Penryn MBP (8600M GT 256MB): What settings do you use for Team Fortress 2?

I've turned into a total OS X lover, but I'm also wild about Team Fortress 2 (and more recently, TrackMania as well) -- which means it's frequent rebooting for me (I know about CrossOver, but haven't set it up yet, and I've heard that TF has some texture-related issues when running through Wine).

I'm on 64-bit Vista Ultimate, but right now I'm just using the stock Boot Camp drivers for my graphics card. I've done a little bit of reading on LaptopVideo2Go, but honestly, I'm not really sure what the best driver for my card is. What driver are you GeForce 8600M GT 256MB owners using in 64-bit Vista?

Also, what settings are you guys using in-game? TF2 still looks a little choppy for me in 1440x900 with the default detail settings flipped, but I'm not sure if that's just because the game is so demanding or whatever. Any tips to getting the best looking picture possible at a high framerate?

Thanks!

 

i have the 2.2ghz mbp with only 128mb video ram. i just run the recommended settings except i turn down shadows i think. oh and this is when it's connected to a 24 inch display @ 1920 X 1080.
i suggest you upgrade the drivers immediately.

 

I just upgraded to the 175.70 Vista 64-bit drivers... don't really notice much difference. I suppose it's a little smoother?

What driver version are you using on yours? I'll drop the shadows down, that's a good idea.

 

Use the latest drivers from LaptopVideo2Go.
Runs just fine on max settings @ 1440x900 for me, minus antialiasing.
TF2 isn't really very demanding at all.

 

The drivers I installed were the latest ones I could find.

When you say "runs just fine," are you talking 30fps? 60fps? It looks good and it's definitely playable, but it's absolutely not as smooth as it could be for me. I don't have AA or AF turned on.

Are you on 64-bit Vista?

 

First of all, Apple downclocked the GPU by about 20% to 375/502, down from 475/700. If you dare take risks (it's not that dangerous), you could boost it back up, or overclock it higher. Also, your CPU could be slowing it down too. I sometimes dip to as low as 25 fps during heavy fights, whether or not my GPU is underclocked or overclocked.

1280x800
All settings at 'high'
2xAA, 4xAF

 

Hmm, XP SP2 for me. It'd be between 30 and 60fps most of the time, which is plenty.