(more than a second or two is long while in the middle of playing.) Walking around in the first level it seemed like it was having to cache and load constantly causing long pauses. Graphics slowness wasn't the only issue, loading during cutscenes had significant lag where the screen would simply get stuck on a frame while audio continued. I know the integrated Intel graphics aren't stellar, but I see no reason for the performance to be so bad with a gig of ram and SMP support and all the pretty stuff turned off. I am not going to even bother messing with a CFG file to get it to run any better. The UI however is VERY responsive and smooth. I wasn't expecting amazing performance out of the game, but it should be smooth to play with everything turned off at the lowest resolution. It looks amazing for about three seconds when it starts into the intro to the game with everything turned on. (And with all of the graphics at their lowest settings the models look terrible with hard edges down the vertical center of their heads and bodies.) Having the game auto detect the best settings for me it turned everything ON.

It is barely playable at 640 x 480 with all of the graphics options set to OFF. Demo ignores the widescreen option (though it is set) and doesn't allow you to choose widescreen modes like the native 1280 x 800. Don't even bother if you have a MacBook or a Mini.

Quake 4 free