iMac 27 inch question.

Hey everyone, I know I just recently posted a mac question, but I have another. My macbook pro just isnt cutting it for gaming, but i dont want to lose os x because i prefer it when not gaming. How well will this computer fare when gaming in W7 over boot camp?

• 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
• 2560 x 1440 resolution
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 1TB hard drive1
• AMD Radeon HD 6970Mwith 1GB

Also: what would be the difference in performance if i opted for a 3.5 GHZ quad-core intel i7 instead of the 3.1 i5? And how big is the difference from 1gb of VRAM to 2gb?

Lastly, Can i play games at 1080P to get better performance than at 1440P? What is the differences performance-wise?

Thanks so much everybody!

Wouldn't it be alot cheaper to buy a windows 7 based PC for gaming and keep your MacBook for your OSX fix?

Not really, I have a 27 inch monitor that I won't need which I can sell for about $230 and my computer is selling for $1500 - Only a $170 difference to the $1900 amazon price. My laptop is only 3 months old, I used to have an iMac and i think i prefer it to laptops as I find i rarely ever use it out of the house if not on vacation.

Ok well 2560x1440 is substantially higher than 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 so expect the HD 6970M to struggle. Using non-native resolution is an option but the odds are that the image will be blurry :?

Otherwise the hardware you listed is fine. No need to get the i7. You could probably benefit from the 2GB VRAM at 1440p but at 1080p it is less useful.

Ok well 2560x1440 is substantially higher than 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 so expect the HD 6970M to struggle. Using non-native resolution is an option but the odds are that the image will be blurry :?

Otherwise the hardware you listed is fine. No need to get the i7. You could probably benefit from the 2GB VRAM at 1440p but at 1080p it is less useful.

Tezcatlipoca666

[QUOTE="Tezcatlipoca666"]

Ok well 2560x1440 is substantially higher than 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 so expect the HD 6970M to struggle. Using non-native resolution is an option but the odds are that the image will be blurry :?

Otherwise the hardware you listed is fine. No need to get the i7. You could probably benefit from the 2GB VRAM at 1440p but at 1080p it is less useful.

bluemantan

I mean it will struggle at high for some games.

1440p is a very high res so I'd opt for the 2gb 6970m. The only games that will truly struggle are, the witcher 2, crysis 2 with dx11 and metro 2033. Everything else should be playable on high or max.gmaster456

Can we not sit back for a second, and consider how stupid this is?


The OP wants a PC for gaming, and he's looking at a 1.9K Mac with a very mediocre graphics chip.


For the same money, you could build a 2500K + 6950 CF (CF = multiple graphics cards, in case you didn't know, OP) (with top quality components for everything else) PC, which would obviously rubbish that Mac.



OP, assuming you have gone to school, or held a job, you will know how to use Windows. If you want a gaming PC, get a Windows based one, it's that simple.


And if you're really that obsessed with OSX, that you must use it, it is more than possible to run OSX on a PC, or, inside Windows.

Can we not sit back for a second, and consider how stupid this is?


The OP wants a PC for gaming, and he's looking at a 1.9K Mac with a very mediocre graphics chip.


For the same money, you could build a 2500K + 6950 CF (CF = multiple graphics cards, in case you didn't know, OP) (with top quality components for everything else) PC, which would obviously rubbish that Mac.



OP, assuming you have gone to school, or held a job, you will know how to use Windows. If you want a gaming PC, get a Windows based one, it's that simple.


And if you're really that obsessed with OSX, that you must use it, it is more than possible to run OSX on a PC, or, inside Windows.

CuRle_

the iMac cannot be upgraded either and when the hardware is outdated you have to toss a perfectly fine 27" monitor :(

If the only problem with the macbook is that it can't game well, keep that for everything other than games and build a windows PC for $1000 that will max all games. Saving you a huge amount of money.

The hardware i have now is worth $1.7k (27 inch screen, 2011 15inch macbook pro) So it is really only a $200 upgrade. I need to keep a Mac for final cut, and i otherwise just prefer the OS more than windows.

I once was also a mac fanboy. I look back now and realize how utterly stupid I was. Macs are overpriced, underpowered machines that have a nice aesthetic but terrible price/performance ratio. Mac OS X lacks the level of control and finesse of 7, can only run a handful of games, and lacks some of the features of 7. Please, I urge you, don't buy an iMac. Build your own PC. It will be much less expensive, much more powerful, and you'll be able to pick out the components you desire, not the components that come present with your iMac.

