"All PC Games Run On Macs." What?

[brainslurper]

"THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig."

A great gaming rig wouldn't cost anywhere near that much. As for Macs, you'd need to dual boot with Windows, and it can be somewhat of a pain.

It takes a whole 2 minutes of idiot proof instructions to do, courtesy of apple. So much misinformation going on up in this *****.

They're not that idiot proof, I can cope with the Gentoo install and I still managed to screw them up.

You managed to screw bootcamp up, or gentoo install up? Because I don't know of someone who could mess up the bootcamp process...

The Bootcamp. And when I say I screwed it up, I mean I followed the instructions to the letter and they didn't work.

What happened? I have done it on 3 or 4 different macs, and never had an issue (Except one time I messed up the windows installation)

 

[brainslurper]

I've spent the last 2 days trying to get Wine to work on my Macbook, and the strong impression I'm getting is that no, Macs cannot run Windows software.

Go to applications folder, go to utilities, and click boot camp assistant. Assuming you have a windows disk (You can burn one) you can get windows installing in a couple minutes.

I uninstalled boot camp a year ago because it took up disk space and was awkward to switch to.

Restarting your computer is hardly awkward, and it is the only way to use 100% of your computer's potential on windows applications. Of course it is going to take up disk space, if you want to install something on your computer, it is going to take up disk space.

...yes it is. You have to close everything that's running, then wait 5 minutes to be able to even start up the application. If you left a file on the Mac partition that you needed, you have to spend 10 more minutes restarting and copying it over. Compare that to the time it takes to navigate to the application in terminal and start it up with wine. Also, there's virtually no difference in performance, if that's what you meant by potential. Wine works by natively running windows libraries. The only problem is in getting the program to run in the first place, which is often painfully difficult.

Anyway, I have Wine working now, and I'm discovering that it can't seem to run any games because it's not powerful enough. Blame Intel and their horrible little graphics chipsets.

My MacBook pro from 3 years ago can run pretty much anything I want it to in bootcamp... How old is your Mac, and what are you trying to play?

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... wut? I never heard of any PC/Mac video game designed to launch directly off the CD/DVD like that. Then again, that does sound cool despite the inconveniences of installing directly to the hard drive.

In short, Macs aren't known to be beastly systems. Running Crysis on it will probably ruin your day in 2 minutes.

Captcha: Scotland, ckLicki
I ckLickied Scotland... nothing happened.

 

[Thaius]

Well he is right in that, for some reason, installing things on my Mac seems to always be infinitely easier, simpler, and quicker than installing the same thing on a PC. It's always been like that. But then, pretty much everything on a Mac is easier, simpler, and quicker than on a PC.

But as for all games working on them, no. Most games are made exclusively for PC. That's shifting a bit now, thankfully, to be a bit more all-inclusive, but most games you'll find still only have PC versions.

That said, more games have been made for or ported to Mac than you may think. And I will always choose Mac over PC for literally everything I do except games. But yeah, if you really want a powerful gaming rig, you probably want to go with a PC.

 

[Xanadu84]

First of all: Please read the whole post before posting. Thanks!

Last night, a friend of mine and my dad's dropped by. Well, we got on the subject of computers and he starting saying that, for the things I do, an iMac would be perfect.

Well, my gaming computer is so old that the latest game I've played is The Sims 3, and it was pretty laggy at that. <:'-( So, for the past few years I've missed out on games. (I don't even have an Xbox360, a PS3 or, God-forbid, a Wii.) So, we mentioned that it would be difficult to spend $1,200 on a work computer and THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig.

Well, this friend then said this, pretty much word for word: "All PC games can run on Mac. They were designed on Macs. You put it in and, BOOM, it's loaded. No installing, no waiting, it's in there instantly. On a computer, you have to put it in, wait for it to install, no, not on a Mac. It's installed the moment you put it in."

Well, to be honest, to me, that sounded, and still sounds, like bullshit. VALVe just recently made Steam available for Macs and Skyrim doesn't seem to have OSX support.

However, since my dad and I are not really computer savvy, I wanted to give our friend the benefit of the doubt by asking here: Can an iMac run all PC games? Even old ones that you would get at Good Old Games?

