MacBook Pro :: Gaming In OSX Versus Gaming In Windows Boot?
Feb 3, 2010
when I get my new MBP (when they release them *sigh*), I intend on doing some moderate gaming on it. Things like MW2, Starcraft, Sims 3, Battlefield BC2, and some others I can't think of right now.
My question is, if a game is available for both OSX and Windows, would it be better to get it for OSX, or Windows? I was wondering if I should have like all my games in the windows partition, or have ones that I can get for OSX separate.
I am planning on buying a 15 inch MBP in the near future, but I am waiting to see some gaming benchmarks to decide if I should shell out the extra money for the i7 for the extra VRAM or just stick with the i5. Have any of you seen any sites that compare the two systems? I know barefeats has benchmarks using different apps, and says it will have something on gaming benchmarks soon, but I didn't know if anyone has already done it. Barefeats just updated with their benchmarks, but they used 17 inch MBPs, so the i5 and i7 comparison used the same video card (512 MB) instead of comparing 256 vs 512. How disappointing.
A while back there was a thread on Archive and install " Cant find it on a search " but anyways. I'd like to do a clean install of the OS and bring over the applications needed, WHY? to me the system seems to be getting bogged down , mite be me also. Question is, is that I have dual boot installed to windows for gaming. Is the new install going to hose that? and would I have to reinstall bootcamp and the whole windows thing again? I was also thinking maybe some program that would go through and clean out old unnecessary files, but that's the old windows in me coming out from years past.
I'm running Snow Leopard and am wondering what Windows version you all would recommend I run in Bootcamp with the sole purpose of gaming. I have access to any relevant Windows version at pretty low prices through my university and I downloaded the Win7 RC and still have a valid key for that. As far as I'm aware, Bootcamp does not officially support Vista OR Win7, but that may have changed since I last checked. I'm also curious about the 64-bit vs. 32-bit question.
should i worry about the higher than normal temps when playing games like bioshock,nfs shift on windows 7 through bootcamp? will the macbook pro shutdown still when it gets to critical temps even if your on windows 7? is there any fan controller software that works? what sort of temps do you guys get? sorry for all the questions, just dont want to turn my baby into a paper weight
I am currently in the process of selling my gaming pc, in order to buy a mac pro. My old system was an intel core 2 quad, 4GB PC2-6400 low latency, and an 8800 GTX. I've had a macbook for about 18 months now, and i will never go back, hence my recent idea to move my desktop computing to the mac pro. However i am concerned about graphics power in gaming on OS X and on boot camp Vista/XP.
I am looking for some advice on what you think the best solution might be, and whether you think the 2 x 2600XT's will be powerful enough for the recent game s in the market (Crysis, COD4:MW). Also wondering if it is possible to use upgrade the mac pro to an 8800 gtx myself, and whether the 2 x 2600XT's needs just simply uses crossfire drivers on bootcamp windows. I am assuming the motherboard does not have an SLi controller, hence the lack of 2 x 8800GT's.
I'm glad Steam for Mac is out, but to be honest it does not work as well as on Windows. My question is, which is better for gaming. Windows XP or Windows 7?
I would mainly play games like: - Source games (Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Garrys Mod, Left 4 Dead etc) - Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Modern Warfare 2
My thought on Windows XP would be that it's lighter therefor possible better gaming performance. My thought on Windows 7 would be that it has up to date drivers, which games would take advantage from, therefor increasing the gaming performance.
My System: 15" MacBook Pro - Late 2008 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4GB Ram NVidia GeForce 9600M GT
Where can i but xp cheaply? And wich version for gaming? i am also under the impression that you can boot the computer into mac or windows, is this true?
when i play dragon age in boot camp with windows 7 it gets insanely hot (200 f sometimes) and the game eventually quits. this is really annoying cause it is such a great game. i even tried it on the lowest possible visuals and this still happens. also when the machine is just sitting and i am not running anything at all it still heats up and stays hot. this does not happen in os x just in windows 7.
when i had vista on boot camp i used to play some very graphic intense games on much higher visuals such as mass effect and fallout 3 and had no problems. it got hot but never unbearable to the point that the game quit.
With some advice from this forum I've now setup vista on a bootcamp partition and have pointed parallels at this installation which all works well. When I boot into vista I have the proper Radeon driver installed and can play games fine on max settings at the highest resolution, however if I try to run a windows game from Parallels in OSX it defaults to the Parallels video driver and 640x480 resolution. Is there any way of running games at full screen/full settings from osx or will I have to reboot into windows each time?
