Gaming Mac - wait for iMac update or go hackintosh?

[HaukSwe]

I don't really play games, except for Blizzard's games. WoW, SC2 and Diablo 3 once that hits. I'm in the market for a Mac desktop and will likely hang on to it for 3-4-5 years (I've had my current macbook pro for 4).

I want a 27" iMac but can't get over the fact that you get such a shitty graphics card and are expected to cope with it at that high of a resolution... it'll work Ok day one at best, i'd like for it to have a bit more milage...

Should I just build a hackintosh?

The reason I ask is that Apple seems to care a bit more about gaming performance these days, with the Mac App store coming up they definitely should even more (As such a large % of iOS sales are games).

Don't even get me started on the Mac Pro.

Wait for better iMac? I'd like SandyBridge and a Radeon 6870 please...


Fucking Apple.

 

[scootermaster]

I don't really play games, except for Blizzard's games. WoW, SC2 and Diablo 3 once that hits. I'm in the market for a Mac desktop and will likely hang on to it for 3-4-5 years (I've had my current macbook pro for 4).

I want a 27" iMac but can't get over the fact that you get such a shitty graphics card and are expected to cope with it at that high of a resolution... it'll work Ok day one at best, i'd like for it to have a bit more milage...

Should I just build a hackintosh?

The reason I ask is that Apple seems to care a bit more about gaming performance these days, with the Mac App store coming up they definitely should even more (As such a large % of iOS sales are games).

Don't even get me started on the Mac Pro.

Wait for better iMac? I'd like SandyBridge and a Radeon 6870 please...


Fucking Apple.

Hackintosh. There's a lot on the table for the early months of 2011: New iPad, new laptops, etc. The new iMac probably won't happen until March (if you go by the release history) or sometime thereabouts. You want to wait that long, cool, but there's nothing saying it's even going to have the stuff you want.

 

[HaukSwe]

I'll wait that long if there is at least decent reason to believe it'll be somewhat significant, esp. in graphics department.

With 3 major Blizz releases this year how can Apple not have a decent gaming machine in their lineup!?

My main worry with Hackintosh is being stuck and unable to upgrade once Lion hits... as well as problems with updates etc.

 

[Kmax82]

My main worry with Hackintosh is being stuck and unable to upgrade once Lion hits... as well as problems with updates etc.

This is a worry of mine as well, but unless Apple changes the hardware that Lion runs out (I don't foresee that happening).. you should be fine. It might take the community a little while to get the boot emulators running, but I doubt you'll be outta the loop for more than a month or two.

 

[Nothinman]

With 3 major Blizz releases this year how can Apple not have a decent gaming machine in their lineup!?

They've been doing well for decades without any gaming machines so why would they change now?

 

[PCTC2]

They've been doing well for decades without any gaming machines so why would they change now?

Exactly. Apple is catering to the masses with iOS based products, but the Mac line has always been catered towards professionals as being better than PCs for graphic design, video editing, etc. They have always used lackluster graphics, but always better than Intel Integrated. Never the high-end graphic cards (which is stupid considering they cater to graphic designers. At least offer a low-end Quadro and not the GT 120).

Anyways, Apple is not going to give you a gaming machine. The best graphics you'll get out of a Mac will be on the Mac Pro platform, with a HD 5870, GT 285, or Quadro 4000. iMacs will always be mainstream graphics (eg 4850/5770 and possibly next the 6850)

 

[HaukSwe]

Isn't the iMac graphics _below_ mainstream? That's kind of my point...

I'm not talking about a watercooled gaming machine, just.. well, a mainstream multimedia computer? I really don't feel the iMac is there, especially when you take native resolution into account.

 

[TheStu]

Isn't the iMac graphics _below_ mainstream? That's kind of my point...

I'm not talking about a watercooled gaming machine, just.. well, a mainstream multimedia computer? I really don't feel the iMac is there, especially when you take native resolution into account.

If you look at consumer hardware, made by Dell/HP/Lenovo/Acer/et al, then no Apple's stuff is no less than anyone else's, at least not significantly. Especially if you compare to other all-in-ones. Apple is the only one that offers a 27" 2560*1440 AIO, but even looking at the 21.5" 1920*1080, HP goes as high as a GT230M, and the Inspiron One 2305 Advanced w/ Touch has a 5470.

They are mobile cards, not desktop ones, and that will be a large part of why they will be behind the curve. If you want an Apple made Mac that can run modern games at higher settings, then the Mac Pro is your choice. Hackintoshing is an option, but your concerns are valid.

