iMac Aluminum: New ATI Drivers Do NOT Improve 3D Performance

With the release last week of new Mac drivers by ATI, we were expecting to see performance gain, as current results are significantly lower than what we could expect. As we reported last week, some 3D rendering are even slower with the new iMac 24" than the previous 24" model.
Over the week-end, our friend Barefeats tested the new drivers with on the new iMacs. Results are even worth than expected: overall 3D performance is 10% LOWER! However, the new drivers fix a bug identified in World of Warcraft while giving users the possibility to turn AAS on.
So, let's hope that Mac OS X 10.4.11 supposed to be released soon will finally bring optimized drivers for all GPUs installed in our Macs. Historically Apple's drivers for its GPUs have always been its Achilles’ heels, and it remains true today.