Gaming on a new iMac 2011

[ezahn]

Is there maybe someone that consistently games on his iMac - as is to say often in a Bootcamp partition?

As you may have read in my previous posts on this topic, I'm an Apple user for general computing, but I like gaming A LOT.
I don't have that much time but I'm really an enthusiast of videogames as a medium and tend to buy and try them whenever I can.

I was considering to build a new gaming PC and hook it to my 23'' LG 120 Hz monitor but still can't pull the trigger: that machine would be used only for gaming and I already have 360, PS3... and Wii. /ashamed
So I'm thinking of selling that monitor and buying a new 27'' iMac with ATi 6970 2 gb, using it as main machine (now I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro) and gaming on it on a Bootcamp partition with my (more or less) trusty W7 64 bit.

I understand 6970 mobile is more or less equivalent to a desktop 460, but obviously the native resolution of the iMac makes it nearly mandative to play in 1080p... any experiences and opinions?
Is it very blurry at that resolution?
How's the gpu faring?

Thanks a lot for your valued help in my decision making! ;-)

 

[Kadarin]

I have a 2010 iMac (27" with the ATI 5750), and pretty much all I can say is that SC2 and EVE Online work fine, though the fan comes on.

 

[ezahn]

Tnx Kadarin. Do you play those in OSX or Bootcamp?

 

[Kadarin]

OSX, not bootcamp. At some point I might install bootcamp, but so far I have no need to do so. My guess is that Win performance will be better than OSX.

 

[Oil]

I have a base '11 27". Mostly just play TF2 on OS X. At native resolution and most settings on high I can average ~50 FPS. Of course if you game on Windows you can expect better performance

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

I use win 7 for my gaming needs and find playing at native resolution to be very playable. Might not be the highest setting but i dont feel my gaming experience has deteriorated. Mind you i play the the newest most demanding games either. Need 4 Speed hot pursuit, Split Second, Battlefield 2, Half Life 2 and a few others.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I just finished the witcher 2 on a new 2011 imac. Bootcamp, obviously.

Imac is good for gaming, but remember, its using laptop components. It won't beat a dedicated, built for gaming, pc.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

What kind of benefits would you see in gaming by upgrading to the i7 or the 2gb 6970m?

 

[Ns1]

Imac is good for gaming, but remember, its using laptop components. It won't beat a dedicated, built for gaming, pc.

but really, who cares. 120fps @ high quality isn't going to make you a better gamer.

 

[dpodblood]

Build a gaming PC instead.

 

[finbarqs]

Build a gaming PC instead.

I have both a PC for specific needs (including gaming) and a Hack for OSX purposes (Final Cut Studio--- can't wait for Final Cut X! -- and moderate gaming)

For some reason, gaming on the W7 side "looks" better and it definitely performs better!

 

[dpodblood]

Benchmarks have shown that games perform better in Windows 7 than they do in OSX, but even if you were to use boot camp and run Windows, and iMac simply isn't going to do a good job. I have nothing against iMac's, but they just aren't made with gaming in mind.

 

[KeithP]

Benchmarks have shown that games perform better in Windows 7 than they do in OSX, but even if you were to use boot camp and run Windows, and iMac simply isn't going to do a good job. I have nothing against iMac's, but they just aren't made with gaming in mind.

You know the thing about generalizations, they are always wrong.

Plenty of benchmarks can be found here: http://www.barefeats.com/

-KeithP

 

[QueBert]

What about Onlive? Seem's like a pretty good service and they add lots of games. An iMac + Onlive seems like it would be super win to me.

 

[dmw16]

Benchmarks have shown that games perform better in Windows 7 than they do in OSX, but even if you were to use boot camp and run Windows, and iMac simply isn't going to do a good job. I have nothing against iMac's, but they just aren't made with gaming in mind.

Since we are generalizing, your posts in this thread and generally somewhere between non-helpful and stupid.

The iMac, especially the latest version, is sufficient for most people when it comes to gaming. Sure it doesn't stack up against a purpose built PC gaming rig, but for most people the hardware is more than good enough for today's games.

I assume anyone thinking of using an iMac for gaming is more to the casual end of the gaming spectrum and they'll be more than happy with an iMac's performance.

 

[finbarqs]

agreed ^^^

But I don't plan to game on my Hack unless it's SC2 anyways (which will run @ Medium on full res) as opposed to ultra res.

 

[finbarqs]

*ultra detail*

 

[GrantMeThePower]

but really, who cares. 120fps @ high quality isn't going to make you a better gamer.

120 fps doesn't matter.

But being able to play at native res with all the pretty effects on and get 30+ fps does matter. That was more of my point with the iMac not being as good as a dedicated gaming PC. The iMac won't give you native res with everything on ultra on the witcher 2, and i certainly doubt it will for battlefield or even diablo 3 coming out in the near future. Forget about it for Skyrim.

I will still play on the iMac and love it for what it is, but a GREAT gaming PC it is not. It is capable, but not the best. Its not supposed to be.

 

[Ns1]

But being able to play at native res with all the pretty effects on and get 30+ fps does matter.

I don't need pretty effects to kick ass either.


srsly. I agree 30+ fps is a baseline requirement but pretty graphics are not necessary.

 

[dpodblood]

Since we are generalizing, your posts in this thread and generally somewhere between non-helpful and stupid.

The iMac, especially the latest version, is sufficient for most people when it comes to gaming. Sure it doesn't stack up against a purpose built PC gaming rig, but for most people the hardware is more than good enough for today's games.

I assume anyone thinking of using an iMac for gaming is more to the casual end of the gaming spectrum and they'll be more than happy with an iMac's performance.

I remember looking at benchmarks for Source engine games where the framerate for OSX was literally half of that in Win7. Maybe things have changed since then. Either way an IMac is not going to stack up against a "real" gaming machine. Of course it is dependent entirely on what games you are playing and what detail levels, and framerates you find acceptable.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

If you minus the $1k for the 27 inch monitor alone, you are paying for efficiency in a small form factor, utilising mobile graphics processor and desktop processor will not compare to a $1000 PC build, but that doesnt mean its gaming performance is not respectable. I ran MoH at native resolution, everything high, anti-aliasing off, and it runs fine without stuttering.

Dont set high bars for gaming on the iMac and you wont be dissapointed.

 

[finbarqs]

I never do... but I was disappointed when my W7 machine ran SC2 @ ultra detail @ ~ 60fps but when it turned into a hack with Snow Leo... that dropped to 22 fps...

 

[dmw16]

I assume when discussing gaming performance on an iMac that we are talking primarily about the hardware since you'd be best off running Win7 via bootcamp for any gaming you may do.

 

[finbarqs]

heck yeah... that's the best bet... wonder how the intel graphics run SC2 in bootcamp on the new MBP 13"s...

 

[Ns1]

I assume when discussing gaming performance on an iMac that we are talking primarily about the hardware since you'd be best off running Win7 via bootcamp for any gaming you may do.

derp derp derp see post #13

http://www.barefeats.com/imac11e.html