"All PC Games Run On Macs." What?

[The Virgo]

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?

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

It's not as easy as you have described here, but any new Mac can boot in Windows. (You have to restart the computer) If you like shiny overpriced hardware that looks awesome you don't even need a Mac OS System, you can Install win7 all the way.

It would work on my old MacBook Pro but I like the OS X interface.
Still about 10% of the games don't work well - because of you know, personal issues those games have.
Try to convince customer support to help you when a PC game doesn't work on your Mac!

 

[MrGseff]

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

 

[Lacsapix]

first off a good-enough gaming pc does NOT cost $3000 there are tons of youtubers that made a great rig under the 500$ (NCIX channel).
And now to the central point:
your friends dad is talking out of his a--! every line he said is false, games are still built for the pc and somtimes it can be ported to a mac and 5 more Gigs is just stupid(ram exits in even numers).

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

"No installing, no waiting."

Wat? Just wat?

Also, to those saying RAM modules go in even numbers, you can actually have, say, two 2GB modules and a 1GB module, provided that they're the same speed and (recommended) from the same manufacturer.

But anyway, even if you're doing video editing and stuff like that, PCs are cheaper, and come with a lot of the same (or even better) programs.

Hell, I do professional video and photo editing on my $800 gaming PC, and it works just fine.

 

[Antonidious]

More and more games can run on Mac now a days but not every game can run on a Mac, however like the previous poster said it is incredibly simple to install a Windows OS (like Win7) on a Mac using Bootcamp. Even if you know nothing about computers just find and follow an installation guide.

Additionally you can have an odd number of gigs of RAM if you have different sizes of ram sticks. You could have 5Gigs for example if you had a 4 Gig stick and a 1 Gig stick, although keeping the same size sticks usually gives you better performance which is why you never see odd numbers.

Also I don't know where you are buying your computer but a new up-to-date gaming right does not need to cost $3,000. I built a gaming rig last year for about $1400 and have yet to come across a game I cannot run on max settings.

 

[Gigano]

Macs are not gaming consoles.

The selection of games that'll run on a mac is fairly limited, and their price/hardware ratio isn't the best anyway. They're well designed and user friendly, but if you're looking for a gaming rig then they can pretty much be ruled out.

 

[Windcaler]

Im not a mac expert but from what I understand a lot of that is false. You can play some PC games on it but its a very limited number and kind of a pain to get it working like that. If you want a gaming PC then you should really just get a gaming PC

If you have the technical know how you can build a great gaming PC for $500-1000. If you want a state of the art one you can build it for 1500-1700 maybe upwards to 2k for the absolute top of the line equipment. There are a number of a different ways to gain that expertise to from websites to youtube channels. If you're a PC gamer and dont mind not having a warranty (outside your own expertise) then I highly recommend learning how to build your own PC

 

[Motiv_]

Nah, he's either extremely ignorant or talking out of his ass.

An up to date gaming PC will also cost far less than 3000, I assure you. I got my current gaming "Rig"[footnote]I hate that goddamn term[/footnote], 3.2 ghz hexacore, 12 gigs of RAM, 1 TB HDD and a decent graphics card for roughly 1200, and I bought it as is. Probably could've gotten it for less than 1000 if I'd built it. All I need to do is get a better graphics card and I'm probably set for the next couple of years.

 

[Dexiro]

Ha well let him buy a Mac and be sorely disappointed, and make sure to rub it in his face when you get a PC :3

 

[FallenTraveler]

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?

I do in fact have a macbook pro for school, it has become my main pc as well. I use bootcamp (it's a way to boot into either osx or windows). ONE! Games are designed on pc's as has probably been states. TWO! instantly loaded BAM? no, I installed starcraft 2, took 30 minutes. THREE! If you buy a mac, yes it is fucking AWESOME, just sexy and well made machines, but NOT worth their pricepoint... I paid 2400 for my mac, and It really should only be about 1500.

 

[KeyMaster45]

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?

I think you've misunderstood him, you can add "5 more gigs of ram" to a computer if you're upgrading it's ram from 1gb to 6gb. The former would be two 512mb sticks and the later would be four 2gb sticks. The only odd number stick of ram I can think of is a 1gig stick, which is rare to see being used nowadays except in older computers. Hell, the $500 towerless PC's at bestbuy sport at least 4gigs of ram.

