IMac for gaming?

I am considering buying a shiny new iMac. Will it run games well?
I am concerned about the 256m video card. Some new games coming out (e.g. Age of Conan) are recommending 512m cards.
I am not too worried about current games but I want the thing to last me a few years. Am I gimping myself with that 256m card?
Any advice is greatly appreciated

I just finished off COD4 and Crysis running XP under bootcamp and they ran fine. The only drawback is that I had to reduce some of the shading and the resolution a bit. Other than that it worked like a champ. I've yet to find any games I like for the Mac end so I have no experience with native Mac games. If you want the best quality rendering and frame rate possible then no, this is not the machine you want.

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IMac for Gaming using Win XP Pro

Early 2006 I purchased an iMac 2.0 w/ 2G RAM using x1600 ATI card w/ beta boot camp using XP Pro for gaming purposes.
Now I want to expand my horizons a bit to a new iMac with the same idea as above.
My gaming includes Battlefield 2, COD4, and soon Crysis. So here is the system I want:
iMac 3.06 w/ nvidia 8800 GS which I read is NOT the 8800 but some other nvidia card. I want to expand to 4G RAM, BUT replacing all the RAM with either Crucial or Kingston for Dual Channel. Will XP Pro be stable w/ 4G dual channel? Will this system utilize DX 10. w/ the nvidia card on this Mac? If I get Crysis, I want to be able to set everything on HIGH. Are there any Driver problems that I should be aware of?

Firefox has no built-in sounds. The following Extension offers a few.
*Navigational Sounds: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1030/

Configure a new 27" iMac for gaming help

My gaming computer right now is a first generation version 1.1 Mac Pro from 2006 That is more than a little long in the tooth despite having a video card upgrade to ATI 4870 in 2010 playing the beta of Elder Scrolls Online this month it chugs at just less than 30fps in to 1920x1200 it drops to under 10fps at times.
So it is time for a new computer as it is passing into the realm of no longer being able to keep up to date and due to its mother board design it is limited to osx 10.7 and under bootcamp win XP is the newest it will run
I am something of a mac diehard having bought my first Mac March of 1984 and though I no longer work on my PC (retired) I enjoy playing computer games for a few hours each day. Looking forward to Elder Scrolls Online in a few days and enjoying the improved flow of osx games seen over the last few years (but I do play games like skyrim and the fallouts under bootcamp and XP sp3.
So my target system seems to be a new iMac 27" at just under $3,000
Specifications
3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X8GB
3TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Accessory Kit and of course a few thunderbolt to FireWire 800 converters
while I doubt I will get the 8 years between systems that this old pro got me it should be fine for the next 3 to 5 years
A new Mac Pro no longer makes sense as I no longer do the solid modeling work that justified a pro back in 06 also the new pro uses workstation graphics cards that are not optimal for games
So run with the antique Mac Pro 1.1 at medium to high graphics ( low in crowded areas ) with most of the other graphics options turned off at best for the next year or blow the tax refund on a high optioned 27" iMac
I thought of trying to find a last version Mac Pro tower used on eBay as that would mean I could just swap over all my FireWire 800 stuff and not have buy the thunderbolt converters but I do not have a good feel as to how good the last version Mac Pro will be as a gaming computer hence my question here and I will also post this over in the Mac Pro forum if it is thought to be a good idea to go with the find a last years Mac Pro idea
Thoughts?

Of course! And XP is no longer supported after this spring this is what I am stuck running on my no longer upgradable Mac Pro. I will of course install the windows 7 pro 64 sp1 that I run on my 2009 mac book pro under boot camp.
Either I find a good last model Mac Pro (I think September 13 is the last version) or I go with the 27" iMac outlined above. But either way it is about a $3,000 spend, all I am seeing on the refurb list at the apple store here of late are 2012 vintage pros, so I guess if I want a last version pro it will be eBay.... That always bothers me as I have not had the best luck getting stuff there.
And that is why I am asking about the loaded iMac 27 as a gaming machine

IMacs are good for gaming

Im thinking about buying a 21'' Imac for gaming and other stuff, would it be good for playing some games?