Macs and gaming don't go hand and hand. If you want a mac keep your macbook and buy a windows desktop for gaming. You can get one kickass desktop for 2k. If you want to do serious gaming any way you have to use windows

Macs and gaming don't go hand and hand. If you want a mac keep your macbook and buy a windows desktop for gaming. You can get one kickass desktop for 2k. If you want to do serious gaming any way you have to use windows

James161324

but i just can't justify spending money on buying a windows desktop.bluemantan

[QUOTE="bluemantan"]but i just can't justify spending money on buying a windows desktop.CuRle_

[QUOTE="James161324"]

Macs and gaming don't go hand and hand. If you want a mac keep your macbook and buy a windows desktop for gaming. You can get one kickass desktop for 2k. If you want to do serious gaming any way you have to use windows

bluemantan

They just play them on consoles then

[QUOTE="bluemantan"][QUOTE="James161324"]

Macs and gaming don't go hand and hand. If you want a mac keep your macbook and buy a windows desktop for gaming. You can get one kickass desktop for 2k. If you want to do serious gaming any way you have to use windows

James161324

They just play them on consoles then

Only really half the people have actually bothered to try and answer the question...

Get the 2gb GPU, and the CPU upgrade isn't a biggie...

You can always add more ram aswell later

Only really half the people have actually bothered to try and answer the question...

Get the 2gb GPU, and the CPU upgrade isn't a biggie...

You can always add more ram aswell later

Urworstnhtmare

And if you're really that obsessed with OSX, that you must use it, it is more than possible to run OSX on a PC, or, inside Windows.

CuRle_

[QUOTE="James161324"]

[QUOTE="bluemantan"] I don't want to do "serious gaming" though, i come from console gaming and from my understanding min settings are like console settings on multiplats, correct? Main thing I am after is mod support for select games like Skyrim and Oblivion. I think that is worth the $200 upgrade, but i just can't justify spending money on buying a windows desktop.bluemantan

They just play them on consoles then

Then buy a pc.

what you've got in the box is plenty for any game that's coming out in the near future.

I would recommend getting the 2gb of vram though as it may get a bit jittery at 1440p with high graphics settings and if your rig can handle it you gota use it ;). Reducing the image quality fom native on LED screens can cause them to display images poorly until they're back to the res that they like. I would also advise getting more RAM, although many will disagree I have to recommend 8GB, 4gbjust isn't enough.

There isn't a huge performance boost in gamingfrom an i5 to an i7 but it is a more powerful chip in many other ways.

I've not got a huge amount of experience with macs so I really don't know how well windows runs on them but i know all the hardware is the same these days, so i don't imagine there'ld be much of a problem.

I don't know if much has changed since this benchmark, but it seems that even with the same hardware macs don't game well.

Hopefully things have changed, but i can't guarantee it.

when you say a $200 upgrade do you mean you pay 200 and they change the parts or do you actually have to fork out $1900???

when you say a $200 upgrade do you mean you pay 200 and they change the parts or do you actually have to fork out $1900???

Richard_The_Gr8

ok, so you want to keep the Mac in your life so buying a PC outright isn't a viable option... I think you should really look at running a PC with a dual boot of OS X and W7 it's a much more cost effective way of dealing with the situation.

Well if a consumer welling to pay extra money for the apple brand then let him, but the problem with macs is the lak of DX support that most modern game require to run

The problem with the iMac for gaming is two fold. The first is that the GPU is a mobile card and is not equivalent to the desktop version carrying the same name. It might be able to handle currently released games but there's no telling what future games might bring, especially running them at 1440p, which leads to the next problem. The GPU on the iMac is non-upgradeable, so once these new games come out and you find yourself unable to run them at desired settings. You have to toss out the whole thing and get a new one instead of doing a simple GPU swap that a PC would allow you to do.General_X

Exactly. We aren't saying that it is a bad idea solely because it is a Mac, although that is a factor, but mainly because the iMac is an all-in-one PC. All in one PC's aren't upgradable and the screen is integrated. When the times comes to upgrade, and this will come soon with a gaming PC, you have to toss the entire thing. We would say the same thing even if it was a Windows based all-in-one PC. Not to mention that it is quite expensive.

It's just a poor idea.

Consider this: If you buy a pc, use it for a year, then sell it, chances are it has gone down in value by 50% or so. Macs hold up there value very well, a year old mac is normally worth atleast 80% of the original purchase price, making the cost to upgrade to next years model incredibly small. I recently sold my 2006 imac for $400 - 40% of the original purchase price. How many pcs can you do that with?

