Play the hottest upcoming PC Game “Crysis” on a Mac!
Is gaming the one thing preventing you from jumping ship and moving from a Windows PC to a Mac? Well that excuse is now null and void. Now that Intel chips are inside all Macs and you can run Windows XP or Windows Vista on a Mac the door is open for PC gaming on a Mac. But what about all those bleeding edge games that make owning a PC a neccesity? Also a null and void argument. The newest Macbook Pro’s (and likely the impending new iMacs as well.) feature DirectX 10 capable Nvidia 8600 cards. Sweeeeeetness!
[Oct 31st 07 Update:] Since this post is getting a lot of traffic this week, I thought I’d link to this article for those still not quite ready to make the leap… Installing OS X Leopard on a high end PC (Tutorial)
[Feb 28th 08 Update:] This is now the hottest post on this site. Since being posted it has been read by 8,216 visitors (That’s a whole lot of gamers interested in gaming on a Mac.) Please check back soon for a follow up article where I will be running and benchmarking Crysis on a Mac.
Windows Vista Refunds!
July 8, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I’ve been an avid mac user since the very beginning, born into a dual-platform environment and given adequate time to make my own choice on the matter. I don’t know when you switched, but welcome to the better half of the force. I’ve actually always been a big advocate for gaming on the Mac, starting way back when Bungie wasn’t evil and their game series “Marathon” was stunning gamers across all platforms.
With EA’s latest announcement, stating their plan to port every EA game to the Mac, as well as all future titles sharing equal release dates with their Windows counterparts, I think we’ll see a golden new age of gaming on the Mac, without all the system bugs and not to mention, the lack of that annoying windows key during full screen rounds. This, along with Microsoft’s plan (I kid you not) to release Windows Vienna at the earliest in 2012, we could see a lot of switchers, both users and developers alike. Perhaps a change is in the wind…
Anyway, wishing you the best of luck with your blog!
September 26, 2007 at 4:12 am
I can’t wait for Crysis to come out, next month im getting a new imac with 2.8 ghz processer, 4 gig of ram, and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory. It’s going to be crazy!
October 29, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I don’t buy that for a second. Here’s why:
1) The nvidia 8600 is the pricepoint DX10 video card that the company released for the masses. Pricepoint cards are not performance cards.
2) The card has a max 320mb of onboard memory. Even if you SLI’d two of those cards it would only add up to less than 640mb of GPU memory. I have 768mb of memory, IN ONE CARD.
*Just to clarify why I focused on the GPU’s onboard memory. When I was running Crysis, the game was sucking up over a GIG of memory…so, I have to say there is no way in hell that someone ran those settings on the stated system….
October 30, 2007 at 5:19 am
So, just to clarify:
1. You can game on a Mac
2. After purchasing the game, you will also need to purchase a Microsoft OS
At this point, you could either:
1. Ditch your MacOS altogether and run Windows or
2. Dual-boot / BootCamp
With solution 1, I suppose you could eBay that MacOS, since you have no use for it anymore. However, with solution #2, if you’re working on, say, Photoshop and need a quick gaming break, you have to boot over to the gaming OS? Game a little bit then reboot again. Back and forth. Inconvenient to say the least.
Yeah, Mac needs some native ports of titles.
November 1, 2007 at 1:33 am
@Pipeline2112
http://vistasucks.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/play-valves-team-fortress-2-on-a-mac/
use Crossover of Mac by CodeWeavers
not sure about dx10 based games but if (more when) they get that working and supported …. it could mean the final blow to vista
November 13, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Wow, you guys are serious noobs if you think a Mac can outperform a PC at gaming. You are also kidding yourself if you think that AAA developers are going waste resources building Mac titles before Windows ones. Have any of you guys ever been to a big gaming event? Hardcore gamers don’t waste money on Macs. They build their own PCs. For the cost of a Mac you can build a killer PC.
If you’re serious into games, the PC is the way to go.