Also, he mentioned when talking about the difference between the $700 and $1,200 iMac, he said the $1,200 iMac has, "... Five more gigs of RAM." Um, that's funny; I always thought RAM cam in 256MB, 512MB, 2Gigs, 4Gigs, 8Gigs and so on. Is it possible to have an odd number of RAM like 5 Gigs?

First, no. Hes crazy. Install a windows emulator and you will get a functional, is possibly imperfect, use of windows on a mac. When you boot it up on windows. Using extra Hard drive space. Its functional, but not ideal. Without doing a workaround (I think its called Boot Camp?) Most games are windows and won't run on Mac.

Second, the game...is on the disc. Macs don't come pre-loaded with all games that have or will ever come out. You will need to install.

RAM pieces generally come in 1, 2, 4, etc gigs, and generally in groups of 2. But, have a few half gigs and a few 1 gigs and you get odd numbers. It happens. Though I don't know the specs of macs.

Lastly, a 3 grand gaming computer is for technophiles who have money to burn. Id go so far as to say that $1,200 is a tad excessive for a gaming rig, nevermind a work computer. I splurge when I buy a computer, and spend around 900, maybe a few hundred more over the course of several years to add some more RAM and replace a video card. I'm not sure I have ever found a game that my rig can't run at least respectably.

 

[YawningAngel]

"THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig."

A great gaming rig wouldn't cost anywhere near that much. As for Macs, you'd need to dual boot with Windows, and it can be somewhat of a pain.

It takes a whole 2 minutes of idiot proof instructions to do, courtesy of apple. So much misinformation going on up in this *****.

They're not that idiot proof, I can cope with the Gentoo install and I still managed to screw them up.

You managed to screw bootcamp up, or gentoo install up? Because I don't know of someone who could mess up the bootcamp process...

The Bootcamp. And when I say I screwed it up, I mean I followed the instructions to the letter and they didn't work.

What happened? I have done it on 3 or 4 different macs, and never had an issue (Except one time I messed up the windows installation)

Windows utilities to allow me to choose which OS to boot wouldn't install.

 

[Tharwen]

I've spent the last 2 days trying to get Wine to work on my Macbook, and the strong impression I'm getting is that no, Macs cannot run Windows software.

Go to applications folder, go to utilities, and click boot camp assistant. Assuming you have a windows disk (You can burn one) you can get windows installing in a couple minutes.

I uninstalled boot camp a year ago because it took up disk space and was awkward to switch to.

Restarting your computer is hardly awkward, and it is the only way to use 100% of your computer's potential on windows applications. Of course it is going to take up disk space, if you want to install something on your computer, it is going to take up disk space.

...yes it is. You have to close everything that's running, then wait 5 minutes to be able to even start up the application. If you left a file on the Mac partition that you needed, you have to spend 10 more minutes restarting and copying it over. Compare that to the time it takes to navigate to the application in terminal and start it up with wine. Also, there's virtually no difference in performance, if that's what you meant by potential. Wine works by natively running windows libraries. The only problem is in getting the program to run in the first place, which is often painfully difficult.

Anyway, I have Wine working now, and I'm discovering that it can't seem to run any games because it's not powerful enough. Blame Intel and their horrible little graphics chipsets.

My MacBook pro from 3 years ago can run pretty much anything I want it to in bootcamp... How old is your Mac, and what are you trying to play?

It's a 5-year-old, first-generation Macbook. The main problem comes simply from the fact that the Intel GMA 950 it uses is a terrible bit of hardware with substandard drivers.

 

[The Virgo]

Thanks for 10,000 views, everybody!

It's good to know that getting a new PC is a lot more doable than what I previously thought! Thanks for your input!

 

[Jubbert]

Your friend is full of shit.

