Gamers, how do you justify buying a Mac?

I rarely game on my iMac. I prefer to use my PS4 instead. It gives me the better experience and I prefer to game on my big 4K Sony TV. It doesn't matter if PC games on expensive PCs using high end graphic cards look better, the overall user experience on a console is better.
 
petvas said:
I rarely game on my iMac. I prefer to use my PS4 instead. It gives me the better experience and I prefer to game on my big 4K Sony TV. It doesn't matter if PC games on expensive PCs using high end graphic cards look better, the overall user experience on a console is better.
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I have a PS4 and I would not say it's better, but it's enjoyable as well. The user experience on any game depends on how much fun you are having.
 
petvas said:
I rarely game on my iMac. I prefer to use my PS4 instead. It gives me the better experience and I prefer to game on my big 4K Sony TV. It doesn't matter if PC games on expensive PCs using high end graphic cards look better, the overall user experience on a console is better.
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Mouse+Keyboard, higher resolutions: I prefer playing my FPS on a PC ;) And my iMac is a very good PC for that use: Bioshock 2, Max Payne 3, Alien Isolation in 2560x1440 are beautiful... :)
 
petvas said:
I rarely game on my iMac. I prefer to use my PS4 instead. It gives me the better experience and I prefer to game on my big 4K Sony TV. It doesn't matter if PC games on expensive PCs using high end graphic cards look better, the overall user experience on a console is better.
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I agree with you because of the way you worded this "overall user experience".

No need to worry about minimum requirements, frame rates, graphic settings etc etc with a console. This is nice because someone with a better computer might be able to have an advantage with a console if they can run with more detail and further load distance.

Compatibility issues. Drivers. Etc ugh! I think once in every hardcore computer gamers life they've had to roll back a driver. Not a good user experience.

Also controllers are all this same for the most part. So there isn't a handicap from cheap equipment or a Magic Mouse. Lol

It's also harder to cheat and find exploits on a console and easier to force a patch for cheats and exploits on a console.

I've found some computer games completely inundated with spam in the chats so much so I would turn off chat. Elder Scrolls Online was terrible might be better now, I quit playing it.

Anyway for the individual computer gaming may be better, OVERALL I find console gaming to have a better user experience.

That said there are games that I prefer on my Mac. Mostly Sim types. Simcity for example I feel is something you just can't get to work very well on a console.
 
I personnaly prefer to play FPS on a PC (the mouse is more natural for me, and not the Magic Mouse, a real gamer mouse :D )
And with OS and games of today, I don't have any issue of drivers or compatibility. And on the 27" iMac screen,the resolution is far more better than the HD of consoles.
And on a PC, no need to pay to play online ;)
 
andy9l said:
You're missing the point.

If you bought a proper gaming rig, performance would be vastly improved. Vastly. Serious gamers will not be using laptop hardware. Come on, now.
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I suggest he gets a Mac, best spec he can afford, and run with that, as the mac isn't just for gaming, its his primary machine. And start saving a little money each week. To eventually get a case, MB kit (board, CPU, RAM), GPU, screen, KB, Mouse. A base machine, no frills, just a good CPU, and a strong GPU. This gear is cheap these days
 
the 5k imac is a perfect machine but with NVIDIA gpu inside..so i will buy another one with 5k nvidia this year i hope
 
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I have a console for gaming and computer for work, sure my iMac can run most games, but honestly it's not something I choose to do.

Most if not all games available for PC are on PS4/Xbox One so why not just game on a dedicated console which imo is a much better experience anyways. Computers need high res monitors because you sit close to them, sitting on a couch 10 feet away from your TV no one can really tell the difference between 1080p and 2.5k.

I own a Nintendo Wii U and Xbox One which has games (especially Nintendo) that will never see the light of day on PC, same goes for PS4 with their exclusives as well. So the ONLY advantage of a PC is higher res, faster fps and possibly cheaper games, but you lose out on many games. Heck GTAV hasn't even been released yet for PC platform..... Sure the mods are the best, but I would say PC gaming is very very niche and honestly I do not have the patience or time to use the platform.
 