November 13, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Jesse, 256 MB of video RAM is going to leave you seriously disappointed. Get a video card with at least double that. I’m not kidding.
November 17, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Great site, man. And welcome to the fold! Your switch is nigh parallel to mine with iPod + iTunes sucking me in =).
Yet again, gaming is a hot issue Macs. I say, I’d rather game on my 360, Wii, DS, or PS3 any day. My Mac is a productivity utility, I’d rather game on my couch with 5.1 surround and 32″ Vizio HDTV.
I am running an experiment to see how Crysis will run on my iMac (2.0Ghz C2D, x1600) under XP bootcamped with Leopard. I wondered if it will be playable…
Keep up the good work, and hop over to http://www.macnewbtube.wordpress.com sometime!
November 23, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I gotta say - I love my Mac and all, but it’s just a glorified typewriter. It has the stability and speed I need to do my work, but for gaming, the strain of running two operating systems at once will probably crash the machine if a demanding game like Crysis were to be run on top of all that. With bleeding edge hardware, that may not be a problem, but Macs tend to have a limited repertoire when it comes to that facet of computing.
Suffice to say - gaming on a Mac doesn’t seem to be totally out of the question - it’s just Crysis. The technology behind it and the marketing for it is heavily geared towards DirectX 10 - which happens to be a Vista exclusive. And unless you haven’t noticed, the box of the game proudly displays a “Games for Windows” banner. Until we see a “Games for Mac” label on things… Don’t hold your breath.
November 29, 2007 at 1:37 am
Jack, I think you’re dazed and confused. I got a Macbook Pro, and the 8600M graphics card in the Macbook Pro is Direct X 10, and I promise you that if you install Crysis under Bootcamp on a Macbook Pro, it will run just as well - if not better - than on a Windows PC platform. Dude, didn’t you know that the new MBP has a Direct X10 Geforce 8600M 256 meg video card in it with Santa Rosa technology? Dude, that should play any game!
December 7, 2007 at 10:29 am
when will crisis be coming out as an official mac product?
December 8, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Powershaker, didn’t you know Crysis barely runs full dx 10 settings on an 8800gtx with 768 meg video card???? Why would you think a mobile 8600 256mb would run any game???
December 9, 2007 at 7:45 am
Ace, Crysis will NOT be coming out as an official Mac product. I’ll birng it up again - Crysis bears the “Games for Windows” label. It also runs on MICROSOFT technology, a company which I doubt will allow such a high profile game to be ported over to the Mac platform.
And Powershaker, you’re delusional. Enjoy your low framerates and crippled graphics - I’m running Crysis natively on Vista with an nForce 680i chipset and an 8800 GTS 320MB card, and it STILL brings my machine down to its knees. Your mobile Santa Rosa platform with an 8600M 256MB will never run the game as well as a high end Windows machine. Judging by the video buffer alone, 256MB of graphics memory isn’t enough to do anything outside of last year’s games. John has a point when he mentions the 8800GTX not being able to run Crysis at its best.
December 9, 2007 at 10:24 am
For the record… I played the Crysis demo on my old single core PC under XP with Direct X 9 and with the details settings cranked as high as they could go.
I could still play it but it was choppy.
For the details on my PC, Click here.
December 9, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Well to clarify, you had 2 7900GT’s in SLI - which was the ultra high end a little over a a year and a half ago. Even with that in consideration, I doubt you had the AA settings up. Imagine applying edge AA to every individual piece of foliage. Not even an 8800 GTX can do that. All the settings cranked up in XP is respectable, but the image quality still pales in comparison to what a real DirectX 10 machine can do. Maxed out in DirectX 9 is a far cry from maxed out in DirectX 10. It’s all the subtle touches that make the graphics - little things that just can’t be done in DX9. Currently, there is no hardware on the consumer level that can possibly max out all of the settings in Crysis (yes, that includes AA) on any platform.
