iMac's 8800 GS vs. MacBook Pro 8600 GT

[frome]

I currently have a Macbook Pro (15", 2.2 GHz, 128 MB 8600GT, 2GB) and I'm considering purchasing a new iMac (24" 2.8 GHz, 8800 GS, 2 GB) in the next few days, to replace my ageing old iMac, which I am giving to another family member.

Back to the topic, is there much, if any, performance advantage with the iMac's 8800 GS compare to the MacBook Pro's 8600 GT in regards to windows based gaming. I am content with the gaming performance of the Macbook Pro with many Direct X 9 games such as UT 3 and Half Life series running great, but it lacks a bit in regards to newer Direct X 10 games like, obviously, Crysis (medium at 800 x 600, 20 FPS).

The gaming potential of the iMac does not have major effect on whether I will purchase, as Im not buying it for sole use as a gaming machine, as it clearly isn't one. Though it would be nice to know what I could expect out of it. Thanks for any information...

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

iMac with the 8800gs isnt a gaming machine? where you get that? Is there any game this cant play in high quality? the answer is no.

 

[kornyboy]

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iMac with the 8800gs isnt a gaming machine? where you get that? Is there any game this cant play in high quality? the answer is no.

I agree. You'll have to go with a Mac Pro if you want a real gaming mac.

All of that said, you could probably play windows games on both machines. Just don't expect to be able to max everything out on Doom or anything like that.

 

[CadenZ15]

If you got the iMac with the 8800 you'd be set. No maxing out on Crysis but based on your gaming habits you mentioned you'll have power enough to spare

From what I've seen the 8800 is pretty impressive as far as graphics cards go, so definitely worth the extra cash if you're gonna get an iMac anyway...

 

[dmw007]

The iMac with the upgraded 8800 GS will be plenty fast for your gaming needs. The 8800 GS will outperform your MacBook Pro's 8600 GT.

 

[frome]

Thanks for the quick replies. I have went ahead and ordered the iMac with the 8800 GS.

From you're comments, it appears to be okay for gaming. Can't wait to get it .

 

[eXan]

From my experience, 8800GS is about 1.5-1.8x faster than 8600GT.

 

[winninganthem]

I agree. You'll have to go with a Mac Pro if you want a real gaming mac.

Macs are not gaming machines. Yes, a lot of them have the specs that can run a lot of games fairly decently, but that's not their primary focus. A gaming Mac doesn't exist.

Apart from having powerful specs, gaming machines are expandable and upgradable. They also have a very wide price range starting as low as $300 and going all the way up over $3000.

Looking only at Apple's desktop options,
- Mac Mini? Forget it. Just.. Forget about gaming if you have one of these

- An iMac has the specs, but you can't take it apart and upgrade parts. You can't really call it a "gaming rig".

- Mac Pro has the specs, the expandability, but it's so damn expensive. It's a workstation computer not intended for gaming but for professionals in creative, science, and IT fields. I think it's very foolish to buy a Mac Pro and spend over $3000 for the sole purpose of having a gaming system.

There's no midrange Mac tower between an iMac and a Mac Pro that fits the bill for a true gaming system. Apple computers are very elegant machines that are designed to work very intuitively. Because of this, they are also on the pricey side. I think that mostly because there's not many Mac games, they feel they don't need to cater to the gamer crowd.

Back to the topic though, an iMac is a good computer to do work on, and as long as it doesn't entirely influence your decision, you'll be happy with the iMac.