I want a light portable laptop and i want to play games. I also have around 4k to spend on it. Should i bet a macbook and build/upgrade my desktop or should i buy a MBP? I want to be able to run most games. im not talking crysis at max settings but like warcraft 3, counterstrike, and supreme commander would be nice to be able to run them.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
if you had $4,000...
- Thread starter Dsr1205
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well it comes down to how you plan to use the system... a MB + desktop works if you never really plan to play games on the MB... cause with integrated graphics, it just won't cut it. But going this route, you'll have one really nice desktop system.
Btw, I'm assuming the desktop is a PC? Or do you plan iMac or Mac Pro?
Oh and just to point out, MB and MBP aren't that different in weight... just a fyi.
Btw, I'm assuming the desktop is a PC? Or do you plan iMac or Mac Pro?
Oh and just to point out, MB and MBP aren't that different in weight... just a fyi.
yeah, i don't plan on building a hackintosh
side question: is the 8600m better then the desktop x1800 radeon series? id be fine with slightly to way better then my desktop card.
Yeah, I'd say the MB + desktop route would be the best way to go. Heck, you can build a very competent gaming PC for $1500 or thereabouts, a very competent and portable MacBook for $1200, and still have $1300 left over to spend on other fun things!
Yeah I'd say that will work great for you. MB + PC Desktop.
I have MBP and PC desktop, although I don't play much games on it anymore... so its overpowered for my purposes. Quad core CPU, 7900GT Vid card and 2TB RAID5 of HD space. (Currently using the desktop as a file server... lol)
As for your question, I believe the desktop x1800 is better then 8600m. But keep in mind, they are different generations.
I have MBP and PC desktop, although I don't play much games on it anymore... so its overpowered for my purposes. Quad core CPU, 7900GT Vid card and 2TB RAID5 of HD space. (Currently using the desktop as a file server... lol)
As for your question, I believe the desktop x1800 is better then 8600m. But keep in mind, they are different generations.
I'd grab the better 15" MBP, and spend the extra money on a nice external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, upgraded RAM (to 4GB), and a faster hard drive (7200RPM). I find that the 15" MBP is pretty portable, and when I'm not doing cpu or graphics intensive, I can easily get 4 hours out of the battery. When you are at your desk, the MBP has enough power to seem like a desktop. The external monitor gives you more screen real estate when at your desk.
For $4k, I'd get a MacBook and a Mac Pro with a single quad core with a nice, fast display. Probably have enough left over to buy a nice digital optical surround sound system, to boot.
If you wanna focus solely on gaming, then honestly, Mac is not for you. If I had $4k to spend, I'd buy a sweet desktop with a huge monitor and max it out for gaming. Then I'd buy a 15 inch MacBook Pro for portability. You'd still have over a grand left to spend easily.
I think you get get a MBP and also have enough left over money to get a desktop for your gaming needs. Or you could get a MB and have enough money to get a pretty high end desktop.
If you were to buy a entry MBP, assuming it comes out to roughly 8% tax, thats around 2160 (rounding off). So with 1840 dollars left, you can still build or buy a fairly good gaming desktop.
If you build the desktop, can probably get a fairly good dual core system w/ 2-4GB RAM and a very nice video card for that much money. The question now is, do you have parts lying around? Or perhaps a desktop that you can just upgrade? If you can upgrade your current probably be cheaper (depends on what you have and what you want).
Oh and are you a student? Student discount would be great to get if you qualify. (Or government if you work for the government)
If you build the desktop, can probably get a fairly good dual core system w/ 2-4GB RAM and a very nice video card for that much money. The question now is, do you have parts lying around? Or perhaps a desktop that you can just upgrade? If you can upgrade your current probably be cheaper (depends on what you have and what you want).
Oh and are you a student? Student discount would be great to get if you qualify. (Or government if you work for the government)
i have a terrible desktop, it was a above average gaming rig 2 years ago. I got a socket 939 motherboard (if you know that im talking about then you can sympathize) so i cant upgrade my amd processor anymore because the socket is obsolete. I cna upgrade the videocard but the processore will be the bottleneck in the equation. I could salavage the harddrvies probably the ram, the case, the PSU, and just upgrade the mobo, CPU, and videocard to something nasty for under 1000 so maybe i cud do that. i just want a mac badly. so bad im fixing a iBook right now lol
I wanted a Mac and to be able to play some recent games, so I bought a 15" MBP last year. It runs older games (StarCraft) and recent games (Half Life 2) well. I don't play games enough to be worried about current games but I expect it will run current games adequately - the new machines moreso. If that's your situation, get the portable of your choice and budget and enjoy.
But if you're more into gaming -- an ongoing hobby, then maybe it's worth getting a dedicated Windows PC specifically for gaming. That way you can also buy mid-range and (affordably) upgrade video card in a couple years. With an inexpensive KVM switch, you can share the keyboard, monitor, and mouse with a portable Mac.
But if you're more into gaming -- an ongoing hobby, then maybe it's worth getting a dedicated Windows PC specifically for gaming. That way you can also buy mid-range and (affordably) upgrade video card in a couple years. With an inexpensive KVM switch, you can share the keyboard, monitor, and mouse with a portable Mac.
Dsr1205, I was doing exactly what you're planning on doing up until the end of January this year. I had a desktop that I use for gaming and I have a black Macbook to bring to college. I got too busy and didn't have time to play games, and since one of my family members needed a computer, I decided to ditch my desktop and go pure laptop. I think the setup was fine. At home I really never touched my Macbook. I used my desktop PC all the time. Whenever I was gonna bring my laptop to campus (I live like 20 mins away from school) I would transfer my homework files to my laptop with a USB stick and I was good to go.
So yea, my recommendation would be a Desktop gaming PC and a macbook. You won't really need a MBP. I don't know if you're a college student but a MB is 100% fine for homework and IM and stuff.
So yea, my recommendation would be a Desktop gaming PC and a macbook. You won't really need a MBP. I don't know if you're a college student but a MB is 100% fine for homework and IM and stuff.
if i have 4000, i'll use it as a downpayment for a car.
i'll just buy an MBP though Juniper VISA.
i'll just buy an MBP though Juniper VISA.