Furthermore, the ranting about DirectX 10 on a Mac is absurd. The 8600M 256MB isn’t remotely near the specs of the 2 7900GTs you had in your PC, and even then, gameplay was “choppy.” If it was choppy on the previous king of the hill, what makes you think this generation’s midrange could touch that performance? In addition, you would still need to purchase a Windows platform and dualboot to access DX10 - the graphics API isn’t available for the Mac. With all this in consideration, I would just use the Mac for work (yes, I’m writing out this reply on a Macbook). Some platforms just do things better than others - for Windows, that’s gaming.
December 23, 2007 at 2:32 pm
ah. finally! someone who believes mac has an imminate uprising. I have Mac myself. alothough its a crappy G4. an old iMac. the one where the CPU is in a dome? I plan to get a new one. ever sience I saw mac was making better computers I’ve sen a HUGE boost in computer sales. I used to have a XP but that thing was sooooo freaking slow. im glad i have a Mac mac is way faster. The pro mac could beat vista by a mile. (message to razor) QUAD CORE!!! UHN! Id like to see vista put that in its pipe and smoke it!!! Happy Gaming ya’ll!!
December 27, 2007 at 9:06 pm
@Jacky
Crysis runs fine on one 8800 GT. I get about 40 FPS on 1400 x 900 High (36 on very high on Vista) and I’ve seen a friend with two of those SLId at 60 FPS (same res). I use to use a 8800GTS (ver 1) with Crysis and I could only use medium (high would goto 17 FPS). The new GTS with G92 core will run this a little faster than the GT. It’s unfortunate that this game can only work well on cards that have only been available for 2-3 months or $500+ cards.
The only real key to playing this game well is owning a highest end card and having a 64-bit OS(it does play better on a 64 bit system). Whether it’s a Mac with OSX(or Windows) or a XP/Vista PC won’t make a difference.
January 4, 2008 at 3:12 am
I believe Jacky knows what he’s saying,playing Crysis on any Mac will be better than playing it on a Pc.
January 5, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I have installed crysis on my old maching (4-5 years old w/2yr old gpu)
ath 64 3000+
ga k8ns socket 754 board
1.3gig ddr ram @ 266mhz
nvid 6800 gs/xt (bios reads it as 6800 gts its a 6800gs manufacturer OCed with 512mg ram)
It plays fairly clean all turned down maybe 25-30 fps.
If i was to OC anything to improve gameplay what would you recommend… gpu or cpu?
January 12, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Hey guys.
First, if you are looking for better configs, or how to overclock, or any tech support on the game, go to http://www.incrysis.com
Second, to any Mac fanboys, you can spend $2000 on mac and install XP on it and play Crysis on it, but the alternative of buying a much cheaper PC to play it on much higher settings seems a bit more attractive to me.
DirectX 10 on a mac you say? That whole Windows only thing is kinda hard when it comes to having a mac, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Macs are overpriced, and I can build a Intel computer and then install cracked software from apple on it for a 1/4th the price. Oh, and Leopard has had more security updates than Vista has ever had so far per week.
So yeah, have fun with that.
January 13, 2008 at 9:05 am
hello, i read the posts because i was trying to find out if the most graphically demanding pc games could run on a mac running windows xp/vista using BootCamp (obviously)…and i came to the conclusion that yes, games will run as smoothly than on a pc.
example 1: pro evolution soccer 2008 is graphically demanding (if u want ur replays to run as smoothely as they would on a tv or the game play to never be chppy)…i ran it on a pc with 256mb graphic card, and it was ok “ok”, a bit choppy in the gameplay, and the replays lagged…i played it on a macbook pro, 125mb graphic card, and it was SMOOTHER, and the game was played in high res and 1024xwhatever it normallly is…
and by the way, i bet u anything, that if you run anything, game, 3d manipulation programs on windows, on a mac with windows, or just a mac, on the new mac pro 8 processors, will litterally rape the BEST PC (if that exists)…dude 3.0GHz x 8 + 1.5GB ram on LEOPARD….?? come on…PC´s, run home to Mr.Gates…if you don´t believe me, look at the benchmark testing
January 13, 2008 at 9:23 am
>3.0GHz x 8 + 1.5GB ram on LEOPARD
Why only 1.5GB RAM? Why not have 32GB of RAM? It can handle it.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/design.html
January 15, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Geez. I cant believe how many ppl are trying so desperately to convince
everyone that Macs can run games better. All I can do is laugh.
