Which windows for gaming on mac pro?

[irishgrizzly]

Was thinking of installing windows on a dedicated HD for gaming and nothing else. But I'm at a lose as to which one; xp/vista/home/64bit/premium. What works the best and why?

 

[98707]

I have info for the OP as well as a question of my own concerning gaming on a Mac Pro.

First, I had a 2.66 Mac Pro that ran Vista-32 bit. I used Steam to play games like Counter Strike Source and I tried Bio Shock but the frame rate was just awful. However, with the new 8-core Mac Pro, I have no doubt that the 8800 will run these games as well as others quite well. I have never tried installing a 64 bit windows but I have not liked what I have read about doing it. If anyone has any input on that please chime in.

My question is concerning installing windows on a dedicated HD as well as about finding the best HD for performance for while gaming. Does boot camp allow me to partition a 2nd drive entirely for Vista? If not how can I accomplish this?

Also, I have read pages about what is the best for HD speed, 7,200s or 10,000 rpm drives, or 7,200s striped together? I seem to understand that the 10,000 rpm drives are slightly better or equal to the new speeds the high density 7,200s can get? Is this right?

What would be the optimum HD configuration for games? (I have 1 extra bay) (boot + gaming + music + time machine)

 

[aiterum]

I'd guess that most people would suggest XP Professional. Mostly because it is very compatabile with just about any game that is out there, and uses less resources in running games than Vista does, although I cannot personally confirm that since I haven't used Vista and tested it against XP.

However, Vista does have the added advantage of being able to utilize DirectX 10. If you are looking into runing more graphic intensive games (and I'm guessing you are since you've purchased a Mac Pro), the benefit of using that would probably be worth getting Vista for. (I'm also guessing that the supposed slight performance loss on Vista would be unnoticeable with your hardware configuration)

Be warned though, you are installing Vista on your computer if you do that. Your experience might not be bad with Vista, but there certainly is a lot of negative vibes about the operating system (if you aren't looking for a solution within the near future, you could wait until SP1 for Vista came out before installing it if DirectX 10 is something that you want).

At the moment, most games that are being recently released are supporting both DirectX 9 and 10, simply because there is such a resistance among gamers to move up to Vista to use it. However, this won't last forever, and eventually you'll have to move to DirectX 10 if you continue to purchase games that are being released in the future


EDIT:
for a MBP, I would say XP, just because the installation size is smaller, leaving more room for games, and having to partition less on your already very small harddrive (unless you replaced it from the one that you originally bought)

 

[junior77]

I'm planning on having a seperate HDD (WD Raptor 150GB) dedicated for Windows, primarily for gaming on new Mac Pro 2008.

Do you need to have Windows XPsp2 in order for boot camp to work properly? I have DVD of XP Home but not SP2, i.e., I would have to download the service pack2. I've read somewhere that this is not the 'best' thing to do, not sure if there is any real truth to that.

Or should I just bite the bullet and use Vista which I can get from my girlfriend (business edition)...

 

[vistafanboi]

I'm planning on having a seperate HDD (WD Raptor 150GB) dedicated for Windows, primarily for gaming on new Mac Pro 2008.

Do you need to have Windows XPsp2 in order for boot camp to work properly? I have DVD of XP Home but not SP2, i.e., I would have to download the service pack2. I've read somewhere that this is not the 'best' thing to do, not sure if there is any real truth to that.

Or should I just bite the bullet and use Vista which I can get from my girlfriend (business edition)...

Question #1: Boot Camp will only use a copy of XP (Home or Pro) which has been previously slipstreamed with SP2. Additionally, there is no need to download SP2, since it is available via mail for about $10US. Downloading it is DEFINITELY not the "best thing to do" if you only have an analog modem, or even a 1.5Mbps DSL connection or other non-broadband connection.

Question #2: Personally, I do not believe you would be "biting the bullet" by installing Vista Utimate, since the OS is excellent for PC gaming, and EVEN BETTER than XP was.

(By the way, those who have actually purchased and installed Vista have a much different opinion of the OS then all those people who poo-poo Vista on the Web, since they actually use the OS on a regular basis.)

You WOULD be if you installed Vista Business or Home Basic, since you would not have access to Windows Media Center in those versions. It IS available to Vista users who have installed a premium version of Vista (Home Premium or Ultimate).

As far as 64bit versions of Vista on an Apple Intel MacPro are concerned, wipe it out of your mind. Vista (any consumer version) does NOT support quad-core processors at this time. You will receive absolutely no advantage from having a Q-core MacPro to run Vista x64, since it does not support quad-cores at this time. Vista uses all cores only on single or dual core processors.


Donald L McDaniel

 

[junior77]

Question #1: Boot Camp will only use a copy of XP (Home or Pro) which has been previously slipstreamed with SP2. Additionally, there is no need to download SP2, since it is available via mail for about $10US. Downloading it is DEFINITELY not the "best thing to do" if you only have an analog modem, or even a 1.5Mbps DSL connection or other non-broadband connection.

So, I can do an upgrade install of SP2, i.e., I do not need (at least initially) Windows XP SP2 when creating the Boot Camp drive.

#2: Personally, I do not believe you would be "biting the bullet" by installing Vista Utimate, since the OS is excellent for PC gaming, and EVEN BETTER than XP was.

(By the way, those who have actually purchased and installed Vista have a much different opinion of the OS then all those people who poo-poo Vista on the Web, since they actually use the OS on a regular basis.)

You WOULD be if you installed Vista Business or Home Basic, since you would not have access to Windows Media Center in those versions. It IS available to Vista users who have installed a premium version of Vista (Home Premium or Ultimate).

I only have access to Windows Home XP & Windows Vista Business. I don't think I need WMC since main reason is for gaming on the Mac Pro.

As far as 64bit versions of Vista on an Apple Intel MacPro are concerned, wipe it out of your mind. Vista (any consumer version) does NOT support quad-core processors at this time. You will receive absolutely no advantage from having a Q-core MacPro to run Vista x64, since it does not support quad-cores at this time. Vista uses all cores only on single or dual core processors.

Just to confirm, how many cores of the 8 core mac pro will be utilized - XP home? XP pro? Vista 32 bit?

Thanks for the help!

 

[julial]

Do you know how to hook up a playstation 3 to computer?

I know this doesn't have anything to do with the form anyone know how to hook up a playstation 2 to computer?

Do you know how to hook up a playstation 2 to computer?

Computer is mac 10.3

all i could find was this other tread for pc i think.
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/8880/69463.html

I'm guessing this product helps cut the video from the games. But i have no clue.
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSi...eatures/Key+Features+MovieBox+Ultimate+11.htm

 

[junior77]

Talk about being rude....please create your own post! Can a moderator please delete above post that has NOTHING to do with OP??