Gaming on a Mac

I am in the process of buing a mac for the first time and was wondering if they were good for Gaming now that they are compatible with Windows software.

Here is a list of the top 25 games.
Gaming performance on a Mac will depend upon what graphic card you use and how much RAM you have.
With a new Mac Pro, you can have the best of both worlds. You could install Windows via Boot Camp and run any PC games or run Mac games via Tiger. SWEET!
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Gaming on the Mac

I want to get into gaming on the mac. I just brought the a logitech USB controller and have the old NES with some roms running on my system. I really wanna buy some sports or shooting games but I cant find any. I'd love if there was NHL games for the mac.
Please give me any suggestions. Much appreciated

if you run windows in bootcamp you are running the windows natively. that means the quality will be as good as your hardware can support. I only have a couple of games but they run excellent in bootcamp as near as I can tell. hard disk space is a different matter but you'll have to deal with that either way.

Intense gaming on current macs vs future imac rumors (buying now or not)

I am wondering if i should purchase the 2nd tier 21.5 (fully upgraded)in imac for my gaming needs for games such as world of warcraft. Or should i wait to the next refresh. I do not know much about the i3 processors that may or may not be found in the new imacs. Are they better for gaming and will most of the new spec updates (ie graphics cards, ram, etc) also be most likely be better for gaming. This will be my first mac so i am not sure how the bew releases usually effect the old design.
Any help would be great.

It really depends on your definition of intense. World of Warcraft is quite old and not necessarily that demanding. IMO both iMacs should be fine for that game (with an advantage to the 27" because of the better graphics card).
Note that you can also configure the Core 2 Duo 27" with the 4850 card, though at that points it's only $150 less than the i5, or even $50 more if you upgrade either the processor (3.06 -> 3.33) or RAM (4 GB -> 8 GB).
Some iMac benchmarks:
http://www.barefeats.com/imi7g.html (2560x1440)
http://www.barefeats.com/imi7g2.html (1920x1200)
But I agree with Dave that a PC would be better if the two following conditions are met:
1) the primary use of the computer will be gaming;
2) you expect that its primary use will remain gaming for at least several years.
If you're going to use the computer for gaming, you'll get better performance under Windows even on the iMac (via Boot Camp).
And a PC (and by that, I mean a tower) makes a lot of sense because it is upgradeable, unlike the iMac (only the RAM is easily upgradeable). This may be cheaper in the long run because you don't have to replace the whole computer at once, and some of the components can be easily moved to a new computer when you do replace it (e.g. graphics card, hard drives, monitor).
I disagree with Dave about intense gaming implying no object on cost (running demanding games for long periods of time might make you willing to spend good money on a powerful computer - but it doesn't magically grant you a no-limit budget). However, the iMac is not cheap and you can build a good tower PC (including a monitor) for $2000, that will easily match or exceed the iMac's gaming performance.
Not to mention that in order to run Windows on an iMac you'll have to purchase a separate Windows license (though depending on your needs the performance of WoW or similar games might be good enough under OS X).

Gaming? On Mac

Gaming on mac is it worth buying mac to play hardcore gaming or a windows computer ?

For hardcore gaming, go for a Windows computer like an Alienware or any PC with a good processor and GPU.
Macs are not designed for games, but more for work (this is the reason that would explain the terrible overheating most Macs suffer while playing games). They do not include the latest GPU and they are not highly customizable like a PC, so they are not the best computers for gamers

Gaming consoles on Mac

hi,
I was just wondering if there's a way to use your iMac as a monitor for a playstation?
With Apple Tv etc, I'm sure there's probably a way of going it, but many forums seem to have conflicting ideas!

I can confirm that the elgato EyeTV works great. I have a hybrid (only USB dongle that plugs in the back of your mac.)
Have a first generation Intel iMac, works great for playing games. There's a coax or RCA connector for the elgato as well.
Apple TV is just that, it's like a console that connects to your TV to play videos. That's all it really does.

Driver updates for gaming on a mac

I am a world of warcraft junky and for some reason the mac im running on can only run the game on its lowest video settings without causing serious frame rate issues. a friend suggested that i should update my video drivers and i have no idea how to do that with this mac. im running on the osx 10.4.11 laptop, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to make it run the game better
(according to specs im running over the minimum requirements for the game)

Which exact model of notebook is that? OSX10.4.11 just describes the operating system software you are running and doesn't describe the hardware which is probably the limiting factor. Go to the apple in the upper left corner of the display and drag down to about this Mac, then get more information. Copy and paste the computer information but delete the serial number for privacy reasons. I'm going to start off by guessing that either your computer is too old or with too few resources (especially video card) to optimally run the software (very likely), or (less likely) you are running an old version of the software that wasn't designed to run on a modern computer.
I don't think Apple does driver updates if your friend providing advice comes from the PC world. Any updates are usually in terms of System Updates and you already have those. Once we know your model computer we can look for any special updates.