I own a Mac, a PC and a Linux box, both the Mac and PC relatively high end. Vista runs Crysis reasonably, WinXP struggles a bit with it though (probably because XP dont support dual core properly).
The Mac just dont cut it when it comes to gaming. Most of the games that I have ever tried (available for Windows and Mac) simply work better on the PC
Suffice to say that both my Mac and PC platforms are relatively equal when it comes to specs.
So basically if u want to game on a mac, you need WAY better specs than the same game on a PC.
The simple fact of the matter is that Macs are not geared for gaming, but are better at multimedia processing (Audio/Video editing, Sequencing etc) and other work than PCs.
Anyone who thinks that Macs can run games better than PCs will quickly be left behind in the gaming world.
Simple fact is: If you want to play games, get a PC. If you want productivity, get a Mac.
If you want the best of both worlds,
THEN GET BOTH!
And if you like to tinker - get a linux machine too.
Quit trying to justify your inability to afford 2 high end platforms by trashing the one you do not have. Go spend some money, get both, and quit whining.
Both have their uses, as does linux.
Get over it.
January 25, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Companies should start developing more games for higher end computers, particularly tru64 UNIX. I couldn’t think of a better machine for a person that had nothing better to do than spend all their time and their entire life savings playing video games than an HP Alphaserver GS1280 with a whole rack mount full of some insane graphics cards, 512 GIGS of memory, a cabinet full of raided 15,000 rpm SCSI drives, and 64 EV7 processors. Plus, they could rent out logical partitions of the machine to people who wanted to play and use their own computers as dummy terminals.
January 29, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Well,Macs are made to make,Pcs are made to play…it always running the same routine..(But i haven’t try on the bootcamp yet though)…Pcs never beat Mac on makings gigantic stuff and Macs hardly defeat PCs in games (especially Alienware)…However,the games run on my mac were fine enough…unless you want to be a pro-gamer,owne a Alienware then.
January 30, 2008 at 10:17 am
Ok i am a used-to-be hardcore gamer turned mac lover, and just want to state to all that no matter what you do, PC’s will always run games better until programmers specifically design games for each OS. it’s just a fact. I am however in love w/ mac and will never turn back. Crysis plays good w/ about 30 fps on medium-high settings on my MBP w/ 2.6 ghz duo, a 4 gigs of ram, 8600 gt, and a 7600 rpm hard drive upgrade (which is a MUST for gaming), but a pc system will probably still run that a lot better. we’re not talking hardcore gamers here, of course they use pc’s ppl are just trying to find out whether or not the game will play on a mac. macs do a ton of other things about 10 times better than pcs and w/ out the problems, but just not games. if you want to run games on mac you can definitely do it, it will run totally fine, but you just have to spend a lot more money. love it or hate it, apple is a better system all around, but nothings perfect.
February 5, 2008 at 8:16 pm
i use a mac if you had a mac pro id say yea you would have a sick gaming computer imac hell no here is some sepcs of a new mac . keep in mind mac is the same as a pc assholes its just using a diffrent operating system mac might be a new option for gaming down the road.
The mac pro is made for video and audio editing. Well and among other things its all personal prefrence and for most windows users or pc people they put lower grade intel chips in most dell hp etc mac has the highest performance intel chip on the market look it up at intel.com .
these specs show alone there power.
