Gaming Computers/Intels

[Thidranki]

I was thinking about building a hardcore gaming system, but I dont' want to give up the mac.

Apparently, to get some of the best games/hardware I'm going to have to.

I was wondering if I should drop an arm and a leg for a powermac.

But windows computers are so much cheaper custom built, and more powerful, not to mention more game choices.

Does anyone think that with the intel chips, that would expand the hardware capabilites enough to build a Mac computer in the future? Or should I just make a custom build windows and take the innevitable pain?

 

[Rob587]

thats what ive been wondering. I dont know much about that stuff but everyone always said that games like cs could never come out for macs because the processors were just different. Well know that they are intell will we see more games? if not, why?

 

[combatcolin]

On the one hand Mac's using the same CPU will make it "easier" for a Mac version to be considered viable.

On the other hand cutting out the millions of PPC users out there is not good buisness sense.

Solution? Apple should cough up some readies and plough money into Mac gaming development.

Microsoft did it, and have made a healthy profit on there game sales.

 

[feakbeak]

If you are really into gaming, I wouldn't throw down a bunch of money on a new PowerMac at this point. You can build an awesome gaming rig for about $1500 or less if you cut some corners. I am sure that Apple will make it difficult to run OS X on anything but their hardware, at least to begin with. I'm hoping at some point they'll sell OS X in a box. We'll have to wait and see.

I currently have a Mac Mini that I got earlier this year and a four-year-old PC that I've tried to keep updated over the years but I can't do much more to it. I would like to build a new AMD gaming system myself but don't have the money at the moment. I'm going to try to hold out for a while and see what the options are. If OS X can be hacked to run on generic x86 hardware I will build myself a really powerful system and dual-boot on it. If it is too much of a pain or if OS X doesn't run smoothly on generic hardware I plan to save up and buy a nice PowerMac and dual-boot it. Either way I won't have to pay to maintain two platforms any longer, I'll be able to put more money into one system that I can run OS X and Windows on.

Now... they just need to get hardware virtualization far enough along that we don't have to boot one OS at a time, but rather just run two or more concurrently at the hardware level and just be able to switch between them with ease. One can dream.

 

[jeremy.king]

...You can build an awesome gaming rig for about $1500 or less if you cut some corners...

Yowser!!!

For that money, you could get all three consoles with a nice library of games...

Guess I am more old school. Although I remember being a Quake II addict for a small time.

 

[feakbeak]

Yowser!!!

For that money, you could get all three consoles with a nice library of games...

Guess I am more old school. Although I remember being a Quake II addict for a small time.

Yeah, but you can do a lot more than just game with a PC. Besides, $1500 gets you some nice hardware. I had spec'ed this machine out on newegg.com about a month ago:

1 Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $115.00
1 ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - $115.00
1 Leadtek PX6800TDH Geforce 6800 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - $214.00
1 Antec NEOPOWER 480 ATX 480W Power Supply - $97.50
1 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - $335.00
1 OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory Model OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K - $252.55
1 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - $166.46
1 HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 0A31636 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $99.99
1 LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9SBLK - $21.99
1 NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - $38.99
1 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition 70SB035000013 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - $121.00
Total: $1,577.48

This machine is rougly comparable to the dual-core 2.0 GHz PowerMac. I haven't included a keyboard or mouse and you'd have to buy software of course, but still throwing those items in and OEM copy of Windows and you'd still be paying less plus this machine has 2 GB of RAM, a 10,000 RPM drive, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I like the new PowerMacs it was a much needed update that keeps them competitive until the Intel switch. I just wouldn't want to invest several thousand dollars into a PPC PowerMac a year before the Intel switch if you are really interested in gaming as you will soon be able to consolidate hardware for running OS X and running Windows for gaming.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

I was wondering about the intel chips myself, and if gaming will become more viable on macs in the future...

But for now, I think that getting a PC for gaming would be your best bet, unless if you were looking at consoles. You can get a mac for your daily activities, and a PC for gaming. At first, this might cost similarly or a little more than a burning fast PM - but there are a few issues to consider. 1) You can play more games. For every mac game there is, there's probably an entire genre of PC games. 2) You can upgrade the PC as time passes, meaning that revamping your gaming system down the line will be cheaper.

 

[Demon Hunter]

Solution? Apple should cough up some readies and plough money into Mac gaming development.

Microsoft did it, and have made a healthy profit on there game sales.

That would be nice, but I think it would also be marketing suicide. I could write a 50 page thesis on why. But hopefully you are satisfied with my reasoning that it's suicide.

 

[jeremy.king]

That would be nice, but I think it would also be marketing suicide. I could write a 50 page thesis on why. But hopefully you are satisfied with my reasoning that it's suicide.

remember when "they" were saying the same thing about the iPod Although I completely agree with you on this one, it wouldn't hurt to incent some game developers.

 

[pionata]

Actualy, getting games developers on the mac platform could be done in a realy good way. There is a PC store downtown that sells some macs, and everytime people pass in front of the mac they go "wow, if only I had the money".

If apple were to launch a major gaming offense (Showcasing lot of new games on a 23 inch cinema display and imacs 20 inch in stores) at a moment were windows is weak (when people realise vista sucks lol) it would have some impact. But first they have to lower the price of the powermac, or I'll never be able to buy one. lol