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macbook pro + gaming rig vs mac pro

A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 30, 2009
1,439
744
I have in my possession a macbook pro 15 2.3ghz quad core and mac pro 6-core. I used to use the mac pro with a 27" led, but do to annoying glare that just gave me headaches, I got rid of it and got a 30" instead. I also have an ipad for just random stuff, and just watching movies on the plane if needed.

So I lost a contract and thus need to cutdown on costs tremendously. I'm a developer and do apple / windows development (windows in vm, and xcode). I have 3-4 VMs running in fusion (usually one at a time). I also enjoy games like wow, portal, portal 2 now (wonderful!), and maybe others in the future. Games are definitely faster on a windows machine, but the mac pro handles them well. Although playable, I really do not want to play games on the macbook pro.

So the question....

Should I sell the macbook pro (already got a buyer) for $2800 and just keep mac pro + ipad. This is fine but eventually may need a laptop when I start traveling again.

or

Should I sell mac pro (already got a buyer for $3800) and keep macbook pro 15 + ipad. Keep the macbook pro for all work related things and build a cheap gaming rig (800-1000$) for just games and personal windows software? I like the separation of personal + games / business for this choice, but sometimes will want to work on the big monitor so switching the cabling between the gaming rig and laptop will get annoying (never tried working primarily on just laptop).

Thoughts? And thanks so much all for replying a head of time!!
 
What 30" do you have? Some monitors have multiple inputs so you wouldn't have to switch the cables, just get two cables and leave the MBP one plugged in when not using it.

It boils down to how much you need the MBP. If you know you will start traveling soon, then definitely don't sell the MBP. Also, do you need much power when traveling? You could just grab a refurb 11" MBA for instance if not much power is required.

Otherwise, MBP + PC sounds the best if you think your MBP can't satisfy your gaming needs.
 
Hellhammer said:
What 30" do you have? Some monitors have multiple inputs so you wouldn't have to switch the cables, just get two cables and leave the MBP one plugged in when not using it.

It boils down to how much you need the MBP. If you know you will start traveling soon, then definitely don't sell the MBP. Also, do you need much power when traveling? You could just grab a refurb 11" MBA for instance if not much power is required.

Otherwise, MBP + PC sounds the best if you think your MBP can't satisfy your gaming needs.
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I bought the zr30w. I actually really like it. Very rich colors and I love the matte! I got one from newegg, came with some lit pixels, but I'm sure they will exchange it as hp guarantees against stuck pixels on their 30"s.
 
That looks like 100% towards mbp and gaming rig. Thanks everyone I appreciate it. Was leaning towards that anyway, but it helps to reinforce that idea. You guys rock, have a happy Easter!
 
aloshka said:
I bought the zr30w. I actually really like it. Very rich colors and I love the matte! I got one from newegg, came with some lit pixels, but I'm sure they will exchange it as hp guarantees against stuck pixels on their 30"s.
Click to expand...

That is great. It has DVI and DisplayPort. Since mDP to dual-link DVI adapter is 99$, just get a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable for 5 bucks. Use that for the MBP and then DVI for the PC. Pretty much all GPUs have dual-link DVI anyway and a dual-link DVI cable is something like 5 bucks too.
 
Hellhammer said:
That is great. It has DVI and DisplayPort. Since mDP to dual-link DVI adapter is 99$, just get a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable for 5 bucks. Use that for the MBP and then DVI for the PC. Pretty much all GPUs have dual-link DVI anyway and a dual-link DVI cable is something like 5 bucks too.
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I have that cable and it works well, but there is still the keyboard/mouse, usb etc. I guess it's not a big deal to switch a single cable between the laptop & the desktop. BUT, I just upgraded my wife to a 27" led and realized I still have an older 24" led cinema with the power adapter/etc that I still have not sold. I'm going to just put it on a separate desk. Don't really need the 30" for web/programming work,would be nice, but not required. The 24" is plenty for work. Although I feel a little guilty for having a 30" monitor to use just for games, quicken, and off-windows things that are not related to any client (ie any specific VM, I have one for each client I work with).
 
I'll go against the grain and say keep what you have.