Apple Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8-core Desktop Computer Features:
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
2GB (2 x 1GB) - 8 Slots total for max 32GB
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s - 3 Additional open bays
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB (Two dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Ultrathin Aluminum Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
February 5, 2008 at 8:24 pm
oh and to add on in most custom built pcs also you cant get a high grade intel chip unless you spend some dough and most pcs dont hold as much ram as a mac its kinda retarted may be more expensive but you get what you pay for . Thats the best way to put a mac. sorry left a part out
February 9, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I don’t know, but it sounds to me that the Mac Pro is more of a server than a pc, or sorry “Mac”, so of course you can support 32 gb of memory, and two processors. Also, I know the new macs can support 4 way sli/crossfire, which is a major waste of money. But if you have money to waste, buy a Mac. If not, buy a pc. You really only need at most 2-way sli. My pc can run Crysis at around 25-30 on high with no AA. Good luck running Crysis on your Macs. Also, if you try gaming on your mac don’t get the ATI 2600 because it is no where close to the 8800. Did I mention I got my 8800gt before it was offered on Macs.
Specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
512 mb Nvidia 8800gt
3GB of memory
400 gb 7200 rpm Hard drive
20 in lcd monitor
DVD-DL burner.
Only $1300.
I believe a semi-equivalent mac is $2600.
February 9, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I retract my previous comment. An equivalent mac with ONE 2.8 Xeon, 2 gb of memory, and a 320 gb hard drive costs $3148.00
February 9, 2008 at 7:46 pm
You can build a Honda Civic that can run mid-10s for less than a Ferrari too. Guess which I’d rather have?
February 23, 2008 at 2:01 pm
null and void? I’m a flight simulation nut and I will never use a crapantosh. FSX now optimizes the use of DX10 and I will never switch back. The only advances mac ever had in gaming were copying over games for windows. Innovation my ass.
February 23, 2008 at 2:20 pm
>flight simulation nut and I will never use a crapantosh
Can’t blame you there except for the imature crapantosh comment.
>FSX now optimizes the use of DX10
Wow. Microsoft’s game, just now is able to use Microsoft’s DirectX 10, with Microsoft’s Vista? It’s only over a year old. Microsoft’s game should’ve been able to use Microsoft’s API for Microsoft’s Operating system out of the box and you call Macs crap?!?!
>The only advances mac ever had in gaming were copying over games for windows. Innovation my ass.
LOL! Mac’s are not for gaming. Plain and simple. Everyone knows that. But you’re telling me that only games=innovation? LOL. Well since you’re such an innovation lover why don’t you go play with your Zune.
February 24, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Vistasucks.
Your telling him his comment “crapintosh” is immature, yet your name that shows up on every post says ‘vistasucks’. No one. No person with any intelligents would ever take anything you post seriously with an open bias like that.
February 24, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Thepoudone:
All I’m saying is it’s immature to say Crapintosh as opposed to saying Macs are Crap.
You don’t hear me calling it Windows Pissta do you?
March 9, 2008 at 10:06 am
@ Alan
I somehow doubt you are a flight simulation nut because you are using FSX. FSX is a toy compared to X-plane. X-plane is the only simulator to get FAA approval and uses blade element theory. If it ain’t using blade element theory (fsx) then the feedback and responsiveness ain’t all that realistic. So yeah go and boot up FSX on your crappy Vista machine, it will probably ask you 10 times if you wanna play the game when trying to open it, but yeah feel secure in the fact that you are awesome.
April 11, 2008 at 7:55 am
i am very interested in this post because i hav been looking around for a powerful computer and the best i found was the mac pro.
however i really wanted a computer for gaming but this means i can play these games its fine.
April 30, 2008 at 10:06 pm
No matter whether you use windows, OS X, or any distribution of Linux, the hard ware is all the same. especially since Macs now run on Intel processors. The difference is how each operating systems puts that hardware to use. With that being said. Each operating system has its own individual strengths and weaknesses. some OS’s are better at some things and bad at others. Use what works for you and PLEASE STOP BAD MOUTHING SOME ONE FOR USING A OPERATING SYSTEM OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU USE!!!!!!!
What computer do I prefer to use? The one that fits my needs.