Gaming on a mac book pro.

I am thinking about buying a mac book pro for college this year, but as i have never owned a mac I have a few questions. I play game's on my laptop from time to time, Starcraft II, Diablo 3, Lol, games like that. If I bought the mac book pro 13in, 2.5 GHz for example, what kind of performance should I except? Also, is it possible to upgrade the hard drive/ RAM memory myself? or can I only upgrade when I buy it?

Those games - while playable in the Macbook PRO 13 inch, will cause your Macbook to heat up quite a bit since the processor had to work hard to drive the built in graphics.........
Yes, you can do your own RAM and Hard Drive upgrade.....
Maximum RAM you can install is 16GB DDR3 1600MHz...
If you want your Macbook to perform well playing those games - with the RAM and SSD upgrade...
good luck

Gaming on your Mac

Anyone use their Mac Pro for games like ARMA? I guess it's PC only software, but can you run it well with windows through bootcamp?

maybe not as good as the GTS
Actually, according to the reviews, the GT does better than the GTS, and by a fair amount.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=7
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce8800gt/index.html

Whats the best gaming controller for mac?

I have 27 inch i mac that works awesome with games. So wondering what the best controller to get would be so i dont have to use mouse and keyboard

I concur, this is what most professionals use. Dreamweaver is a horrible tool for this purpose, but it's favored because of it being packaged with other Adobe tools and there being a certain level of integration between them.
If you are on a Mac and not already tithing to Adobe, you might like Freeway Pro, or even something basic like Nvu might satisfy your needs.
Unfortunately, I've never really found what I would personally consider a reasonable platform for web-design: a powerful editor with integrated JavaScript debugger and real-time preview that can read actual HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as the native format; one that handles refactoring and changing the filesystem layout properly, integrates image editing, etc.

Gaming on 2008 Mac Pro?

Hello,
I have a 2008 Mac Pro, with 8 cores at 2.8 GHz running 10.8.5. It is pretty much bone stock with 4 gigs of ram and the Radeon HD 2600 XT card it came with. It runs Bioshock pretty well, with mostly high setttings, and Bioshock 2 (even though it is unsupported) as well with high settings if the resolution is set lower. I now have acquired Bioshock Infinite, I was hoping that it would run as Bioshock 2 did, but it will not even start LOL. So I checked the Mac Game Store and my Mac Pro is good enough aside from the video card, it requires a Radeon 4670. I also want to play Metro Last Light which requires a 5870. Can I buy a PC 5870 card and install it? I have read that some PC cards will work without flashing the bios, that you just lose the gray boot screen. The official apple 5870 is $400!! PC version can be had in the $100 range used from what I have seen. I had read other rumors that unofficial cards cause the DVD player not to work, along with steam games not functioning, not sure why on either of those issues. Any truth to that?
Jared

Since 10.7 Macs can now use non-mac cards just without the EFI boot sequence. Some NVidia cards will still have the EFI boot sequence if they support it. Just make sure you get the correct power cables and it will work. You might have to download a driver for it first for it to work depending on which exact card. I don't know about the Steam games not working but I haven't had any problems when I upgraded my Pro (same one as yours) to a new NVidia card.

(LAG ISSUE) Maverick totally killed the gaming on MAC.

Hi.
I can't play any game anymore, it just lags too much to be a good experience. I just wanted to thank apple because my steam library is garbage now, and I really don't know what to do ...
I love apple since I'm in age to touch a keyboard, but they should have warned us that Maverick use so much memory ... Developpers spent years to create a gaming community on mac, and now it's destroyed, all the games have to be ported again.
I'm really sad, because I fear that it's gonna be like the iphone, with new updates that makes it slower and slower. Really disappointed, I've bought my Imac (and I love it) especially for gaming, and now it's clearly useless on that point. Luckily, the rest is still good, but i'm still feeling a bit owned about that new OS ...

Thanks Apple for not making this backwards compatible - but I guess just like with your new "connectors" and power plug, its a way of forcing new equipment buys.
Usually iPhoto will give a warning, when it is opening an iPhoto library in an older format, that this will make the library incompatible with the older software. You should have stopped at that point. Apple's software is usually able to open older document formats, but there is no way that older software can work with new library formats, that had not been invented, when the older software had been written.
As to your network drive: You really have been lucky that it worked so long: Have you read the document I linked to?
It's recommended that you store your iPhoto library on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing your iPhoto library on a network share can lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss. If you use both iPhoto and Aperture with the same library, using a Mac OS X Extended formatted volume is recommended. For more information, see Aperture: Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library.
Problem is that the new machine came with the new software, so reverting - i.e. installing the old operating system - is not an option
That is really a problem, if you cannot downgrade the new machine and upgrade the older machines. Keeping two separate libraries and syncing them is probably the best option, if you want to use iPhoto on all machines.

