So? I happen to game on my Mac Pro quite well actually. That does just so happen to include playing Crysis, everything set to high, running at 1920x1200, with a pretty constant framerate of about 35-40. Oh but that's right. The Mac Pro isn't made for gaming. I guess I should run out and buy a "gaming PC" then?
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whats a good gaming pc???
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So? I happen to game on my Mac Pro quite well actually. That does just so happen to include playing Crysis, everything set to high, running at 1920x1200, with a pretty constant framerate of about 35-40. Oh but that's right. The Mac Pro isn't made for gaming. I guess I should run out and buy a "gaming PC" then?
That's what I don't get. A person can have a Workstation Mac Pro and still play games. I just don't get why people say: "Get a PC" anymore.
(1) Because you are paying for 8 Xeon processors that aren't even going to break a sweat running Crysis. The games like Crysis and Command & Conquer and Quake need GPU not CPU to get those frame rates. Having 8 cores helps with multitasking and encoding/decoding video and running Adobe application.
(2) You don't need up to 32GB of Ram, even if you don't put that much in, you are paying for the ability to do so. Even the HP blackbird tops off at 4GB when you configure it online.
(3) You don't need dual optical drives
(4) Most important of all, you are paying for WORKSTATION class graphics cards. They run games pretty well as you can see, but you are going to pay way too much for them, then when it comes time to upgrade, you won't find that many cards to move up to under $500.
(5) No SLI or Crossfire. The biggest benefit to the BB002 is the dual GFX cards running under either Nvidia's SLI or ATI's Crossfire, it can take BOTH and basically allows you to run any GFX card on the market.
(6) you are paying for a lot of power that you will NEVER use while gaming. Never ever ever ever ever. Even if games became core aware, which they probably won't since games don't tax CPUs that much, having 8 cores won't help frame rates... only GFX cards will.
The Mac Pro doesn't suck as a gaming rig, it's just not really built for that. I won't be getting a MP for gaming myself, I will because I run Photoshop and Illustrator religiously along with Aperture and FCPS2. I play C&C3 from time to time though so it will run fine on the MP.
If I were looking for a gaming rig, that is going to be for games and games alone for the most part, it'd either be a PC tower of some kind (HP BB002
) or I'd get an iMac and run Windows under Boot Camp, and ignore the fact that I can't upgrade anything on it.The iMac with 8800GS (8800m GTS, if you want to call it that
) will be a good gaming machine.
Last time I checked you could buy a Dell for $600 and slap a better video card it in. No longer?
US$550 quad core Dell w/o monitor. The power supply is a little lacking at 350W but it has enough amps. Hopefully ATI will have a decent HD 4650/70 that doesn't require external power.
I only have 380W for my hardware...
My advice is to go with a quality name-brand PC: a Dell, HP, Alienware, Compaq, etc. (Actually, those have now merged to the point where they all come down to only two companies.)
I would not buy a budget brand. Not Acer, Gateway, eMachines or Packard Bell. (Actually, those have now all merged into one company.)
I have had one miserable experience with a failing Acer, and one shockingly bad experience with an eMachine. Neither was the current crop of models, but they left me understanding that "cheap" is cheap for a reason. Both in parts quality, and in service when something goes bad. After my eMachine died (for the third time) just after the year warranty, I vowed not to take the chance again. If I needed a non-Mac PC, and didn't feel like doing the research (that's the REAL work) to assemble my own, I would buy a name brand like a Dell.
(For laptops, I'd also consider Toshiba or Lenovo or maybe Sony. Sony might be OK for desktops too--I vaguely recall that I've heard bad things, but don't take my word for it.)
I would not buy a budget brand. Not Acer, Gateway, eMachines or Packard Bell. (Actually, those have now all merged into one company.)
I have had one miserable experience with a failing Acer, and one shockingly bad experience with an eMachine. Neither was the current crop of models, but they left me understanding that "cheap" is cheap for a reason. Both in parts quality, and in service when something goes bad. After my eMachine died (for the third time) just after the year warranty, I vowed not to take the chance again. If I needed a non-Mac PC, and didn't feel like doing the research (that's the REAL work) to assemble my own, I would buy a name brand like a Dell.
(For laptops, I'd also consider Toshiba or Lenovo or maybe Sony. Sony might be OK for desktops too--I vaguely recall that I've heard bad things, but don't take my word for it.)
Mac Pro
Don't forget that you can build to order a Mac Pro with only 1 Xeon processor, 4 cores only for $500 less. That's no different than the Blackbird with a quad core processor.
4GB will soon not be enough. The Mac Pro will last a lot longer (since all you have to do is upgrade the graphics card and RAM) than PCs with a 4GB max. You may not use 32GB, but the option for more is a big plus.
It comes with one optical drive by default. It has an extra bay, like any other tower.
Get the basic card and then add whichever ones you want.
See http://hardmac.com/news/2006-08-24/ and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=612359&tstart=0 for someone who was able to use SLI in WinXP on a Mac Pro.
I would say you can make the Mac Pro do what you want. It would actually probably end up being a lot cheaper than something like a Blackbird, and you know you have reliable Apple hardware backed by their good customer support.
