Are Macs good for gaming?

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I am thinking of taking the Mac leap, but I'm a hard core gamer and many in the gaming community say absolutely avoid Mac for gaming, and stay with PC.
 
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I am thinking of taking the Mac leap, but I'm a hard core gamer and many in the gaming community say absolutely avoid Mac for gaming, and stay with PC.
And they are correct.
If you are a self-proclaimed 'hardcore gamer' (as your name would also suggest), then don't get a Mac.
Stick with your Windows machines.
Sure, some people would suggest running Windows via BootCamp, but that isn't a solution... it's a band-aid for the issue.
Stay with what you already have.
 
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As D3v1L80Y said you may be best to stay with a PC. I run Battlefield 2 on my Macbook pro in boot camp and it's ok and I also have Battlefield 2142 on mac.

The only machines that will do it are Macbook Pros, Mac Pro and Imacs (with over 256mb dedicated VRAM). You would ideally have 512mb VRAM and 4 gig RAM to make it a viable option.

Don't even think of getting a mac mini / Mac Book, it simply would not work

Harv
 
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If you want a machine for gaming, avoid a Mac. There simply aren't enough games for the system. Sure, you can dual boot, but that's a real pain.
If you want a Mac, and want to continue gaming, get a console as well. If you get a 360, you can throw that living room heater away.
 
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As a 'hard core gamer' you certainly have looked at the specs of the Macs and compared them to decent gaming PC specs.
 
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They're okay, but you will have to pay more to get the same amount of power you could get with a homebuilt gaming PC.
 
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"power" being rather loosely defined and without quality or other features taken into account.
 
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I use mine for games and it works very well, although there isn't as many games available for macs. If I were you I'd go to the apple online store search there hardware and games. If you are happy with the games available I'd say sure go for it, if you aren't then you don't have much of a choice you'll just have to stay with windows. Or likes others said get an xbox360
 
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I think it just depends on what game your running and it's requirements. I used to regulate noobs on a daily basis in Counter Strike on my MBP and it worked just fine.
 

bobtomay

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Listen to D3v1L80Y - good advice there.

Apple does not make a true gamers rig in any of it's incarnations.
If you're looking for a gaming notebook, you're also not going to find one for under about $4K and could get closer to $5k. You could build the same in a desktop yourself for probably $2-2.5K.

If you're not really looking for a "gamers" rig, but just one that can play games, then you could consider a Mac. Realizing up front that you will have to install Windows on it.

Even after you install Windows, that video driver patch that just came out for the new game you bought, it may not work on your Mac. You won't have a 5.1 sound card inside any Mac notebook for attaching to your 5.1 setup I'm sure you have if you're a hardcore gamer. No taking advantage of the sound effects that many games have that you'll only hear with a Sound Blaster product.

Are there games being made for the Mac? Yes.
Can you play games on a Mac? Yes.
Would I ever recommend a Mac to a hardcore gamer? Not a chance.
At least not yet ... though they're getting quite close with the new top end iMac.
 
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mac gaming

I have a macbook pro and play games quite well on it, though it's through windows via bootcamp. I don't think macs are completely out of the question if want to do some gaming, though I feel to really get a good experience dual booting is a necessity along with some driver modifications. I myself use a modded driver for the 8600m GT along with a program called ATItool that I use to overclock the videocard (do this with caution!). Currently the games I'm playing are Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and Crysis, all at high settings. If I could play games without having to go through windows I would, I feel OSX is superior to windows for doing pretty much everything else other than games, and that only because of lack of support. I'm sure if there was a bigger market and profit to be made in Mac gaming, we'd see a lot more games being made and optimized for the Mac. Would I recommend a Mac for the sole purpose of gaming? Not really. But, if you want a new experience and are open to something different, Macs are more than capable
 
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alienware,mbp,imac(3),blackjack,Hp running macintosh,
buy a apple

then install windoze on it that what i did apple computers are great fr gaming (with windoze). agree with ur community macintosh is not good for gaming but you can just get windoze on ur apple.
 
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i think the Mac Pro would perform decently...but then that's around $3k. if you must game and it has to be Apple then that probably the only viable option assuming you have the cash.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Al iMac 20" 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
Putting aside the knee-jerk 'don't get a Mac for gaming' posts, let's have a look at the facts.

Looking at the iMac, you have a fast Core2 Duo processor and a Radeon 2600XT or a GeForce 8800GS.

The Radeon is an average GPU (plays Call of Duty 4 well, Crysis so-so).
The GeForce is a decent GPU which will stand you in good stead for 2 years I would say.

If you're getting a Mac just for games, it would be more cost effective to get a PC and stick in a new GPU / mobo / CPU every couple of years. But if you really wanted a Mac, love it for what it is, want to use OS X, and don't want to bother upgrading it, the Mac would still be a great machine.

PC
Pluses
Lower initial cost
Upgradeable
Minuses
Windows / Linux only
Less aesthetic
Ongoing upgrade cost and labour
Poor resale value

iMac
Pluses
OS X and Windows/Linux
More attractive hardware
No need to upgrade - sell it in 2/3 years
High resale value
Minuses
Higher initial cost
Only option is to sell when time for an upgrade
 
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Macbook 2.2 ghz, 4gb ram / iphone / ipod.
If you want a Mac, and want to continue gaming, get a console as well. If you get a 360, you can throw that living room heater away.

lol, but this only applies to the 1st gen 360. microsoft already upgraded their chipset to falcon so it's quieter and produce less heat. they also added an hdmi slot on the new gen 360.
 
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Mac hardware such as the imacs, macbook pro's or even the mac pro's are great for gaming, its the mac software that is not as most games are made for windows.

on the good side, you can duel boot a mac with windows so you can switch between the two. use mac for all your normal stuff then when you want to game just switch and load up windows. some say windows runs better on macintosh hardware than it does on other hardware.
 
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lol, but this only applies to the 1st gen 360. microsoft already upgraded their chipset to falcon so it's quieter and produce less heat. they also added an hdmi slot on the new gen 360.

It's quieter, and produces less heat. But it's a far cry from being cool and noiseless. At least there aren't that many red rings of death anymore.
 
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I own no first person shooters for my mac but when I purchase a new iMac these specs will change my mind.

Image

* 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB memory
* 500GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB memory
 

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