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dedicated pc for gaming worth it?

E

El Phantasmo

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 9, 2005
72
1
(sorry i dont know if this is the correct forum section to ask this)

I am waiting for the updated MBP so i can do a bootcamp partition to run XP (i freaking hate windows) so i can play GTR2. I will also use that partition with parallels so i can test stuff on IE (i work as a web designer).

I just revived an old PC i had laying around and installed Linux Ubuntu on it so my niece can use Firefox and chat on msn. That got me to think that maybe building a PC and hooking it up to the TV exclusively for playing GTR2 (with a playseat and G25) may kick some butt.

My question is... is it worth it to build a windows-only computer ONLY to play GTR2? or am i better off having a bootcamp partition and playing on the MBP hooked up to the tv?

I ask this because i HATE windows, so it would be nice if i can avoid using bootcamp (having to close everything and logoff OSX just so i can play for a couple hours)... But then again i dont know if i would be able to sleep at night having a windows only :eek: machine in my room...
 
~$550 back in November got me the computer in my signature. I think it's worth having a dedicated Windows machine for gaming.
 
thanks for the advice guys... both of you are right. the gaming PC isnt that expensive, and it would be wise to wait out until i get the MBP so i can actually play the game first and see if it would be worth it getting the dedicated pc... and in a couple months the gaming components will get a bit faster and cheaper...

in the meantime i can play GT4 on my PS2 :cool:
 
I've never been happy gaming on a laptop, and I refuse to by a 17" expensive XPS or Alienware to get top mobile game performance. At the same time, running a $4000 8800 SLI gaming rig with a monster 1KW PSU and the dealing with the heat and noise is just too much....

My solution is a MBP, a PS3, and 32" Sharp GP2 1080P display at my desk.
 
I have a current gen MBP and it works great as a gaming machine using XP on bootcamp. Sure, I can't play Crysis and CoD4 at max settings, but it is *completely* smooth at 1400x900 on medium settings. Still looks great too! (Though I am much more interested in the gameplay than the pictures, so I have no problem with not having the settings maxed out.)

When I'm done with my fun, I just restart into Leopard and resume work.
 
See how it runs on the MBP, GTR2 is a pretty computer/graphics intensive game. I think its because its made by such a small developer the game isn't super optimized for speed. I had a AMD Athlon 3400+ with a NVIDIA 7600GT w/ 2g of ram and I had to run GTR2 on low settings and no aa or af and at 1024x768.

I just got a Mac Pro (with the radeon 2600 XT which isn't even that great a card) and GTR2 totally blows away my PC. I now run 2xAA,4xAF and running high settings (but reflections and shadows on medium) at 1280x1024 and I get 60fps... It runs great, compared to before and it looks way better.

Now at toms hardware VGA charts, in overall FPS average scores the 7600GT scores slightly better then the 2600XT... so that tells me GTR2 is highly processor intensive.

So your just going to have to try... I'm sure a c2d MBP is much faster then my old athlon... but at least you have some GTR2 specific feedback. :)
 
well, here's the thing. if you're gonna have a windows box, a pc box basically, solely for gaming, then you don't really need a large laptop to carry around everywhere. That gives you the choice to buy (ultra)portable laptops w/o the worry of if the video card is good or not. Thats the only advantage I really see. Of course there's other advantages (PC/Desktop boxes are easily upgradable, expansion, etc.)
 
^^^^In this case the OP needs a small desktop for decent games as a cheap laptop won't play many games.

My 2¢

Northy124
 
Ummm GTR2 is as very light program to run. It used to run perfectly on high detail on a P4 3.0C and a Radeon 9800XT so not sure what was wrong with your AMD box.....

kem said:
See how it runs on the MBP, GTR2 is a pretty computer/graphics intensive game. I think its because its made by such a small developer the game isn't super optimized for speed. I had a AMD Athlon 3400+ with a NVIDIA 7600GT w/ 2g of ram and I had to run GTR2 on low settings and no aa or af and at 1024x768.

I just got a Mac Pro (with the radeon 2600 XT which isn't even that great a card) and GTR2 totally blows away my PC. I now run 2xAA,4xAF and running high settings (but reflections and shadows on medium) at 1280x1024 and I get 60fps... It runs great, compared to before and it looks way better.

Now at toms hardware VGA charts, in overall FPS average scores the 7600GT scores slightly better then the 2600XT... so that tells me GTR2 is highly processor intensive.

So your just going to have to try... I'm sure a c2d MBP is much faster then my old athlon... but at least you have some GTR2 specific feedback. :)
Click to expand...
 
I bought a MBP 17" with hopes to eliminate all my PC's. It lasted a while (gaming under bootcamp), but I found myself wanting the performance I could get out of a Windows desktop instead. So I ended up building a PC just for gaming...and I'm so glad that I did.

E6750, 4GB DDR800, 500gb HD, 8800GTS 512mb...yeah, it's pretty good for gaming :)

I can still use my MBP for gaming when I'm on the road, but when I'm at home, a dedicated desktop is the way to go.
 
you could get a low-end macbook and a build a gaming pc for slightly more than a MBP

don't really need a dedicated videocard unless you game anyways.
 
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