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2009 Mac pro may be a kick-arse gaming machine

A

Abidubi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 13, 2009
329
0
Montreal
Looking at apple's tests (which may or may not be 100% accurate), they claim quake4 runs 5.1 X faster on the top end with 4870 vs the octo 3.2 with 2600 of last gen.

On barefeats.com if you compare their old tests of the 3.2 with 2600 http://www.barefeats.com/harper8.html

Quake4 gets:

32 FPS in the test on 2600
84 FPS on the 8800GT
and....
163.2 FPS on the 4870 with the new system if their test is correct. That's a pretty significant improvement. Literally twice as fast as the 8800. How much of that would be the card and how much would be the system/CPU?

If barefeats was working right now, I could check how the 8800 compared to the 4870 on windows, but I don't think it was 2X.
 
LOL!

The Mac Pro is in no way meant to be a gaming machine.

If someone wanted a machine for serious gaming, they could go out and build with a GTX 295, a card that is up to 3x faster than the 4870.
 
Yeah I would just build my own computer for gaming.

Use Core i7 chips.

Run crappy Windows.

On second thought I will just use my Xbox 360 and Wii.
 
Not bad.... a £2500++ gaming machine huh ?

The sad part is that if you wanted a PC gaming machine with better specs ... you could have one from any number of manufacturer's for around £1000.


Thats one hell of a premium... Apple's margins on these new machines must be atleast 45%!
 
Oh ya, I agree. You can make a way better gaming PC for cheaper or at least not crazy expensive. Hell, you can put 4 280GTXs in SLI if you want... but at least now it holds its own, and can actually run any game at good settings.
 
Whilst the Mac Pro doubles as a great gaming machine, if you buy one purely for games then you are a tool.
 
Chaos123x said:
On second thought I will just use my Xbox 360 and Wii.
Click to expand...

Lol, my XBox just RRODed, good luck with that. I like consoles, but for most games computers are the way to go. You always notice the lower details on the consoles are lost features, but it's much cheaper.
 
plus, mac pros are silent and run OS X. i've been very happy using my mac pro for audio under OS X and gaming under windows- since I needed a mac anyway at the same time that my old gaming pc needed a full refresh, buying one mac pro was cheaper in the end than buying an imac and parts for a new pc.
 
Abidubi said:
Lol, my XBox just RRODed, good luck with that. I like consoles, but for most games computers are the way to go. You always notice the lower details on the consoles are lost features, but it's much cheaper.
Click to expand...

Yeah because I love playing FPS and MMOs and Strategy games.

Oh wait I hate all those genres.


Give me Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Sonic, and I might think about a computer gaming rig.

True computers might have better graphics but the games suck.
 
nick9191 said:
Whilst the Mac Pro doubles as a great gaming machine, if you buy one purely for games then you are a tool.
Click to expand...

I'll buy one for many things, including light video editing, general use, word processing, and... gaming is up there on the list. I really don't mind paying more to have OSX with the hassle of a hackintosh, and a system to last many many years. If there was no way to game with a mac pro, I'd get an iMac. But the mac pro does gaming way better than an iMac and will last much longer. I got the displays, speakers... so why would I need an all in 1? And my PowerMac G5 played games way longer than the iMac G5 of the same generation would have... like way way way longer.

And as another example of why not to get an iMac if you like gaming (and like OSX), what was the graphics card available in 2008 for the iMac before the 8800, the X1900? How would that compare to the 4870 now? A 2008 mac pro will be gaming long after the 2008 iMac is getting 15FPS.

I'll get back to my tooling now.
 
For the Mac Pro to be "great" it needs to support the top end GPUs - namely the GTX 285/295, Radeon 4870X2 and any upcoming cards. The 4870 is good, but getting dated.
 
Chaos123x said:
True computers might have better graphics but the games suck.
Click to expand...

IF you don't like FPS games.

As far as console VS computer, like you said for your examples, the computer is really the way to go.

FPSs suck ballz on consoles. And I have a bunch. FarCry 2, HaloX, BFBC and any other is a pain in the butt with joysticks. I have more fun playing BF1942 from 2003 than I do playing any of those multiplayer, it just plain sucks when you can't hit crap unless you have a ***** aim-assist on.

Oh but the halo RTS is actually pretty good on the console. They made it simple enough.
 
Abidubi said:
IF you don't like FPS games.

As far as console VS computer, like you said for your examples, the computer is really the way to go.

FPSs suck ballz on consoles. And I have a bunch. FarCry 2, HaloX, BFBC and any other is a pain in the butt with joysticks. I have more fun playing BF1942 from 2003 than I do playing any of those multiplayer, it just plain sucks when you can't hit crap unless you have a ***** aim-assist on.