 

[Nothinman]

If you look at consumer hardware, made by Dell/HP/Lenovo/Acer/et al, then no Apple's stuff is no less than anyone else's, at least not significantly. Especially if you compare to other all-in-ones. Apple is the only one that offers a 27" 2560*1440 AIO, but even looking at the 21.5" 1920*1080, HP goes as high as a GT230M, and the Inspiron One 2305 Advanced w/ Touch has a 5470.

They are mobile cards, not desktop ones, and that will be a large part of why they will be behind the curve. If you want an Apple made Mac that can run modern games at higher settings, then the Mac Pro is your choice. Hackintoshing is an option, but your concerns are valid.

Yea, it's really shitty that there's no medium option...

 

[Ns1]

i debated this situation myself and dropped 300 on a used PC who's only purpose is playing blizzard games + keeping my older macbook.

still came out less than a mac powerful enough to play.

 

[silverpig]

Isn't the iMac graphics _below_ mainstream? That's kind of my point...

I'm not talking about a watercooled gaming machine, just.. well, a mainstream multimedia computer? I really don't feel the iMac is there, especially when you take native resolution into account.

Mainstream graphics are integrated chipsets.

 

[Kmax82]

i debated this situation myself and dropped 300 on a used PC who's only purpose is playing blizzard games + keeping my older macbook.

still came out less than a mac powerful enough to play.

I think if you're serious about gaming, this is the way to go.

Simply grab a refurb iMac, or something.. and then a $500-600 PC build, which you can incrementally upgrade as you need to. Cheaper than a MacPro. A little more hassle, but not too much.

 

[Emulex]

no kidding i got a Q9400 with 8gb of ram and geforce 210 for $184 (auction). included win7 as well. threw the 1tb 5400rpm in the trash and put a ssd in there. nice little asus

 

[TheStu]

Or, if money is no object, and you really want the 27" display, then you can build a gaming system that can connect via MiniDP (either has MiniDP or DP out, or use a converter) and buy the 27" iMac. It supports video-in on the MiniDP.

If money is no object.

Otherwise, yea do what Kmax said.

 

[Kmax82]

Or, if money is no object, and you really want the 27" display, then you can build a gaming system that can connect via MiniDP (either has MiniDP or DP out, or use a converter) and buy the 27" iMac. It supports video-in on the MiniDP.

If money is no object.

Otherwise, yea do what Kmax said.

Oooooh.. forgot about that. I would definitely _want_ to do it this way.

 

[HaukSwe]

Yea, it's really shitty that there's no medium option...

Well said. There is no happy medium and I won't be 100% happy with either solution............

It'd feel really unnecessary to get two machines, I could but I'm not _that_ into gaming. I just want to play Blizzard's stuff occasionally I'm also an expat and move around a lot, so more stuff to relocate with sucks. An iMac I can put back in it's original box and check on a plane...

I think I'll wait for next iMac refresh, see what hits... the new Radeons are low power and heat, sounds perfect for an iMac... one can only dream, right?

If next refresh is no good I'll go for a hackintosh long the lines of this, small enough to go in carry-on and still lots of pow

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Gaming_System_Build_Guide

Thanks guys for all your input and well thought out replies. This forum rocks.

 

[Ns1]

Well said. There is no happy medium and I won't be 100% happy with either solution............

It'd feel really unnecessary to get two machines, I could but I'm not _that_ into gaming. I just want to play Blizzard's stuff occasionally I'm also an expat and move around a lot, so more stuff to relocate with sucks. An iMac I can put back in it's original box and check on a plane...

I think I'll wait for next iMac refresh, see what hits... the new Radeons are low power and heat, sounds perfect for an iMac... one can only dream, right?

If next refresh is no good I'll go for a hackintosh long the lines of this, small enough to go in carry-on and still lots of pow

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Gaming_System_Build_Guide

Thanks guys for all your input and well thought out replies. This forum rocks.

THANKS FOR LINK.

Been thinking about selling the mac mini and making a hackintosh.

 

[Kadarin]

FWIW, I have a high end 27" iMac and play SC2 on it. It seems to work fine. Eve Online looks spectacular on it as well.

 

[mmntech]

You can game just fine on Macs but it still isn't ideal platform for that. It's the one area where Windows based systems are clear winners. Something seems to get lost in the porting process. You just never get the same performance on Mac OS X, even on similar hardware.

