Wanting to ditch Winbloze...
Hey there all... I just registered and I'm hoping to find some really encouraging information here. Let me give you guys a quick background so you know where I'm coming from prior to posting my questions...
I'm 37, and have been an HPUX admin for about the past 15 years. I have a LOT of Unix experience, and also Linux experience. In the past I have participated heavily in Linux advocacy and even wrote some articles for the linux.com website. Prior to my Unix years, I was a Windows guy. I have built all of my own PCs for the past 15+ years, and have run Microsoft since DOS 3.3, I think. Suffice to say I'm pretty computer savvy on multiple platforms.
My home computer use is for Internet browsing, e-mail, school work (going back to get an Associates), and I'm a pretty big fan of online gaming as well as a few stand-alone games. My goal is to make my current PC the last PC I owe, or at least the last time I ever run a Microsoft OS on any computer I own.
Now, here is where I stand. I really despise Microsoft and in that vein I am wanting to get away from Windows completely if possible. I'm pretty much ready to take the plunge into either an iMac or a Mac Pro. My concerns are not dealing with Internet browsing, e-mail, class work, etc. My concerns are entirely focused on gaming. I don't think that the current iMac has the video horsepower with the ATI graphics that most games require. Furthermore, I'm really not even sure what gaming I can do on a Mac and this concerns me.
I'm really not sure whether I should focus on a Mac Pro with the GeForce 8800 graphics card option, an option that I KNOW can handle the gaming that I do. Or, do I wait and see what the graphics device in what I'm hearing is a soon to be refresh on the iMac? This probably isn't much of an issue since I'm probably a month away from making an actual purchase. I don't want to blow the extra cash on the Mac Pro if I don't need to, but I would rather do that then end up with a system incapable of doing what I want.
Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Specifically, I'm curious about running games under VMWare Fusion as opposed to dual booting. Is anyone running games like Everquest 2, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Anarchy Online, NeverWinter Nights 2, etc. under Fusion? What kind of performance are you seeing? My hope is to really run OS X and not have to dual boot as I'll end up spending more time in Winbloze than I do in OS X if I dual boot.
Thanks in advance.
Scott
Wannabe Mac User
I'm 37, and have been an HPUX admin for about the past 15 years. I have a LOT of Unix experience, and also Linux experience. In the past I have participated heavily in Linux advocacy and even wrote some articles for the linux.com website. Prior to my Unix years, I was a Windows guy. I have built all of my own PCs for the past 15+ years, and have run Microsoft since DOS 3.3, I think. Suffice to say I'm pretty computer savvy on multiple platforms.
My home computer use is for Internet browsing, e-mail, school work (going back to get an Associates), and I'm a pretty big fan of online gaming as well as a few stand-alone games. My goal is to make my current PC the last PC I owe, or at least the last time I ever run a Microsoft OS on any computer I own.
Now, here is where I stand. I really despise Microsoft and in that vein I am wanting to get away from Windows completely if possible. I'm pretty much ready to take the plunge into either an iMac or a Mac Pro. My concerns are not dealing with Internet browsing, e-mail, class work, etc. My concerns are entirely focused on gaming. I don't think that the current iMac has the video horsepower with the ATI graphics that most games require. Furthermore, I'm really not even sure what gaming I can do on a Mac and this concerns me.
I'm really not sure whether I should focus on a Mac Pro with the GeForce 8800 graphics card option, an option that I KNOW can handle the gaming that I do. Or, do I wait and see what the graphics device in what I'm hearing is a soon to be refresh on the iMac? This probably isn't much of an issue since I'm probably a month away from making an actual purchase. I don't want to blow the extra cash on the Mac Pro if I don't need to, but I would rather do that then end up with a system incapable of doing what I want.
Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Specifically, I'm curious about running games under VMWare Fusion as opposed to dual booting. Is anyone running games like Everquest 2, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Anarchy Online, NeverWinter Nights 2, etc. under Fusion? What kind of performance are you seeing? My hope is to really run OS X and not have to dual boot as I'll end up spending more time in Winbloze than I do in OS X if I dual boot.
