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DCS on Mac Pro or buy new machine?


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Hi Guys,

 

I don't must have been living under a rock for years as I've only just come across DCS and I'm absolutely stunned with what I'm seeing. It must have been 10+ years ago since I used to avidly play Falcon 4 and seeing all the great game footage of DCS has brought it all back –*and then some!

 

I've been a Mac user for years and I'm hoping to find out if DCS will run on my Mac Pro system if I install a fresh drive to run Windows through bootcamp?

 

System Spec;

 

2 x 2.66 Ghz 6 Core Xeons

32gb 1066 DDR3 RAM

ATI HD 5870

OS X 10.8.2

 

I was tempted to buy a gaming PC, but it would literally just be to play DCS, and the systems I seem to be pricing up cost £800+.*So I thought I'd see if my work machine will do the trick, for the time being at least.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

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That system could probably run it on low to medium settings, however both the CPU and GPU are lacking in power. Of course, you can download DCS World and see how things run in one of the free planes.

 

Also, welcome to the DCS community!


Edited by Sel94
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Thanks Sel, apologies for posting in wrong thread.

 

Can you recommend a pc setup/price that would play the at high(ish) settings? I appreciate it's subjective, but I'm really not familiar with PC systems. Guessing I need a decent i5/i7 and something like a GTX 770 GFX Card?

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An i5 will do for gaming.. i7's are more workstation chips.

 

770?? I'm running fine with my 580 chugging along.

 

Well... until EDGE is released..

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

"Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here on the ED forums at 3 'o' clock in the morning, with my reputation. Are they mad.."

https://ko-fi.com/joey45

 

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It's still running in the old engine +10yrs old.

 

The newer engine EDGE would probably use more resources.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

"Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here on the ED forums at 3 'o' clock in the morning, with my reputation. Are they mad.."

https://ko-fi.com/joey45

 

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Hi Chris,

 

I've never had Windows machine as well.I have a iMac 27 (Late 2011).If you have a Mac Pro (Not the macbook pro) you have upgrade chances.I don't know about xeons even if you can upgrade them it will be very costly but your graphic card is upgradable.My advice don't spend your money for gaming pc instead buy a new graphics card.Google it for mac pro (model code) graphics upgrade.Do not hesitate to send me a message.If you need help.

 

Regards.

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I think that EDGE is an important point if you want to build a machine for DCS or that has a focus on DCS. I'm waiting for EDGE to release before I decide on my machine.

 

One thing that probably won't change too much in the near future is DCS's lack of mulitcore friendliness. Going for high GHz on the CPU benefits DCS more than going for more cores/hyperthreading/etc, at least for now.

Awaiting: DCS F-15C

Win 10 i5-9600KF 4.6 GHz 64 GB RAM RTX2080Ti 11GB -- Win 7 64 i5-6600K 3.6 GHz 32 GB RAM GTX970 4GB -- A-10C, F-5E, Su-27, F-15C, F-14B, F-16C missions in User Files

 

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As a recommendation:

 

Purchase a hard drive, and a windows license (note: not OEM license!).

 

Then bootcamp that, and see how well the game works on your existing hardware. (DCS World itself is FREE, including two aircraft.) If at that point you are unsatisfied with current performance, you can THEN start looking at a PC (or new Mac Pro? the new ones look kinda sexy); and re-use the windows license and hard drive on that separate PC. Or see if there are GPU upgrades available on the Mac Pro that solves it for you.

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Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер

Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog

DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules |

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| Life of a Game Tester
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As a recommendation:

 

Purchase a hard drive, and a windows license (note: not OEM license!).

 

Then bootcamp that, and see how well the game works on your existing hardware. (DCS World itself is FREE, including two aircraft.) If at that point you are unsatisfied with current performance, you can THEN start looking at a PC (or new Mac Pro? the new ones look kinda sexy); and re-use the windows license and hard drive on that separate PC. Or see if there are GPU upgrades available on the Mac Pro that solves it for you.

