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Mac pro i7?

H

HSJR

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 26, 2009
93
0
Hi all,

I like to know the capabillity of the new mac pro in running windows games. I am thinking about buying the new mac pro, but I am not sure about its performance while running pc games. Actually if mac osx offers games similar to windows games, I won't bother asking or installing windows at my mac.

my second question is vista capable to read two i7 processors? Or I should stick to one only?

I want a mac, but I love pc games
I need little help; will anyone help me, please?
 
Pika said:
Are you a power user or just a gamer? :confused:
Click to expand...

I am a gamer, but I am using mac osx in daily activity; example reading/sending mails, iwork, networking,..etc.

to be honest I do not like vista, & I do not want to spend a lot of money for machine that I will use for gaming only
 
There are a few games of note on OSX (WoW and BF2142, correct me if I am wrong), but for gaming it probably would be better to boot with vista/xP/7. On a MacPro at least. And from my expiriences gaming, buying an Octo-core for gaming wouldn't e the best idea - in fact, a MacPro for gaming may not be the best idea. There's a link around here (which I cannot find) that did give benchmarks to Mac games.... Oh well.

If you absolutly need OSX for something that requires a huge amount of processing power then the Pro is for you. It can handle games, but for the money (and if gaming is your main concern), you would be better off buying or building your own Windows/Linux dual-boot machine for greater performance per dollar.

And to answer your other question, yes, Vista should recognize all the processors.... Although technically we're talking about Xeons, not i7:p
 
cinebench10.png
 
HSJR said:
mainly I will use it for pc games, but I prefer to have mac pro over any other pc desktop
Click to expand...

The single quad core 2.66GHz with 3GB of memory and the Radeon 4870 would probably be fine. Personally I'd get the 6GB of memory option (or by it from a third party) and I'd run Vista off another hard drive rather than through bootcamp.
 
Dr.Pants said:
There are a few games of note on OSX (WoW and BF2142, correct me if I am wrong), but for gaming it probably would be better to boot with vista/xP/7. On a MacPro at least. And from my expiriences gaming, buying an Octo-core for gaming wouldn't e the best idea - in fact, a MacPro for gaming may not be the best idea. There's a link around here (which I cannot find) that did give benchmarks to Mac games.... Oh well.

If you absolutly need OSX for something that requires a huge amount of processing power then the Pro is for you. It can handle games, but for the money (and if gaming is your main concern), you would be better off buying or building your own Windows/Linux dual-boot machine for greater performance per dollar.

And to answer your other question, yes, Vista should recognize all the processors.... Although technically we're talking about Xeons, not i7:p
Click to expand...


Thank you for the clarifications; what you've said about mac games is absoltley right. There are many reasons why I prefer mac over pc. the desktop looks really ugly, while the mac pro will be looks great at my desk. mac has better services than the pc, also I am planning to buy 30" display. there are so many reasons made me think that mac pro is the best option for me.
 
Umbongo said:
The single quad core 2.66GHz with 3GB of memory and the Radeon 4870 would probably be fine. Personally I'd get the 6GB of memory option (or by it from a third party) and I'd run Vista off another hard drive rather than through bootcamp.
Click to expand...

I am thinking about single quad core 2.93, 8gb ram & radon 4870. will you think that would be enough to play latest pc game at reasonable frame rate?
 
Honestly? I use Macs for work day-in and day-out and have really come to hate Windows (and I'm a geek, not afraid of Windows). Personally, I like keeping the gaming on a console and away from the computer. I know there are more mods and better graphics on the computer side of gaming, but I personally prefer a big screen TV, surround sound and laying back in bed while I play.

It's also a much cheaper alternative in the end - and a lot less headaches.

Just a thought.
 
iRabbit said:
Honestly? I use Macs for work day-in and day-out and have really come to hate Windows (and I'm a geek, not afraid of Windows). Personally, I like keeping the gaming on a console and away from the computer. I know there are more mods and better graphics on the computer side of gaming, but I personally prefer a big screen TV, surround sound and laying back in bed while I play.

It's also a much cheaper alternative in the end - and a lot less headaches.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

thanks for your comment, but I never liked gaming consoles. My favourite games are strategy, which never released in any gaming console. take for an example red alert3, total war series, etc. My main issue is; do mac pro able to run latest windows games at reasonable fps or not?
 
