The Results

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Quake Scores Let’s start with the MacBook Pro. The difference between the superior mode and the ultra mode on the Apple laptop is astounding. When we play in the superior quality the two versions are neck to neck. The Geforce 8600M GT does wonders. On the other hand, in the ultra quality, the Windows version is still very fast, while the Mac OS X version sees its performances collapse. Let’s analyse why this is.

The reason is simple: we explained that the ultra mode requires a lot of video memory and the MacBook Pro is not well endowed in this area with only 128 MB. One would expect the two versions to see their performances fail in a similar fashion. But this isn’t the case: in Windows the graphic card has 512MB of video memory. The TurboCache technology allows it to use live memory as video memory via the PCI-Express bus which is activated under Windows but not under Mac OS X. This is caused by a driver problem and in this case Apple is apparently to blame. We should note that the video memory obtained this way is slower than dedicated video memory. MacBook Results

On the MacBook there is not much to say: the game doesn’t launch in Windows (because of very bad Intel drivers). As for Mac OS X it is apparent that the GMA 950 is not made for gaming. Quake Four iMac

On the iMac there are two surprises. The first is that the Mac OS X version is much faster than the Windows version. The loss of performances between the superior mode and the ultra mode is without comparison on the MacBook Pro. Even with the iMac’s high resolution screen Quake 4 is usable. On the practical side of things be sure to take note that the mouse cable is very short (it plugs directly into the keyboard) and the necessity for big movements will often end up in you hitting the keyboard.

We also tried Quake 4 in virtualisation and in emulation on the MacBook Pro. This is where it gets ugly. Virtualisation Scores


Talkback

rtfm 15/02/2008 01:29
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rtfm
The Bottom Line (corrected): Macs = No good for games (maybe battleships and doom II)
human_error 15/02/2008 04:28
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human_error
Quote :The Windows part was tested with Windows Vista Ultra Edition.


Do you mean ultimate? (as far as I'm aware there is no "ultra" version of vista) and was it ultimate 64bit or 32bit?
Akula971 15/02/2008 07:17
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Akula971
A very weak and uninformed review. The MacBook and MacBookPro are not designed for gaming, but for media and business use. So why test them? The IMacs that can play games very well, Just search in Youtube.com for "Imac crysis" and watch the videos. Why did they use Vista? everyone knows that it creates a huge performance hit for games, that why Mac Gamers who use boot camp use Windows XP. The bottom of the range MacPro was excluded? why? because it might have shown a result that the authors didn't like? it only costs $2299. Not $3000 and comes with the HD2600 XT card not the 7300 mentioned in the article. I guess the article was written some ago before 10.5.1/2 as both updates have enhanced features that benefit gaming and in bootcamp you can put any Windows graphics card in. I guess that Pierre already had his conclusion and wrote an article to back it up. Very poor composition, certainly not constructive journalism! Why not find someone who knows about Mac's to write an article on getting the best out of gaming on a mac, just pop along to http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=125 there are lots of people there who could tell you differently. Overall a disappointing article for its lack of accurate information and depth.
ebernet 15/02/2008 08:28
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ebernet
Pretty bad review....
There is a 256 version of the MacBook Pro, which if you are a gamer would be the one you go for...
You CAN scale the res on all those machines, and even have the apps autoswitch them, so I don't understand your comment that the Mac cannot do resolution scaling so you had to go with full res...
While I agree you should not be buying a Mac if what you want is gaming, this article was just uninformed....
orthorim 16/02/2008 02:54
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orthorim
Good points above - a proper review should use the latest machines.

I still found the review very interesting because it directly compares the performance with Parallels and VMWare to OS X native and Windows native. One of the big selling points of Parallels (which I bought) is that it emulates accelerated 3D graphics in Windows. And this review shows that this is just marketing hot air as that 3D acceleration makes the difference between 5 FPS and 1 FPS, 5 times as fast in marketing speak, still completely unusable in the real world.

So, big thanks for making the effort!

PS: I am not a native english speaker myself but the english in this article is pretty hard to understand in places. I am sure you'd find english-speaking volunteers to edit / proof read this...
Macbrewer 16/02/2008 09:35
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Macbrewer
Face it, the MAC is a far better computer because it has support for a far better operating system. Windows is just BS, as you will see quite easily for yourself if you actually use the computer and don't just play games. Life is short folks, do yourself a favor and give it a try. Be warned though, it's very true, once you go Mac you don't go back.

But some readers jump to conclusions (e.g. "Bottomline, Macs are no good for games"--geez did you read this at all?), and even the writers of this article have many misconceptions--it is obvious you are out of your element a bit. But I applaud your efforts nonetheless, don't get me wrong.

Windows is basically 'owned' now by OS X, OS X has Windows running in a window, or available at the touch of a button. And there are plenty of instances of "It is even faster, generally, than on Windows."

Thanks for pointing out that even WINDOWS runs better on Mac! Which it does. And, you don't have to rely on Windows horrible and almost complete lack of security.
darthpoik 18/02/2008 02:02
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darthpoik
Macs suck
darthpoik 18/02/2008 02:24
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darthpoik
What we wanted was a more direct comparison between hardware and OS. Macs use PC hardware now so the comparison should be much easier. I suspect Tom is being paid, forced or coerced into not showing us this important comparison. Macs suck but I suspect their OS is far less addled than vista.
Hyperchio 19/02/2008 01:45
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Hyperchio
Are They Any Good For Gaming? The reveiw is flawed in some ways yes, but the definitive answer is that if you want to play the latest and best games, why get a mac?

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