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Is it Wrong to Buy a MacPro for Gaming?

If used strictly for gaming? No.

But if you use applications that require a lot of horsepower (audio/video editing, Photoshop, 3D rendering, compiling code, etc) AND happen to be a gamer, a Mac Pro is an excellent investment and a reliable, solid performer.

This thing (MacPro5,1) runs Crysis and Metro 2033 at 30+ fps on maximum settings/resolution. Every other game is pretty much an unflinching 60+ fps.
 
goMac said:
The Mac Pro is the best Windows machine I have ever used. I even got rid of my main desktop Windows machine when I got it. Not sure why someone would complain about Bootcamp.

And the drivers? A lot better than the junk that was on my Windows machine (and I did not skimp on parts on that thing.)
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true. the crap drivers i've had to put up with over the years for various motherboards, chipsets and soundcards drove me nuts. bootcamp out of the box has been solid.
 
goMac said:
..and in 2011 there will be new Mac GPUs.

Not sure where you are going with this.

I can run Starcraft 2 maxed out at highest resolution right now with my 5870.
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This is not going any where; in addition if you can run Starcraft 2 maxed out, my bro PC runs call of duty black ops with three screen attached to his GPU(SS), and it is really awesome to play PC games with multiple screen + 5.1 system, level of enjoyment can't be compared with one screen (sorry) ..... I believe this the proper method of how you show your $$$$ to your friends?? am I right??

The main question is whether MP can be used as daily gaming machine or not? For sure you can order MP with ATI 5870, it can run games, but Mac Pro for gaming is not only wrong, but it is truly bad idea. At the end it is not me or you; it is up to the person who started this thread to decide. :cool:
 
iWolf00 said:
This is not going any where; in addition if you can run Starcraft 2 maxed out, my bro PC runs call of duty black ops with three screen attached to his GPU(SS), and it is really awesome to play PC games with multiple screen + 5.1 system, level of enjoyment can't be compared with one screen (sorry) ..... I believe this the proper method of how you show your $$$$ to your friends?? am I right??

The main question is whether MP can be used as daily gaming machine or not? For sure you can order MP with ATI 5870, it can run games, but Mac Pro for gaming is not only wrong, but it is truly bad idea. At the end it is not me or you; it is up to the person who started this thread to decide. :cool:
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You are wrong.

I want to see how many times you will try to get the last word. Use lots of words to say nothing again. Go on!
 
Forum discussions are always polemic.

This forum always attracts the opinions of the strongest opposite views, who has the last word is not important, the OP asked an opinion and everyone has the right to answer or press their point home as long as they respect others opinions too.

I use a Mac Pro for gaming in Mac OS X, I love the system and enjoy every minute of my Pinball games and WoW. I could put Win 7 on my Mac and play a thousand other games if I wanted. I don't. My main reasons being I prefer OS X and spend far too much time playing WoW without even more distractions. My GF uses the Mac Pro for design and art work, it is her preferred choice, this is a significant reason for me too. :)

IF I wanted a dedicated gaming rig to play as many of the new games on the market as possible, in the best way possible, my bank account and that criteria would be best served by a hand built Win 7 rig. My primary decision is based on my preferences so I have not bought one. I am lucky enough to be able to afford a high quality, high spec Mac that fits my purpose, I suspect such a Mac could fit the OP's purpose too, but I also think that a PC would be a more economic choice and run the majority of the games available faster for less money.

This belief will not make me install Win 7 on my Mac or make me buy a PC, this doesn't mean that if the OP has deep pockets he couldn't do either and be very happy either way.

Please beg to differ if you wish, I don't need the last word here either. :D
 
The Mac Pro is a workstation class computer. Full stop. It is designed for a completely different role, and priced for that market.

This is like driving to work in a CAT D9. You can do it, but it is very silly.


I recently specced out an upper midrange gaming computer for my friend to buy:

Supports USB 3.0, eSATA, SATA 6Gbps, LGA-1155 socket
Intel Core i5-2500K
2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz
Radeon 6950
750W Corsair PSU
LIAN LI Lancool ATX Mid-Tower
1TB WD Caviar Black
Generic DVD-RW

Total price: $1,098

This rig is fast, uses all modern technology. It is faster than any Mac Pro for gaming at a fraction of the price. The thing about PCs that sucks is having to use Windows. When you spend your time gaming you don't have to use Windows that much, mostly you are using the game's UI.


I use my Mac Pro to game from time to time. It is a competent platform, and i enjoy it. However, it spends much more of the time at 1,600% CPU with all 12GB of memory in use. It excels at being exceptionally reliable, easy to maintenance, and very, very fast for highly threaded or concurrent operations.

Buy sensible hardware for your usage. Or buy a Mac Pro to support my Apple stock.
 
packsherpah said:
My point? Well do the math, is it better to buy a $2500 Mac Pro and use it for 3 years and then still resell it for $1500+ dollars, the whole time using an incredibly well made computer or pay $1700 for a PC that in 3 years you could maybe get @$300 bucks for?
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So true. I built a PC summer 2009 when I foolishly decided to sell my 24" iMac. I spent close to $1500. I made maybe $600 back and this was a year later.

Never doing that again.

Mac's truly hold their value compared to other computers.
 
No kidding.

I bought a Mac Mini 3 years ago for $399. At some point during the 3 years I upgraded the memory, hard drive, and Snow Leopard. The upgrades cost $230, for a total cost of $629.

I just sold it last week on Ebay for $445. So three years of use cost only $184. :D
 
Exclusively for gaming? Yes. I'd say it's very foolish.

They have nice CPU's but the GPU options are very limited. And for that price you could buy a much more capable gaming PC.

Once you take out needless things like loving the platform, resale value... you're left with a box that has limited upgrade options, overpriced games (unless you bootcamp, and if you're not also include "worse performance") and a machine 4x the cost of a gaming PC.

Because the fact is modern PC games don't use as many cores as you'd like. Anything more than a quad for gaming is silly. It's all about the GPU, which is the Mac Pro's bottleneck.
 
I agree with everyone else, if its exclusively for gaming, there are much better options out there.
 
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