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Makwak

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2014
46
0
Can you run games on the new Mac Pro ? If yes - how much faster is MP when compared to iMac with 780m gpu?

Please refrain from explanations that MP is not for games. Im just curious if games will run on it and how fast.

Thank you :)
 

golf1410

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2012
748
3
San Francisco, CA
You better get imac. As a lot of games do not utilize for dual graphic cards under OS X. From what he said about WOW, it only uses one graphic card on OS X. If you want to play games, stick with PC for bang of the bucks. You could get a great ratio between performance and price.
 

lemonade-maker

macrumors 6502
Jun 20, 2009
497
4
You better get imac. As a lot of games do not utilize for dual graphic cards under OS X. From what he said about WOW, it only uses one graphic card on OS X. If you want to play games, stick with PC for bang of the bucks. You could get a great ratio between performance and price.

Wow. This is total bs. Even know what a new Mac Pro is?
 

golf1410

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2012
748
3
San Francisco, CA
Actually a lot of what he said is accurate and true. The only thing I do not agree with is getting an iMac.

You maybe right in some aspects. However, you have to understand how developers develop games (How lazy they are when they port games) and GPU architecture. iMac is better choice here for gaming in term of bang of the buck. The frame rate of iMac and Mac pro are not far behind but the price is a huge gap. None of games except civilization take advantage of Mac Pro GPU architecture.

http://www.macworld.com/article/208...ter-weve-been-waiting-for-finally.html?page=2

This link shows some very interesting results between Mac Pro VS iMac

----------

If you get the D700 it's killer in any game.

you are right that D700 is good. But not great.
This is a killer graphic card at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefkanYechQ
 

antonis

macrumors 68020
Jun 10, 2011
2,085
1,009
The nMP has the potential of running in Xfire in windows, though. iMac doesn't. And under Xfire the difference is huge.
 

lemonade-maker

macrumors 6502
Jun 20, 2009
497
4
Actually a lot of what he said is accurate and true. The only thing I do not agree with is getting an iMac.

Not that accurate at all. Assuming the op is not getting a mac for gaming. The nMP runs xfire in windows - no iMac can or does. If you can't afford an iMac and a gaming PC, iMac will work. If you can't afford a nMP and a gaming PC, the nMP will work and will
be better than an iMac.
 

golf1410

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2012
748
3
San Francisco, CA
Not that accurate at all. Assuming the op is not getting a mac for gaming. The nMP runs xfire in windows - no iMac can or does. If you can't afford an iMac and a gaming PC, iMac will work. If you can't afford a nMP and a gaming PC, the nMP will work and will
be better than an iMac.

I did state it clearly UNDER OS X. Read my comment again. Which part is not right?
 

golf1410

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2012
748
3
San Francisco, CA
Wow. This is total bs. Even know what a new Mac Pro is?

Are you talking about these on my desk?
ygaga7y6.jpg
 

Makwak

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2014
46
0
I already have an iMac and have no intention to own a PC again. I only ever play WoW and thats pretty much it. The rest is just internet browsing. The nMP is an overkill in terms of a price, but you've got to love the design. Hence I was asking - in case I win the lottery and will want to get nMP for WoW.

I had the latest rMBP before I changed to the latest imac and sadly the non retina display hurts my eyes, but 27" is a sweet size.

----------

Are you talking about these on my desk?
Image

What are these disgusting rags doing there??!!
 

mobiousblack

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2012
54
0
Can you tell me this about NMP?

I actually got this as a portable gaming machine, under windows performance of the two d700s is close to an nvidia 780ti desktop gpu which runs circles around the iMacs 780m. The Mac Pro (again under windows) is a great gaming machine, been rocking dark souls 2 on it for the past two weeks now.
 

Demigod Mac

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2008
828
278
WoW should be absolutely trivial for a nMP to run.

That said, the Mac port of WoW has always suffered from performance issues compared to the Windows version. My 780 GTX only dips to 55 fps in a worst-case scenario (Orgrimmar on a crowded day) while in OS X it's more like 30 on the same hardware.

