Games: Bootcamp, VM, or Native For Best Performance??

[~J~]

Bootcamp?
Virtual Machine? (XP or Vista?)
Mac native? (assuming its available)

I am new to games on the Mac platform, but REALLY want to get C&C3: Tiberium Wars, and cant decide if I should do Bootcamp, Parallels, or get it native on the Mac. If I do Bootcamp or Parallels, I can run either XP or Vista Ultimate. Which will give me best performance? My machine specs are:

15" 2.33GHz MBP
2GB RAM
256MB vid RAM

I would prefer in this order, but am looking for the best performance for the game overall:

1. Mac native
2. Parallels
3. Bootcamp


Thanks guys!

[dmw007]

Bootcamp is most likely going to offer the best gaming performance. :)

[apfhex]

Virtual machines aren't a viable option yet.

I'm guessing the Windows version will run better, just because that tends to be how things are (Mac versions not being as optimized), but I'd get the Mac version as to not have to deal with Windows, and to support Mac development. :)

[ghall]

Myself, I buy the Mac version unless there is none available, then I just buy the PC version.

In short, go with the Mac version.

[dmw007]

I'm guessing the Windows version will run better, just because that tends to be how things are (Mac versions not being as optimized), but I'd get the Mac version as to not have to deal with Windows, and to support Mac development. :)

Good point. Personally, I have bought all of my games for Mac. The PC version might be faster, but I prefer to stick to using Mac OS 100% of the time if possible. :) :apple:

[Dagless]

Bootcamp. No emulation or anything silly. Just uncontaminated, pure, raw Windows. As ugly as that can be.

[Xeem]

Bootcamp. No emulation or anything silly. Just uncontaminated, pure, raw Windows. As ugly as that can be.

Exactly. And make sure that it's Windows XP.