options for a Mac and PC setup

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Corporal79

Gawd
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
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Here's my situation, I'm making the move to Mac as a primary computer for email, surfing and all day to day tasks. I do however still want to game so I decided to build machine dedicated to gaming. I'm having some trouble deciding the best way to set this up and need some guidance.

I initially was thinking of getting a 27" iMac to keep my desk clean and no wire clutter and all that but I don't think I can connect my gaming pc to the iMac and use it as a display, is that accurate?

If the above is true then I was thinking of getting a new mac mini and using that connect to a Dell u2412m monitor and then connecting the PC to the Dell monitor as well and then simply switching inputs depending on if I want to game or surf/email whatever.

I'm definitely in the planning stages and want to get it all sorted out before buying the hardware. I had a thought of using dual u2412m's for when I'm using the mac mini and have the PC connected only to one of those for pc gaming.

I guess the first question is if the 27" iMac can be used as a display for the PC? I'm open to suggestions on how to set this up.
 
The new 27" iMac has a couple thunderbolt connections, for additional high resolution displays and a mini display port connection for outgoing video, not incoming. These are used to add additional monitors to your setup, so you wont be able to use the display for your PC.

Get a Mac Pro or a Mac Mini and a cinema display...then you could easily switch between the two. Cinema displays are sweeeeeeetttttt.
 
Will the new mac mini drive dual 24" monitors? or will it choke or be slow when say watching a movie on one monitor and surfing on the other?

if the general thoughts are that it will be fine I'll pull the trigger. Now I just need to choose the right mac mini model.
 
The mac mini has a thunderbolt port and an hdmi port...so I dont see there being an issue with you running multiple things on dual monitors. I've never known an Apple product to "choke" when doing simple things like watching movies or surfing the web.

As for the different models, I feel that the $799 model with the 2.5 ghz processor and 4 GB of ram is worth the $200 upgrade from the base model. The mac mini is a pretty solid product. Apple definitely improved it along the way.
 
Also, why not consider what I decided to do. Build your gaming rig, and then get a macbook pro or macbook air and connect it to an external. You'll get MORE than enough power to do what you want, and if you decide you want to do it on a couch or a coffee shop, you'll have that option as well.
 
ranviper said:
Also, why not consider what I decided to do. Build your gaming rig, and then get a macbook pro or macbook air and connect it to an external. You'll get MORE than enough power to do what you want, and if you decide you want to do it on a couch or a coffee shop, you'll have that option as well.
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x2

I have a 15" MBP into my gaming rig monitor...works like a charm
 
ranviper said:
Also, why not consider what I decided to do. Build your gaming rig, and then get a macbook pro or macbook air and connect it to an external. You'll get MORE than enough power to do what you want, and if you decide you want to do it on a couch or a coffee shop, you'll have that option as well.
Click to expand...

becand75 said:
x2

I have a 15" MBP into my gaming rig monitor...works like a charm
Click to expand...
Same here. I have a cable running from my MBP into my 3008's DP port. Works great when I'm not on my desktop/gaming PC.
 
ranviper said:
Also, why not consider what I decided to do. Build your gaming rig, and then get a macbook pro or macbook air and connect it to an external. You'll get MORE than enough power to do what you want, and if you decide you want to do it on a couch or a coffee shop, you'll have that option as well.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm going to be doing. Just deciding on the MBP or Air. But this does seem to be the simplest option.
 
The MBP is a solid laptop. But the Air is hella thin. You don't have any idea how thin it is until you actually hold it. And that thinness comes at a cost...the MBP has functionality that the Air just doesnt have.
 
I already have a laptop my work issued me and it's fine if I need a real laptop for things otherwise I use my iPad2 for simple surfing.

This desk sits in front of an interior wall in the basement and on the other side is a bakers rack which my untangle box, and my xenserver box sits on. I will only be running video cables through the wall for a super clean setup on the desk side of the wall.

the mini would be simply for surfing and email and when I want to rock games I'll switch inputs and game away :D
 
Corporal79 said:
I already have a laptop my work issued me and it's fine if I need a real laptop for things otherwise I use my iPad2 for simple surfing.

This desk sits in front of an interior wall in the basement and on the other side is a bakers rack which my untangle box, and my xenserver box sits on. I will only be running video cables through the wall for a super clean setup on the desk side of the wall.

the mini would be simply for surfing and email and when I want to rock games I'll switch inputs and game away :D
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've got it figured out my man. Good luck!
 