Gamers, how do you justify buying a Mac?

tears2040 said:
I have a console for gaming and computer for work, sure my iMac can run most games, but honestly it's not something I choose to do.



Most if not all games available for PC are on PS4/Xbox One so why not just game on a dedicated console which imo is a much better experience anyways. Computers need high res monitors because you sit close to them, sitting on a couch 10 feet away from your TV no one can really tell the difference between 1080p and 2.5k.



I own a Nintendo Wii U and Xbox One which has games (especially Nintendo) that will never see the light of day on PC, same goes for PS4 with their exclusives as well. So the ONLY advantage of a PC is higher res, faster fps and possibly cheaper games, but you lose out on many games. Heck GTAV hasn't even been released yet for PC platform..... Sure the mods are the best, but I would say PC gaming is very very niche and honestly I do not have the patience or time to use the platform.
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While I agree with you, there are also games on a computer not available for consoles (yet/ever). WoW, ESO, a lot sim type games, etc.

I think that may force a lot of people into computer gaming. And once they are there they stick with it.
 
I gotta admit, Apple really doesn’t make gaming machines. At least not upgradeable ones anyway. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Then I thought they simply didn’t have much interest in making gaming machines. But then I found this YouTube video:

It turns out that Apple is deliberately not making gaming machines because it thinks that business will be more willing to buy Macs if they don’t have to worry about their employees playing games at work. At first, I was a little annoyed at the name, but I got past it and the video wasn’t as insulting as I expected. Actually, the name was the only insulting part. It was a three-decade-long analysis of Apple’s history with gaming. I was directed to that video by a link from this one:
 
I switched to Mac in 2010 when I bought my first Apple product ever, a 15" MBP with 330M. I had previously built my own PCs with as high-end parts that I could afford, and I did play quite a bit of games. However, towards "the end" it was mainly Source based titles that does not require much of the system. On my MBP (which I still use with an 1TB 840 Evo) I have played Starcraft 2 and a range of Source titles without any problems. The truth is that as I'm getting older and use my computer more and more for business and less as a toy, the gamin capabilities is not that important.

Having that said, I do miss to be able to play new and exciting titles that comes out (Firewatch for instance). I plan to get myself a new Mac in the end of this year, either a maxed out iMac 27" or a maxed out MBP, it depends what CPU/GPUs are available. I would pay more for a better GPU in my Mac simply to be able to play games better, but I would never go back to using Windows/PCs.
 
I originally had a great little ITX gaming rig with an i3 and a GTX 970. It was a great system, quiet, and it played everything maxed out on my 20" 1680x1050 monitor ;)

I really didn't have much time to spend on games anymore, though, so I sold everything on eBay, and used the proceeds towards a maxed out 5K iMac. The only game I play on it is The Witcher Enhanced Edition, and that's only once a week or so. Most of my time nowadays is spent browsing the web, emailing, and using the Photos app. Once you get a family, your priorities will change :)
 
Gaming all the time on my iMac5k, mostly racing sims with a Logitech G29 wheel...iRacing, Project Cars, Dirt Rally. Awesome stuff!
 
M395X (aka R9 380X) is perfectly fine for gaming here. GTA V runs superbly, and I remember when GTA IV ran like a dog on the best gaming iMac back in 2008.
 
Going strong with my high-speced 2011 iMac. I play more indie games than AAA, and even for the ones I do, I just stay away from the most recently released games, and then everything runs fine. I've been *very* happy with the gaming performance on that one.
 
the macs thanks to intel and dGPU, it begin to be a casual for 1440p gaming. I know i was having a MBA with HD4000 inside and even on 900p a non demanding game like diablo 3 was not smooth..but now days its even better, HD580 i think has triple performance than Hd4000, and from 680MX until M395x are perfectly fine for 1440p for non-demanding games to run at 60fps high settings.
And i love that, i have a mac that can run my games like League of Legends or Diablo 3 etc at 60 fps, do my work, web, mail etc in one computer and i love the design that give me all of this with just one cable around
 
I have the same Mac Pro, except went with the D500 and invested the savings in upgrading it to 64GB of RAM.
It's my daily "go to" machine for everything I do at home, including occasionally working from home doing computer support and network administration for my employer.