 

[brainslurper]

I would disagree with your claims about price. The only computers I would say are above the average price/value ratio are the MacBook Pros, and the Mac Pros. The MacBook Air and the iMac absolutely kill anything near their price. You certainly don't NEED a Mac for anything. That doesn't mean that you are going to be way better off in whatever industry you work in by owning a mac, not only because of the superiority of OS X, but the ability to switch to windows if the need arises.

woah, no. I was talking priceerformance when saying 'value'. and as I said, while the mac laptops are indeed great. when it comes to desktops, MAC'S GOT NOTHING!! it is simple physics! in order to make the macs small, stylish and quiet, they use laptop parts ffs!! with a PC you can have a giant, noisy box, and because of this freedom, you can get MUCH more power, for MUCH less money!! it is simple fact. Apple may be great, but they aren't magicians, they can't compete on price/performance AND make it soo much quieter and smaller... the only thing that would stand a chance at matching performance would be the mac pro, but because they use server grade parts in them, they are really expensive.

the simple fact is that Apple DO NOT DO a desktop that focuses on price/performance. to their credit in almost every other way, they use high quality parts for everything. which is great! for everything EXCEPT price/performance.

from my 20 years experience using macs (and I'm 25) I would disagree that OSX is superior to windows... I hate using it. it has some things that are better, but on balance, I would pick windows hands down. but that is just my personal choice (and also the choice of everyone in my office)

but you are certainly right that when it comes to absolute compatibility, the ability to run both OSs makes the Mac the clear choice.

but for someone who is budget conscious looking for a desktop to play games, but can also be used for work. I would say that a PC is the clear choice.

Edit: I should just say again, I'm not talking about off the shelf PCs bought from the local big stores. I'm talking about the custom made ones bought from the specialist OEM online stores.

ok, so here is a real world example:

for decent gaming, you would probably want the top of the line iMac, in Australia, that is $2400

at umart.com.au, you can build a PC Box with equivalent parts (if not better) for $1100

chuck in a 27" monitor for an extra $300, for a total of $1400... with the added bonus of then getting to pick your own mouse and keyboard for gaming.

so yeah, the mac is $2300, the PC is $1400, which is incidentally the same price as the WORST iMac...

just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from.

About your example: It is going to cost more to make something an all in one. Regardless of the fact that all in ones cost more money for less power, they still remain a large part of the PC market, a part that the iMac dominates year after year. If you want to compare something with an iMac, compare an all in one. I wouldn't go shouting about my iPad in an iPhone thread would I? People always have their preferences in OS, but Mac OS X has obvious advantages in nearly any professional field out there. The ONLY advantage I can see in windows is DirectX11. If you have some other reason feel free to tell me, then I can use my windows computer for something other then gaming. I agree though, if you want to play games and the work you are doing is not of top level importance, then get a windows computer.

 

[brainslurper]

I wouldn't usually say this, but at least 75% of the people here have no fucking idea what they are talking about. Yes, you can certainly run windows games on a Mac. It takes about about 5 clicks to get windows installed on your mac, from there it can run windows just as well (And in some proven cases, better) then a windows native computer. And you still have all the advantages of OS X if you want to do professional work. The thing is, if you aren't going to take advantage of an OS X native system, then you are better of buying a cheaper (Less reliable) windows native computer.

Exactly what are these "proven cases" where running Windows on an iMac is better? It sounds like you're the one who doesn't know what you're talking about. They both use the same hardware architecture, except the stuff in iMacs is pathetically weak but comes in a shiny box and a huge price tag.

Here here! I second this above question. Please; bring on the proven cases, and I want to see how much more performance and extra $3000 gets you, with lesser components, please, I'm just dying to know how it's possible to pay more money, get less capable hardware, and yet still come out in front - is it magic man?

I wouldn't usually say this, but at least 75% of the people here have no fucking idea what they are talking about. Yes, you can certainly run windows games on a Mac. It takes about about 5 clicks to get windows installed on your mac, from there it can run windows just as well (And in some proven cases, better) then a windows native computer. And you still have all the advantages of OS X if you want to do professional work. The thing is, if you aren't going to take advantage of an OS X native system, then you are better of buying a cheaper (Less reliable) windows native computer.

Exactly what are these "proven cases" where running Windows on an iMac is better? It sounds like you're the one who doesn't know what you're talking about. They both use the same hardware architecture, except the stuff in iMacs is pathetically weak but comes in a shiny box and a huge price tag.

It was a big study by popular mechanics, it started as a simple windows native computer vs os x native computer of equal hardware. Also, about the price tag, I challenge you to find ANYTHING that can even remotely compete with an iMac.

