"All PC Games Run On Macs." What?

[The Heik]

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?

Gigs can be in any number, it is simply that the measurement system for bytes is different from the standard method, going to the kilo/giga/tera prefix at 1024 units rather than simply 1000 (it's computation thing). So it's possible for a computer to have 5 gigabytes of RAM, it just requires 1024 gigabytes to traditionally go to a terabyte.

As for the "all PC games run on Macs instantly", your friend is yanking your chain. The only way Macs can run any non-Mac compatible games is through Bootcamp, a utility program that allows you run a Windows OS on your Mac, but that's the same thing as installing games for your PC, as there is no magic means by which to instantly play your games on a computer. They weren't specifically designed for gaming (unlike consoles) so installation will be a constant no matter what computer you're using.

 

[JET1971]

I am seeing a few bits of bs in this thread. Macs are not better at artwork, photos, rendering, or videos. thats a lie Apple fans have been using for years. Macs are better out of the box because of the preloaded software and thats it. All major aftermarket software such as Adobe Photoshop work equaly as well in a windows environment as in a Mac. This happens to be one of the favorite fanboy myths that isnt helped by the industry where many of the administrators and employees believe it.

The only differance between a gaming rig and an office machine is the video card. There is NO reason to get a cheap office machine and a cheap gaming rig. the gaming rig can do everything the office one can, and do it faster. so If anyone says get both please feel free to ignore them.

For Ram, the reason it was "always" an even number was because theres 4 slots for it. most vendors supplied 1 stick for budget systems, 2 sticks for mid range, and 4 for high end. This is the reason why it was "always" even. As I put the always in quotes because PC's used to sell with odd amounts of memory back in the 32-64 MB stick days. With Dual channel they supplied either 2 sticks or 4 because that was optimal for performance. Now we have triple channel memory where an uneven amount would be optimal but in multiplications of 3. 5 GB would neither work in tripple channel or dual channel modes and the 1 extra GB would actualy lower system performance in a modern system. pre channels RAM could be any combination of size and speed as long as the mobo supported it. all the ram would run at the slowest sticks speed if you had a mixed group. Is what i am getting at is if you are buying a new rig today and it has an odd amount of RAM but a factor of 3 then it would be prefectly normal.

 

[Deef]

Unfortunately, your friend is either seeing through some thick fanboy fog, or is an idiot. If you intend to use a computer for gaming, there are no upsides to using a Mac over a PC.

 

[DataSnake]

That conversation reminds me of a conversation I overheard on the bus. Basically, this mac fan was trying to convinse his friend to buy one too. So he said something like "Well, you know how computers work with 0 and 1, right? Macs works with 0, 1, 2, 3, all the way up to 9. Which means they can get stuff done faster."

Mac users will pull facts right out of their ass to defend their platform.

OK, that's probably the funniest thing I've heard all day.

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

Clegane][...]
Yeah but at a huge performance hit as you always have to run the mac os at least in part.

Really? What part is required to run in the background? I doesn't appear on my old MacBook. It seriously performs better under XP than OS-X (snow leopard), but as I already mentioned you have to boot and select windows there...

 

[razer17]

No.... just no.
Macs can play some not all.
Also RAM tends to go in even numbers so I think this guy may have been lying

You can put any combination of RAM sticks in. You could have 2 x 2GB and a 1GB, for instance, or 5 x 1GB sticks (does any mobo have 5 RAM slots?) It is definitely possible to have an odd amount of RAM (although technically it wouldn't be odd since it's 1024 MB, so it is still even)

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.

Okay, I'm assuming you don't want to use your work PC to be dual tasking and just stick a graphics card in it and use it as a gaming AND work PC?

If so, a gaming PC or decent calibre will not run you $3000 unless you let it. You can get a GOOD, not overpowered, but it will run all current games at pretty much full specs on a good resolution (1080p). In England I could get a decent one for £400, a good one for about £700-800, so in America that's like $700 or $1100-1200. And that's not taking into account that components are a lot cheaper in America.

Also, to answer you main question, an Apple can run all Windows games, Macintosh can't. Difference being that you can install windows on the Apple and use that to play games. Your friend is making shit up. Also, Macs are overpriced, so if you were going to install windows anyway, it'd be pointless to buy one, unless you really wanted a fancy looking machine.

 

[MadeinHell]

1. Your friend is either joking or a complete idiot.
2. You can buy a computer two times more powerful than a mac for three times less money.

 

[Veritasiness]

1. Your friend is either joking or a complete idiot.
2. You can buy a computer two times more powerful than a mac for three times less money.

