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...Or you could put together a proper gaming machine for the same price.

simias 13y ago
This website is called hacker news you know. That's a pretty cool hack. Although I grant you that lately it was more "NSA circlejerk news", so it's an easy mistake to make.
pizza 13y ago
I didn't see where it said they did this for cost-effectiveness
jonny_eh 13y ago
Why do something interesting when you can do something boring?
- farinasa 13y ago
  Common doesn't always mean boring.
- glogla 13y ago
  Of course. I agree that it's cool hack. It's just not very practical.
mosselman 13y ago
I am a developer and I prefer developing on my macbook by FAR over windows and I prefer it a lot over Ubuntu et al. Right now I still have my desktop PC taking up space and clutering my desk just so that I can play a few games. I'd rather sell it and for less than what I get for the whole thing buy a thunderbolt GPU and game that way. Your argument is invalid and only considered from a 'I want to game' point of view, not from a "I prefer a Mac and would like to play PC games without a 'proper gaming machine'" point of view.
- bryanlarsen 13y ago
  With this solution you have a PC power supply + a GPU + a bunch of adapters and cables. This probably takes up as much space as a small case would. This solution also only works in Windows. So you still have to set up and maintain a separate "gaming machine", aka a Windows partition on your Mac.
- infinita740 13y ago
  I don't think it's a really great idea, games take a lot of disk space and you must have a windows partition. The macbook air storage is a bit small imo. Plus you don't want to play on a 13 inches screen, let's be realistic. Not to mention that "clutering" desk with a full keyboard, a good mouse and a bigger screen will still be needed.
- mosselman 13y ago
  @bryanlarsen and @infinita740 I don't agree and I think you lack imagination. My computer case is still a lot bigger than such a setup would be. I do agree to an extent with Bryan, saying that one could get a small case and put a computer in there, but then I'd have 2 things to keep up to date (and pay for). My Macbook has 16GB of memory and an i5 processor. My Desktop has an i5 as well and 8GB of memory plus some hard drives, dvd, drive, etc, etc and the GPU. The GPU is the one thing my Mac lacks. So with $250 (according to the article) I can upgrade something that I will have no matter what, my Macbook, since I use it to work on, and get rid of something that I am now forced to have (hobbying aside). @infinita I already have a 'proper' 24inch screen on my desk at home and some Logitech Z5500 speakers and a gaming mouse. I can game using my Macbook's keyboard easily. This will all be there even if I'd get rid of my Desktop. With this 'new' setup I can have just the GPU on my desk, or build some custom casing (cables and adapters be gone) and attach it behind my monitor. I then just plugin the Macbook and boom, instant gaming pleasure. Besides, when companies start building these setups they would grow smaller and more practical. As for windows, that is nothing a small thunderbolt (or USB3) harddrive won't solve. Granted it might be a bit slower than SATA (is that true for thunderbolt as well?), but hard drives are not the main bottleneck in gaming anyway, the GPU, CPU and RAM are still more important. I for one don't even use RAID in my current PC. It is not all ideal, but it still is a lot more ideal than maintaining and upgrading 2 machines and have this huge case standing around just for some GTA V.
x3ro 13y ago
Sure you can. However, I already own a MacBook which I use for everything except gaming, for which I had to buy a PC. As soon as these external GPUs become available commercially, I don't have to buy a separate PC for gaming anymore, just a nice GPU and the case, which actually _is_ more cost effective bottom line, assuming that I need my notebook anyway.
oijaf888 13y ago
You can put together a good gaming machine for $250? That seems a bit low to me but I haven't priced computer parts in a while.
- aroch 13y ago
  Pretty sure they're referring to the cost of the computer + parts...Also, its like $400-500 for parts unless you have a [fairly] recent graphics card just sitting around
- bryanlarsen 13y ago
  The OP costs $250 + GPU + Windows license, and doesn't have a case. It's also quite likely that the OP is also using an external hard disk rather than putting Windows & a few large games on his SSD. If so, $250 can get you a MB/CPU/RAM/PS.
- nobodysfool 13y ago
  Must have forgotten to include the Thunderbolt cable for $29...
- glogla 13y ago
  $250 is too low. But the whole setup with MBA with 512 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and i7 CPU, the GPU and then the $250 in parts is not only enough money for powerful desktop computer, it is enough money for cheaper MBA variant and then powerful desktop computer.
  - baddox 13y ago
    But then you don't have a Macbook Air for when you want a great portable OS X machine with excellent battery life.
    - glogla 13y ago
      You would have Macbook Air, just not one with 512 GB SDD. Of course, from the MBA with 512 GB SSD we can assume the OP has unlimited amount of money :)
aroch 13y ago
And you can still run OSX on it... This is my current setup (minus the drives / SSDs I own already): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn Runs OSX 10.8/10.9, Arch linux and Win7
- TomAnthony 13y ago
  Any caveats on running OS X on this setup? Thanks for sharing, btw. :)
  - aroch 13y ago
    I run 2 x 30" (2560x1440) and 1 21"(1920x1200) IPS monitors (all DVI). I have 3 Samsung 540 256GB SSD, 2 WD RED 7200RPM 3TB drives (with lifetime warranty!) in the slots. 1. You should probably jump up to 750W PSU (Which is what I did in the end) just for a little more wiggle room. I also moved to small footprint RAM to fit under my cooler -- 4 x 8GB sticks. 2. Use Clover not Chameleon as your bootloader. It's EFI emulation is much better and will give a better OOTB experience (less fiddling with Kexts) 3. You might want to use a different mobo, the Realtec989 can behave strangely under OSX (popping / random interrupts) but this only happened on one install for me and a fresh install cleared it up. 4. Win7 will not install if the drive isn't device 1 or if there are HFS drives around (I have no idea why, seeing as it installs fine on my MBP -- there must be some EFI magic). 5. Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung -- make sure to use one of the Trim Enablers on the OSX side of things. 6. Don't OC the graphics card unless you're prepared to do some debugging under all OSes you plan on running. 7. OC in increments for the CPU -- test under all OSes before ratcheting up 8. Don't use Win8 with HFS drives, it does stupid shit to their metadata and headers. 9. I didn't bother setting up WiFi since my apartment is wired, but it shouldn't be too hard. Use the included wireless card and there are drivers out there that are confirmed to work.
    - imissmyjuno 13y ago
      > Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung Why?
shurcooL 13y ago
Why make a newer smartphone with 2x faster graphics when... you could buy a proper gaming machine for the same price.