Challenge accepted! Please read my above post for more details.

Then I challenge you, to tell me why, a laptop shoved into a monitor, could possibly ever compete with a real bonafied PC.

Okay, that is like me saying "My MacBook is better then your iPhone". Find an all in one.

No, its actually asking you to either withdraw your statement that a mac could possibly run better than a similar, check that, superior speced PC.

And furthermore, its my marketable desktop computer kicks the shit out of your marketable desktop computer, because it gives much more bang for much less buck.

So go on, give us the tests or withdraw the statement.

Like it or not, all in ones are a HUGE part of the PC market, one that apple is entirely dominating. Just like apple is dominating the ultraportable market.

Excuse me for saying this, as I intend no ill will.

Are you mentally retarded?

I shall, say again. Please provide the case studies, or conceed and be done with it.

iMacs, while 'yes' are "WONDERFUL!" all in ones *pukes* are pieces of shit, when it comes to graphics power.

Yes, they have a place in the market, for morons who can't connect a video cable into video card. Fark, if you're that dumb, then you deserve an iMac, serves those people right. It really shouldn't take a high IQ, to plug a video plug into a video card now can it? Oh well! Just waste more money on a soon to be dated computer because of sheer laziness.

Yay Apple!

My 2 year old iMac with an ATI 5750m is able to get 40fps on starcraft 2 on all ultra settings, under OS X, at 1440x2560, and that is decent to say the least. There is no computer in it's class that competes with it. Just admit it, and then we can move onto the MacBook air.

Yep, you are mentally retarded, and in lieu of this (oh, that means because you've confirmed it for me), I won't make fun of you any more.

I will say this, it is the best in class, because it is the only one 'in' its class, because shoving a laptop into a desktop screen, is a really stupid idea.

Tell me how much your machine cost?

I too have SC2, however I actually have a 'real' desktop computer (not a laptop pretending to be a desktop), which means in this case, a real graphics card, your 5750M would be fried before my 285GTX (that's what we call a real graphics card), even realised it was under pressure. I also have an i7 950, which is the 4th best desktop processor, in the world, coupled with the 285GTX, and while it is a DX10 card, to my knowledge it was the second best DX10 ever released, with 1GB of dedicated graphics ram, and it can deal a whole world of hurt.

Oh yeah, SC2? Too easy, 75 FPS (Full HD).

Look to be honest, if you had a laptop which had a 5750M card, and were getting 40 FPS, SC2 is tolerable, but thats all it is, tolerable. But you spent 4 or 5 times what is appropriate for a laptop, and got included with it an overpriced screen, then you got the handicap of them being shoved together, for no reason what so ever.

You're computer.

A. "Does not" run Windows better than any PC of the same or superior grade, you've failed to prove otherwise multiple times now.

B. Is also so stupid, only a company like Apple would continue making it for 20 years, long after every other manufacturer decided it was a ridiculous idea.

You may as well stick an LCD on the side of a mid or full tower case, and lug it around claiming you have the ultimate laptop. If it's a desktop it doesn't need portability so make something servable that won't overheat, if it needs to be portable, then use micro technology and sacrifice performance. Don't say 'gee, lets use laptop bits, and then make it have no portability' thats fucking stupid no matter who you are.

You have lost any and all potential credibility, and I'm just sorry that you're so brain washed you can't even understand why you are wrong.

The iMac is the only one in it's class.
That is why all 10 of the top 10 computer manufacturers make at least one. Wait, by your logic, all the other 9 top computer manufacturers don't exist. GO APPLE. At least do 2 minutes of research before you declare almost all of the mainstream PC market nonexistent, and if not, stupid. And I am the retarded one.

By the way, the desktop I built gets 110 fps at 2560x1440, all ultra settings. I know what it is like to use a gaming computer. And I will buy a new iMac when this one breaks in about 7 years, given apple's reliability.

 

[brainslurper]

Malware can be a starting point for viruses, but nothing like this exists on OS X. I never said that Macs could run any game. Ever. Any person who says that is extremely ignorant. However, his claim that you can play any windows game you want on a mac is correct.

How can you know about one claim but not the other? They're right next to each other.

