After a long run with my emac I decided to get a new mac. I want it mostly for gaming. Question is, would a 20" imac 2.0 w/ 2gigs of ram be much of a drop off in gaming performance than a 2.16 MBP w/ 2 gigs of ram. And would it be worth it to upgrade the card to 256? Thanks for all help!
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iMac or MBP?
- Thread starter pmastafunk
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For gaming I'd go with the 20" iMac 2.0 Core Duo, 2 GB RAM, and 256 video ram over a MBP. You get a bigger screen and it's cheaper I think... the. .16 speed increase will be less noticeable than the enlarged screen space.
Get the iMac. The performance difference based on the processor will be miniscule; however, the faster hard drive in the iMac will help you with load times. If you're looking for graphics performance, the 256 VRAM upgrade is definitely worth the money - especially considering that you won't have the option to upgrade later.
The MBPs still have too many performance/build quality issues to rely on as a main machine. If you don't need portability, the iMac wins easily - especially when you look at the pricetag.
The MBPs still have too many performance/build quality issues to rely on as a main machine. If you don't need portability, the iMac wins easily - especially when you look at the pricetag.
a PC would be an ulitmate gaming machine with a cheaper price. no idea why you choose a mac. 
what games are there for Macs?
what games are there for Macs?
DarkNetworks said:a PC would be an ulitmate gaming machine with a cheaper price. no idea why you choose a mac.
Well, frankly, the tables have turned on that question. Now, your standard wintel box is the one-trick pony of the computing world. Grab an Apple machine and you can run any and all games, native to Mac or PC. Grab a PC and you...well...can't.
If you want a computer, you want a Mac. If you want a gaming machine, you want a Nintendo. Why some people choose to game on a PC, I don't know - either way, simply load a copy of Windows onto your Intel iMac and you've got the largest game catalog on the planet - bigger, in fact, than the library for any Dell or AlienWare P (piece) C (of crap.)
I am going with mac because my family has always used macs and am used to their ease of use. It looks like I will be going for the upgraded iMac, but do you think the 250 hard drive is ample? I do the occasional 5 minute movies, have little database of photos, and only about 1200 songs.
***EDIT****
To run games do I only need windows xp and bootcamp? if so than what is the deal with parallel?
***EDIT****
To run games do I only need windows xp and bootcamp? if so than what is the deal with parallel?
Also, I have a quick question. I might buy a MacBook Pro as soon as Merom chips are thrown into it. Now, the only game I plan on playing is World of Warcraft, and maybe HL2. Would a MBP be able to play these games as fast as an iMac? Because right now I am debating between the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Power Mac.
Topono said:
Well, since the MBPs are more or less an iMac in a notebook shape, yes, they should run fine.
You could also wait for the Mac Pros, which is what I'm doing (but I'm not looking to buy for another 6 months or so...)