This website is called hacker news you know. That's a pretty cool hack. Although I grant you that lately it was more "NSA circlejerk news", so it's an easy mistake to make.

pizza 13y ago

I didn't see where it said they did this for cost-effectiveness

jonny_eh 13y ago

Why do something interesting when you can do something boring?

farinasa 13y ago
Common doesn't always mean boring.
glogla 13y ago
Of course. I agree that it's cool hack. It's just not very practical.

mosselman 13y ago

I am a developer and I prefer developing on my macbook by FAR over windows and I prefer it a lot over Ubuntu et al. Right now I still have my desktop PC taking up space and clutering my desk just so that I can play a few games. I'd rather sell it and for less than what I get for the whole thing buy a thunderbolt GPU and game that way. Your argument is invalid and only considered from a 'I want to game' point of view, not from a "I prefer a Mac and would like to play PC games without a 'proper gaming machine'" point of view.

bryanlarsen 13y ago
With this solution you have a PC power supply + a GPU + a bunch of adapters and cables. This probably takes up as much space as a small case would. This solution also only works in Windows. So you still have to set up and maintain a separate "gaming machine", aka a Windows partition on your Mac.
infinita740 13y ago
I don't think it's a really great idea, games take a lot of disk space and you must have a windows partition. The macbook air storage is a bit small imo. Plus you don't want to play on a 13 inches screen, let's be realistic. Not to mention that "clutering" desk with a full keyboard, a good mouse and a bigger screen will still be needed.
mosselman 13y ago
@bryanlarsen and @infinita740 I don't agree and I think you lack imagination. My computer case is still a lot bigger than such a setup would be. I do agree to an extent with Bryan, saying that one could get a small case and put a computer in there, but then I'd have 2 things to keep up to date (and pay for). My Macbook has 16GB of memory and an i5 processor. My Desktop has an i5 as well and 8GB of memory plus some hard drives, dvd, drive, etc, etc and the GPU. The GPU is the one thing my Mac lacks. So with $250 (according to the article) I can upgrade something that I will have no matter what, my Macbook, since I use it to work on, and get rid of something that I am now forced to have (hobbying aside). @infinita I already have a 'proper' 24inch screen on my desk at home and some Logitech Z5500 speakers and a gaming mouse. I can game using my Macbook's keyboard easily. This will all be there even if I'd get rid of my Desktop. With this 'new' setup I can have just the GPU on my desk, or build some custom casing (cables and adapters be gone) and attach it behind my monitor. I then just plugin the Macbook and boom, instant gaming pleasure. Besides, when companies start building these setups they would grow smaller and more practical. As for windows, that is nothing a small thunderbolt (or USB3) harddrive won't solve. Granted it might be a bit slower than SATA (is that true for thunderbolt as well?), but hard drives are not the main bottleneck in gaming anyway, the GPU, CPU and RAM are still more important. I for one don't even use RAID in my current PC. It is not all ideal, but it still is a lot more ideal than maintaining and upgrading 2 machines and have this huge case standing around just for some GTA V.

