Gamer considering the switch

Hey Guys,

Been playing around on PCs since I was around 7 and now looking to purchase myselft a Notebook and considering the switch from PC to Mac.

I am a gamer and 70% of the time the Notebook will be used for gaming, playing such things as FPS / MMO's. The other 30% of the time will be used for Digitial stuff such as images / movies, music and work related stuff. I understand that you can now get the best of both worlds by installing Vista on the machines as the macs now use the Intel Chipset.

Honestly is it viable for me to switch to a Mac or should I stick with the traditional PC??

I have found alot of posts asking about the switch but havent seen a huge deal about games.... any help would be appreciated.

Since your a gamer, and probably would be spending the majority of the time on Windows, buying a Mac doesn't make much sense for you.

If you want to play games that are available for Macs, then you'd be ok.

But you're talking about running Windows in either BootCamp or Parallels more than you'll be running OS X, which doesn't make a lot of sense...Mac OS X is what makes Apple computers shine. To me, it doesn't sound like it would be a wise investment for you, unless you are willing to look at purchasing new games that run natively on the Mac platform, are willing to deal with minor compatibility issues with Crossover Mac, or the like.

realistically, a MBP is a sweet machine but it still lacks in the vid card department for a proper gaming laptop. i love my iMac but it cannot keep up with many of the games i want to play, so i got a 17" Dell with a nVidea Go 7900 GS to play my games on. (couldn't afford the XPS series with the Go 7950 GTX or Alienware dual vid laptops either)

so if you want games, stick to a Dell or Alienware or something similar.

I agree, if you plan on spending 70% of your time in Windows, then you're better off buying a Windows-based laptop.

It doesn't make sense for you to be buying a Mac if you'll just end up using Windows most of the time. Despite what anybody else says, you essentially buy a Mac for OS X.

and people think we're all mac sheep, blindly following master jobs and hating windows every second of our lives.

;P


yeah... stick with a windows machine, you'll curse the hurdles and pitfalls if you try to force a macbook or macbook pro to do it as much as you want to.

I agree with everyone, eric points out there will come a time where you just get sick of forcing a MBP to play games

I'd personally stick with a PC desktop but if you need a laptop, there are many options with up to date graphics

Even PC laptops are not usually geared up for gaming. They're not upgradeable and in 3 years it'll be left behind.

Alexis said:

Even PC laptops are not usually geared up for gaming. They're not upgradeable and in 3 years it'll be left behind.

Click to expand...

And I have the same notebook as scooter. I can run most of my newer games at 1920x1200 resolution. 3 years down the road, any win box is going to be left behind. Remember, it's not just a gpu that plays games.

Oh, and the new mbp with the 8800 card in it, it should be decent for games, the benchmark shows it about having the same performance as the go 7900 gs. I think it may be dx10 compatible. Don't quote me on this though. But unless you're going to be using OS X a lot more than windows, which you will be running anyways, save yourself some money and go the pc route.

it's the 8600M GT card, which is a really nice card, and it is DirectX 10 compatible. (it's a nice change over that old ATI x1600) it's almost as fast as the 7900 GS but not quite there.

here's a good chart listing mobile graphics in rank by benchmarks.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

gaming on a mac

hi

you've been given good advice all on replies

here is some more get a mac then you'll discover

mac games and other things better than gaming

have the best of both platforms try different things enjoy life to the full

don't hesitate the very fact you've popped the question means you need a mac

do it now, and have more fun

best regards

Thanks guys for the replies and I will take them onboard.

TBH i really only play World of Warcraft (and the odd FPS) and the reason I was considering a mac was because in the next 12 months I am going to be heading over to the UK from Aus.. Wanted something that I could watch movies on.... play some games and do some video editing... I have also been told that WoW runs fine on a MAC but if you guys really think its better option.. I will stick to the PC

I was considering the Macbook Pro with the 8600 option.

You probably know about the DVD region ripoff, but if not, this might help.

nathanieljb said:

Thanks guys for the replies and I will take them onboard.

TBH i really only play World of Warcraft (and the odd FPS) and the reason I was considering a mac was because in the next 12 months I am going to be heading over to the UK from Aus.. Wanted something that I could watch movies on.... play some games and do some video editing... I have also been told that WoW runs fine on a MAC but if you guys really think its better option.. I will stick to the PC

I was considering the Macbook Pro with the 8600 option.

Click to expand...

You could have told us that at the start. World of Warcraft has both a Mac and Windows version right on the disc. The other FPS you might play might have a Mac version too.

I play WoW on my iMac, so you will have no problem running that. Most of the more popular FPS have been ported to the Mac, other than CS.

I#d just get the PC, who knows which games you'd like to lpay in a few months

Its like as a gamer you are having to constantly work around your own fun to play the games thaty oyu'd want to play on a mac - just so much easier to get the PC

Halo 3 is coming out on Mac, Quake 4 is out for Mac, and so is WoW. So if you make the transition, know that the gaming selection is getting better, not worse. As a gamer myself, I thought that Mac's couldn't handle it, but even running Windows XP via BootCamp, I'm still able to play all of my favourite titles.

Well I think I am going to hang out for Leopard because I believe the OS has a easy dual boot support (i could be a wrong... I am a Mac Nub) and since I have been only playing wow for about 2 years and only playing other games when at lans... I dont think it would be stupid for me to buy a mac and put vista on for my lanning nights.

Still not 100% sure however when I go over to the UK I want a media box and is easy to use and gives me stuff to do IE Video Editing, mp3 creating... shizzle like that

BootCamp is pretty easy to run with Tiger, so don't let that intimidate you.