrisrottan
"Perhaps if Apple becomes more open and shares its codes"
What are you on about? Major components of OS X are open source and readily available to the public. Windows, on the other hand, is closed source. http://www.apple.com/opensource/
On topic, while I'm certainly disappointed with these benchmarks, I can only hope that the nVidia drivers will get better now that there is a very clear need for them.
@Mekkakat Really? TF2 was the first thing I tried on my new MBP and it runs well at maximum settings and resolution (aside from antialiasing, which I only set to a moderate level). I'm sure a new PC at the same price point would be better for gaming, but that isn't why I bought the computer.
@Matt08642 Ahh so you dont know anything about computers? Why are you running linux then? They use the inferior "codes" you speak of.
@chrisrottan if your OS isn't good at gaming, you blew it.
@DWells55
You are confusing the fact that Apple uses open source code in OS X with OS X actually being completely open for developers.
@Nicole
"The only proprietary thing in OSX is the user interface. If you would like to know OSX's internals, download the BSD Unix source. Please educate before you open your mouth. "
Um, no it is not by a LONG stretch of the imagination.
OS X is based off of the XNU project, but uses the FreeBSD code of the BSD interface unlike the XNU. Quit thinking OS X is BSD or even based off of the OpenBSD tree, it is not and not even close. It just uses BSD APIs, something even the UNIX subsystem in Vista and Win7 can do as well, but it doesn't make them BSD OSes either.
The resulting Darwin is only 'open' as required, which does NOT include how much of the kernel is offered to the upper layers of the OS. Go look up OpenDarwin if you want to see how far OS X is from 'open'.
Above that, the entire OS API interface is all closed source.
So yes, please do educate yourself.
@chrisrottan Ahahaha, "codes". I'm dying here. Even if you had a valid point, you destroyed your credibility by ranting about things you don't understand.
"It's better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
@DWells55
Really? How come common H. 264 hardware decoding could not be done years back and was just opened up few months back? How come Flash cannot perform well on Mac but better on Windows? Even on the same hardware. Apple is Closed!
Did they switch off Compiz on Ubuntu? :S
@The Madman P.S. I say this because, when I did, I found Enemy Territory: Quake Wars to perform much better in Ubuntu than in Windows.
Then I installed Fluxbox. I can't play the game on anything else now. :/
@The Madman Did they switch off Aero on Windows 7? :S
@st8ic Aero switches off automatically.
Think about it: you can't run OpenGL and DirectX at the same time. Aero is made in DirectX.
On the other hand, Compiz doesn't switch off automatically (another reason I use KDE - KWin does switch off compositing).
@The Madman
this is the usual biased test, in perfect Engadget style.
@mascarpone Especially since Engadget didn't do it, AMIRITE???
@mascarpone Nah dude. The test was done by Phoronix. They don't give much detail about how they configured the systems, though, if at all - and if they didn't configure it, Compiz was probably running the whole time.
@The Madman
OpenGL apps run fine with Aero enabled.
@Raffi256 It does? I was under the impression you couldn't use both at the same time. I thought that was why trunk Firefox uses Direct2D in Windows for accelerated display as opposed to 2D in OpenGL.
Or am I mistaken?
@The Madman I installed urban terror on windows 7 (aero) and ubuntu lucid (compiz) and I am getting a higher framerate with linux! I was shocked and wondering why this was the case.
@The Madman
OpenGL apps and directX apps definitely can run at the same time. Hell they can even run in the same window (This obviously takes a bit of trickery, but it is not impossible), but running a ogl app and a d3d app at the same time is just fine, windows doesn't give a shit.
If i were a betting man, I would say drivers are primarily responsible for the discrepancy; drivers are a huge factor in determining performance. Because windows has such vastly superior market share graphics makers are going to spend much more of their time making sure the windows drivers perform well and leave Mac OS and Linux as an afterthought.
@urukon
Don't Apple work closely with nVidia for their drivers? In fact, don't nVidia make special one-offs just for Apple.
I know it's hard for some people, but Windows won simply because it does it better.
@urukon
This. The only code that sits between OpenGL calls and the GPU are the video drivers. Okay that's not completely true, but drivers are where the CPU is going to spend most of its time. Turning OpenGL calls into some stream of DMA transfers.
@Jimbob Rest assured, no Apple fanboy will let Windows have this victory. I completely agree with you, Apple people always blame 3rd party "badly written" code when the OS doesn't match up, but really it is just because Windows is better for gaming. By a very big margin.