 

 

I believe the Windows-license is tied to the motherboard, not the hard drive, or at least it used to be :/

DCS AJS37 HACKERMAN

 

There will always be bugs. If everything is a priority nothing is.

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I believe the Windows-license is tied to the motherboard, not the hard drive, or at least it used to be :/

 

That's OEM licenses.

 

Standard, store-bought, licenses are not. They are limited to "one machine at a time". They cost more, but carry that freedom (plus direct customer support from Microsoft as opposed to the OEM).

 

(NOTE: "OEM" includes both "OEM" licenses you buy yourself because they're cheaper (making you the "Original Equipment Manufacturer") as well as HP, Dell, etcetera.)

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер

Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog

DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules |

|
| Life of a Game Tester
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I kept upgrading my Mac Pro until I realised the most powerful GPU you could put into it was a GTX570 due to the fact the PCI-E extra power supply comes off the mainboard and not directly from the PSU. Too much power load (>200w) here fries the cu traces on the mainboard (not good!

 

There aren't many external PSU solutions around for graphics cards, so I just found it easier to buy a new i7 machine with a 780Ti and go conventional PC. I still have the Mac Pro but use it as a private gaming server.

 

Having 8 or in your case 12 cores doesn't help with the game per se, but it makes it an awesome back-end server !

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That's OEM licenses.

 

 

 

Standard, store-bought, licenses are not. They are limited to "one machine at a time". They cost more, but carry that freedom (plus direct customer support from Microsoft as opposed to the OEM).

 

 

 

(NOTE: "OEM" includes both "OEM" licenses you buy yourself because they're cheaper (making you the "Original Equipment Manufacturer") as well as HP, Dell, etcetera.)

 

 

I didn't know this. Thanks!

DCS AJS37 HACKERMAN

 

There will always be bugs. If everything is a priority nothing is.

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That's OEM licenses.

 

Standard, store-bought, licenses are not. They are limited to "one machine at a time". They cost more, but carry that freedom (plus direct customer support from Microsoft as opposed to the OEM).

 

(NOTE: "OEM" includes both "OEM" licenses you buy yourself because they're cheaper (making you the "Original Equipment Manufacturer") as well as HP, Dell, etcetera.)

 

It depends on the country! German law (and other countries as well) state, that OEM or not, a Software/OS is licensed to however owns it! After it is first sold to a new owner he is allowed to separate or reinstall as he see fit, given he is not installing it on multiple machines (depending on license terms).

Microsoft wishes it to be different, but they already lost some cases here trying to enforce it and had to accept phone activation of OEM licenses on different hardware.

It is true in the US though. Other laws, there.

CAREFUL! WINDOWS 8 WHEN PREINSTALLED IS LOCKED TO THE HARDWARE AND YOU NO LONGER HAVE AN INSTALL KEY! So better buy Hardware and Windows 8 separate with a key, or try to get Windows 7.

Check the local regulations, if OEM the Microsoft way is an issue in your country!

Shagrat

 

- Flying Sims since 1984 -:pilotfly:

Win 10 | i5 10600K@4.1GHz | 64GB | GeForce RTX 3090 - Asus VG34VQL1B  | TrackIR5 | Simshaker & Jetseat | VIRPIL CM 50 Stick & Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Plus/Apache64 Grip | MFG Crosswind Rudder Pedals | WW Top Gun MIP | a hand made AHCP | 2x Elgato StreamDeck (Buttons galore)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just Sharing

 

Hi All!

 

I always intend to fly sims but never did. So about 4 year ago some friend gave me a Saitek Pro x 52 and Rubber Pedals, all things was stored In my house all this time, last month I've got everything and set it up with my Mac Book Pro 15", everything is working fine, my Mac Books is a middle 2012 with 16G RAM 1600Mhz, i7 2.3 up to 3.3Ghz, NVida GForce 650M 512M and 256G SSD hard drive. Im running Windows 7 Professional with Boot Camp, the only trouble I've faced was the setup of Saitek x 52 pro drivers, even using the latest drivers 64 Bits from saitek.com Ive got a lot of problems. I someone needs, I can help!

