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Best Gaming OS?

AcidX

AcidX

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 3, 2009
8
0
Hi Mac Friends!

After 14 years of Windows the time has come for me to buy my first Mac. (YAY!!)
This Mac will accompany me through university, freelance work and the many hours of gaming ahead!

I was wondering which is the best Windows OS for gaming?
Games I have ordered are, Orange Box, CS:S, Fallout 3, Crysis and I was considering getting GTA4.
I currently own 32-bit Windows XP Professional SP3.

Having read many articles (mainly a year+ in age) I am unable to reach a suitable decision so call upon you guys for some help.

Here are the specs of the Mac I will be buying:
Configuration
3.04GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
GFX are (current): "NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT"
All models: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Selected models: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory on 2.66GHz configuration; or 512MB of GDDR3 memory on 2.8GHz and 3.06GHz configurations
Click to expand...

I've read many things about Vista x64 being good but then others saying XP... I'm confused and would like to know which will provide the best gaming experience, whilst utilising the most from the available hardware.
I express no interest whatsoever in Windows 7.

Also, Any recommendations for hot games are appreciated!!
I've been unable to play games for a good 6 months now. Before that, it was only CS: Condition Zero! on minimal settings!!!!
I will be buying Modern Warfare 2 once it is released : )

Cheers!
 
Ah, unfortunately I'm a Student.


I thought I'd ask another question.
It's stupid, but will Mac work on my normal b/g router?
It has MAC addresses and all that, if required.
iPod touches work fine so I'm assuming it's the same??
I just don't feel forking out for an airport system will be very beneficial when I will be on ethernet at Uni.

peace~
 
AcidX said:
Hi Mac Friends!

After 14 years of Windows the time has come for me to buy my first Mac. (YAY!!)
This Mac will accompany me through university, freelance work and the many hours of gaming ahead!

I was wondering which is the best Windows OS for gaming?
Games I have ordered are, Orange Box, CS:S, Fallout 3, Crysis and I was considering getting GTA4.
I currently own 32-bit Windows XP Professional SP3.

Having read many articles (mainly a year+ in age) I am unable to reach a suitable decision so call upon you guys for some help.

Here are the specs of the Mac I will be buying:


I've read many things about Vista x64 being good but then others saying XP... I'm confused and would like to know which will provide the best gaming experience, whilst utilising the most from the available hardware.
I express no interest whatsoever in Windows 7.

Also, Any recommendations for hot games are appreciated!!
I've been unable to play games for a good 6 months now. Before that, it was only CS: Condition Zero! on minimal settings!!!!
I will be buying Modern Warfare 2 once it is released : )

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Vista x64 or 7 x64 if you want to use all 4GB ram. Otherwise XP will be fine.

GTA4 will run like crap no matter how powerful your system is. It's a badly ported game that require quad core or better to run even remotely well.
 
Windows 7 will offer the best FPS and driver support from Apple. If you can't get your hands on Windows 7 yet, go with Vista. Apple's driver support for XP is just awful.
 
Ok, thanks a lot.
With these new games that extra ram looks important.

But I'll probably end up sticking with XP.
Anyone know why XP doesn't use all the ram, out of interest?

I'm guessing it's something which couldn't be patched.
 
AcidX said:
Ok, thanks a lot.
With these new games that extra ram looks important.

But I'll probably end up sticking with XP.
Anyone know why XP doesn't use all the ram, out of interest?

I'm guessing it's something which couldn't be patched.
Click to expand...

XP Professional with SP3 is 32-bit. It can only utilize about 3GB-3.25GB (I don't remember the exact number on the MBP)

If you're thinking for XP 64-bit, don't even bother. XP-64 bit was a disaster, not even worth installing.
 
Cool. Well that will be just fine.
I was thinking it was only going to be using 2GB for some reason.

I'll stay away from GTA4 then, tempting as it is.

I remember there was a Beta of W7 not long ago.
But that won't be much use once the official one is released.

Thanks peeps.
My current b/g wireless network will be okay for my Macbook, right?
 
Save yourself the nearly $300 and get the 2.8GHz processor instead. $300 for 266MHz is absolutely ridiculous. More than $1 per megahertz, and people think SSDs are ripoffs...
 
