Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The dark side is taking over me

J

jsnuff1

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 4, 2003
730
340
NY
...what do i do?!?!?? Im one of those that has been waiting for the REAL revB PM update for the past year and a half or so...and all this waiting has got me looking into things I should never be looking into.

So what has been pulling me to the dark side? Custom built PC's...can you really blame me? I just configured an AMD3400+ system with 400mhz FSB 1GB DDR400 ram PCI-E with Radeon X800XT 256Mb RAM for a whooping 900 bucks.

NINE HUNDRED BUCKS!!!

This system is as good if not better than the top of the line G5 with a third of the price. Please someone enlighten me...or do I just let the dark side get a hold of me just this once untill the real G5's come out?
 
Lacero said:
Is it as quiet as the G5 and does it run OSX Tiger?
Click to expand...

checkmate.

OS X is the best thing about using a Mac...the powermacs are good where they are for now, but by years end i hope they will have been much improved
 
jsnuff1 said:
This system is as good if not better than the top of the line G5 with a third of the price. Please someone enlighten me...or do I just let the dark side get a hold of me just this once untill the real G5's come out?
Click to expand...

Have fun with XP. Hopefully you don't lose everything to a virus ...
 
AnewMac said:
Your rig sounds like you want to do some gaming? If so go windows, just dont connect to the internet or the thing will be inflicted with a massive amount of viruses.
Click to expand...

Yea thats exactly what I want it for. I know the OS is what makes mac a mac, but I just cant wait any longer and I need some seriouse gaming power right now (WoW PvP action is calling my name :D )

brap said:
Buy an iBook to get some work done. Use the Athlon for games. Simple.
Click to expand...

hmm ive always been a powermac user but thats a good idea...i guess a low end powerbook and a custom built athlon will go for about the same price as a high end PM...and i get the best of both worlds
 
Jon'sLightBulbs said:
Hurry up and do it before the people around here get to you... you're not going to find a gaming rig for that cheap in Mac world.

Go!
Click to expand...
$900 to play games? Why not buy a gaming system?
 
i've finally come to the conclusion after years of saying that mac's are adequate for gaming (if you only play Warcraft games =P) that they are in fact garbage for gaming. sure they run the games, but not adequately and with all the features turned off. it's sad that i can buy a machine for 1/3 of the price that will run circles around a power mac, but i am in the same boat as you, ready to give up on a power mac gaming/design machine for just a PC gaming machine and using my old 933 G4 until it no longer runs (which it seems close to).

no im not a newbie, nor a troll, macs blow for games, it's that simple.

i used to be one of the deluded few who claimed they weren't but the cold truth has finally hit me, if i wanna play games, i cannot use a mac.
 
SteveC said:
$900 to play games? Why not buy a gaming system?
Click to expand...
because the games that we want to play aren't on gaming systems. if you're not a gamer, you will never understand so your arguments will likely be moot.
 
Fear should not be the Path to the Mac-Side

Please stop with the arguments from fear--

"just dont connect to the internet or the thing will be inflicted with a massive amount of viruses"

"Have fun with XP. Hopefully you don't lose everything to a virus ..."

Many people are dual-platform and arguments based on fear are among the weakest arguments for the Mac platform. FYI, XP is a very stable operating system--I prefer it in classic mode (ala Win 9X)--and I have yet to get a virus from the internet when running a good AntiVirus program. And BTW, AVG puts out an excellent free edition for personal use and it uses almost no system resources.

Sorry, but while I prefer Mac laptops in general--though the current models both need a SERIOUS update (i.e. new chip architecture, DDR support, etc.)--the PowerMacs are seriously lagging and no Mac is very good at games, even though they might run some. However, I do expect a dramatic change at the Paris Expo for the PMacs (hopefully).
 
AnewMac said:
Your rig sounds like you want to do some gaming? If so go windows, just dont connect to the internet or the thing will be inflicted with a massive amount of viruses.
Click to expand...

Some of the best gaming experiences are multiplayer online games...
 
macbaseball said:
Have fun with XP. Hopefully you don't lose everything to a virus ...
Click to expand...

Considering you have spent $3000 on a OS that automatically install dashboard widgets for you... Glad that you are happy with it :D

XP is the only OS that runs on a x86.. NOT.

The parent might well be using Gnome or KDE. Nice troll otherwise.
 
BrianKonarsMac said:
no im not a newbie, nor a troll, macs blow for games, it's that simple.

i used to be one of the deluded few who claimed they weren't but the cold truth has finally hit me, if i wanna play games, i cannot use a mac.
Click to expand...