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  • 1 month later...

ton1n80,

How well does DCS perform on your MacBook Pro under Windows 7 (64bit)? What sort of frame-rates are you getting in DCS?

Maybe I can help you with the driver issues...

 

Also I'm looking for anyone out there who has tried running DCS on the new Mac Pro (black shinny trash can) under bootcamp Windows. Has anyone out there tried this?

 

What frame-rates do you get from an AMD FirePro D300 or D500 or D700?

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Afaik, you CANNOT bootcamp on an external drive on the new MacPro. I can't on my MBP following the articles on various Mac sites. I might be wrong meanwhile through updates and enhancements given to Maverick's newest builds, but I would check BEFORE you buy a HD for your current Mac just to find out that you can not use it as a Bootcamp drive on newer Macs with Thunderbolt and USB options only to attach the drive compared to internal usage in the older Pro Tower.

 

Also, one has to know about Intel Chip's internalsd ( NorthBridge..) IF you aim ( as you stated ) for the very high end of gaming, like talking 2x or 3 x SLI and what not else ( PCI-E based SSD's, Soundcard PCI-E, RAID cards etc.. )

 

The amount of PCI-Express PIPELINES is NOT THE SAME on i5 and i7, and some i7's have more PCI-E lanes than others, depending on their SOCKET.

 

SO, if you want to built a real brutal calculating monster, you want an i7 just because it will have more PCI-E lanes available for later SLI ( true dual 16x lanes ) and also having a few lanes in spare for fast PCI-E based SSD'd etc..

 

Check your Mobo's manual and you will find a page showing you what uses which lane and IRQ ( at least Asus manuals do list it, I only sell Asus).

As soon as you start packing SLI 2 x or 3 x into the system it directly effects you. Gen3 PCI-E_16x

vid-cards do deliver more if SLIed when they run on true 16x/16x; 16x/16x/16x or 16x/16x/8x.

 

Afair, only the older 2011 Socket delivers it all, made for Workstations. It may be an older chipset with lack of USB3 native support but when it comes to brutal power, I think the 2011er will still outperform the new 1150/Z97 combo. Triple Channel ( 2011 ) compared to Double Channel ( all other but 2011 )..and the Express Lanes... I think it was 64 compared to 48.

 

It aint easy to pick the best overall option... you can think and rethink... it still is a burden to pick the right system.

 

Bit


Edited by BitMaster

Gigabyte Aorus X570S Master - Ryzen 5900X - Gskill 64GB 3200/CL14@3600/CL14 - Asus 1080ti EK-waterblock - 4x Samsung 980Pro 1TB - 1x Samsung 870 Evo 1TB - 1x SanDisc 120GB SSD - Heatkiller IV - MoRa3-360LT@9x120mm Noctua F12 - Corsair AXi-1200 - TiR5-Pro - Warthog Hotas - Saitek Combat Pedals - Asus PG278Q 27" QHD Gsync 144Hz - Corsair K70 RGB Pro - Win11 Pro/Linux - Phanteks Evolv-X 

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ton1n80,

How well does DCS perform on your MacBook Pro under Windows 7 (64bit)? What sort of frame-rates are you getting in DCS?

Maybe I can help you with the driver issues...

 

Also I'm looking for anyone out there who has tried running DCS on the new Mac Pro (black shinny trash can) under bootcamp Windows. Has anyone out there tried this?

 

What frame-rates do you get from an AMD FirePro D300 or D500 or D700?

 

 

 

I might help out with the FPS data, see my MBP specs below.

 

I usually fly @ 1920x1200 with Medium Textures and Low Scenery, no civil traffic, Low water, Heat Blurr enabled ( I love that ! ), MSAA and TSAA disabled, HDR enabled ( normal ), VSYNC disabled,

512k Cockpit.