Sneakz said:
Save yourself the nearly $300 and get the 2.8GHz processor instead. $300 for 266MHz is absolutely ridiculous. More than $1 per megahertz, and people think SSDs are ripoffs...
Click to expand...

Or just an idea he could save 100 and get the 128 gig SSD instead of the 3.06 the SSD will help more. just make sure you have external HD.
 
Yes.
I did just order a bundle of accessories (mouse etc) so may have to cut back to the 2.8ghz model. lol
I have an external HD already and did consider getting an SSD.

If I was to buy one at a later date, do I just buy it then take it to an apple store and they'll fit it? I'm dubious about opening up any laptop.
 
If you go to college/university and you take some computer science classes, you can get WinXP, Vista or 7 for free from MSDNAA.
I also recommend you to get an SSD, that will give you the biggest performance gain.

And as a note, if you take your studies serious, you won't have much time to play video/computer games unfortunately.
 
FieryFurnace said:
snip...

And as a note, if you take your studies serious, you won't have much time to play video/computer games unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Hey now wait a minute, I played throughout university and now that I am old, married with kids and working 50-60 hours a week I still make time to play. Getting the kids to play too helps (getting wife to play too would be even better)! After they finish their homework of course :(

Life is not all about responsibility, you must have fun too!

Cheers,
 
AcidX said:
Ah, unfortunately I'm a Student.


I thought I'd ask another question.
It's stupid, but will Mac work on my normal b/g router?
It has MAC addresses and all that, if required.
iPod touches work fine so I'm assuming it's the same??
I just don't feel forking out for an airport system will be very beneficial when I will be on ethernet at Uni.

peace~
Click to expand...

An Xbox 360 is like $200. Get a job.
 
The limiting factor for your gaming is the relatively weak GPU that comes with the imac. It will be the bottleneck of your system.

Anyway, IMO Win7 32 bit will be your best bet. Since you'll be probably using the 32bit kernel anyway and I don't think games will use your entire ram.
 
I've used XP, XP x64, Vista, Vista x64, and 7 x64 and i can say without a doubt that 7 x64 is the way to go. I was also using the old 7000 build of windows 7, so i assume they've made it better since then. Grab the RC if you can find it.
 
AcidX said:
Hi Mac Friends!

After 14 years of Windows the time has come for me to buy my first Mac. (YAY!!)
This Mac will accompany me through university, freelance work and the many hours of gaming ahead!

I was wondering which is the best Windows OS for gaming?
Games I have ordered are, Orange Box, CS:S, Fallout 3, Crysis and I was considering getting GTA4.
I currently own 32-bit Windows XP Professional SP3.

Having read many articles (mainly a year+ in age) I am unable to reach a suitable decision so call upon you guys for some help.

Here are the specs of the Mac I will be buying:


I've read many things about Vista x64 being good but then others saying XP... I'm confused and would like to know which will provide the best gaming experience, whilst utilising the most from the available hardware.
I express no interest whatsoever in Windows 7.

Also, Any recommendations for hot games are appreciated!!
I've been unable to play games for a good 6 months now. Before that, it was only CS: Condition Zero! on minimal settings!!!!
I will be buying Modern Warfare 2 once it is released : )

Cheers!
Click to expand...

depends on the game, but xp usually benches slightly faster than vista

i'd go for win 7 though when it comes out

your new laptop should be able to handle CS:S, orange box, and modern warfare high settings at native resolution in bootcamp without a problem. Crysis, fallout 3, and GTA4..maybe medium settings.
 
AcidX said:
Ah, unfortunately I'm a Student.


I thought I'd ask another question.
It's stupid, but will Mac work on my normal b/g router?
It has MAC addresses and all that, if required.
iPod touches work fine so I'm assuming it's the same??
I just don't feel forking out for an airport system will be very beneficial when I will be on ethernet at Uni.

peace~
Click to expand...

macs can connect to any router than a pc could..it even uses a similar wireless card to that of a pc laptop

that mac has a b/g/n wireless card..any router that supports any of those would work fine
 
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