A Mac Pro for gaming?

[MDA]

Anyone use a Mac Pro for gaming booted up in windows? I'm a mid level gamer, and no, I will not build my own system. My current computer is made of spare parts put together by my computer savvy neighbor, who is going back to his day job as a pilot. The system has lasted 2 years, and now I'm looking to get a new system. Reading reviews here has helped. "Stay away from Alienware" seems to be a mantra. Even tho owned by Dell, customer and technical support appear abysmal, even worse then Dell. Performance often seems to be quite bad upon delivery. I've looked at Puget Systems, but truthfully, I need the "hand holding" of having someone available 24/7. I'm not qualified to troubleshoot major malfunctions (that don't correct with re-boot)without running the risk of screwing something up, and I'm never at home when Puget Systems is available to help. So, I'm wondering about the Mac Pro. It can run windows for gaming, any gamers out there own a Mac? If so, how does it run?

TIA

[frostbitetwice]

Your thread is in the wrong department, MDA. Wecome to RR, BTW.

[MDA]

where does it belong?

[frostbitetwice]

No big deal, but this thread will be transfered to the tech department. However, you will have 25 posts deducted from your total. Your current post count will reflect - 21.

[johnnyis42]

Yeah, alot of people in here don't like alienware. I think it's just hurt feelings, I haven't had a problem with them. Most people never own an alienware, they just hear things. Laptops are a different animal than desktops, however, and alienware does what a lot of companies do, and simply re-brands other generic laptops, providing a wider range of configuration options, which is where a great deal of the added cost comes from. Expect the same quality you get from sager, but more warranty options.

Apple has a reputation to uphold, so expect them to work harder for you, even though you will have fewer configuration options. many people have flawless experiences using bootcamp (the Mac bootloader for windows XP) and some people have complaints. You milage may vary, but the bottom line is that windows XP does have all the drivers you need for the hardware in your Macbook, and with the few laptop graphics driver hacking projects out there, you can expect the mobile GPU int he mac book to meet your laptop gaming expectations under XP when compared to a comparable model of alienware, VooDoo, falcon NW, compaq, HP, gateway... you get the idea.

Some of what I have heard (so take this with a grain of salt or 2) is that even under winXP on a Mac, applications run faster. This isn't too terribly hard to believe since Mac has control over the Bios, and I find most laptop BIOS's are undermaintained. Apple has a reputation to keep, and are building it on being the best PC now.

[MDA]

I was actually thinking about the Mac Pro Desktop, but I assume the experience would be the same.

[johnnyis42]

Sorry, anytime I see Mac I think laptop....

First: waaay overpriced by virtue of the processor. Unfortunately your only choices are imac, macmini, and Mac Pro, so there is no such thing as a powerful gaming machine in a mac that you don't pay through the nose for.

If you're going to pay this much for a desktop system, however, you might as well go with the Mac Pro over alienware, falcon NW, voodoo pc, dell XPS, etc. At least then you get the option to run MacOS and windows without having to figure out how to dual boot windows with linux.

Did i mention that if you are comfortable building your own PC and installing windows, you might consider saving yourself about $1000 and dual booting windows with linux?

[MDA]

Thanks. My only concern about building my own, is "Tech support" If everything runs ok, I see no problem. The cold hard truth is I don't feel qualified to fix the problem when it occurs. If it can't be fixed with "reboot" then I'm screwed. While technically games should run on a Mac booted in Windows, do they really run smoothly? I agree, the Mac Desk top is quite pricey. When I look at reviews of Alienware vs Ncix, people file more complaints about Alienware. I threw in Ncix as a reference, to see that people do report positive experiences. It just seems those are few and far between for Alienware.

[johnnyis42]

Alienware probably does more business than any other custom gaming machine company, so they will definitely get the most flack. it is like comparing Microsoft to Apple in software: you hear more bad stuff about Microsoft than good, whereas you see way more positive stuff about apple than bad, but M$ still has the lion share of software out there.

For that matter, you see a ton of bad stuff out there about dell, and they are back and forth with HP for the top desktop manufacturer (and I assure you, there's plenty of bad stuff out there about HP as well).

As for the "games running smoothly"... when you run windows on a Mac, you're running windows on a PC, period, because as of now, Mac's are PC's, period. Same hardware. The hardware the Mac runs will determine its performance in games, so making sure it has a fast video card and plenty of memory and processor speed is going to determine the game performance.

We're not talking about some funky emulator software or compatability software running in the background. If you use "bootcamp" to dual boot windows on your Mac, you're running windows on your Mac. The only way to go back to Mac OS is to shut down windows and boot Mac OS, and visa versa.

If you're still hesitant to go with Mac, by all means shop around for other PC builders out there who offer support solutions for your investment. Go with whatever company you feel most comfortable with. The bottom line it seems to me that you are looking for is: will they answer the phone and help me when my machine isn't working. If this is the most important thing to you, I'd start looking at the different warranties offered and the various support solutions provided and make the decision there.

In my experience, open forums are about the worst place to get reliable information, but the best place to find references to sources of information. The actual reseller ratings site (not the forums) is full of dissatisfied customers because people are more likely to seek out sites like this when dissatisfied, and this site actually verifies with the company that the information from the customer is valid. VoodooPC, for example, has around 300 reviews, while Alienware have over 1000 reviews, and Dell has about the same number of reviews as Alienware. Dell has a lifetime rating of 4 something, Alienware around 7 something, VoodooPC has 9 something. However, Voodoo AND Alienware both have 6 month ratings of 5 something, while dell has a 6 month rating of about 3 something.

So, if we look at the last 6 months, all 3 of these companies are garbage, but if we look over the lifetime of them being ont he site, Alienware is an OK company and VoodooPC is an excellent company (an assessment I would agree with in my personal experience). Additionally, when you consider that Dell is the largest company, Alienware is in the middle, and VoodooPC is the smallest, and their lifetime ratings match this pattern, one may conclude that the larger a company is, the more dissatisfied customers there are. the anomoly, of course, is that Alienware actually has nearly as many reviews as Dell, while VoodooPC has less than 1/3 the reviews of either.

Another high-end retailer worth mentioning is Falcon Northwest, who has a 6 month rating of 10, but a lifetime rating of 8 something, but less than 50 reviews. With less reviews than VoodooPC they have a lower lifetime rating, which would lead me to believe that, from this data alone, VoodooPC is a better company with a better product.

Strangely enough when you look for "Apple Store" (where else do you get a MAC?) it falls between Alienware and Dell in the rating scheme... but only with 66 reviews.

Now, I know there are RABID Mac fans out there who swear their Macs are completely flawless. So, how come there are only 66 reviews with such a poor showing on reseller ratings? I hold to my initial premise: Most people arrive here and submit a rating if they have a poor experience. Therefore, the lifetime ratings of a company probably tells you the most accurate info about a company once the ratings get to be over 100, but these ratings are still no substitute for researching these companies on your own and determining which one is worth your money.

And by the way, VoodooPC has a better lifetime rating than Ncix.

[MDA]

Thanks for your input and your time. You have been very helpful, and reassuring.