 

I usually get 30+ FPS but it sometimes goes down to low 20s when there is lots of action.

It also depends on the version and patches and drivers. I use the ones that came with the BC package as they deliver more than the ones I tested that were released afterwards. ( I use the most recent BC package ).

 

Depending on the Version there "SOMETIMES" is the micro stutter, but it is a coming and going with each version of DCS and I have micro stutter with 49 fps, which isn't a performance issue but a code problem I guess.

 

 

The only thing I don't like about gaming DCS on the Mac is the 2 USB only and the LOUD fan and HOT aluminum body upper left corner after a few hours... I think I am shortening the lifespan of this thing by 2 years by just playing DCS almost daily ;)

 

 

I do like gaming on it because I like 1 system to do it all. And it does it, that counts for me.

Work, Private, Music, Videos, Mac-Gaming, Windows-Gaming, etc... all with 2.01 kg ;)))

and best of all...80Watts no more ! cheap to run over a few years when you consider electricity costs a factor.

 

 

Bit

Gigabyte Aorus X570S Master - Ryzen 5900X - Gskill 64GB 3200/CL14@3600/CL14 - Asus 1080ti EK-waterblock - 4x Samsung 980Pro 1TB - 1x Samsung 870 Evo 1TB - 1x SanDisc 120GB SSD - Heatkiller IV - MoRa3-360LT@9x120mm Noctua F12 - Corsair AXi-1200 - TiR5-Pro - Warthog Hotas - Saitek Combat Pedals - Asus PG278Q 27" QHD Gsync 144Hz - Corsair K70 RGB Pro - Win11 Pro/Linux - Phanteks Evolv-X 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks guys, some great feedback and knowledge shared there.

 

I have decided to bite the bullet and buy a gaming pc, configured to run DCS on Max Settings. Any recommendations/info/links on setups?

 

So far I'm looking at;

 

i5 4690K Chip

GTX 770 GPU

Decent cooler

8gb Ram minimum

SSD

 

Also, when is Edge coming out?

 

Appreciate your help with my noobie questions!

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I built this about a month ago. I max everything and get 60-90 FPS (60 on the ground, 80-90 in the air).

 

You could save some money on the PSU and the MoBo to get it closer to 1k if you wanted. I am a mac user who works professionally in the film industry- none of my macs could really run DCS stable at 30 fps or more. I have not tried the new trashcan with dual 700's yet- bear in mind thats a 6k machine though.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cLjvsY

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I built this about a month ago. I max everything and get 60-90 FPS (60 on the ground, 80-90 in the air).

 

You could save some money on the PSU and the MoBo to get it closer to 1k if you wanted. I am a mac user who works professionally in the film industry- none of my macs could really run DCS stable at 30 fps or more. I have not tried the new trashcan with dual 700's yet- bear in mind thats a 6k machine though.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cLjvsY

 

Sounds like we're in quite a similar position Arriflex - I'm an editor/motion designer working on macs, but they just don't cut the mustard for gaming.

 

I've priced up a system at Overclockers for £850. Will this do the trick? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gY7GRdiKr7RV9MazRCVnYxX1U/edit?usp=sharing

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We've got TrashCans MP6.1 at office, the 8c 3Ghz with dual D700 for example.

I ran some tests (it doesn't have Bootcamp) a few weeks ago and concluded that my i7 4790K + Gtx780 is by far superior to that machine under OsX UEFI... For the quarter of the price.

 

The only weakness of the 4790K is its Core count.

4C Highly clocked VS normal Xeon 8C = loss of advance for apps that use 7cores++

 

Buying a mac to play simulations ? never again.

 

Concerning the build... i would not invest in a soundcard, but preferably choose one with ALC1150 + DTS connect available for gaming surround purposes using SPDIF.

GTX 760 seems to be the lower limit, and an i7 with HT gives you an real extra core for 4 logicals. but i'm sure an i5 is good enough anyway.


Edited by Erforce

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