How good is a Macbook Pro with dual video cards for gaming?

Question

I've been a PC guy my whole life (aside from my iPhone which I love). My gf has been pushing me to try out a mac and considering how my PC laptops have a pretty good track record of dying on me or encountering some other problems after a year or two, I can't help but consider making the investment. The only thing is, I'm a big gamer and usually get the latest games. I'm not super tech savvy though I do my research and get a sense of what kind of specs are better and worse.
In terms of gaming, I always assumed that more ram = better. In that sense, I'm a little put off that even the most expensive MacBook Pro only comes with 4 gigs of ram (which is what my year and a half old laptop has now) especially when it seems most newer laptops have 8 gigs minimum for a fraction of the price (and 16 gigs if you're willing to spend as much as you would on the most expensive macbook pro). Does RAM somehow work differently on a Mac or is it truly that little?
Also, how does the whole dual video card thing work, does that mean I'd be having the power of those two cards put together?
Personally, I've been leaning towards the Asus G53SX-NH71 because I can buy it for less than the cost of the cheapest macbook pro and as far as gaming purposes go it seems to have more power than even the most expensive Macbook which costs over double the price.
Am I missing something here? Do the dual video cards really bring that much to the table or for gaming purposes am I better off with a PC?
Thanks.

Answer 1

I've been watching this forum for years, and I'll have to say that gamers are not a big group around here.  A few things.  First, getting 8GB of RAM for the MacBook Pro is cheap.  Most people either don't care, pay Apple to do it, or, like me, DIY.  The max you put in a MBP is 8GB, so no 16GB, unless you were looking at the iMac or MacPro.
Second, there is no dual video card in a MacBook Pro.  There is an integrated video card, an Intel HD3000, which shares RAM with the CPU, or a discrete video card, an AMD, various versions on different MBP's.  The Intel is for low battery usage.  The AMD is more powerful, and it's to be used when you've got power.  The video card has more applications than just gaming, but also in video and photo editing. 
No one here is going to talk you into one platform or another.  If you are only going to game in Windows, then it's a waste to get a Mac.  If you're going to game in Windows but want the Mac side to do everything else, the build quality and elegance of the Mac will far exceed most products out there.  You can run Windows in Boot Camp natively, and as I understand, gamers love it, because the Mac is actually a better Windows machine than most Windows machines.  But I don't play games, so I have no proof. 
So the choice is yours.  And we could argue all day long about the side by side comparison of a cheap Windows machine vs. the Mac.  You are using the price vs. price comparison that is a false dichotomy, ignoring how one values various features.  For example, the trackpad on a MacBook Pro far exceeds (and I mean light year exceeds) anything on any other laptop out there. 
I spent 10 minutes answering your question.  I'm not debating you on x vs. y.  The choice is totally on what you're going to do.  Most of us are trying to contribute to the world, so gaming is low on the needs list.