I guess that depends on the games you want to play. All I play is war3 and WoW and my SP 1.8 G5 with radeon 9600 runs both extremely well... I guess if you want FPS in some quake-esque game then yeah, you need a PC...
 
BrianKonarsMac said:
because the games that we want to play aren't on gaming systems. if you're not a gamer, you will never understand so your arguments will likely be moot.
Click to expand...

I agree. Online gaming is so far removed from console gaming that its not funny. Currently my Xbox fulfils the remnents of my gaming addiction that this G4 Sawtooth can no longer cater for. I really, really miss Q3 CTF, Q3fortress, Ghost Recon and all those UT mods, but I had to admit defeat then system requirements meant I had to endure 'flip-book' framerates.
One day Keyboard and mouse fragging will return....one day. :(
 
how did you get such a sweet deal on that computer. i need a new GAMING computer but i am getting an iMac first so i need the cheapest price as possible . Where did you get that deal????
 
Better setup, although probably not a better deal financially:
Get an iBook/PBook as you see fit if you have an urge to purchase something Mac, but if you have a Mac currently for your productivity usage, check out the little Fragboxes that some companies sell, or as always, build your own to save some money.

I saw a sweet little rig at a friends house, Radeon X800XT, some high end AthXP, etc etc, 2Gb of 400mhz dual channel ram, all in a tiny little box. One optical drive, one HDD (250Gb SATA). The ONLY use for him was gaming, and it was awesome because he can just carry this (with a handle on the top to boot) anywhere and lan-game or whatever, pretty sweet setup. Keeping it small so it doesn't exude pc all over the place :cool:
 
nightdweller25 said:
Besides that, the G5 is still noticeably faster than the system you configured.
Click to expand...

Noticeably faster? At what? and depending on the games he wants to play, the support just may not be there.

I would love a PM G5, but more than likely I will always keep some form of a pc sitting around for those times I want to game with all of my 'other' friends.
 
I have to agree, PCs are too fast for Apple to catch up with.

But I don't buy a PC because I like the Mac Experience. Windows XP gives me the heeby geebies.
 
SpaceMagic said:
I have to agree, PCs are too fast for Apple to catch up with.

But I don't buy a PC because I like the Mac Experience. Windows XP gives me the heeby geebies.
Click to expand...

I wasn't trying to say that Mac cannot 'catch up' to a PC for games, but currently I don't see it. They are making leaps and bounds, but its not quite a photo-finish yet.
A buddy of mine said he gets 3 times the framerate of Doom 3 on his PM G5 since switching to Tiger, and he said that there is more OpenGL support which makes the cards better too. I cannot speak to the validity of this, but if it is even remotely true, its getting closer to the point where Mac and PC will be an actual choice for gaming systems. Now its nearly hands down, sad as that is.
 
Who connects computers direct to the internet these days anyway? Well I'm assuming there are a lot that do but I'm sure people reading this forum would have some form of router so just hooking up an XP machine is not going to get you any viruses or what not.

With Apple I find you just can't compare machine specs to Wintel boxes, first for most computing needs what difference is there between a 3Ghz Wintel machine and a 2Ghz one anyway? I certainly haven't noticed much of a difference if any between my recent upgrades. However when it comes to PC gaming, which is it's own little world then it is a different story although it is arguable how much difference those extra clock cycles make compared to a better video card.

My Powerbook just works and does just about everything I need it to but it isn't designed to run games and probably more importantly games are not designed to run on it, so if you want a gaming rig then I don't think an Apple will ever meet your needs, just build a custom PC, get an LCD display like one of those Dell's and then get a tricked up Mac Mini or a lower grade Powermac to get your OSX fix.

Personally I gave up the PC Gaming Rig race a long time ago, once you get in a serious relationship you just don't have funds to play that game and you enter the world of consoles, which is where the only true plug and play exists.

I think a good comparison for gaming would be that consoles are more akin to the Apple experience for gaming, they work beautifully but don't cater to everyone's needs and aren't for everyone. (well that sounded better in my head so I don't think I expressed that very well...).

But when it comes down to it if you want to do gaming get a PC, full stop end of story.
 
I find it quite humorous that many people on this board will say, "Macs suck for gaming" or "Games are pointless, buy a PC if you want to game" or "Apple shouldn't waste it's time on gaming", when there are multiple threads daily about gaming or lack thereof on Mac OS X. I made my bed long ago (productivity and OS X is more valuable than game performance to me) but many people could be persuaded (and I wouldn't argue) if Apple really invested in better gaming code in the OS. It's not the hardware, guys, it's the OS that we all love that need work in the games department.

Oh, the widget thing is overblown. Get the widget manager for your system prefs.

-Hasta
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back