MacPro - Overpriced?

M

macguy2

New Member
I'm thinking of getting a desktop Mac that can be used for gaming as well. The new MacPro's seem way over priced but there is a refurbished model for $1859 with the following specs:
One 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor
3GB (3 x 1GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory
1TB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory

There is also a refurbished iMac for $1659 with these specs:

iMac 27-inch 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
27-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB memory


The iMac is less money and seems to have a better graphics card but does the MacPro have a better processor. The iMac also isn't as expandable.

Looking for some advice... Thanks.
 
You won't be gaming on a Mac with OS X I'm afraid, you'd need to use Boot Camp and dual-boot OS X with Windows most probably and install your games in Windows.

The iMac has a way better GPU, that's what matters most for gaming.
 
spirit said:
You won't be gaming on a Mac with OS X I'm afraid, you'd need to use Boot Camp and dual-boot OS X with Windows most probably and install your games in Windows.

The iMac has a way better GPU, that's what matters most for gaming.
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I think you can game on OSX just fine, there are a lot of games that run on OSX just fine, especially they have there own steam client and I believe it is in the apple store but plenty of downloadable games from apple.

I absolutely hate apple due to my experience with them but I won't deny what they can do.
 
spirit said:
You won't be gaming on a Mac with OS X I'm afraid, you'd need to use Boot Camp and dual-boot OS X with Windows most probably and install your games in Windows.

The iMac has a way better GPU, that's what matters most for gaming.
Click to expand...

It looks like the 5770 is 15% slower than the 6970m.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6970M.43077.0.html


DMGrier said:
I think you can game on OSX just fine, there are a lot of games that run on OSX just fine, especially they have there own steam client and I believe it is in the apple store but plenty of downloadable games from apple.

I absolutely hate apple due to my experience with them but I won't deny what they can do.
Click to expand...

Gaming on an Apple system is getting better but It is still nowhere near where Windows is. I mainly see Small titles built for both. There are a few exceptions like COD4 was released for Mac a while back.
 
salvage-this said:
It looks like the 5770 is 15% slower than the 6970m.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6970M.43077.0.html




Gaming on an Apple system is getting better but It is still nowhere near where Windows is. I mainly see Small titles built for both. There are a few exceptions like COD4 was released for Mac a while back.
Click to expand...

I don't deny Windows still has more games, but I do not think it is as bad as spirit claimed, but maybe that is just because I only use Linux, some small and major titles that will run on Windows or OSX seems pretty good to me considering all I have is open source rts installed on my laptop cause if I want to game I pick up my console.

After last year wwhen I bought my first Macbook Pro, iphone and apple TV I had some really bad experience with the apple ecosystem, or I should say not as good as a apple users promises so I would not recommend Apple to anyone, but since this guys name is Macguy2 I figured the argument would be pointless.
 
Not trying to be rude here, but you just now figured ot macs are over priced? OEM (HP, Dell, etc) PC's are overpriced, and cost a lot less. If youwant a good gaming PC, and you have a nice budget, build one. And if you want Mac, get hackintosh parts.
 
I'd personally go with the Mac Pro because you can upgrade hardware (such as the GPU) unlike with the iMac, which you can only upgrade RAM and the HD on.
 
Compared to Linux OSX is a decent gaming system :P I just think depending on what titles the OP wants to play it might not be as viable as a Windows install.

However I do agree with you that since he is named Mac Guy there is a large possibility that an argument over what would be better for gaming would be pointless.

@macguy2. Just off of specs I would go with the iMac. If you need the Extra expandability the Mac Pro still seems really over priced but you could add to it to get more performance if you need it.
 
I don't think that is where he was going with that. You said PC is cheaper and better for gaming always. Which is not true. If you could get a used mac with a GTX285 (i think there was a mac version) or 5870 or the like, it would always outperform a PC with say a HD3000 or 9800GTX or the like. You have to take into account that macs are specialized machines, and the equipment that you are using on both. PC is not always faster for games just because it is a PC.
 
There are a lot of good pros and cons brought up in this discussion. I may go with the iMac as it is cheaper and has the better graphics card, so will give me more bang for my buck in the short term.
I am not anti-PC, it's just that I have a lot of Mac software and have been on the platform for 12 years. I'm more comfortable on Macs and have found them to be very reliable and stable. I still have a 9 year old PowerMac G4 hooked up to my TV that is still usable for some things. I can also run Windows on a Mac if I need to but I can't run Mac OS on a PC.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!
 
As simple as it sounds... the amount of money you are about to spend on iMac, you can get much better parts on PC... why are you getting a Mac?
(No offense or anything, just curious why you want one)
 
swchoi89 said:
As simple as it sounds... the amount of money you are about to spend on iMac, you can get much better parts on PC... why are you getting a Mac?
(No offense or anything, just curious why you want one)
Click to expand...

He just said it's because he's spent 12 years using them and he's more comfortable with them.
 
lucasbytegenius said:
He just said it's because he's spent 12 years using them and he's more comfortable with them.
Click to expand...

I'm just shooting out some possibilities for him here especially if he's into gaming and stuff... it's not like he's incapable of using Windows PC, anybody can adjust themselves to it... I get that he's preferred to using Mac.
 
wolfeking said:
I don't think that is where he was going with that. You said PC is cheaper and better for gaming always. Which is not true. If you could get a used mac with a GTX285 (i think there was a mac version) or 5870 or the like, it would always outperform a PC with say a HD3000 or 9800GTX or the like. You have to take into account that macs are specialized machines, and the equipment that you are using on both. PC is not always faster for games just because it is a PC.
Click to expand...

Well yeah that's true of course. But almost always, you can get a better performing machine in a PC for the SAME price. Yeah you can get a more powerful Mac but it will ALMOST always be more expensive than the same spec'd PC.

Also of course PC has more support but that's been beaten to death and is well known.

I will admit to a bit of bias towards PC but that's based in fact for the most part. Price to performance ratio goes to PC in almost every case.
 
I personally could not care less either way. And if you buy used then you can sometimes get a good deal on a more powerful mac, but that is rare.
I will say I am not against apple products, but that don't mean I will go out of my way to use them. Either will do what I ask of them. Though the mac would probably do it better. But at the cost of cost and expand.
 
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