Gaming on a Mac Pro with Windows 7

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

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Joined
9 Mar 2010
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Morning folks,

Just wondering if anyone is doing this?

I'm contemplating shelling out for a quad core, dual graphics card Mac Pro for video and music editing but also looking to do a little bit of eyefinity gaming with BF3.

Anyone foresee any problems with this or had any experience with it?

Cheers,
Roy
 
I read that as mac pro rather than MacBook pro. What gpu are you going for in the mac?
 
I'd be looking at whatever I'd need to get I suppose.

I was under the impression that a 5770 was good (it has 1GB of memory after all!) but that just show's how out of the loop I am with computers these days :D

Wonder why you can only get one 5870 and not two...

Alternative is get the cheapest graphics card then buy my own separate. Will it void my warranty if I open the case? Also how does OSX cope with drivers for custom graphics cards?
 
5770 is good but the 5870 is on another level...thats really the way to go if you want to be on the safe side.

You can place another GPU in its place, but I think your warranty is voided (best check as not 100% sure) that would be the cheapest option though. I know the 6870s work with very little problems but Apple dont officially support it until probably next year when their in the new systems.
 
Apparently apple are gearing up to put a 7870 (or what ever the new big card will be called) as a mac pro drop in replacement.

Either way apple will have to announce something about the mac pro's at some point soon as smc-sandybridge should be out in the next month or two giving a dual processor platform for them to upgrade it with
 
In no real rush (and actually could do with putting off the purchase until end of April) so sounds like it might be worth waiting until then before taking the plunge.

So, just to confirm then, playing games on a Mac Pro has no downsides? With bootcamp and Windows 7 it's just like using a normal PC with the new Intel based chips?
 
pretty much, Xeons are designed for more program than gaming though, so it wont be 100% as efficient in gaming compared to say an i5/i7 but il doubt it will have any serious drawbacks.
 
Memphis said:
In such a rush to be a **** you didn't read the thread properly.
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ah cry me a river what are you the Dalai Lama? I clearly apologised and assisted further (you probably didnt read that). Its shame you have a chip on your shoulder that you cant contribute anything of worth apart from a snide remark. congrats!
 
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iamtheoneneo said:
pretty much, Xeons are designed for more program than gaming though, so it wont be 100% as efficient in gaming compared to say an i5/i7 but il doubt it will have any serious drawbacks.
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It's unlikely to make any noticeable difference. The only reason people don't buy Xeons for gaming is because they wouldn't provide anything extra over the top end i5/i7 CPUs.
 
RoyMi6 said:
In no real rush (and actually could do with putting off the purchase until end of April) so sounds like it might be worth waiting until then before taking the plunge.

So, just to confirm then, playing games on a Mac Pro has no downsides? With bootcamp and Windows 7 it's just like using a normal PC with the new Intel based chips?
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Basically sick w7 on your mac pro and you have a windows pc (more or less) so there wont be any problems gaming :)

Plus depending on what games you are playing there could well be osx versions so you can use the nice os that comes with it
 
If it helps, I have a Mac Pro 1.1 and I use mainly Windows 7 64 bit for FSX.

I have 2 x 3Ghz Xeon 5160, 2 x 5770 and 6 GB RAM running 3 monitors.

I lose the boot camp OS chooser screen on boot because of the flashed gfx card upgrade from the default Nvida one, but can blindly choose Mac OS or W7.

It is a well built, solid machine and the only difficulty you'll have for upgrading , you'll need an Apple specific version of the card with the EFI bios thing on it.

I haven't tried it with any recent games though, but I'm sure it's still adequate.
 
kylew said:
:(
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Little bit of sarcasm intended there. 1GB is a dam sight more than my current 256MB graphics card in my current "gaming pc" that's sitting in a loft somewhere! :D

Think I'm going to go for it once back from my trip to Vegas this year.

Seems like it's definitely not the time to buy at the mo from what's being said here and info online e.g. http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Pro

Waiting for upgrade parts isn't a massive issue as I've waited 8 years before upgrading my current rig :)
 
RoyMi6 said:
Wonder why you can only get one 5870 and not two...
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The reason for this is that the 5870 takes 2 of the molex type power cables, whereas the 5770 only needs one. These connections are built onto the logic board so you can't just feed off the power of an IDE or SATA connection with a converter...

I think the only way people have done it is by purchasing a custom made (non Apple) GPU PSU that sits in the opitical bay.. I wouldn't recommend it though.

We're pretty close in the scheme of releases to Apple releasing a new Mac Pro...or confirming it's demise *cue debate :P * So I would wait.

Are you wanting to do lots of heavy render based stuff in Apple software or just wanting 1 rig to do the lot? Only reason I ask is you could probably build a pimped i7 rig and a Macbook Pro for the cost of the Mac Pro you are talking about getting.
 
Bad time to be buying a Mac Pro - the latest iMacs are faster and cheaper in the real world (though dont have the expandibility) and the range is due for a refresh soon.
 
dav3evans said:
The reason for this is that the 5870 takes 2 of the molex type power cables, whereas the 5770 only needs one. These connections are built onto the logic board so you can't just feed off the power of an IDE or SATA connection with a converter...

I think the only way people have done it is by purchasing a custom made (non Apple) GPU PSU that sits in the opitical bay.. I wouldn't recommend it though.

We're pretty close in the scheme of releases to Apple releasing a new Mac Pro...or confirming it's demise *cue debate :P * So I would wait.

Are you wanting to do lots of heavy render based stuff in Apple software or just wanting 1 rig to do the lot? Only reason I ask is you could probably build a pimped i7 rig and a Macbook Pro for the cost of the Mac Pro you are talking about getting.
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Ah, gotcha. Not up for doing modding so to speak. Built every PC I own and just grown out of keeping it up to date and looking to live an easy life now :)

Looking for an all in one solution thus why I'm looking at a Mac over a PC. Not interested in another laptop to add to my existing two. I don't use laptops for work. When I travel I just read a book; only chance I ever get :)
 
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