HSJR said:
I am thinking about single quad core 2.93, 8gb ram & radon 4870. will you think that would be enough to play latest pc game at reasonable frame rate?
Click to expand...

Don't bother with 8GB of memory. You won't use 8GB with games or tasks you are suggesting and you will find memory performance is slower (see any of the numerous threads on it or go to barefeats.com). If you do ever find yourself in a position where having only 6GB is detremental to your computing experience then upgrade.

Depending on the resolution you intend to game at the 2.93Ghz upgrade will likely be insignificant. You will probably find yourself limited by the graphics card at higher resolutions and even at lower ones typical benchmarks show only a 5-8% performance increase over the 2.66GHz.

If you plan on gaming at 2560x1600 on a 30" monitor then I'd have a good look at the 4870s performance on the types of games you want to play. I certainly wouldn't buy a Mac Pro for gaming at that resolution.
 
HSJR said:
My main issue is; do mac pro able to run latest windows games at reasonable fps or not?
Click to expand...

YES! and much faster then an i7.

...But using the "cadillac of computers" just for gaming is a total waste of time, money & power IMO. :mad:
HSJR said:
Thanks; but can you analyse it for me, because i could not understand. I appologize :confused:
Click to expand...

You could build a hackintosh with an i7 processor but it wouldn't be as fast and stable as the Xeon processor.
 
Pika said:
YES! and much faster then an i7.

...But using the "cadillac of computers" just for gaming is a total waste of time, money & power IMO. :mad:

You could build a hackintosh with an i7 processor but it wouldn't be as fast as the Xeon processor.
Click to expand...

Core i7s are the same as Xeons for performance. With games however an i7 system is likely to offer better performance as they won't be using ECC memory, can be overclocked, have faster memory and better graphics card options.

If you were refering to two Xeon processors then they are not of any use for current games and offer nothing a quad core wouldn't.
 
Umbongo said:
Don't bother with 8GB of memory. You won't use 8GB with games or tasks you are suggesting and you will find memory performance is slower (see any of the numerous threads on it or go to barefeats.com). If you do ever find yourself in a position where having only 6GB is detremental to your computing experience then upgrade.

Depending on the resolution you intend to game at the 2.93Ghz upgrade will likely be insignificant. You will probably find yourself limited by the graphics card at higher resolutions and even at lower ones typical benchmarks show only a 5-8% performance increase over the 2.66GHz.

If you plan on gaming at 2560x1600 on a 30" monitor then I'd have a good look at the 4870s performance on the types of games you want to play. I certainly wouldn't buy a Mac Pro for gaming at that resolution.
Click to expand...

I will take your advice for the ram & processor & GPU, also I must say that I will not take 30" for gaming purpose, but for watching movies. Since my friends store the latest movies & series in a hard disk. That we share it together.
 
Pika said:
YES! and much faster then an i7.

...But using the "cadillac of computers" just for gaming is a total waste of time, money & power IMO. :mad:
Click to expand...

Money will be wasted today or tomorrow; it is better to waste in something that can stand for life time!
 
Umbongo said:
Core i7s are the same as Xeons for performance. With games however an i7 system is likely to offer better performance as they won't be using ECC memory, can be overclocked, have faster memory and better graphics card options.

If you were refering to two Xeon processors then they are not of any use for current games and offer nothing a quad core wouldn't.
Click to expand...

I am not going to overclock my processor, but you bring to my attention very important point. can I upgrade any part in mac pro?
 
HSJR said:
I am not going to overclock my processor, but you bring to my attention very important point. can I upgrade any part in mac pro?
Click to expand...

You could replace the processor, graphics card, memory, hard drives, optical drives. Obviously you can't replace the logic board and memory and graphics cards are limited by what Apple support.
 
Umbongo said:
The single quad core 2.66GHz with 3GB of memory and the Radeon 4870 would probably be fine. Personally I'd get the 6GB of memory option (or by it from a third party) and I'd run Vista off another hard drive rather than through bootcamp.
Click to expand...

I am very seriously debating between this setup and a high end imac. I love OS X and I have no need for Windows in my life anymore. It's just the premium price is a little hard to swallow at the moment.
 
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