I used to care more about gaming but find as I get older, it's just less and less of a "thing". I think this is partially because at my age, I feel like I've "been there, done that" so often when I play a new game title. I'm part of the generation that grew up with the "classics" like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Qix, Zaxxon, Defender and Frogger. It's great seeing how far gaming has come from those days, on one hand. But on the other, I see so much repetition now. 99% of the 3D shooters are the same, tired game-play and mechanics, wrapped around a slightly different story-line. Almost all the car racing games fall into 1 of 2 categories; your "big name race" simulators where you see if you can get the best time around a course, and your "street racing" games where you've got the stereotypical "sexy women" and "cool dudes" betting money on winners so you can spend it in-game on car upgrades and accessories. And fantasy RPGs have never changed... I imagine by the time I retire, they'll be on Diablo IX or X, Final Fantasy 100, etc.

I'm to the point where I'd rather have the overall superior machine that a Mac Pro workstation is (near silent operation, stylish and doesn't take up much space on my desk, unbeatable for "pro apps" like Final Cut Pro X or Logic Pro X, etc.) -- and just play the games that DO come out for Mac, if they look interesting. Few though they might be, they're usually the "proven popular" ones that come over from the Windows and/or console side of things - so they're rarely a "dud".


shaunp said:
I have a Mac Pro (6-core, D700's) and I've boot-camped it. I also have a PC (core i7, GTX 780). I prefer Mac as my every day computing platform.

For gaming however the PC is a much better platform. A single GTX 780 is close to the performance of the two D700's when they are running in Crossfire and if those games support Crossfire. The PC get's similar performance with a much simpler configuration. The PC cost around £1,500 the Mac cost £4000. I could add another GTX 780 into my PC, and configure them in SLI, for around £300 and it would be much quicker than the Mac, or I could add any of the high-end GPU's as the GTX 780 is a couple of years old now - the PC has a 1300W PSU and plenty of PCI-e slots. I have lots of choices and the CPU is not a bottleneck in anyway.

Then there's the small issue of most games are made for consoles and Windows, with tiny handful making it to the Mac.

Sadly if you are a gamer rather than someone who plays the odd game, the Mac is not the right platform. I have the fastest currently available GPU's from Apple (D700) and the solution is easily beaten by a cheap PC. The iMac with it's mobile GPU wouldn't stand a chance. Sorry, as much as I like the Mac it's not a powerful gaming platform, but it is a very good every day computing platform.
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Conclussion:

If you care about the mess all over the place but still want decent performance, get a retina iMac.
If you care about the mess but don't about performance, get a rMBP.
If you don't care about the mess and are performance oriented, get a PC no doubts.
 
kingtj said:
I have the same Mac Pro, except went with the D500 and invested the savings in upgrading it to 64GB of RAM.
It's my daily "go to" machine for everything I do at home, including occasionally working from home doing computer support and network administration for my employer.

I used to care more about gaming but find as I get older, it's just less and less of a "thing". I think this is partially because at my age, I feel like I've "been there, done that" so often when I play a new game title. I'm part of the generation that grew up with the "classics" like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Qix, Zaxxon, Defender and Frogger. It's great seeing how far gaming has come from those days, on one hand. But on the other, I see so much repetition now. 99% of the 3D shooters are the same, tired game-play and mechanics, wrapped around a slightly different story-line. Almost all the car racing games fall into 1 of 2 categories; your "big name race" simulators where you see if you can get the best time around a course, and your "street racing" games where you've got the stereotypical "sexy women" and "cool dudes" betting money on winners so you can spend it in-game on car upgrades and accessories. And fantasy RPGs have never changed... I imagine by the time I retire, they'll be on Diablo IX or X, Final Fantasy 100, etc.

