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Partitioning my hard Drive for PC Games

This would be my first time asking a question to Apple Support Communities. I have a question regarding partitioning my hard drive for PC Games. I would have to use boot camp to install windows to be able to play those pc games... but before i buy windows 7 OS i want to know if this is going to work to play the games that i want. what to look for about system requirements ext.. so that i dont waste money. I have a macbook pro. OS X 10.8.5 Intel HD 4000 , Nividia Geforce 650 m. 2.7 processor intel core i7 , 16 GB of memory DDR3 when i look at system requirements with the games what am i looking for so that i dont waste my money i am knew to the mac os so any advice i can get. should i go this route of partitioning my hard drive?

Posted on Sep 17, 2013 2:51 PM

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Posted on Sep 17, 2013 2:56 PM

That configuration should be more than sufficient to run pretty much any game on the market right now.

5 replies

Sep 17, 2013 3:19 PM in response to Brandon2184

I would Like to get more information about the question should i partition my hard drive to be able to play pc games does this really work to be able to play those games is their any thing i need to know about the techinal aspects of installing windows on my mac computer... is there anything that i need to watch out for so that this would work. I just want to make sure that it will work. you know on games that you buy they have system requirements what if it ask for a diffrent kind of Graphics gard, like radon or another Geforce type. should i pay attention to those diffrences. What is the rule of thumb on the details techinaly...

Sep 18, 2013 12:25 PM in response to Kingstonpro

Your question is fine. It works to play games, but since each individual game can differ it is difficult to say absolutely it would work in all cases.


Boot Camp information.


Bootcamp


Boot Camp 5 - FAQ


Boot Camp – FAQ about Installing Windows 8


Boot Camp Install Setup


Boot Camp – Macs that work with 64 bit Windows


Bootcamp or Virtual Machine


Bootcamp - Windows on a Mac (video)

Sep 18, 2013 1:14 PM in response to Kingstonpro

Kingstonpro wrote:


...before i buy windows 7 OS i want to know if this is going to work to play the games that i want. what to look for about system requirements ext.. so that i dont waste money

when i look at system requirements with the games what am i looking for so that i dont waste my money


Determine your Mac's ability for 3D games


What my user tip will allow you to do is get the performance rating of your video graphics and then you can compare that rating with the one the developer provides as the minimal amount you need to run the game you want.


Some developers do not easily list the performance requirements because they sell so many titles to people who don't know any better. Your obviously not that type of person. 🙂



should i go this route of partitioning my hard drive?


To get the full hardware performance of the hardware to run Windows 3D games, you need to install Windows into Apple provided BootCamp. and boot up the computer directly into Windows.


However it's also possible to run some Windows games (2D and simple ones) in a virtual machine program in OS X, provide they use OpenGL drivers (not only DirectX)


You install BootCamp first, then use a commecial virtual machine software like VMFusion or Parallels Desktop to copy the BootCamped Windows to use it as a virtual machine in OS X.


You will then have two Windows on your Mac, one in BootCamp and the other in a file on OS X to run at the same time as your using OS X.


There is the free VirtualBox too, but it doesn't have the ability to copy the BootCamp partition, but it's free and updated longer without begging for more money all the time like the commercial versions do.


Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?



I would Like to get more information about the question should i partition my hard drive to be able to play pc games does this really work to be able to play those games

Yes, you will get better performance direct booting the Mac into Windows to play most 3D games.


This means you will have to find a copy of Windows 7 to purchase online, the 64bit retail disk of Win 7 Pro or better.



is their any thing i need to know about the techinal aspects of installing windows on my mac computer... is there anything that i need to watch out for so that this would work. I just want to make sure that it will work.


Basically BootCamp does all the work setting up the partition for Windows install, then it hands you off with a list of printed instructions to install Windows.


Mac's cannot format NTFS drives, so when you boot off the Windows disk, you first have to change the format of the Bootcamp parittion to NTFS (from FAT32/MSDOS that Apple formats it as)


When you finish with BootCamp, the machine reboots and your looking at a blining line on a black screen, reboot the computer holding the option key down, this enters Startup Manager and you can select OSX to boot and get online for assistance.


However if you read the BootCamp material, it should explain everything, also there are video's on YouTube as well how to go about things.


There is Mac drivers that need to be installed into Windows, so that you can get online and other things in Windows.


I advise having another computer or Internet device so you can come here to ask in the BootCamp forum for assistance with your install as your computer will be out of operation while installing Windows.


If you don't think you can handle it, a local PC/Mac tech can do it for you.


you know on games that you buy they have system requirements what if it ask for a diffrent kind of Graphics gard, like radon or another Geforce type. should i pay attention to those diffrences. What is the rule of thumb on the details techinaly...


Determine your Mac's ability for 3D games

Partitioning my hard Drive for PC Games

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