You stated you want to cut down on costs, so unless you are a business doing some funky accounting tricks, your equipment is already paid for. And it sounds like since you do Apple dev as a profession, you may kick yourself in the future for having sold the Mac Pro for a ****** Windows box when you pick up another contract.

I also do contract work, and wouldn't dream of selling my personal equipment I use for business unless it was literally a "sell the Mac Pro or lose my apartment" kind of deal.
 
adversus said:
I'll go against the grain and say keep what you have.

You stated you want to cut down on costs, so unless you are a business doing some funky accounting tricks, your equipment is already paid for. And it sounds like since you do Apple dev as a profession, you may kick yourself in the future for having sold the Mac Pro for a ****** Windows box when you pick up another contract.

I also do contract work, and wouldn't dream of selling my personal equipment I use for business unless it was literally a "sell the Mac Pro or lose my apartment" kind of deal.
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It's not sell apartment, but I do need the cash. Plus I simply cannot justify a high-end mac pro and a high-end macbook pro. I'll do work on one or the other but not both (impossible to sync 200gb of virtual machines). I kind of temporarily bought both because I couldn't make up my mind, knowing that if I try both eventually I'll sell the one I don't use later on. The problem is, I'll use the macbook pro for a few days hear the fans go on 100% for an hour or want to play a game and copy everything and switch to the mac pro. Then I have to be on-site at a client or just get tired of the home office and copy everything back to laptop and the cycle repeats itself.

But the reason why I keep leaning on macbook pro 15 + gaming rig, is because I like the idea of the primary computer being the portable macbook pro 15. So I have all my work always and it's fast enough for work. And have a gaming pc so I'm not overheating / abusing the laptop for games (unless I'm traveling :)
 
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adversus said:
I'll go against the grain and say keep what you have.

You stated you want to cut down on costs, so unless you are a business doing some funky accounting tricks, your equipment is already paid for. And it sounds like since you do Apple dev as a profession, you may kick yourself in the future for having sold the Mac Pro for a ****** Windows box when you pick up another contract.

I also do contract work, and wouldn't dream of selling my personal equipment I use for business unless it was literally a "sell the Mac Pro or lose my apartment" kind of deal.
Click to expand...

BTW, what do you have? What do you use? What's your workflow look like? Do you do any windows development?
 
aloshka said:
BTW, what do you have? What do you use? What's your workflow look like? Do you do any windows development?
Click to expand...

Most of my work right now revolves around Windows development or Database development (which can be done in either platform, I usually just use Mac OS for that):

MBP: "Main" computer, mobile work machine, handles all my daily tasks including email, writing, etc.

MP: Number cruncher, when I'm at home I use this for Windows development (VMWare Fusion, Win7 64-bit, Office 2010). If I'm building a large project in Windows I'll boot natively using Bootcamp and let it crunch away for a few hours.

I also use my MP for my three hobbies: photography (a few terabytes of high-res photos), music (a few terabytes of samples/libraries), and gaming (WoW, Steam, SC2, or boot into Win7 for Call of Duty MW2).

I use Back-to-my-Mac using Clear 4G to get to my MP at home, and it'll even load a 150gb project file no problems (takes a few minutes to load, but it's workable).
 
Very interesting workflow. AFter much thinking and trying to use the laptop for another few days, I've copied everything back to the mac. I got tired of hearing the fans run consistently. I like the MP and definitely going to keep it. As for MBP, I dunno, I don't have much need for mobile. If I ever do, I can always buy a cheaper laptop. For now, I'll stick with the ipad. Although can't do work on it, it does work well for remoting/showing quick stuff to clients. Nothing beats a six-core, however.
 
BTW, you mentioned you can connect to MSSQL from mac? What tool do you use? I'd love that!!!
 
Yes I don't see how folks use laptops.

I hate the high octane noise and heat. The tiny screen. The fact that the keyboard is built-in and a spill could ruin the entire machine. And the fact you pay more for your power in a laptop form factor. Reliability of laptops is also much worse than desktops afaik.

I almost got a 13" MBP yesterday until the little guy over my shoulder started repeating this stuff over and over.
 
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