And the statement was PC game, not Windows game. Big difference.

PC=Computer running x86 processor OR Personal Computer. Macs are both. It is extremely likely for a computer running such a modern processor to not be able to play games intended for use on different processor types.

 

[brainslurper]

"THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig."

A great gaming rig wouldn't cost anywhere near that much. As for Macs, you'd need to dual boot with Windows, and it can be somewhat of a pain.

It takes a whole 2 minutes of idiot proof instructions to do, courtesy of apple. So much misinformation going on up in this *****.

They're not that idiot proof, I can cope with the Gentoo install and I still managed to screw them up.

You managed to screw bootcamp up, or gentoo install up? Because I don't know of someone who could mess up the bootcamp process...

The Bootcamp. And when I say I screwed it up, I mean I followed the instructions to the letter and they didn't work.

What happened? I have done it on 3 or 4 different macs, and never had an issue (Except one time I messed up the windows installation)

Windows utilities to allow me to choose which OS to boot wouldn't install.

I am confused. Choosing which OS to boot can be done simply by holding down option on startup.

 

[Kotaro]

What.
I wish to meet this person, so that I can tell him this:
"You fail technology. Forever."

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Malware can be a starting point for viruses, but nothing like this exists on OS X. I never said that Macs could run any game. Ever. Any person who says that is extremely ignorant. However, his claim that you can play any windows game you want on a mac is correct.

How can you know about one claim but not the other? They're right next to each other.

And the statement was PC game, not Windows game. Big difference.

PC=Computer running x86 processor OR Personal Computer. Macs are both. It is extremely likely for a computer running such a modern processor to not be able to play games intended for use on different processor types.

Sorry, you can't even argue the same point consistently now. Please stop spamming the threads with 4 consecutive posts.

 

[CrystalShadow]

First of all: Please read the whole post before posting. Thanks!

Last night, a friend of mine and my dad's dropped by. Well, we got on the subject of computers and he starting saying that, for the things I do, an iMac would be perfect.

Well, my gaming computer is so old that the latest game I've played is The Sims 3, and it was pretty laggy at that. <:'-( So, for the past few years I've missed out on games. (I don't even have an Xbox360, a PS3 or, God-forbid, a Wii.) So, we mentioned that it would be difficult to spend $1,200 on a work computer and THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig.

Well, this friend then said this, pretty much word for word: "All PC games can run on Mac. They were designed on Macs. You put it in and, BOOM, it's loaded. No installing, no waiting, it's in there instantly. On a computer, you have to put it in, wait for it to install, no, not on a Mac. It's installed the moment you put it in."

Well, to be honest, to me, that sounded, and still sounds, like bullshit. VALVe just recently made Steam available for Macs and Skyrim doesn't seem to have OSX support.

However, since my dad and I are not really computer savvy, I wanted to give our friend the benefit of the doubt by asking here: Can an iMac run all PC games? Even old ones that you would get at Good Old Games?

Also, he mentioned when talking about the difference between the $700 and $1,200 iMac, he said the $1,200 iMac has, "... Five more gigs of RAM." Um, that's funny; I always thought RAM cam in 256MB, 512MB, 2Gigs, 4Gigs, 8Gigs and so on. Is it possible to have an odd number of RAM like 5 Gigs?

Hmm... My first inclination was to say: Of course!

But seeing the details of what's being said... Well, your friend is an idiot.

Pretty much no PC games were designed on macs. (They were designed on PC's... Duh.)
The 'no installing, no loading, no waiting' bit is 100% pure bullshit.

PC games will run on a mac if you use bootcamp to install windows. (In which case; congratulations. Your mac is now almost the same as every PC ever, only more expensive.)

However, it should be noted that the performance can sometimes be an issue. Long ago PC Gamer was doing a gaming laptop test, and using the fact that you can install windows on a mac, they included a macbook in their tests.
Conclusion: The macbook could run games, but for some reason it was half the speed of a PC laptop with the same specifications.

Incedentally, the reason macs can run PC software these days is because they now use intel processors.
This means for all intents and purposes they ARE PC's in every sense, except that they use a non-standard motherboard design and a completely different boot mechanism. (Macs don't have a BIOS as such, though they have an equivalent all their own.)