Mac Mini Gaming

Hey all,
Recently I've been thinking about purchasing a Mac Mini since I've heard of the mac release of Battlefield 2142. I own a Power Mac G5, but its not intel, so I've been looking at the mini for sometime because its cheap. Question though - is the mini suitable for gaming?
Thanks

The Mac Mini has a lousy 64 MB shared VRAM Intel GPU. If your game requires anything over 32 MB of VRAM, chances are, it won't perform well on the Mac Mini.
This same GPU is found on the low end iMac and MacBooks. Unless your game is Universal, chances are it won't perform as well if at all on a Mac Mini as on the G5.
See my FAQ* on Mac games:
http://www.macmaps.com/macgamepages.html where you can find out some resources on compatible games with the Intel Macs.
* Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Why is Apple Mac not a popular gaming platform?

With all the advanced features Mac have .Why it is not a popular gaming platform ?

Macs are indeed popular gaming platforms, as evidenced by the many games available for them. Macs are not as popular as Windows system for gaming, particularly games that involve high levels of animation, because Macs don't have the ultra-high-performance graphics cards many gamers demand, though in many cases those cards don't really add anything other than status and bragging rights for the user. Many dedicated gamers also prefer to build up their own systems, choosing all the parts to suit themselves, something obviously not possible with a Mac.
Regards.

The Best Mac For Gaming

Hi Everyone. I'm sure this topic has come quite a bit, so I'll try to make as short to the point as I can.
Basically, I have a 2008 black MacBook, and I have recently have gotten into computer gaming. It turns out that my graphic card is horrible for gaming, and I cannot upgrade it.
Of course, I still want to stick with Macs, so I'm thinking about getting an entire new Mac, and I have a few specific questions.
Is it better to get a new Mac, or is there some way to upgrade my current Mac that I do not know about?
If I must get a new one, out of all the Macs, which one is the best for gaming (except the Mac Pro cause that is to expensive)?
Is there speculation of any new Macs coming out in the near future? Basically, should I wait to get a new one?
Currently, I'm thinking about getting the 13' MacBook Pro sometime in the next month or so before the student discount goes out.
Thank you in advance for all your help. I really do appreciate it.

Lamb,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Currently the best Mac with the exception of the Mac Pro is the i7 iMac. It offers the most processing power and most powerful GPU. That would probably be your best bet as your current machine with the exception of maxing out the RAM and installing a different HD is about all you can do. The i7 iMac once configured is also not upgradeable with the exception of the RAM. If you want upgradeability and power the Mac Pro is the only Mac alternative.
BTW per the Terms of Use in these forums we cannot speculate on new Apple products or their decisions on current products. You can find the TofU directly to your right.
While the 13" MBP is a fine machine it's not really considered the best alternative for gaming, if you want a MBP rather than an iMac then your best bet is probably a i5 15" MBP.
Regards,
Roger

Im interested in a mac, but I have some concerns regarding windows and Boot Camp.

Having both Mac OS and Windows on 1 computer would be a dream for ne, however , I have some Feature concerns that im hoping someone may be able to adress.
1: Im an avid PC gamer, and use Steam to play all my games. Only a few games I own are Mac Compatible, And I was wondering, if I used Windows 7 Via Boot Camp, would I be able to play those games?
2: Would I be able to freely switch between Windows and OS without and consequences?
3: What Mac should I get to use Windows 7 (and aformentioned Gaming) Effectivly?
Thank you in advance if you answer!

1. Yes, Bootcamp gives you a 100% functional Windows machine.
2. Yes, you only need to reboot the machine each time to switch between OS X and Windows 7.
3. All current Macs will run Windows 7 as good or better than any PC/ Laptop.
For gaming, the Macbooks have mediocre video cards. The 13 inch has the Intel 3000 which is really not that good The 15 and 17 inches have the Radeon 6750M and 6770M. Those are much better for gaming (especially the 6770M. It's not a gaming card. Mac desktops have much better cards for gaming. The iMac has the 6970M. The Mac Pro would be the best gaming rig with a 5770, which isn't a mobile one (no 'M') and is the best performing card out of all of these. The Mac mini has the worst of all machines.
But since the Mac Pro is the most expensive, you're best bet is to get the 15' macbook pro for gaming. The 6770M is better too if you can afford it. The iMac would be the next step up, again if you can afford it.
Also, what bootcamp does is make a partition of your harddrive. In other words it splits your hard disk into 2 parts. Like if you had a 500gb hard drive, it would make 2 250gb hard drives- one with Windows files and one with Mac files. You can pick how much space you want to make the Windows partition.

Gaming on a Mac

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