Question

Are OSX servers capable of Graphics acceleration?

Asked by: MaCuban

This may seem silly or noobish so thanks for bearing with me. I am test driving SL Server on a Mac Pro. Eventually I would like to use SLS (snow leopard server) as a File, VPN, and Internet Gateway <-and roles that support that I.E. firewall or NAT. Only I'd still like to use it as a personal computer, and I have noticed that running Graphic intensive apps i.e. games or windows VMs struggle in the SLS environment. Is SLS limited in its graphics ability, more so than the non server 10.6?
2x 2.66 Ghz
11GB Ram
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
10.6.1

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Asked On
2009-11-04 at 13:09:40ID24872513
Tags

Graphics

,

Snow leapord

,

Server

,

10.6

Topics

OS-X Server

,

Computer Servers

,

Snow Leopard (OS 10.6)

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
5

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Answers

 

by: cusamisPosted on 2009-11-08 at 14:55:44ID: 25772425

i don't think so, but the tough part is that you'll get best bang for the buck in terms of gaming by dual-booting into Windows via Boot Camp.

problem is, that will kill your other services while you are on the Windows side.

which version of VMware/Parallels are you running?   both companies have newer versions that have just dropped (3.0 & 5.0, respectively) that claim to improve DirectX graphics performance.  one thing i've noticed though is that a lot of their improvement comes with new VM installs vs. running an old VM in the new version.

if you're running VirtualBox, while free - it offers the least graphics performance of the bunch.

 

by: MaCubanPosted on 2009-11-12 at 11:10:03ID: 25807720

Well I just purchased the upgrade for fusion.  I have it running in two different environments, a snow leopard environment and a snow leopard server environment.  In Regular SL I can run a game (COD4 for Example) with fair easy and it looks great.  In SLS it runs at what seems like only a few frames per second.  Similarly in virtual machines, Aero (if thats what its called in 7) works when using Fusion in SL but not SLS.
To Clarify, "Only I'd still like to use it as a personal computer" <- when i said this I didnt mean a windows PC i meant using the computer not only as a server but for personal usage.
Ideally, I would be able to boot into SLS and experience things almost exactly like I do with regular SL.
Thanks for your response Cusamis and I apologize for the delayed reply.

 

by: CuriousRabbitPosted on 2009-11-14 at 14:51:13ID: 25822749

I do not know with complete certainty if SLS supports hardware graphics acceleration, but I assume the answer is, "No."

You would be far better off to install the non-server snow leopard and add 3rd party apps to beef up the filesharing/VPN/firewall functions you find lacking. Mac OS X Server is designed to be run in a "lights out" configuration and assumes exotic graphics, e.g. games, are not a goal.

 

by: MaCubanPosted on 2009-11-19 at 12:42:34ID: 25864694

I figured that much Rabbit.  That is kind of a bummer on my side as i do like the centralized management aspect of Server Admin.  Thanks your your help...

 

by: MaCubanPosted on 2009-11-19 at 12:47:06ID: 31650227

The Question was regarding a very niche use of an application.  While it's difficult to come up with an answer there was no certain Yes or No..

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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