Windows boot camp question.

[LMR80]

hi,

I was wondering weather using Windows on a Mac through boot camp causes any disadvantages for gaming, as apposed to a native Windows PC.
I wrote another thread last week about which video card to buy for my 5.1 Mac Pro, and got some great responses and have a fair few viable options; however, concerns were raised, understandably, about OSX as a gaming platform.

For this reason I'd be going the boot camp rout, but I was wondering weather there's anything I need to know before I do that and buy a shiny new graphics card for my machine.

Is a performance hit taken when using Windows through a Mac? Or should the performance be relitivly the same as if you were on a PC?

Thanks allot.

 

[mildocjr]

You will always have the disadvantage being the hardware won't support high end games. I've been down that route, ended up buying a PC dedicated for gaming. Yes it opens up a world of games you couldn't play otherwise, but if you are trying to play some of the newer games, don't waste your time or money installing and licensing Windows for your Mac.

It's the equivalent of changing the paint on your car hoping it will fit more people.

 

[owbp]

When running Bootcamp you're basically running Windows on Intel hardware PC that has same specs as your Mac Pro. So no disadvantages at all, except for older architecture that's in MP.

Cant remember if there is any limitation to PCI speeds with GPUs in Bootcamp, but if there is its too small to be noticeable in games.

You will always have the disadvantage being the hardware won't support high end games.

Hardware is old(er), but I'm playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 on my 1,1 with HD7950 (1080p) with no problems whatsoever. Doesn't run it as Skylake CPU would, but its more than enough for me.
I don't see how cMP5,1 with around 3GHz CPU and some good GPU would be limited in any way?

 

[mildocjr]

@owbp is right, if you have the ability to get a compatible graphics card capable of handling higher end games, yes you can run it, however, don't expect installing Windows to be a cure all, as it has typically performed worse for me than the Mac side. That being said, Windows does run a lot better on a Mac than on computers made by PC manufacturers.

 

[LMR80]

You will always have the disadvantage being the hardware won't support high end games. I've been down that route, ended up buying a PC dedicated for gaming. Yes it opens up a world of games you couldn't play otherwise, but if you are trying to play some of the newer games, don't waste your time or money installing and licensing Windows for your Mac.

It's the equivalent of changing the paint on your car hoping it will fit more people.

May I ask why that is?
As far as I thought, the W3680 is still a really nice CPU. DDR3 Ram is still relevant at the moment, and with the ability to add some of the latest and most powerful GPU's on the market, what would be wrong with it?

Thanks for the post
[doublepost=1467839650][/doublepost]

When running Bootcamp you're basically running Windows on Intel hardware PC that has same specs as your Mac Pro. So no disadvantages at all, except for older architecture that's in MP.

Cant remember if there is any limitation to PCI speeds with GPUs in Bootcamp, but if there is its too small to be noticeable in games.


Hardware is old(er), but I'm playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 on my 1,1 with HD7950 (1080p) with no problems whatsoever. Doesn't run it as Skylake CPU would, but its more than enough for me.
I don't see how cMP5,1 with around 3GHz CPU and some good GPU would be limited in any way?

I see, thanks good to know then.

Thanks for the post

 

[mildocjr]

May I ask why that is?
As far as I thought, the W3680 is still a really nice CPU. DDR3 Ram is still relevant at the moment, and with the ability to add some of the latest and most powerful GPU's on the market, what would be wrong with it?

Thanks for the post
[doublepost=1467839650][/doublepost]

I see, thanks good to know then.

Thanks for the post

I cleaned up my answer in the next post, I was thinking other Macs not the Mac Pro specifically, plus I wasn't sure of what your build was.

 

[LMR80]

@owbp is right, if you have the ability to get a compatible graphics card capable of handling higher end games, yes you can run it, however, don't expect installing Windows to be a cure all, as it has typically performed worse for me than the Mac side. That being said, Windows does run a lot better on a Mac than on computers made by PC manufacturers.

Worse in what sort of way, may I ask?

Thanks

 

[mildocjr]

Worse in what sort of way, may I ask?

Thanks

The general overhead of running Windows is higher than macOS. At least in the days of Mavericks + Windows 7.

 

[LMR80]

The general overhead of running Windows is higher than macOS. At least in the days of Mavericks + Windows 7.

Ah I see, thanks,

 

[owbp]

I agree with @mildocjr. Windows is getting (much) better, but i still use OS X for everything except gaming.
You really cannot compare (mostly) ported games for OpenGL4.1 to DirectX11(12).

 

[LMR80]

I agree with @mildocjr. Windows is getting (much) better, but i still use OS X for everything except gaming.
You really cannot compare (mostly) ported games for OpenGL4.1 to DirectX11(12).

I agree. I haven't used a Windows setup in years.
Shame I have to use boot camp for gaming really.

To be fair, I haven't used Windows ten, so perhapse allot has improved.
Vista was the last I used so I hardly had a fantastic last experience haha