Macintosh is targeted at mainstream users and creative professionals. Gamers don't really factor in outside of iOS products. If you're going to be using the system primarily for gaming, either don't buy a Mac, or run games in Bootcamp. They're fine for light gaming but nothing serious.

Here's Anand's take on Mac vs PC gaming performance, with benchmarks.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3726/quick-look-mac-os-x-portal-performance

 

[Kaido]

I don't really play games, except for Blizzard's games. WoW, SC2 and Diablo 3 once that hits. I'm in the market for a Mac desktop and will likely hang on to it for 3-4-5 years (I've had my current macbook pro for 4).

I want a 27" iMac but can't get over the fact that you get such a shitty graphics card and are expected to cope with it at that high of a resolution... it'll work Ok day one at best, i'd like for it to have a bit more milage...

Should I just build a hackintosh?

The reason I ask is that Apple seems to care a bit more about gaming performance these days, with the Mac App store coming up they definitely should even more (As such a large % of iOS sales are games).

Don't even get me started on the Mac Pro.

Wait for better iMac? I'd like SandyBridge and a Radeon 6870 please...

Apple doesn't really seem interested in pursuing the desktop gaming market. I don't know why, especially with Steam for Mac out - they could really win a lot of people over simply because of games, just look at how huge gaming is on iOS! So, I wouldn't hold your breath for a great Apple gaming machine because the iMac isn't upgradable and the Mac Pro is just way too expensive to use for a gaming machine that can't run the latest cards.

The advantage with a Hackintosh is that you can dual-boot easily and play games under Windows, and also use aftermarket drives under OSX to beef up your Mac gaming ability. The downside is that Hackintoshes can be tricky and can easily turn into research projects that consume a lot of your time. And sometimes there aren't answers for everything...my last hack was a Core i7 rig, which worked great except for shutting down - it would reboot instead of shutting down! Still no fix available for that board. So there are quirks, but you get better gaming performance PLUS upgradability without breaking the bank.

I think it mostly boils down to where you want to put your time (or money). If you can live with less than the greatest available video card, an iMac is a good choice. If you have a ton of money to burn, the Mac Pro is nice, but you're still not getting the best gaming cards on the market. If you don't mind a research project, some quirks, and a bit of frustration, then Hackintosh is pretty nice because it's more economical and lets you use better cards. There are pros and cons of each, but at least it's nice to have options :biggrin:

 

[Emulex]

the average mac consumer can afford a pc and a mac?

If mommy bought you a macbook for college; they surely can afford to buy you a pc. lol.

 

[Nothinman]

Apple doesn't really seem interested in pursuing the desktop gaming market. I don't know why, especially with Steam for Mac out - they could really win a lot of people over simply because of games, just look at how huge gaming is on iOS! So, I wouldn't hold your breath for a great Apple gaming machine because the iMac isn't upgradable and the Mac Pro is just way too expensive to use for a gaming machine that can't run the latest cards.

Gaming on mobile phones doesn't translate at all to the PC market. If it did that would be an indicator that RedHat and Canonical should start releasing gaming distributions because virtually all of the popular iOS games are being ported to Android too. But I doubt anyone wants to play FruitNinja with a keyboard and mouse...

The advantage with a Hackintosh is that you can dual-boot easily and play games under Windows, and also use aftermarket drives under OSX to beef up your Mac gaming ability. The downside is that Hackintoshes can be tricky and can easily turn into research projects that consume a lot of your time. And sometimes there aren't answers for everything...my last hack was a Core i7 rig, which worked great except for shutting down - it would reboot instead of shutting down! Still no fix available for that board. So there are quirks, but you get better gaming performance PLUS upgradability without breaking the bank.

I think it mostly boils down to where you want to put your time (or money). If you can live with less than the greatest available video card, an iMac is a good choice. If you have a ton of money to burn, the Mac Pro is nice, but you're still not getting the best gaming cards on the market. If you don't mind a research project, some quirks, and a bit of frustration, then Hackintosh is pretty nice because it's more economical and lets you use better cards. There are pros and cons of each, but at least it's nice to have options :biggrin:

And if you're comfortable running unlicensed software because you're breaking the licensing agreement by running OS X on a non-Apple PC.

 

[Zaap]

And if you're comfortable running unlicensed software because you're breaking the licensing agreement by running OS X on a non-Apple PC.

Whoooopidy-doozle.