PC gamer wanting to switch to Mac...

[svnipp]

I think this is the tough switch... I use my PC for many things other than gaming, but I do play several MMOs. Gaming seems to be the thing I use my PC for that is the biggest hurdle to switching. Ideally, I would love to not have Microsoft on the Mac at all, but I'm afraid that is more of a pipedream than anything approaching reality at this point.

I'm looking at getting a new Mac Pro with a single Quad processor and the GeForce 8800 video card option. I was also thinking of bumping up to 4GB of RAM, but other threads I have seen suggest to do the memory upgrade aftermarket rather than from Apple. Any other suggestions on making this purchase would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I am considering is using Fusion or Parallels to run games rather than going the bootcamp route. I would like to do this to avoid constantly rebooting the system, and wanting the stability and reliability of OS X while I'm surfing or checking e-mail and playing a Windows game at the same time. Anyone with experience running games like EQ2, NWN2, Oblivion, etc. under Fusion or Parallels?

Thanks in advance.

Scott

 

[icup1121]

hi, fellow gamer.

i was in the same dilemma a while ago.

Use parallel. It rocks!

Fusion's ok, but too much complication.

 

[eliehass]

fusion and parallels are not really that great when it comes to running games. Some DirectX 8 and early DirectX 9 will work on xp (i think) but i don't know how well. Newer games like oblivion im almost sure will not run. That being said, bootcamp is your best bet for games. You can run windows natively on your machine with access to its FULL processing power. (the exception here is that unless you have 64-bit vista you wont see all 4 gigs of your ram)

 

[svnipp]

hi, fellow gamer.

i was in the same dilemma a while ago.

Use parallel. It rocks!

Fusion's ok, but too much complication.

Hmm... From the little bit I've heard, from one of the sales guys at the somewhat local Apple store, Parallel is pretty limited in memory and processor support. I was under the impression that Fusion was the better option as it allowed for more RAM and multiple processors to be allocated to your Windows session?

I guess since there is a free trial available on Parallel I can give it a try and if I'm not happy with it's performance I can always give Fusion a shot instead.

What games to you play? Do you run these exclusively under Parallel, or do you boot into Windows for some of them too? Performance is what I'm really concerned about. Also, what kind of system do you have if you don't mind sharing?

 

[AK47]

Mac's are not ideal for gaming.

 

[vpkb]

I just got the 2.4ghz, installed vista using bootcamp, warcraft 3 runs pretty smooth. I can't say the same with new games because I haven't tried any.

 

[The Vindicat3d]

Mac's are not ideal for gaming.

In general no... but the one he is getting will be just fine, what he said is true.. if you do not have a big budget but if you do than you'll be fine.

 

[Village Idiot]

If you're buying an Apple computer just to run windows on it 90% of the time, you're wasting your money.

The best reason to own a Mac is to run OS X.

 

[chris_h]

If you're buying an Apple computer just to run windows on it 90% of the time, you're wasting your money.

The best reason to own a Mac is to run OS X.

i beg to differ, i'm selling my MBP and getting an iMac 2.4 20" 4gb ram mainly for games on windows and becuase when surfing i like to use leopard/mac for everything else as its simple and hassle free.

ok maybe i wont be on it 90% of the time like you said maybe 40% but i am limited to floor space so cant get a tower. show me a pc thats a complete as the iMac where i dont need 2 plugs and 30 cables

as a side question i'm guessing macs play games ok in bootcamp but obviously your not going to get 100+ fps but i'm not really a hardcore gamer so dont care so much?

chris

 

[katey]

I seen a screengrab of wow running at average fps of 297 on bootcamp XP (mbp). Wich is impressive as i get about 20 fps on my pc >.<

Is it so bad to boot to windows to play games (youd want full screen anyway?)

then boot to osx for everything else.

 

[Gilitar]

It is true that a Mac is not ideal for gaming. But, given that the OP seems to have the cash to buy a Pro he will be fine running whatever game he wants. Also, Bootcamp will be the path you want to take for running games as this will allow for more resources to be used for the actual game.

 

[Alexis]

Mac's are not ideal for gaming.

Are you kidding? A Mac Pro with GF8800 is the perfect machine for gaming.

Just use WinXP for games and OS X for everything else. Rebooting into Windows to play a game isn't exactly the biggest pain.

as a side question i'm guessing macs play games ok in bootcamp but obviously your not going to get 100+ fps but i'm not really a hardcore gamer so dont care so much?

chris

Depends on the machine. MacBook Pro and 2.4Ghz iMac are decent enough for games. The Mac Pro with GF8800 is a monster.

 

[svnipp]

Are you kidding? A Mac Pro with GF8800 is the perfect machine for gaming.

Just use WinXP for games and OS X for everything else. Rebooting into Windows to play a game isn't exactly the biggest pain.

Actually, this really is my problem. Typically, I have a web browser (Firefox) up with several tabs on it. Additionally, I normally have up at least mail and WinAmp. My typical game play style is to simply pause a game, or park myself somewhere safe in am MMO, and bounce over to check e-mail or surf the web. In playing for an hour, I may hop back to mail and web 4 or 5 times easily. These are exactly the things I don't want to do under Windows, plus I much prefer to use a real mail program than an online mail system which means I don't even have access to e-mail between both platforms.