Both true - but you can run Windows on your Mac, natively. By natively, I mean without OS X or anything else in between your hardware and Windows; it will work just fine on its own and use the full capability of your system. Mac hardware is just wrapped in an extra shiny container; it's the exact same stuff everyone else uses.

Additionally, yeah, RAM tends to come in even numbers (256, 512, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB being most common) - but it can be in any combination (1GB is fairly common, and 768MB used to be).

 

[Snotnarok]

Your friend doesn't know what they're talking about. Macs are very expensive and for sometimes less than half the price you can build a faster machine.

Edit: Unless you REALLY like the stuff about Macs (size, the OS) there's no reason to get them since they're literally a PC with different software. They have an intel processor, a nvidia graphics card, there's nothing in them that's special. They used to have different processors and such but that all changed a while ago.

I know people that have macs and they basically just like how it looks and runs different, if that's worth the extra grand or two you'll have to put into it then go for it.

 

[dickywebster]

Theres games with a windows only or made for windows labels for a reason...

 

[mrhateful]

3000$ for a PC whhhaaaaaaa.... A pc that can run all games in medium to high settings costs around 900$-1100$, On my brand new super awesome PC(that can run all games on highest settings) I spent a total of 1640$

Ohh wait you brought mac...

 

[crudus]

I know you can boot windows with some Mac OSes, so Macs can technically play PC games. It just isn't the Mac OS that is doing the running. I just find it rather pointless.

Also RAM tends to go in even numbers so I think this guy may have been lying

There was a time when 256mb RAM was a ludicrous amount. Ram can in fact me an odd number. It isn't as commonplace in newer models of computers, but you found it all of the time about 2-3 years ago. You can still do it now if you want.

 

[The Virgo]

Thanks everybody for your comments! And also, thanks for telling me about how much a good PC costs; I'm glad it won't be $3,000. This means I'll probably be able to upgrade sooner than I anticipated!

3000$ for a PC whhhaaaaaaa.... A pc that can run all games in medium to high settings costs around 900$-1100$, On my brand new super awesome PC(that can run all games on highest settings) I spent a total of 1640$

Ohh wait you brought mac...

Wait, when did I ever say that I bought a Mac? /:-|

Someone didn't read the thread that well ...

 

[mrhateful]

Wait, when did I ever say that I bought a Mac? /:-|

Someone didn't read the thread that well ...

I concluded that it was the only way you could think that a PC costs 3000$

 

[Hoplon]

does any mobo have 5 RAM slots?

As an aside, some of the older Mac Pro desk tops have 16 memory slots on separate riser cards, beautiful crazy things that they are.

The current trend for even numbers in ram size is solely down to dual channel configurations to allow more bandwidth, there is also triple channel but that seems to have been largely abandoned recently.

should be able to get a single computer for both uses, since you can get Hexacore chips if you need the processing power and then slot in 2 4 gb sticks of ram and a latest gen graphics card and Robert is very much your mothers brother.

 

[TorturedAvatar]

There was a time when 256mb RAM was a ludicrous amount. Ram can in fact me an odd number. It isn't as commonplace in newer models of computers, but you found it all of the time about 2-3 years ago. You can still do it now if you want.

A lot of the time, those computers with 256 MB RAM had two sticks which were 128 MB apiece. So, it still was sort of paired. The thing is that, in ye old days, memory likes to be installed in pairs, and some types wouldn't work unless you had two matching memory sticks. These days, I don't think most motherboards care and single sticks of memory work, but on motherboards with 4 open slots for memory it makes the most sense for the manufacturer to install memory in two of them - it's usually cheaper to purchase, say, two 1 GB sticks than it is to purchase one 2 GB stick, but at the same time you leave the user two spots open for expansion, so everyone's content.

The best way to think of pairing is to figure out what the number actually means (for example, 3 GB is actually 3072 MB) and then see if it's a power of two. If not, it's probably not paired and you've got an odd amount of memory in there - which isn't a problem, but you should identify why. In a worst case scenario, it could indicate you're supposed to have 4 GB and a 1 GB stick is not working.

 

[The Virgo]

Wait, when did I ever say that I bought a Mac? /:-|

Someone didn't read the thread that well ...

I concluded that it was the only way you could think that a PC costs 3000$

Actually, the "Hard Stuff Trinity" section of PC Gamer magazine is the culprit. Their top of the line recommendation PC (complete with two GTX 580's in SLI) comes out to $4,200. So, I figured a just-as-good system would cost me around $3,000, especially considering that I want a case like this:

Spoiler: The kind of gaming case I want

Edit: Then again, if a nice case is going to delay me upgrading, I'll just get a plain, generic one.

Also, I've never owned an Apple product in my life. Not even an iPod.