Don't forget that you can build to order a Mac Pro with only 1 Xeon processor, 4 cores only for $500 less. That's no different than the Blackbird with a quad core processor.
4GB will soon not be enough. The Mac Pro will last a lot longer (since all you have to do is upgrade the graphics card and RAM) than PCs with a 4GB max. You may not use 32GB, but the option for more is a big plus.
It comes with one optical drive by default. It has an extra bay, like any other tower.
Get the basic card and then add whichever ones you want.
See http://hardmac.com/news/2006-08-24/ and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=612359&tstart=0 for someone who was able to use SLI in WinXP on a Mac Pro.
(6) you are paying for a lot of power that you will NEVER use while gaming. Never ever ever ever ever. Even if games became core aware, which they probably won't since games don't tax CPUs that much, having 8 cores won't help frame rates... only GFX cards will.
The Mac Pro doesn't suck as a gaming rig, it's just not really built for that. I won't be getting a MP for gaming myself, I will because I run Photoshop and Illustrator religiously along with Aperture and FCPS2. I play C&C3 from time to time though so it will run fine on the MP.
If I were looking for a gaming rig, that is going to be for games and games alone for the most part, it'd either be a PC tower of some kind (HP BB002
I would say you can make the Mac Pro do what you want. It would actually probably end up being a lot cheaper than something like a Blackbird, and you know you have reliable Apple hardware backed by their good customer support.
In addition, refurb Mac Pro with full warranty can be bought for as low as $1800. But those sells out quickly. Currently there are two models of refurb Mac Pros available for $2000 from Apple.
And out of those choices, PS3 would be best. PS3 is the best of all consoles.
lol i am partial to the 360 then wii then ps3
Sure, Mac Pro can play games as well, but its not suited to be a gaming machine. You are paying more for getting less.
And you can't forever upgrade the graphics card on it. Do you know any new GPUs released for G5s after Mac Pro release? Or for 2006 Mac Pro after 2008 model was introduced (only 8800, but its more of an exception here)? And you can't run SLI or crossfire on a Mac Pro.
EDIT: I'm wrong here as Radeon 3870 works on both Mac Pro revisions.
Same. I'm a huge hardcore gamer and I own every console except a PS3, by choice. I can afford it but feel it would be a waste of money and sit unused like my PSP I need to sell.
My guess is the video card in this computer would be lacking for serious gaming. You'd probably have to upgrade both the video card and power supply.
You'd get a third party video card. Would you get one from Dell?
The last time I had an Inspiron desktop around it pushed 20-22 amps over a single +12V rail. The Core 2 Quad version has a 350W power supply.
Please do a little more research in the future.
What's with all the console people that manage to shoehorn themselves into gaming PC threads?
I'd compare prices at Dell with 3rd party vendors, although I don't know off hand what Dell offers.
Pardon? Every time I've looked at upgrading cards, minimum power supply required was in the 500-700W range.
Currently the ATI Radeon HD2600XT is the premier card for the Inspiron desktop.
I'm running a 3850 perfectly fine with a 380W power supply. My suggestion was a HD46xx Series if it came in a variant that didn't require external power.
Until you try to play Age of Empires, Rome Total War, the Sims with all expansion packs enable (only one at a time on consoles) or just about any other game that are only really playable with full keyboard support and a mouse. The worst is trying to play a FPS on a console it is nearly impossible to zero in for a sniper shot with the likes of Medal of Honor.
Seriously please console gamers there is a difference between the types of games on a PC and a console and many just are not interchangeable. Third person, some first person, racing, fighting and others of the sort are great on consoles. But other types such as flight sims, life simulators, real time strategy and other games requiring complex controls need a PC.
As for a Mac Pro Gaming PC if you need at least an iMac for every day stuff or you want a Mac but not two computers, then it is a good option to get some extra upgrades to make the Mac Pro a gaming machine. But if your intention is only for a gaming PC I would say the only route to go is build it yourself and save a lot of money. Otherwise get an Alienware, Falcon etc... since you are still not going to get a 9800GX2 into a Mac Pro and have it work in Mac OS X. Any gaming computer costing over $2000 should have a card at least this powerful.
That's the primary reason I don't play Halo MP. Keyboard and Mouse (trackball in my case) spoil you.
Good points, but remember that you are still paying a lot for even one Quad Core Xeon, while the other just have regular desktop class chips.
And I was using the Blackbird as a high end option. A regular tower with quad core chips and GFXs cards will still run circles around a Mac Pro at half the price.
When it comes to games, performance is still based on the GFX card, and not the RAM or expandable hardware options, as Eidorian mentioned above. You can't just get a base GFX card in the Mac Pro and upgrade to anything higher. After the ATI, there is the FX series and that card isn't optimized for games I here, just 3D applications like Maya, and stereo 3D/medical apps.
There is no point in using SLI in WinXP on a Mac Pro for games, unless you use the Mac Pro and Apple apps for pro work, then switch over for heavy gaming. You are still going to get a better deal by getting a separate PC.
Not that it doesn't play games well, or that i wouldn't use it for games myself, but I won't get it solely for games since I can get a much more adequate machine for much cheaper.