Thinking of going PRO. Need user experience please..

[zepharus]

I currently have a High end Core i7 gaming system I built. Core i7 920 Overclocked to 3.8Ghz, 300GB Velociraptor HD, 6 GB DDR3 1600 Memory, ASUS Rampage Extreme II Mobo, and a GTX295.

I used to consider myself a gaming enthusiast, however all I seem to play these days is WoW. With a professional career, a wife and 2 great kids I find less and less that I "game" on a PC (more of consoles these days).

I have a 2.8 24" iMac I purchased 2 years ago that I maxed out with the the 500GB HD and the 8800GTS. This has been what my wife and the family have used and it has been simply an awesome machine.

I have decided that I am actually a hardware enthusiast and that I love OS X, not completely in love with apple hardware, but their design and software is superior in my mind. thus my lovae affair with the iMac and my iPhone(s)

with this in mind, I and strongly considering selling the PC I built and looking at a Mac Pro. I will most likely only play WoW and I can always bootcamp a win7 partition. Could some posters that have made this jump, or are considering as well please post thoughts, experiences or rebukes? I would greatly like to hear all points of view.

My computer use these days is email, web browsing, some WoW, DVD and Blue rays copying (I love Netflix...ehehe). I have a TON of old MINDV tapes i would like to archive to Blueray of DVD. Thanks in advance

 

[neiltc13]

One thing to remember is that OS X does not support Blu Ray playback or ripping. You have to use Windows for that.

 

[TheStrudel]

It won't add anything for what you do that the iMac doesn't do already, unless you plan to use bootcamp to watch Blu-rays or game.

Unless, of course, you'd like to browse the internet and play WoW much faster.

 

[VirtualRain]

I was in a very similar situation. A long time hardware enthusiast, having built many custom PC's, I think I finally grew out of that or got bored with it and wanted a computer that took hardware as seriously as I do. I always had my eye on Apple but couldn't justify the cost during my DIY phase. When the MacBook Air was released, I couldn't resist. That was the first of what has turned out to be somewhat of a crack-like addiction to Apple products.

Next was an iPhone, and then a MacBook for my GF and then with the Nehalem Mac Pros, I couldn't resist parting out my PC gaming rig and getting a Mac Pro quad.

Only my HTPC remains as the last bastion of Windows in my household.

The Apple experience is exactly as advertised. Elegant, user focused, just works, fun, and devoid of headaches are all terms I would use to describe it.

I still use Windows at the office and I find both the hardware and the software to be crude in comparison. It's like driving a Mercedes to work only to then have to drive a pickup truck while on the job.

As for gaming, I purchased the 4870 option for my Mac Pro with full intentions of installing Windows and gaming. But honestly I haven't got around to using it for gaming yet. Maybe one day.

I also have a PS3 which just seems better suited for gaming.

I don't think you will regret selling your gaming rig for a Mac Pro.

 

[Demonfart]

Sounds like a Mac Pro might be a bit overkill for you. My experience with my new workstation (base model 8core Nehalem w/ lots of fun upgrades) has been quite fantastic, it's a beast for the work I do, but for 'non-professional' activities like you are mentioning it's really not a whole lot different than any other modern computer (aside from the SSD's blazing speed). As for capturing mini-dv footage, sure does that well. I've had no issues with a dual boot yet but I don't mess around with Blu Ray either so I can't really comment on how well/poorly that works in boot camp.

That said I have a healthy respect for a geek with the bank account to support a hardware fetish (I still have a windows based workstation to satiate any 'modding' bug I might get on occasion)! They really are incredible machines to work on. If you do end up pulling the trigger and moving to a Mac Pro maybe you should check out the Quad cores if you are concerned at all with price, the Apple tax can sure add up when you start building out an Octo-core.

Good luck and have fun with your new Mac Pro if you do decide on purchasing one.

 

[OZMP]

Personally, in your shoes, i would turn your current PC into a hackintosh and wait until it is slow and useless, THEN buy the future gen MP.