But in most scenarios you should be able to run it on maximum settings+resolution at 60+ fps, easily.

I just hope you would use it primarily for creative/scientific purposes with some gaming on the side. :p
 

dmax35

macrumors 6502
Jun 21, 2012
447
6
Who has time to play games when your a professional using a system intended for professional peeps.
 

lupinglade

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2010
261
224
You maybe right in some aspects. However, you have to understand how developers develop games (How lazy they are when they port games) and GPU architecture. iMac is better choice here for gaming in term of bang of the buck. The frame rate of iMac and Mac pro are not far behind but the price is a huge gap. None of games except civilization take advantage of Mac Pro GPU architecture.

http://www.macworld.com/article/208...ter-weve-been-waiting-for-finally.html?page=2

This link shows some very interesting results between Mac Pro VS iMac

----------



you are right that D700 is good. But not great.
This is a killer graphic card at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefkanYechQ

BF4 at ACD res all highest at around 120-150 fps is killer in my books. But I'm not much of a gamer I guess, just play a little when bored.
 

iBug2

macrumors 601
Jun 12, 2005
4,520
826
WoW should be absolutely trivial for a nMP to run.

That said, the Mac port of WoW has always suffered from performance issues compared to the Windows version. My 780 GTX only dips to 55 fps in a worst-case scenario (Orgrimmar on a crowded day) while in OS X it's more like 30 on the same hardware.

But in most scenarios you should be able to run it on maximum settings+resolution at 60+ fps, easily.

I just hope you would use it primarily for creative/scientific purposes with some gaming on the side. :p

It's true for Nvidia but not for AMD. My nMP dips to 50 fps on the shrine on a crowded day on OS X, and it dips to 50 fps on Windows XFire. The only difference of XFire on Windows is that I can get higher fps while looking at a wall or the ground. (200 fps vs 130 fps on OS X). But whenever the fps matters, OS X and Windows behave similarly on D700.
 

antonis

macrumors 68020
Jun 10, 2011
2,085
1,009
It's true for Nvidia but not for AMD. My nMP dips to 50 fps on the shrine on a crowded day on OS X, and it dips to 50 fps on Windows XFire. The only difference of XFire on Windows is that I can get higher fps while looking at a wall or the ground. (200 fps vs 130 fps on OS X). But whenever the fps matters, OS X and Windows behave similarly on D700.

These are some interesting results. As I understand it, this can only mean one thing, then; that bottleneck is not on the GPU side. Obviously, WoW doesn't take full advantage of the CPUs / cores.

I've read somewhere that there's a very short limit in CPU cores that WoW can take advantage of, IIRC.
 

iBug2

macrumors 601
Jun 12, 2005
4,520
826
These are some interesting results. As I understand it, this can only mean one thing, then; that bottleneck is not on the GPU side. Obviously, WoW doesn't take full advantage of the CPUs / cores.

I've read somewhere that there's a very short limit in CPU cores that WoW can take advantage of, IIRC.

Yes, WoW is known to be CPU dependant whenever there's a lot of characters moving around, like capital cities or raids. And on the CPU side it depends heavily on the frequency and not the core count. It has 3 basic threads, 2 for the OpenGL, and one for the rest. So it can use up to 200% CPU give or take but not any more.
 

antonis

macrumors 68020
Jun 10, 2011
2,085
1,009
Yes, WoW is known to be CPU dependant whenever there's a lot of characters moving around, like capital cities or raids. And on the CPU side it depends heavily on the frequency and not the core count. It has 3 basic threads, 2 for the OpenGL, and one for the rest. So it can use up to 200% CPU give or take but not any more.

So this means that among nMP configurations, the 4-core is the optimal for WoW ? Since it offers the highest single-core frequency and no more that 3 cores can be utilized.
 

peabo

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2008
201
0
So this means that among nMP configurations, the 4-core is the optimal for WoW ? Since it offers the highest single-core frequency and no more that 3 cores can be utilized.

For gaming, fewer cores and more GHz has always been the way to go.
 
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