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Would like some buying advice for a gaming PC?

placidity44

placidity44

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 20, 2015
367
166
I'm looking at getting into PC gaming. I currently have my 15" rMBP and iPad Pro. I had seen the Alienware 17 R3 with the graphics amplifier and thought that'd be perfect for me. Can game on the go (relatively portable) and hook it up to an external monitor and graphics amplifier at home. I could also build a pc but since it's tethered to my desk I won't use it much at all. I just hate buying a laptop when I have 2 portable machines. How is the 17 R3 with a graphics amplifier with a card such as a 1080?
 
I had to google that... Expensive!
Sounds like quite a big step from just looking into PC gaming to getting a massive gaming laptop plus an external adapter with a high-end GPU in it. Depends on whether you'd get value for money out of it, I suppose. You'd need the 1080 to get the best out of that 4K screen.

If you wouldn't use a desktop PC very much then what's the point in having the graphics amplifier thing? You'd just be using the laptop's built-in GPU most of the time.
 
placidity44 said:
I'm looking at getting into PC gaming. I currently have my 15" rMBP and iPad Pro. I had seen the Alienware 17 R3 with the graphics amplifier and thought that'd be perfect for me. Can game on the go (relatively portable) and hook it up to an external monitor and graphics amplifier at home. I could also build a pc but since it's tethered to my desk I won't use it much at all. I just hate buying a laptop when I have 2 portable machines. How is the 17 R3 with a graphics amplifier with a card such as a 1080?
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If you are going to use an external graphics card just instal, Windows on your rMBP and game from there...
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
If you are going to use an external graphics card just instal, Windows on your rMBP and game from there...
Click to expand...

Sorry for my ignorance I haven't been into PC hardware in a while, but you can use an external gpu setup within Windows OS on a Mac?
 
If you want a portable gaming machine with the ability to use an external GPU, buy a Razer Blade with their Core eGPU box. The Blade's build quality is on-par with a MacBook Pro and offers a built-in GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, which is exceptionally powerful for the form factor. Then when you're at home, hook it up to the Core to take advantage of a desktop-class GPU.

It's expensive, but if you don't want to have 2 computers, this is a great compromise.
 
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i say horse crap to not buying a mac for gaming sure gaming doesn't need to be ur main use but u could get a 2012 2013 map with a dedicated gpu for pretty cheap that would let u test the waters bootcamp on my old 2012 map is what got me into pc gaming gtx 650m 1gb is a nice little card to get started.
 
jdasikainen said:
i say horse crap to not buying a mac for gaming sure gaming doesn't need to be ur main use but u could get a 2012 2013 map with a dedicated gpu for pretty cheap that would let u test the waters bootcamp on my old 2012 map is what got me into pc gaming gtx 650m 1gb is a nice little card to get started.
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When traveling frequently my 2011 MBP (see signature) was a perfectly adequate gaming box for the last 4.5 years and I played all the top games of the day. Now it's getting old in the tooth and I'm looking forward to the new Gaming Mac laptops about to come out. :) :)
 
jdasikainen said:
i say horse crap to not buying a mac for gaming sure gaming doesn't need to be ur main use but u could get a 2012 2013 map with a dedicated gpu for pretty cheap that would let u test the waters bootcamp on my old 2012 map is what got me into pc gaming gtx 650m 1gb is a nice little card to get started.
Click to expand...
You're paying a premium price for outdated technology that was never really that ideal for gaming in 2012 to begin with. That's the issue with Mac gaming.
 
but still a mac can game pretty dang well the 650m in my old MacBook pro duked it with the best of em. may not be ideal but it is the best us apple enthusiasts can do. if your willing to go desktop a mac pro 4,1 or 5,1 with a gpu upgrade is the best option for mac gaming dedicated hdd for windows with a beefy gtx 970 980 or so
 
zaphon said:
Just buy a Sager NP9873-S with Dual Nvidia 1080's in it and be done. :) Gaming on a Macbook (even under Boot Camp) is just a joke at best unfortunately (unless you enjoy 10 year old games that is).

http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9873-S.html

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Pretty! That thing is scary. lol.


Also, sorry Huntn but the OP wanted a PC. Macs simply are made with long outdated parts nowadays. While the PC world are on 1080s and such, Macs are only 4-6 year old refurbished tech for high prices. I love Macs, but unless Apple suddenly does something drastic with gamers in mind, then no reasons to buy a computer from them just to boot them into Boot Camp. Makes no sense to do that when you can get a cheaper, nicer PC and cut out the middle man (OS X). Not to mention, while Metal got some parts added into it with macOS Sierra, the gaming world is slow/hesitant to even bother with it. Apple doesn't exactly have a remotely decent track record for supporting things like OpenGL, updated drivers and I'd bet a lot they'll let Metal fall to the wayside as is their usual deal.

To the OP, somebody mentioned Razer. I'd steer clear of Alienware and go Razer/Asus/MSI and if you're rich, what Zaphon posted. ;) With the Razer Blade, you can get a Razor Core to go with it for more power if you want it, though the RazerBlade has a Nvidia 1060 in it now, I think so that alone should cover most gaming needs I'd think. And they've improved them just recently. WTB Sugah Momma or Daddy, I'm not picky for new computer!
 
zaphon said:
Just buy a Sager NP9873-S with Dual Nvidia 1080's in it and be done. :) Gaming on a Macbook (even under Boot Camp) is just a joke at best unfortunately (unless you enjoy 10 year old games that is).

http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9873-S.html

Click to expand...

Wow, and if you buy it now, you can get it for $200 off! Now $2849, regularly $3049...now, that's a steal!

/s

I needed to upgrade to play Star Citizen, as booting into my 2009 Mac Pro (with my Nvidia 660) was a pain, and the video card just wasn't keeping up. After pricing my options, I decided to upgrade to a used (but new to me) 2010 Mac Pro (6-core, 3.33 GHz) with 32GB RAM and a 512GB SSD...got it for a decent price (~1000) and then I slapped a new Nvidia 1060 in it, and everything is working fine.

So now the 2010 is dedicated to running Win 7 full time. Instead of using Parallels on my 2009 Mac Pro, I just RDP into the 2010 Mac...

In another year or two, I'll upgrade, but until then, I'm good to go.
 
blesscheese said:
I needed to upgrade to play Star Citizen, as booting into my 2009 Mac Pro (with my Nvidia 660) was a pain, and the video card just wasn't keeping up. After pricing my options, I decided to upgrade to a used (but new to me) 2010 Mac Pro (6-core, 3.33 GHz) with 32GB RAM and a 512GB SSD...got it for a decent price (~1000) and then I slapped a new Nvidia 1060 in it, and everything is working fine.
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NEEDED to play Star Citizen? :eek:

;)
 
gkarris said:
NEEDED to play Star Citizen? :eek:

;)
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ZING! Bulls-eye!

I *needed* it because the Old Vandervaal racetrack was stuttering badly, so I was losing (well, I always lose*, but even more badly) and not earning as much REC as I could, lol!

(Also, I do a lot of work on my 2009 Mac Pro, and can't just shut it down and restart in the Win7 side...)

First world problem, I know...


*I did win a race...where I was the only one racing! Thank god I didn't mess *that* up!
 
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