I'm to the point where I'd rather have the overall superior machine that a Mac Pro workstation is (near silent operation, stylish and doesn't take up much space on my desk, unbeatable for "pro apps" like Final Cut Pro X or Logic Pro X, etc.) -- and just play the games that DO come out for Mac, if they look interesting. Few though they might be, they're usually the "proven popular" ones that come over from the Windows and/or console side of things - so they're rarely a "dud".
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I get where you are coming from mate, but the games I play (Fallout 4, Skyrim, etc) just don't come out on the Mac. I get very little time to play them now anyway. The Mac Pro is better at everything else and multi monitor support on Windows 10 is horrible. Guess I"ll be keeping the Mac and the PC is just a glorified xbox. When it needs to be replaced, i'll get an xbox and keep the Mac.
 
There's good, better, best in gaming. My Retina iMac with M395X runs my Trainz game very well, but boy does it get hot... 99 degrees C. The same game runs better on the same iMac in Boot Camp Windows 10, and I can keep the temperature down by capping the frame rate at 30fps. But while I'm in Boot Camp, I'm not running OS X, and that bothered me.

So, I've bolted together a PC i5-6600/16GB/500GB SSD/GTX 970 running Windows 10, and that runs the same game best, while allowing me to have OS X running on my iMac at the same time.

My take for demanding games: if you cannot be without OS X go for a gaming PC; otherwise run your game in Boot Camp.
 
I am not much of a gamer anymore, though I still game now and then. Fallout 4 on a 27" iMac 5k runs pretty darn good on the Windoze side and the graphics look beautiful on the computer, though I have admit I cheat for I play in God mode. ;):cool: I'm a web developer/designer first and a gamer second, plus I have been gaming since pong was the gaming craze. :D I breaks up the workday for me (I work at home), plus I don't have to hit the boss key.
 
henkej said:
Gaming all the time on my iMac5k, mostly racing sims with a Logitech G29 wheel...iRacing, Project Cars, Dirt Rally. Awesome stuff!
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How did you get your G29 to work? I downloaded IRacing on my Mac and it says it doesn't recognize my controller?
 
I consider myself a gamer. I play a lot of games both on PC and on a Mac (those available steam and Mac App Store). To be honest I prefer this games available on the Mac App store, since I have more fun with them then those AAA games. And of those AAA games, I prefer to play on my PS4.

The only game i play for a PC is Football Manager and that has a Mac version. That is if my PC let's me play the game at all, since my PC is having some freezing issues, that I spent too much time sorting it out, that I given up to fix the issue. So yes, I'm making backups all the time. I will get an Imac this year, and stop "borrowing my brothers Macbook Pro". Since I'm in no worry, I probably will wait for Apple to release an Imac update with the new Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, whomever Apple chooses for the next update.
 
PS4 + 60" 4k TV + couch + beer/chips > my work desk and a computer. Rumor has it that Sony will be doing some kind of graphical upgrade to the PS4 to make it 4k capable in more ways. That'll be the only upgrade I'll be interested in. Swapping out components in a PC and dealing with drivers sounds like such a PITA. I'll leave that for the competitors. I suck at most video games, I just like to play them and have fun.
 
Did you guys watch Linus Tech Tips trying out a 2014 5K iMac a year or so ago? It's a series of clips:

It was mildly interesting up until he tried gaming in 5K, and this is what bothers me. He knows full well just by looking at the computer's specs without ever opening that box that it won't do full screen 5K gaming with good (30+ fps IMHO, and some may say even 60 is a slideshow) framerates compared to a modern high-end PC. Not even the old speed king from nVidia, the Titan, could do that with sustained framerates at 60 fps with all bling turned on (depending on the game ofc) with a comparable CPU in a custom desktop PC.

So basically what I get out of it is that he's just taking a cheap sarcastic shot at a computer and brand he's not a big fan of and trying to push it as a serious test.
 
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