Sounds good, but I do have a questions. If you have an iPad and a laptop both capable of doing what you want the mini to do, why not just get a cable to hook up one to the monitor and save a few hundred bucks. And the gaming rig will also be just as capable for browsing the web, etc. I mean I use it for that when I'm not on the go... Save money?

The money you save on the mini could even go to better parts for the gaming rig.
 
If you're building a gaming rig for that single purpose then you might as well go the whole hog and go for a 3-screen setup. I have a 580SLI rig with nVidia surround and a MacMini plugged into a side screen via Display Port. You can just leave the Minis on permanently, they wake instantly from network prompts and use very little power in sleep mode. I use it for all the home media stuff and just game on the PC. Most of my browsing and e-mail is done on the iPad these days as it's so portable.
 
ranviper said:
Sounds good, but I do have a questions. If you have an iPad and a laptop both capable of doing what you want the mini to do, why not just get a cable to hook up one to the monitor and save a few hundred bucks. And the gaming rig will also be just as capable for browsing the web, etc. I mean I use it for that when I'm not on the go... Save money?

The money you save on the mini could even go to better parts for the gaming rig.
Click to expand...

Good questions.

I certainly don't need two machines when the gaming rig I'm planning on building will be severe overkill for email and surfing but I'm just changing things around with my setup. I decided to change it up to Mac hardware awhile ago, around the same time I got my iPhone4 and iPad2. I'd like to make the jump to Mac completely but I just can't cut the strings to any gaming that I'd want to do that isn't available for Mac.

I've been using dual monitors in my work and personal life for 5+ years and I'd hate to go back to a single display (at least I feel I would hate it) by going with a 27" iMac and possibly installing Windows through boot camp. If I went that route I could just reboot into Windows and game but I don't know if the iMac can hand gaming at that resolution with maxed out settings like I'd want to experience.

I'm currently using two 21.5 Dell monitors and I thought dual 27's might be too much and dual 24's would be a nice place in between. I thought that getting a mini would put me into OS X for daily computing for the least amount of money and then I'd have the gaming rig to back up my gaming habits.

Maybe I'm wrong which is why I'm here to help me think it through before splurging :D

maybe I'm also underestimating the gaming capabilities of the 27" iMac?
 
Whilst this may not be the solution you're after, this is my iMac (not 2011) and PC setup:

iMac and Dell U2711. miniDP to DP cable from iMac to Dell. My PC is connected to both the iMac and U2711 via HDMI. I can have two screens for my mac and my PC via input switching. :) Though, I only use my PC for gaming, so I barely use target display mode. About gaming on a mac, it's superb. Don't underestimate it, at all. Even via Parallels, I play most high-end games, and if Parallels doesn't support it… You could go bootcamp. (When I go to the PC:p)
 
I'm pretty happy with a mini and pc on a kvm with a 27" ACD. I'd like to ditch the mini and just use the air but wiring everything up sucks until some sort of thunderbolt dock comes along with one cable to rule them all (and run to a box to plug and hide everything else under/behind the desk). The magsafe being on the opposite side from the thunderbolt or mini-dp is also a real pita.

I can't agree that gaming under parallels or even via bootcamp is sufficient. I like being able to max my settings out at 2560x1440 and that won't be possible with the GPU options in the iMac.
 
Corporal79 said:
Good questions.

I certainly don't need two machines when the gaming rig I'm planning on building will be severe overkill for email and surfing but I'm just changing things around with my setup. I decided to change it up to Mac hardware awhile ago, around the same time I got my iPhone4 and iPad2. I'd like to make the jump to Mac completely but I just can't cut the strings to any gaming that I'd want to do that isn't available for Mac.

I've been using dual monitors in my work and personal life for 5+ years and I'd hate to go back to a single display (at least I feel I would hate it) by going with a 27" iMac and possibly installing Windows through boot camp. If I went that route I could just reboot into Windows and game but I don't know if the iMac can hand gaming at that resolution with maxed out settings like I'd want to experience.

I'm currently using two 21.5 Dell monitors and I thought dual 27's might be too much and dual 24's would be a nice place in between. I thought that getting a mini would put me into OS X for daily computing for the least amount of money and then I'd have the gaming rig to back up my gaming habits.

Maybe I'm wrong which is why I'm here to help me think it through before splurging :D

maybe I'm also underestimating the gaming capabilities of the 27" iMac?
Click to expand...

Well consider with the new thunderbolt ports on the macbook pros you can daisy chain multiple monitors. And, as far as I know, the iMacs have been handling gaming very well.
 
