Mac Pro 8 core, to buy or not to buy help

[cwa107]

All - regardless of the legality, violations of EULA for any software is against forum rules, so I suggest we agree that for all intent and purpose, if you want OS X, you buy a Mac. ;D

Virtually no games have any benefit from anything more than 2 cores, so I completely agree with svnipp's comments, and said this earlier in the thread. In fact, even a game like Crysis with Dual 8800GTX's in SLI shows virtually no frame rate difference betwee, a 3.2ghz C2D and a 2.0ghz C2D with only 2 cores. Almost any DX10 game currently is bottlenecked by the GPU(s) not the CPUs.

If you're ONLY consideration is gaming, an 8-core machine is a complete waste of money. Games efficiently using 8 cores or more, are at least 3 or 4 years away.

Couldn't agree more. And to be quite honest, if we're talking about single-CPU systems (albeit with multiple cores), you can easily build a killer SLI or Crossfire rig and still have enough money left over for a Mac Mini and a KVM switch for the cost of a low-end Mac Pro.

 

[svnipp]

Sorry about any forum rules violations. Please don't beat me with a wet noodle. I'm not advocating anyone actually attempt the Hackintosh method, and I'll leave it at that.

I'll do my best to also contribute gaming related information, though I am not what I would consider a power gamer. I don't play any of the FPS games that typically have the insane video requirements like Crysis. I'm just hoping to get things like Anarchy Online running under Crossover, and hoping that the EVE Online Mac client both becomes stable and the new graphics port rumored for the Mac is both stable and performs well. Beyond that, I'm really going to try buying only Mac gaming titles going forward.

Thanks for the responses, and sorry again for ruffling any feathers by bringing up the Hackintosh.

Scott

 

[bryphotoguy]

I never got into the computer gaming world. The fastest card I ever used was a 2x AGP GeForce 4 420 card or something and 8x AGP cards were the thing at that time. Needless to say, my card didn't cut it.
So I don't have any true knowledge of the gaming world. But it seems, from an outsider, that its not solely about building a good rig but it's also about building it in a super ridiculous manner that isn't really driven by common sense.
I visited Tiger Direct once and they had a display model that had a completely clear case. There was neon everywhere and a disco ball spinning under the optical drive.

 

[theonegod]

Yes, I think the driving factor here is not just that the guy wants a good gaming machine. He wants to be able to brag about the specs while he is playing.