WoW on a Mac

[raynman]

I am looking for a Mac for my son for when he heads off to college in a couple of months. He also plays WoW and I was curious as to what type of Macs the players here are using. I would just get a Mac Pro, but I am guessing it might be a bit large for a college dorm room in addition to his Mac being more powerful than mine, but then again his iPod is probably more powerful than my PowerMac 9600 .

Thanks in advance for the input.

[rokku]

I'm running an iMac (one of the white ones from 2-3 years ago), and it runs WoW pretty well. One of the new iMac's will run it even better, and they look nice too.

Mind you, I also used to run WoW on my 3-year-old macbook and it was fine

[silverhawk11]

You should give him a notebook with a nice pen and say "Here, you'll need this for your homework!" :-). All jokes aside, I've never owned a Mac so your bet is as good as mine! Hopefully Kamchak will leave a response as he's pretty well known for using his Mac with WoW.

[nekrotik]

Hey first post but I guess you have to start somewhere right I currently use a Mac Pro that I have had completely apart already w/ 10GB of RAM, 2.5TB hard drive space, and ATX 512MB card. That replaced a Quicksilver 2002 that was fully decked out by me also, but on to your question. If you want him to have some portability, then a macbook or macbook pro is the way to go. Pro's come in 17in. now but very pricey (2400 bucks), while regular macbooks are around $1000 but alot more limited features. If he doesn't need a laptop you could get a 27in. iMac for about $2000 with more than enough power for WoW and everything else and still way under Mac Pro prices. Also, most colleges now have Apple Education programs where he can get a pretty good discount and payment plans as long as he is a full time student (got me an upgrade from a Mac Classic to a PowerMac 7100/66). Sorry for wall o' text and hopefully that helps. Good luck.

[isvein]

Hi

Im an mac user, and I say if it have to be portable, MacBookPro 15" (or17", but its so expensive and big)

I say 15", becuase it has an way better GPU than the 13" MBP and macbook.

If it dosent have to be portable, I say iMac.
I use the model before the wide iMacs (the latest 24" model) and the new ones are realy good.
If you can afford it, I say the 27" i5 or i7, they got the same GPU, and the CPU are real better than the core2 on the lower models.

[raynman]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Portability is not an issue, as he is planning on using his Asus netbook with an SSD to carry between classes without having to worry about running a battery down halfway through the day.

I am going to check out a local Apple store early next week after the new Iphone hype settles down a bit (those crazy kids and their new fangled toys), I am just looking for options from a non-sales perspective.

[isvein]

Then my best advice is to go for an iMac.
The none-portable macs really gives most for the bucks, great computers, and in 27" he can have as much as 16GB RAM (don't buy that from Apple, WAAAY to expensive)

You can always go for an Mac Pro too, but as I see it, for the use you tell, its waste of money.

Good hunting

[nahaz]

I run a 2 year old iMac 24 inch 3.06Ghz with nVidia 8800GS

WOW runs fine on my computer. In fact it runs better than my wife's WinTel Box.

In Dalaran FPS is around 30 fps but in dungeons and outside it sits easily on 60 fps. Might bog down a little when flying over WinterGrasp if the BG is on but that's normal on any box I have come across.

Seriously consider a newer i5 or i7 iMac. They are just magic to work and play on. I also have the last of the core 2 duo MacBook Pro 13 inch models. WoW plays fine on it but it does get a bit hot after long periods of play especially on the left side.

[macanes]

I'm on a 27" iMac I picked up in Feb for $1922, 2gb RAM, mid-level processor (at that time), with a video card upgrade. Love it for WoW.
But, I also use the 15" MacBook I got my wife for Christmas 2006. Works fine, too. Running 10.4 on the laptop and Snow Leopard on the iMac.
The 27" screen makes it wonderful - no doubt. But, equally important, the big screen makes paperwork (like homework) MUCH easier on the eyes.

[Kamchak]

I have been running WoW on my 2 year old MacBook without any problems at all.

[drcoolj]

I have 2 macs
Macbook Pro 15' 3 years old and a brand new Imac 27" with Quad Core i7 & 8GB ram.

Its plays amazing on both

[nekrotik]

Hopefully this link works, but you can buy through Apple Education program and get free 8GB iPod Touch. Even more incentive and hey you could keep the new one if you don't want his to be better than yours

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/cam...-bts2010-00087

[dbrownson]

I'm using a Mac and I'm also Mac certified. Basically any Mac within the last few years will be able to handle WoW just fine. The older Macbooks might struggle a bit and some if not most will have a constant fan noise. If you had a choice I would recommend either a Macbook/Macbook Pro or an iMac. With iMac and Macbook pro being the best choice due to the better video card.

I'm running it off of my Mac Mini Server and it handles it just fine.

[raynman]

I have actually entertained the thought of using a Mac Mini as a HTPC. I have heard they run pretty darn quiet.

Unfortunately, if I end up buying just one Mac his will have to be better than mine, handing down a 13 year old PowerMac for him to use at school would just be wrong.

[Kamchak]

Unfortunately, if I end up buying just one Mac his will have to be better than mine, handing down a 13 year old PowerMac for him to use at school would just be wrong.

The words of a loving parent.