Ankle said:
I'd like to ditch the mini and just use the air but wiring everything up sucks until some sort of thunderbolt dock comes along with one cable to rule them all
Click to expand...

The ACD is now the Apple Thunderbolt Display.. has 'docking station-like' features, everything passes through 1 thunderbolt cable and hooks up into the back of the display. I would not count on an actual docking station from Apple.
 
Morazl said:
The ACD is now the Apple Thunderbolt Display.. has 'docking station-like' features, everything passes through 1 thunderbolt cable and hooks up into the back of the display. I would not count on an actual docking station from Apple.
Click to expand...

I'm not and sadly that won't work with a PC or my KVM. I'm hoping someone will make a break out box from thunderbolt to ethernet, usb and displayport. Intel demonstrated many such adapters prior to release.
 
Personally, I'd go the Mac Mini route, ESPECIALLY if you plan on only using it to browse the web and such. Just pick up a monitor that includes at least one DVI input (for the gaming PC) and one HDMI input (for the Mac Mini), and you'll be set!

You could quite possibly find a KVM switch that works with both Macs and PCs, which would make the setup that much sweeter.
 
Im looking at this same kind of setup. What kind of cable would I have to have? I'm using an old 30 inch apple cinema display right now. Dont I need some sort of dual dvi?
 
Guys help me out here. I have my pc connected to my Apple 30 inch display. I want to incorporate the mini in this setup. What cable am I looking for to have both connected. Do I need a dual/dvi? Any ideas. Thank-you.
 
Well it seems you only get the full resolution from the mini using Thunderbolt, not DVI. So my hunt continues.

Correction. Display-port adapter supports full resolution. HDMI does not.
 
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Switching inputs on the monitor is easy.

But how will you switch where the keyboard and mouse are connected? Unplug from PC to Mac, and vice versa each time? Or is there a better way.

Same goes for hooking up a laptop to your desktop's monitor. How will you redirect the kb/mouse on your desk to the laptop?

I'm really looking for advice/ideas here.
 
Well how are you actually going to do the connections to the monitor?...I'm not looking to always unplug one to connect the other. I'm looking for both to be connected always and just turn one or the other on.
Shouldn't you be able to use bluetooth mouse and keyboard for both?
 
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Let's assume the monitor has two inputs, and you just switch between them with a button.

I want to find out a good way to switch the desktop keyboard & mouse between two computers easily. Any ideas?
 
Okay, I suppose using a Bluetooth wireless keyboard solves that problem. Thanks for the idea!

What about the mouse? Right now I have a Logitech G9 and I don't see myself using anything but a high-end laser wired USB mouse. But I guess 1 usb device isn't that hard to switch around.
 
I just got another idea. You could plug in your keyboard and mouse to the monitor's USB ports. Then you just have to reconnect 1 USB cable from the monitor to desired computer/laptop.

Basically it's using a USB hub that's built into the monitor. I suppose this can work, but only if it doesn't introduce a lot of latency to the mouse.
 
I'd put all the money into a single machine, and use boot camp when you need Windows. If you are comfortable building your own computer (and have some cash burning a hole in your pocket), then go with a mac pro that has the basics you need and you can upgrade the memory, video card, and storage on your own.

I recently boot camped my macbook so that I could install my games and CS4 (I have the Windows version because my desktop PC is many times faster then my macbook). After using the laptop with OSX and Vista, I ended up deleting the OSX partition and extending the Vista one to fill the drive :p. For some retarded reason, it runs faster with Vista than it did with 10.5.8.

Edit: I just saw the last few posts about inputs. I have my keyboard and mouse connected to my monitor right now for that very reason. I haven't noticed any input latency. The only downside I've found is that when I turn my monitor off, the USB ports turn off too, and my mouse needs to charge off the USB. Also, my PC doesn't seem to think there is a keyboard attached until Windows loads so I have to change the plugs around when I need to get into the BIOS. The Mac works fine with the keyboard even before the OS loads.
 
OP: If your signature is accurate, you're already basically good to go. Hackintosh would save you some cash and give you the results you're looking for. Not sure many realize it's a pretty straight-forward process if you have/pick the right components. Kakewalk ( http://kakewalk.se ) literally makes it a cake walk! Also check your components against http://wiki.osx86project.org My primary setup has been a Hackintosh for the past 2 years, best decision I ever made. You might be able to just buy a new hd, dual boot, and be good to go! :)
 
DrCool:

I am also thinking of doing the same. Will start off with converting an old Q6600 Dell. Lets see how it goes.
 
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