x3ro 13y ago

Sure you can. However, I already own a MacBook which I use for everything except gaming, for which I had to buy a PC. As soon as these external GPUs become available commercially, I don't have to buy a separate PC for gaming anymore, just a nice GPU and the case, which actually _is_ more cost effective bottom line, assuming that I need my notebook anyway.

oijaf888 13y ago

You can put together a good gaming machine for $250? That seems a bit low to me but I haven't priced computer parts in a while.

aroch 13y ago
Pretty sure they're referring to the cost of the computer + parts...Also, its like $400-500 for parts unless you have a [fairly] recent graphics card just sitting around
bryanlarsen 13y ago
The OP costs $250 + GPU + Windows license, and doesn't have a case. It's also quite likely that the OP is also using an external hard disk rather than putting Windows & a few large games on his SSD. If so, $250 can get you a MB/CPU/RAM/PS.
nobodysfool 13y ago
Must have forgotten to include the Thunderbolt cable for $29...
glogla 13y ago
$250 is too low. But the whole setup with MBA with 512 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and i7 CPU, the GPU and then the $250 in parts is not only enough money for powerful desktop computer, it is enough money for cheaper MBA variant and then powerful desktop computer.
- baddox 13y ago
  But then you don't have a Macbook Air for when you want a great portable OS X machine with excellent battery life.
  - glogla 13y ago
    You would have Macbook Air, just not one with 512 GB SDD. Of course, from the MBA with 512 GB SSD we can assume the OP has unlimited amount of money :)

aroch 13y ago

And you can still run OSX on it... This is my current setup (minus the drives / SSDs I own already): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn Runs OSX 10.8/10.9, Arch linux and Win7

TomAnthony 13y ago
Any caveats on running OS X on this setup? Thanks for sharing, btw. :)
- aroch 13y ago
  I run 2 x 30" (2560x1440) and 1 21"(1920x1200) IPS monitors (all DVI). I have 3 Samsung 540 256GB SSD, 2 WD RED 7200RPM 3TB drives (with lifetime warranty!) in the slots. 1. You should probably jump up to 750W PSU (Which is what I did in the end) just for a little more wiggle room. I also moved to small footprint RAM to fit under my cooler -- 4 x 8GB sticks. 2. Use Clover not Chameleon as your bootloader. It's EFI emulation is much better and will give a better OOTB experience (less fiddling with Kexts) 3. You might want to use a different mobo, the Realtec989 can behave strangely under OSX (popping / random interrupts) but this only happened on one install for me and a fresh install cleared it up. 4. Win7 will not install if the drive isn't device 1 or if there are HFS drives around (I have no idea why, seeing as it installs fine on my MBP -- there must be some EFI magic). 5. Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung -- make sure to use one of the Trim Enablers on the OSX side of things. 6. Don't OC the graphics card unless you're prepared to do some debugging under all OSes you plan on running. 7. OC in increments for the CPU -- test under all OSes before ratcheting up 8. Don't use Win8 with HFS drives, it does stupid shit to their metadata and headers. 9. I didn't bother setting up WiFi since my apartment is wired, but it shouldn't be too hard. Use the included wireless card and there are drivers out there that are confirmed to work.
  - imissmyjuno 13y ago
    > Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung Why?

shurcooL 13y ago

Why make a newer smartphone with 2x faster graphics when... you could buy a proper gaming machine for the same price.