I have a mac pro that I don't use anymore, and I am really really looking forward to F1 2010 coming out and want to get the PC version. Is it worth converting my 2 x Dual Xeon 5150 Woodcrest 2.66Ghz Mac Pro into a windows only gaming PC? Which is the best graphics card I can get for it that will work off the shelf? I don't need to go back into mac so it doesn't have to work in mac mode. Or would I be better off selling it and getting a windows PC purely for gaming? I'd rather not go through that hassle to be honest as I'm sure the Mac Pro should be able to work well with a decent graphics card?
I have been a PC user for 15 years and after using my friends new macpro via remote desktop, I think I really like the workflow a lot better. I do online marketing so efficiency is most important for me. The other really important thing, and the only thing that would prevent me from getting it, would be the fact that I LOVE windows gaming. I have read on the mac site that I can install a copy of windows alongside. First, will windows 7 be able to be installed? Second, my question mainly deals with the hardware of a mac... I'm not sure how the graphics suffer when trying to run windows games on high quality on mac hardware. Can anyone with experience tell me how this would work? If what I'm about to describe will work and is kosher, then I'm going to get an absolute top of the line Mac Pro
-Two 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon -32GB Memory -4x NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB (or would 1x ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB be better for gaming?)
Totak 13k So you think I could put windows 7 on there and play crysis (or any hot new windows game) on full graphics with that setup?
I don't think this was an issue back then when I had only purchased my MBP. I am using a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 15" MBP, with Mobility Radeon X1600 as my graphics card. I'm also on a 4 GB RAM. I'm using Leopard, running Mac OS X 10.5.8.
I'm using a 2.1 version of Bootcamp. I use Windows XP SP3.
Basically, I know that my MBP will be hotter when playing games, but the heat issue wasn't an issue back then. I don't know why it should be an issue now.
I've run the test using a Parallels, for the same games: Majesty 2, Virtua Tennis 2009, Lineage II, Worms Armageddon. The games run very slowly in the Parallels, as expected, but I was only waiting for my Windows to crash after a little time of playing, but it didn't happen when I was using the Parallels.
Also, I have no problem running any games in Mac itself, games such as Civilization IV, Fable TLC, Tomb Raider.
Therefore, I think I'm justified to believe that the problem lies specifically with running games in bootcamp (my windows doesn't crash if I don't play any games). Which is of course, one of the few reasons I install Windows on a Mac, that is for gaming.
i want to install a hd4870 card for windows only gaming. from the research that i have done it looks like i can do it, but the one thing that has me second guessing the whole thing is the two 75W 6-pin PCI Express connectors that are needed. i'm a bit of a noob in this area and i'm not sure what those are, if i have them, or if they are connectors that i need. i've searched the forums and haven't found the answers that i need, so if you can help me out, hold my hand if you will, my hd2600 kinda blows.my rig is a 2008 macPro 2.8ghz with 6g ram
I'm running a Mac Pro with 4GB RAM, 512MB of Video RAM, 2 dual core 2.66GHz processors (or more, not completely sure but I know it's at least 2.66GHz). I recently installed Windows 7 using bootcamp, and so far it has disappointed me by actually being good.... something I'm not used to when dealing with windows. Anyway, the OS runs fine for almost everything with the exception of video games. I've only installed one game on it (Oblivion) but for whatever reason at seemingly random time intervals (only when playing the game) the monitor turns off and can't be turned on without a restart, and the keyboard and mouse can no longer input. I can hear the sound playing fine (in fact on multiple occasions I heard myself being killed), but no video and no input.
I have to restart the computer by forcing a shutdown (holding the power button) in order to get input back. I'm not sure if this issue is strictly windows, as it sometimes happens whenever I play EVE when booted into Mac. I'm fairly confident that it's not my graphics card, because if it were, why would mouse and keyboard functions be disabled? I've tried playing around with the games settings (highest possible settings, disabling HDR/Bloom, low settings, ini tweaks, etc) but it makes no difference on the result. Every time, without fail, the monitor turns off, keyboard and mouse stop working, and I am forced to restart. Again, I'm not sure this is strictly a Windows 7 issue as it has happened before when gaming on my Mac. But on the Mac it's a very rare occurrence, it's happening consistently on the Windows partition.
System Specs: Mac OS X 10.5.7 Windows 7 Build 7100 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM ATI Radeon X1900 XT
I was told by my friend that you can now pre-order Windows 7 upgrade "Home Edition" from Best Buy for 50 dollars. This seems like a damn good deal for a Windows operating system. Right now I am dual-booting Windows XP with Mac OS X Leopard on a Penryn MacBook Pro. I plan on upgrading to Leopard once it comes out, and maybe Windows 7, but I am not sure if it is worth the money over XP or Vista. I bought Windows Vista Home Premium Edition about two years ago, installed it, and it worked decent. The only problems I really had with it was I didn't like the new UI, it wasn't slow, but it wasn't fast either, and it didn't run a lot of old games I enjoyed. So I erased it and installed XP and haven't looked back. I actually prefer XP's default blue UI over the new, corny stuff. If I had it my way, Windows would still be using the Windows 2000 UI.