Consider this: If you buy a pc, use it for a year, then sell it, chances are it has gone down in value by 50% or so. Macs hold up there value very well, a year old mac is normally worth atleast 80% of the original purchase price, making the cost to upgrade to next years model incredibly small. I recently sold my 2006 imac for $400 - 40% of the original purchase price. How many pcs can you do that with?

bluemantan

Consider this: If you buy a pc, use it for a year, then sell it, chances are it has gone down in value by 50% or so. Macs hold up there value very well, a year old mac is normally worth atleast 80% of the original purchase price, making the cost to upgrade to next years model incredibly small. I recently sold my 2006 imac for $400 - 40% of the original purchase price. How many pcs can you do that with?

bluemantan

[QUOTE="bluemantan"]

Consider this: If you buy a pc, use it for a year, then sell it, chances are it has gone down in value by 50% or so. Macs hold up there value very well, a year old mac is normally worth atleast 80% of the original purchase price, making the cost to upgrade to next years model incredibly small. I recently sold my 2006 imac for $400 - 40% of the original purchase price. How many pcs can you do that with?

gmaster456

[QUOTE="gmaster456"][QUOTE="bluemantan"]

Consider this: If you buy a pc, use it for a year, then sell it, chances are it has gone down in value by 50% or so. Macs hold up there value very well, a year old mac is normally worth atleast 80% of the original purchase price, making the cost to upgrade to next years model incredibly small. I recently sold my 2006 imac for $400 - 40% of the original purchase price. How many pcs can you do that with?

bluemantan

Whoa what? How does mac do photoshop better? Also windows cant do Final cut worst since its OSX only, but there are lots of alterntives. Also that virus free thing internet while windows gets ton of virus or etc is just apple PR at its best.

Why don't you just wait for the mac version of Skyrim to come out?

Why don't you just get a PC and DUAL BOOT!!!! GAAHHHHHH

[QUOTE="bluemantan"][QUOTE="gmaster456"] You make some interesting points which are also very true. But with a PC you can just toss a new part in here and there after a few years eliminating the need to have to sell. Azurites

Whoa what? How does mac do photoshop better? Also windows cant do Final cut worst since its OSX only, but there are lots of alterntives. Also that virus free thing internet while windows gets ton of virus or etc is just apple PR at its best.

[QUOTE="bluemantan"][QUOTE="gmaster456"] That is true, but gaming is probably only 25% of my time spent on computer. I am usually either using photoshop or final cut 30-40% of my computer time and the rest is usually web browsing. Macs are great for final cut and photoshop, and I like them for web browsing as they are generally virus free. No point on spending cash on a windows machine when my mac does most of the other stuff that i do better. I can see how windows beats mac over gaming, but gaming isnt everything you do on a computer, is it?Azurites

Whoa what? How does mac do photoshop better? Also windows cant do Final cut worst since its OSX only, but there are lots of alterntives. Also that virus free thing internet while windows gets ton of virus or etc is just apple PR at its best.

Why don't you just get a PC and DUAL BOOT!!!! GAAHHHHHH

Richard_The_Gr8

Hackintosh is unreliable

From a former Mac gamer to another, just go with Windows. I don't like it for anything else but gaming, but it's just so much easier at this point. You can get a better deal and if you still have your MacBook, then you don't really need anything else for your OS X. I run my laptop right next to my desktop and it's a pretty spiffy set up to be honest.theafiguy

[QUOTE="theafiguy"]From a former Mac gamer to another, just go with Windows. I don't like it for anything else but gaming, but it's just so much easier at this point. You can get a better deal and if you still have your MacBook, then you don't really need anything else for your OS X. I run my laptop right next to my desktop and it's a pretty spiffy set up to be honest.bluemantan

[QUOTE="bluemantan"][QUOTE="theafiguy"]From a former Mac gamer to another, just go with Windows. I don't like it for anything else but gaming, but it's just so much easier at this point. You can get a better deal and if you still have your MacBook, then you don't really need anything else for your OS X. I run my laptop right next to my desktop and it's a pretty spiffy set up to be honest.YoshiYogurt

[QUOTE="theafiguy"]From a former Mac gamer to another, just go with Windows. I don't like it for anything else but gaming, but it's just so much easier at this point. You can get a better deal and if you still have your MacBook, then you don't really need anything else for your OS X. I run my laptop right next to my desktop and it's a pretty spiffy set up to be honest.bluemantan

I don't understand, you say you can't afford two computers yet you bought one for $1900? With that money you could've had a macbook and a pc.

[QUOTE="bluemantan"][QUOTE="theafiguy"]From a former Mac gamer to another, just go with Windows. I don't like it for anything else but gaming, but it's just so much easier at this point. You can get a better deal and if you still have your MacBook, then you don't really need anything else for your OS X. I run my laptop right next to my desktop and it's a pretty spiffy set up to be honest.-Exclusiive-

I don't understand, you say you can't afford two computers yet you bought one for $1900? With that money you could've had a macbook and a pc.