Oh but the halo RTS is actually pretty good on the console. They made it simple enough.
Click to expand...

Metroid Prime 3 works really well on a console.

But it's really a First Person Adventure.
 
Well the wii is a special case. Shooting games are pretty darn good with it's controls... but moving and turning seems like a hassle. Plus the graphics are 2004 computer graphics.

And the wii has had a pretty poor selection of titles for the most part so far. But it does have much more child friendly titles. Besides mario, there isn't much as far as game selection that calls me to the wii. PS3 is pretty poor besides the recently released killzone2. The Xbox has had the best selection of titles, but poor reliability. And it's graphics aren't too great either, but sufficient for me

Graphics don't make the game for me, but I expect a certain level and the wii doesn't meet that. People complain now if a game doesn't look like crysis just because crysis exists, but I'm happy with a game looking like quake 4, even if it's from 2005 because it looks sharp enough.
 
Salavat23 said:
No it wouldn't.

Its not even worth $500 at its stock configuration to be used soley for gaming. The GT 120 is a POS compared to other gaming cards.
Click to expand...

Common sense would say that anyone who even thought about playing games would pick up the 4870 as well.
 
m1stake said:
Common sense would say that anyone who even thought about playing games would pick up the 4870 as well.
Click to expand...

There are several things to consider when balancing a Custom PC Vs. Mac Pro.

1. The case and everything inside is under the same warranty umbrella that is extendable up to 3 years.

2. The case would cost a fortune aftermarket. In addition it is one of, if not the quietest desktops in its class.

3. OSX - And its Application suite. Bootcamp and its ability to give you the best of both worlds without the Hackintosh hassles.

4. Resale.

5. Support

These claims of $600 computers out classing the Pro are nonsense. This would be using the very cheapest / bottom of the barrel parts when compared with the Pro.

The only negative I find with MacPros is with the EFI system. If we could put any video card inside and use it only when in windows... there would be nothing in my mind that could touch it. (This would be leaving a card in for OSX and one for Windows)
 
Maven1975 said:
1. There are several things to consider when balancing a Custom PC Vs. Mac Pro.

2. The case and everything inside is under the same warranty umbrella that is extendable up to 3 years.

3. The case would cost a fortune aftermarket. In addition it is one of, if not the quietest desktops in its class.

4. OSX - And its Application suite. Bootcamp and its ability to give you the best of both worlds without the Hackintosh hassles.

5. Resale.

6. Support

The only negative I find with MacPros is with the EFI system. If we could put any video card inside and use it only when in windows... there would be nothing in my mind that could touch it. (This would be leaving a card in for OSX and one for Windows)
Click to expand...

Do you know how to count? You started to list your points at #2 lol.

2. With a custom rig, the smallest warranty you get is 1 year on average. Everything else usually comes with a 3 year - lifetime warranty. Plus, you don't void it by adding in certain upgrades.

3. You haven't heard a quiet case until you've seen some of the workstation Lian Lis.

4. You can use OSX86. And its not really much of a hassle anymore. Its a risk, but if you don't need OSX-only apps, than Windows is just fine.

5. Why even bother with resale when you can upgrade so easily?

6. There are many PC-part companies out there that offer superb support.

I'm not picking sides here, just offering a different side of the argument.:)
 
Salavat23 said:
Do you know how to count? You started to list your points at #2 lol.

2. With a custom rig, the smallest warranty you get is 1 year on average. Everything else usually comes with a 3 year - lifetime warranty. Plus, you don't void it by adding in certain upgrades.

3. You haven't heard a quiet case until you've seen some of the workstation Lian Lis.

4. You can use OSX86. And its not really much of a hassle anymore. Its a risk, but if you don't need OSX-only apps, than Windows is just fine.

5. Why even bother with resale when you can upgrade so easily?

6. There are many PC-part companies out there that offer superb support.

I'm not picking sides here, just offering a different side of the argument.:)
Click to expand...

It has been my experience with bad PC parts that you have to pay for shipping back and fourth to get the item serviced (If they even step up to service it)

Upgrading easily and losing cash in the process.

Hackintosh's is for people with WAY too much time on their hands.(Time = Money IMHO) It is indeed a PITA compared to OSX and Bootcamp.

As for the Lian Lis, $300+Ugly+Worse Design

I am the first to agree that Mac Pro's are expensive. However, I do believe you get what you pay for. In addition, I have yet to lose my shorts on a Mac.
 
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