Thanks in advance.
Scott
Wannabe Mac User
Comments
I guess the main question that needs to be asked is what games are you looking at? I pretty much only play BF2, and even the current iMac runs that at an acceptable speed/resolution.
Furthermore, one must consider upgradeablity - the Mac Pro can be ripped open and fiddled with, but the iMac is locked in a chastity belt. So you also have to ask yourself "do I want to upgrade the graphic card in the future, or just go with a new system?".
I'm with you on the anti-Windumb by Microcock front. I too will be making the plunge into the Mac world in a month or two - I'm just waiting for the new iMac to be released.
I guess the main question that needs to be asked is what games are you looking at? I pretty much only play BF2, and even the current iMac runs that at an acceptable speed/resolution.
Furthermore, one must consider upgradeablity - the Mac Pro can be ripped open and fiddled with, but the iMac is locked in a chastity belt. So you also have to ask yourself "do I want to upgrade the graphic card in the future, or just go with a new system?".
I agree. I was a windows dude too until I first played with a PowerBook G4 at a retailer. That was my first Mac back in 01, and my last PC I will ever purchase was back in 06. Since then, Macs can now run Windows, so If i ever need Win (like for work for example) I can just run Parallels and return back to the blissful existence of my OSX environment.
Basically I agree with the guy above, it depends on what you want. If your looking to upgrade, buy a Mac Pro. That machine is a screamer, and the new ones, with 8 cores, should be more than any Dell XPS could ever be. If you don't need all that raw power or upgradability, just get an iMac. I myself don't play computer games, when I wanna play games I pick up the Wii. For that reason, I own a 20" iMac, which is more than enough computer for me! And I do everything from make music, to edit video, to create photoshop projects. The screen is a perfect size, and there is ore than enough power to do anything I want.
Congrats on switching!
Basically I agree with the guy above, it depends on what you want. If your looking to upgrade, buy a Mac Pro. That machine is a screamer, and the new ones, with 8 cores, should be more than any Dell XPS could ever be. If you don't need all that raw power or upgradability, just get an iMac. I myself don't play computer games, when I wanna play games I pick up the Wii. For that reason, I own a 20" iMac, which is more than enough computer for me! And I do everything from make music, to edit video, to create photoshop projects. The screen is a perfect size, and there is ore than enough power to do anything I want.
Actually, the Mac Pro I'm looking at is the 2.8GHz with only a single quad-core which reduces the cost by $500. I'm looking at upgrading this from the default 2GB to 4GB which eats back up the $500, and then also upgrading to the GeForce 8800 graphics card for the gaming side. I feel that the memory and graphics are MUCH more valuable for my uses than a second quad core processor.
Anyone have any disagreement that for a general purpose/gaming system 8 cores is a complete waste and simply total overkill?
Actually, the Mac Pro I'm looking at is the 2.8GHz with only a single quad-core which reduces the cost by $500. I'm looking at upgrading this from the default 2GB to 4GB which eats back up the $500, and then also upgrading to the GeForce 8800 graphics card for the gaming side. I feel that the memory and graphics are MUCH more valuable for my uses than a second quad core processor.
Anyone have any disagreement that for a general purpose/gaming system 8 cores is a complete waste and simply total overkill?
That setup sounds ideal for gaming. I think the lowest end Mac Pro is finally a machine that PC users would be happy switching to. It's powerful enough for most tasks with quad 2.8 and a 8800 GT, it's upgradable and it's fairly affordable for the spec you get.
However, you need to dual boot. The virtualization solutions are not good enough for serious gaming. It's not a big problem if you only use Windows for games. Rebooting is annoying after a while but it's the only way.
If only someone, even Apple would come up with a way to do a hibernate switch like fast user switching so you don't have to shut OS X down. Maybe just shut off the graphics/GUI and leave the core running.