Mac for Gaming and School

Guild Wars is 3D and the Mac client is in Beta, for that you will require the 15" as the 13" has no discrete graphics.

No specifications on what the software will run on, but 3D games often require the most powerful video card graphics you can get and the option to upgrade it as the game gets improvments. You can't upgrade the video card in laptops.

I really don't advise any Mac for 3D gaming, a Windows 7 tower is much MUCH better suited to task and you can upgrade the video cards from plenty of cost effective options.

The MacPro is due to be axed it appears as Apple hasn't updated it for ages, the only video card upgrades (the few there are) cost 3x more and are 2x less in performance than compatible Windows PC versions.

Perhaps your better off on a 13" MBP with SIMS there (it's mainly 2D graphics) and then a Windows 7 64 bit gaming tower with 4GB of RAM expandable and the option to upgrade the video card every 6 months so you don't fall behind for the heavy duty games.

If your budget is tight, a console works ok too.

Scroll down until you find a Mac, you'll see what I mean shortly.

http://www.cbscores.com/index.php?sort=ogl&order=desc

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

Also you need to keep your Windows 7 skills up, as 95% of all businesses use it, so you need to get a job one day. 😝

It really depends on how you prioritize. My rMBP 13 can play Civ 5 (even though it has integrated graphics) but I probably can't play most games.

If you want your computer to be the best campus computer then go smaller. If you want a better games, then you need the graphics card.... period.

So get the 15 for gaming and then compare prices and see if you can get a MBA 11 for school and a Mac Mini or iMac to game on at home.

Thats my $.02 after many hours debating.

Also consider a 15 MBP and using boot camp for windows. Then you get the best of both worlds.

Denver Goofy wrote:

Also consider a 15 MBP and using boot camp for windows. Then you get the best of both worlds.

Still have a hardware performance issue though, and then the cost of a Windows license.

Real 3D gaming, (not 2D made to look so) is really not a viable or cost effective option on Mac's.

Some developers throw "Mac support" out there, but it's only a tease to see if they can drum up enough to make it cost effective port and profitible.

Then to have Apple only issue a OS X upgrade a year later that breaks it which they then issue a poor patch or just say "tough luck"

Windows 7 stays the same until 2020, so one can play that game for the next 7 years, unlike OS X annual upgrades, if you don't upgrade it, then your dropped for security updates.

Mac's are not good for anything long term.

I'm not sure about the hardware, I'm a windows guy who just went mac (although I supported them in 2000 on OS 8.6). However a student liscense for windows 7 is about $70.

Are there alot of hardware issues for bootcamp/windows?

Denver Goofy wrote:

Are there alot of hardware issues for bootcamp/windows?

Windows 7 on a Mac is a hack, sure the processors are the same, but not everything else, including audio and video.

Many here have messed up their Mac's by using Windows utility software.

For 3D gaming, it's still best Windows on a Windows PC tower. No argument there.

I bought a 15 MBP for myself as a Christmas gift. I bought it almost exclusively to play The Sims 3 since my Dell laptop was dying. I asked around for over a month, visited the Apple store to ask questions, and everyone said the MBP would do just fine with my game. They were wrong. I've had problems from the very first day and I've had to call Apple Support twice. They tell me it's the game and not my Mac. If that's true, then why does the game work better on my dying Dell?? I've installed and uninstalled the game numerous times just trying to get it to work. I've spent more time trying to get it to work than playing. I finally set the in-game graphics to the lowest settings and it will finally play, but it looks like crap, even with the crisp display the MBP is famous for. I'm very disappointed and if Apple will let me, I'm going to try and return it and get my $2,000+ of hard-earned money back. In short, if you want a gaming laptop do not get a MBP, especially for the Sims. I have all the EP's and SP's which I'm sure takes up more of the minimal graphics card in this laptop. Wish I had shopped around more, or at least been as smart as you and asked about it on this forum before I purchased. Best of luck to you.