-What advantages does Windows 7 have over XP and Vista? -How comparable in speed is it to Windows XP and Vista in gaming and everyday use? -Is it possible to install older UIs onto 7? -Should I get 64-bit or 32-bit? -Can I upgrade from XP to Windows 7?
When i play battlefield 3 in WINDOWS 7 on my brand new iMac 27" i 7, after some time the computer gets EXTREMLY hot and graphics start to freeze. Im 100% sure its the graphic card/ processor who gets to warm. It sounds like the fans runs on full power to. (it only happens in windows)
I need some assistance. How much memory would you recommend if I'm only going to play about 4 games on Windows? The games are:
The Witcher - 15gb according to Steam Left 4 Dead - 7.5gb according to Steam Left 4 Dead 2 - 7.5gb according to Steam Oblivion - 4.6gb according to Steam (although I own it on disc)
I only plan on using Windows to play those games since half of those can't be played on OSX and I need Snow Leopard for both Left 4 Dead games. By the way, I have XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 on disc. Which should I install? I'm leaning towards Vista since it looks better. I wish I could install 7 on my current MBP but I can't because it's one of those exclusive Snow Leopard features.
I have the 17" MBP Unibody so I want to start gaming again, and I have thought about Xp, Vista, and 7 and I have decided on windows 7 because its free and allows for DirectX10.
1. Now I am trying to conserve hard drive space but should i get the 16GB 32bit or the 20GB 64bit version of windows 7 and how much space should i allocate for the partition?
2. Games i will be playing: Counter Strike: Source Call of Duty: WaW Maybe Battlefield 2
3. I plan on getting some newer games since I don't have my crappy computer anymore. Any suggestions??
Hey just wanted to ask if it is possible that my late08 mbp which runs under WIN7 home premium is getting too hot while playing? Just played about 15 mins when my screen (aion)ingame froze (but sound + mouse didnt) and a few seconds later i've heard skype shutting down - and a few seconds later everything started to shutdown -> bam bluescreen for about 1 sec -> restart O_o happened now 3 times in an hour..
Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
I have an 8-core 3.2GHz 2008 Mac Pro with 16GB RAM. I've just ordered the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 graphics card and am hoping to turn my beloved mac into a bit of a sexy PC gaming beast for some evening fun. Already purchased Batman Arkham Asylum, Gears of War and an Xbox 360 controller to get me started
I'll cut to the chase. Microsoft are offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 if you buy Vista at the moment so that's not the issue. The issue is 32bit or 64bit for a gaming box - which is the best version to get for performance and compatibility with gaming on windows?
I'm looking to purchase either the 32bit or 64bit version of Vista (with the free upgrade to the corresponding Windows 7 version).
Which is the best to get? 32bit or 64bit? I've been reading that some games don't work well with 64bit Windows. Lots of conflicting articles and comments.
32bit or 64bit Windows... what's the best for a bootcamp gaming rig?
I have tried to browse through the threads in MacRumors and failed to find an answer that provided the solution for this problem.I have a 2009 Unibody MacBook Pro 15" and when I go in Windows, the fans usually spin at the normal 2500RPM speed, and while I game the fans go up really high, so when I play a game like Need for Speed: Undercover or a MMO, it just freezes. (Probably because the computer is going at a temperature above the operating limits.)
I looked at some solutions that were said in the threads. One example was to set your fans at 3500RPM or 4500RPM (Or at any speed you wish) in Mac first, then restart to Windows to have the same speed.
I tried that and it worked once, but after I put it to sleep mode and resumed it from standby/sleep mode, the speed went back to 2500RPM..Are there any permanent solutions (Driver updates, programs that speed up fans,)?
I have a quick question relating to MacBook gaming: My old HD was way too small, so I bought a 320GB to replace it. I'll be doing a clean install soon. I also have an old copy of XP that I got ages ago and never used. I'm hoping the activation key still works...
Anyway, back in the day, I used to play Quake II and III a lot, as well as some other games. I think I still have the disks somewhere. I really liked Quake II, and would like to go through it again. Plus, I'm sure there are some other vintage (QII was '97!) games I could play.
My MacBook is the first Core 2 Duo model, with 2 GB of RAM and, I guess, the 950 integrated graphics. The PC I used to use for QII was a P2 450 MHz with a Voodoo GPU, so I *think* it should be no sweat for the Macbook, even with the crappy integrated graphics.... Heck, it seems some netbooks will run these old games.
Anyone done this? I don't want to go through the hassle of partitioning and installing XP if it's pointless.