Finally, yes, it is possible to have an odd amount of RAM. You are correct that RAM only comes in specific powers of two (128, 256, 512, 1,024, 2048 etc). But, that only applies to individual RAM modules. A PC typically has between 2 and 4 RAM slots, and most of the time you can mix and match amounts in each slot.

So... If you put a 4 gigabyte module and a 512 megabyte module in a computer, you'll have 4.5 gigabytes of ram.

Similarly, 2 gigabytes + 1 gigabyte gives 3... And 4 + 1, (or 2 + 2 + 1 , or several other options) gives 5 gigabytes.


All in all I don't see any good reason to get a mac though. They're almost always seriously overpriced for what you're getting, and unless you particularly appreciate apple's Operating System you're not going to gain anything from getting one.

 

[brainslurper]

Malware can be a starting point for viruses, but nothing like this exists on OS X. I never said that Macs could run any game. Ever. Any person who says that is extremely ignorant. However, his claim that you can play any windows game you want on a mac is correct.

How can you know about one claim but not the other? They're right next to each other.

And the statement was PC game, not Windows game. Big difference.

PC=Computer running x86 processor OR Personal Computer. Macs are both. It is extremely likely for a computer running such a modern processor to not be able to play games intended for use on different processor types.

Sorry, you can't even argue the same point consistently now. Please stop spamming the threads with 4 consecutive posts.

Uh, what? You replied to me. You just posted a comment that has 0 relevance to the topic, or to our discussion, that complains that I am spamming. Maybe you should just stop...

 

[Waaghpowa]

I realize you've likely received a lot of messages regarding this already, but this is the kind of thing I have to do because I generally have to deal with it working in retail.

First of all: Please read the whole post before posting. Thanks!

Last night, a friend of mine and my dad's dropped by. Well, we got on the subject of computers and he starting saying that, for the things I do, an iMac would be perfect.

Well, my gaming computer is so old that the latest game I've played is The Sims 3, and it was pretty laggy at that. <:'-( So, for the past few years I've missed out on games. (I don't even have an Xbox360, a PS3 or, God-forbid, a Wii.) So, we mentioned that it would be difficult to spend $1,200 on a work computer and THEN spend at least $3,000 bucks on a new, up-to-date gaming rig.

I only paid 900 for something that plays Crysis 2 on ultra.

Well, this friend then said this, pretty much word for word: "All PC games can run on Mac.

Yes, and no. Not all games were designed for Mac OS but you can always Bootcamp Windows, but in my opinion why buy a Mac then put Windows on it? Most Apple fanboys whine about Windows anyway. Really what you get is their OS because the hardware is the same and you can get the Mac OS elsewhere if you want it THAT bad.

They were designed on Macs.

No.

You put it in and, BOOM, it's loaded. No installing, no waiting, it's in there instantly. On a computer, you have to put it in, wait for it to install, no, not on a Mac. It's installed the moment you put it in."

Most software, especially games, require some soft of installation.

Well, to be honest, to me, that sounded, and still sounds, like bullshit. VALVe just recently made Steam available for Macs and Skyrim doesn't seem to have OSX support.

Valve got in on Macs probably because Mac market share increased to about 15% in the last 10 years.

However, since my dad and I are not really computer savvy, I wanted to give our friend the benefit of the doubt by asking here: Can an iMac run all PC games? Even old ones that you would get at Good Old Games?

Again, yes and no, refer to above.

Also, he mentioned when talking about the difference between the $700 and $1,200 iMac, he said the $1,200 iMac has, "... Five more gigs of RAM." Um, that's funny; I always thought RAM cam in 256MB, 512MB, 2Gigs, 4Gigs, 8Gigs and so on. Is it possible to have an odd number of RAM like 5 Gigs?

You can easily get Ram in odd numbers, but it doesn't matter. I don't understand why people think adding more RAM is better. Unless you're doing some heavy graphic design, virtual machine or something, there's no need for more than 4-6 gigs of Ram. 4 is more than enough, and most games require a minimum of 2 gigs to run anyway. The average person doesn't use near that much ram nor do they ever need it. More RAM != better.