If you don't believe me about the 1gig stick a few clicks on NewEgg lead you to a 2gig bundle made of two 1gig sticks, or you can just buy singular 1 gig sticks. (link [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231032])

Though like I said before, it's possible he was talking about upgrading from 1gb of ram to 6gbs. Which if his info is out of date by a few years would be right I suppose. There was a time where $1,200 would only net you a PC with 1gb of ram.

 

[yuval152]

He's shitting you,Mac can only play old windows games like warcraft 3 and only when using an emulator,or games that are made for it.*giggels*

Also you can't upgrade your MAC,so if you're planning on get a MAC Don't.and also punch your friend in the face for me.

 

[SeeIn2D]

Well an iMac could theoretically run all PC games. It can run all PC games because all newer Macs can run Windows. This is not to say they do it best. Macs are not gaming machines. They never have been. I have always been a Mac person and I do play games on it. The most notable examples are Portal, Portal 2 and CoD4. My computer runs them fine with no lag, but I can't run them on max graphics or in like 256 FPS or whatever the PC standard is. So in short yes you can run all PC games on Mac, but no it is not the optimal machine to do it on at all. I do prefer Macs for animation, still image editing, and video editing.

 

[Qitz]

To your friends credit, back in the day, yeah a good gaming PC would be $3000+. Now though, technologies come far enough to where you can buy 3TB HDD's for $150 or so.

Aside from that, pretty much what everyone else said. He has no idea what he's talking about.

Should have known that when he said

You put it in and, BOOM, it's loaded. No installing, no waiting, it's in there instantly.

You can't do that with freaking iTunes how could you with games?

 

[ZeroMachine]

Your friend isn't too bright, is he?

 

[number2301]

You can easily make a gaming PC out of a standard off the shelf thing for a a couple of hundred quid by the way, far from $3,000!

Nah, he's either extremely ignorant or talking out of his ass.

An up to date gaming PC will also cost far less than 3000, I assure you. I got my current gaming "Rig"[footnote]I hate that goddamn term[/footnote], 3.2 ghz hexacore, 12 gigs of RAM, 1 TB HDD and a decent graphics card for roughly 1200, and I bought it as is. Probably could've gotten it for less than 1000 if I'd built it. All I need to do is get a better graphics card and I'm probably set for the next couple of years.

Rig I quite like, machine though, that REALLY grates on me!

 

[RandallJohn]

Oh, wow. Yeah, he's VERY off. I mean, there's Bootcamp and Wine and stuff like that that'll let you run non-mac stuff, but... wow. I'm a Mac guy, and he's totally off. EVERY SINGLE GAME was designed on a mac? Gah.

Also, LOL at the fact that he differentiates "computer" and "Mac." And what is this "$700 iMac?"

 

[Weslebear]

SNIP

Macs definitely do not work like that, there is still installation involved. And very few games are Mac friendly.

The only ones that I have played would be World of Warcraft and Team Fortress 2, only the absolutely huge titles get Mac support. You'd be lucky to get 10% of the games you want.
However you can also dual boot, partitioning off a section of your hardrive and installing windows onto the Mac and then running the games through there but gaming wise they usually don't have the most amazing hardware.

I recommend buying the cheaper $700 Mac for your work, and then around another $500-$700 on a gaming PC, they really are not expensive at all.

I built my PC a few months ago for £550 and it can max anything I throw at it, and the parts for that now have already gone down in price by £20-£30, PC gaming is not expensive anymore.

PS Yes you can have odd numbers of RAM, you can have multiple sticks of 1gb say and end up with 3gb as long as they run at the same speed.

 

[Stryc9]

I've heard some bullshit in my day about macs but some of this is pretty out there.

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.

That particularly is the biggest lie he told you right there. Some PC games can run on the mac, not all of them. They aren't completely designed on the mac platform, if at all anymore. There was a time when graphics design might have been done with a mac. The no installing no waiting thing is total bullshit. Even if that were possible there would be huge waiting times anytime the computer had to access the disc for data as it spins up and loads what it needs.

Do some research into local computer shops and do some shopping around to see what they can build you that would suit your needs. They should be able to build you a decent computer that will do everything you need from it, work and gaming for around $900 - $1500.