Gaming PC

I have very little information for Macs, but as far as I know, Bootcamp is essentially just dualbooting your computer with two different operating systems (OSX + Windows), letting you choose which one you want to start your computer with whenever it powers on. Your performance would be no better or worse than single booting with the regular Mac OS, but you would get access to DirectX, which is what really limits Mac gaming.

As for a new computer for gaming specifically, are you looking for a desktop or laptop? If it's a laptop, I've been using a Gateway Nv5909H and aside from a few minor issues, it works great for games. Only thing I've encountered that has problems running is the very last parts of Dragon Age, but that's more a problem with the engine not being meant to handle rendering so much at once.

I'd say give bootcamp a try first since it's free, you'll just need to pick up a copy of Windows to install (OEM versions of 7 run about $100).  Try out some games and see how the performance is.  If they're absolutely horrible, then think about spending money on buying a new system.  NewEgg is running some good deals through the holiday season, so you could probably pick up a sweet combo for cheap.

If you decide to build a system (most bang for your buck), let me know and I can assist with figuring out what parts you might need.

I haven't used it for gaming, but I have used it for demanding applications at work (scientific programming) without issue. I anticipate that gaming would be fine, as long as you have a decent graphics card that supports both Mac and Windows. It is worth doing a google check on any specific card before purchasing.

I love Macs but I couldn't afford to get the beast of a gaming PC I have now as a Mac. This is an Alienware Aurora 3 and here is what Dell says is in it. I have a 24 inch HD monitor and I love it. Wish I could have more action bars now when playing WoW. I don't much like Windows 7, it does some annoying things and Microsoft rearranged all their programs - they call that an upgrade. The Alienware line were the only Dells I could customise like I wanted. The videocard is an NVIDIA, for example.

One caution - this is one big CPU! It is 2-ft deep and that is more than most desks. It also weighs a ton. I couldn't lift and carry it (safely.) It took my brother and father to push the giant (and also heavy) box up the stairs. Cost was 2400 with added software. I suggest getting the full warranty (not at initial purchase, wait a bit and you will get offered a deal.) No way would I crack the case on this beast.

I didn't get the fancy keyboards, controllers, router and other nifty gaming crap. I am asking for MW3 for Christmas so I curious about how The Beast handles that kind of game. WoW is spectacular on the medium garphics settings.

Hope this helps.

I highly recommend a "gamming pc" - desktop, not a laptop for that matter.  I currently have 6 computers at my house, and I've previously done the "gaming laptop" thing.  Getting a customizable windows desktop is really the best (performace/cost) for gaming.  There really is no such thing as buying your computer and then being done with it - just as WoW comes out with an expansion every 2-3 years, every 2-3 years every part in your PC will slowly march its way to obsolecense.  I'd say that part of buying any computer should be planning for upgrades.  Of course you don't have to - you can just wait 3 years (longer if you're OK with playing on medium/low settings), buy a new one and scrap the old one.  If you go with a laptop, that's your only option regardless.  But if you're trying to do middle-high end gaming, over the long term, planning on upgrades is a much cheaper option than buying new every few years. 

I think the best way to plan for upgrades is to build it yourself - it's really not that hard.  But I know that's just not for everyone.  The days of saving 1/2 price by building your own are pretty much gone anyway, because there's a few decent resellers who will essentially do that for you and their rates are even decent.  (cyberpowerpc, ibuypower, etc). 

If you're looking for something right now - here's the spec's I'd recommend.

CPU: Intel i5-2400/2500k

RAM: 8GB DDR3-1600

Video: AMD 6870 or better or nVidia 560 Ti or better. (keep in mind 7000 AMD GPUs are due out any week now and nVidia 600 GPU's will be out just after the new year).

Hard Drive: SSD 128 GB for OS + Games.  You can put all your outher files on a larger regular old hard drive as needed.

Power Supply:  500 watt, 80+ Bronze certified (or better) if you plan on sticking with a single GPU.  You can go up to 750 watt if you want the option of supporting multiple video cards.

I know lots of people like to look into multiple video cards, but then you need to make sure that your motherboard and power supply can handle it.  Also note that WoW does not work well with multiple video cards - in many cases people report getting worse performance with 2x cards than they do if they only have 1 installed.  Most other games do better at this than WoW does, but for the most part you're better off spending all of your video card budget on a single, high-end video card, instead of splitting the cost between 2x med-high video cards. 

That is a lot to digest, time to do some thinking and eventually shopping...and thanks for all the ideas!