Mac Gaming Specs

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Hey I hope this is in the right forum and I hope you guys can help.
I'm bying a new PC in the not-too-distant future and I'm considering a Mac over an Alienware, but my budget isnt huge. I've used Macs before and I ran Linux for a while, both of which outperformed XP, but what I miss most is gaming.
I'm considering an iMac (they're a work of art, I'm in love) but the specs don't seem too huge for gaming. Are there any iMacs with a 3.0GHz chip or above, or more RAM or will I be fine with the 2.66 (I think) chip it comes with? Also can I upgrade an iMac at a later date with extra memory? Or would I be best going for a Mac Pro (and quite possibly emptying my bank account)?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz, 500GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
No, the best iMac processor is 2.33GHz. You can upgrade the RAM later on, but thats it, and you can put up to 3GB of RAM in.

Mac Pro, on the otherhand, is a total powerhouse. Quad core by default? POWER.
 
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You should keep in mind that the Intel chips are dual-core, so don't go by processors speeds, and don't even think of comparing them to normal Intel Pentium speeds.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz, 500GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
You should keep in mind that the Intel chips are dual-core, so don't go by processors speeds, and don't even think of comparing them to normal Intel Pentium speeds.

Yup.
OMG SILVER!
 
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Mac's
My 20"iMac runs LOTRO on medium to high settings without a problem (on XP via Bootcamp)... It also runs Call of Duty 2 on high settings (on OSX made for Mac) great. The MacPro would FLY on games... but the truth is if your primary enjoyment from computers is from games... you'd probably be better of going with a windows machine built for gaming.

The fastest iMac chip is 2.33GHz. You can easily upgrade the RAM on the iMac anytime (up to 3GB)... You can not upgrade the VRAM, hard drive, etc (without risk, and without voiding any warranty)

The MacPro has Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, but that is $1500 just to upgrade to those chips!!!!
 
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Thanks. I guess I'll go for the Mac Pro :D

I will be able to run next-gen games on it though? Specification wise, not platform. It doesn't seem to have any of the new DirectX10 cards, or does that not really matter?

Thanks again
 
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Your Mac's Specs
15in i7 MacBook Pro, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD, 500GB HD
If your primary concern is gaming, you should stick with Windows, where its done best. Sure you can play on a Mac, but you won't have full support, and could come across the occasional unsolvable bug.
 
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Sorry about the double post. I don't use the PC for gaming mainly, I'm just wondering about the gaming that I do. I also heard EA is bringing out a bunch of new games for Mac so... :D
I'm mainly bothered about WoW, but I'd like to play Oblivion, Battlefield etc too but obviously I'll have to emulate
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15" 2.33 GHz 3 GB RAM
If you're looking for a computer for gaming, then you really should consider looking at a Windows PC. I know some folks might come in here and bat this point back and forth, but the reality is that Macs are not as great for gaming as Windows PCs are. Macs don't have as many titles, and also don't really have the graphics capability for the highest end games. Apple keeps decently good graphics chips in their machines, but they seem to be focused much more on the professional graphics and 3D fields, not gamers.

If you're looking for a high end gaming machine, don't get a Mac Pro. It would be a waste of money, IMHO.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz, 500GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
Well the Mac Pro was not built to run Windows, so don't be surprised if it isn't the best machine for the job.
 
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Wow thanks guys can't keep up with the posts here lol
I mainly use my PC for Photoshop, Flash and Dreamweaver, which is why I'm mainly considering a mac, but I do my fair share of gaming too and I'm just wondering. Like I said I'm mainly looking at WoW which I know should run fine, and a handful of newer games
 
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Mac's
After seeing what you're going to use it for.... Get the 24" iMac. You won't be disappointed.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15" 2.33 GHz 3 GB RAM
After seeing what you're going to use it for.... Get the 24" iMac. You won't be disappointed.

I'm inclined to agree here, after seeing your latest post, shadowmancer. Either that, or a MacBook Pro.
 
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Thanks for the advice.
One more question (so sorry) can I run xfire on mac?

Only through Bootcamp on XP.

EDIT:
After a quick google search, it seems you can use XBlaze as an Adium plugin.
 
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Ooooh can I just ask one more question? Sorry.
I have an LCD monitor already for my PC and its quite new. Would I be able to hook it up to my iMac and have dual display?
 
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Yes... very easy... for the iMac you'd just need a Mini DVI to DVI adapter ($19.99) and then a DVI to DVI or DVI to HDMI (even VGA) depending on your monitor connections.
 
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Thanks, just wondering. I'm just deciding between the iMac or the MacBook Pro cuz I'm going to college end of this year. So I might get the lappy.
I'm really looking forward to buying this now :D hehe
Thank you all very much.
 
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Sooper Fast!
The only reason I would buy an Apple over a PC for games is if I was planning on benefitting from OS X. If you're just going to buy it to boot into Windows to play games, there's no point at all. You can't mod the Apple like you can a PC. If you want a new graphics card a year down the road, you can plug in a new power supply and the latest and greatest graphics card and be ready to roll. You'd probably have to buy a new computer to do the same with an Apple, unless things change...

But If you're going to actually use OS X, then get one. It's a pretty smooth OS.

And to all the haters, yes I like Vista just as much and use both regularly. I'm Bi-Operating Systemal :)
 

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