Buy a dedicated gaming box, instead.
Better for gaming than a Mac and less expensive.
The 21 inch screen iMac models won't cut it for gaming if you need high resolution, fast refresh graphics.
The 21 inch screen iMac models only come with a 512 VRAM GPU.
Not enough GPU power for high end gaming with high resolution graphics requirements.

Which Imac would be better for gaming?

So i've got a choice between these two models -
£1329.60
3.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
8gb Ram
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1GB GDDR5
Apple care
27 inch model
3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M with 1GB video memory
Apple care
£1407.60
Basically, the decision is down to, do I want a slightly better graphics card and bigger screen, or a smaller screen and better processer?
I just want to gauge opinions, i'll be using it as my day to day computer as well, some video editing, but nothing too strenuous. How big is the difference in graphic and processing powers.
Thanks for your help

With all due respect the question was "which iMac would be better for gaming?". Key word here is 'better', not 'perfect', not 'ideal'; just 'better'. Unqualified answers and/or sweeping statements do very little to contribute to a discussion, let alone answer the question under consideration.

Re: using the iMac i5 for gaming

I have recently purchased an iMac I5 which I'm delighted with. I realise that it will be anathema to many but my question is could you use it for gaming? I am thinking of downloading Dragon Age Origins but cannot get my mind around how I could operate the keyboard as it is the small Bluetooth one. Has anyone used their's for gaming and how did they get round the keyboard issue?

You can plug any USB keyboard into your Mac. F-keys typically are mapped as they should be. Some extra keys can also be mapped with Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Keyboard -> Full keyboard access. Alt and Windows keys are in reverse locations from an Apple keyboard. Logitech, Kensington, and Microsoft all have Mac versions of their keyboards with the appropriate key mapping. As long as the GPU and processor and RAM meet the qualifications on the game's recommended system requirements on its box, you can run it on your iMac. I've not played the game in question.

With all the games coming out for iMacs what Gaming Pad or Jotstick works with the Imac

With all the games coming out for iMacs what Gaming Pad or Jotstick works with the Imac

Now the bad news. In my "Print to Video" pop up, if
I select "Color Bars" , "Black", or any other option
and take out my bars and tone and slug from the
timeline, the print to video does not print anything
to tape except for a nice nothing blue. I don't
even get my actual timeline video printed to tape.
Jerry,
You are a genius! Man do I feel silly. So just for the benefit of others who might read this post, I did exactly as you said, and of course when I restarted FCP, I had to identify my Firewire NTSC setting for the drive. This time, instead of leaving my tapedrive offline, I left it on and immediately saw on my drive monitor the video coming off of my timeline.
Every thing works perfect. I now have a clean timeline with just the content I'm working on and don't have to worry about bars, slugs, post black. Just a few checkboxes and I'm ready to send my tapes off. Really nice feature.
Thanks!
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.6) 2GB DDR2, 500GB Disk, 20" LCD

Is iMac perfect for gaming ?

I want buy iMac 21.5-inch: 2.9GHz
It's perfect for gaming like BF3 , Far Cray 3 ,and Crysis 3 (any game have number 3 :P) in high quality ?
Note : I don't have much information about iMac
and thank you :)

Hi, I wouldn't call it ideal in any way, ideal iMac would be the 27" with Quad core & the MX680 graphic card with 2 GB VRAM. Sadly a PC would be cheaper/better for gaming.

New Mac Pro vs iMac for 3D/Gaming/Development

I have a dilema
I have been eagerly waiting to find out the specs of the New Mac Pro in order to purchase one for an all in one development machine but I can't quite make up my mind.
I am a 3D Artist and a Programmer and a game player. For 3D I use 3D Studio Max and VRay which is a realtime renderer (which I use to speed up visual workflow before rendering to the CPU) and this makes use of GPU Rendering, specifically CUDA but OpenCL is also supported in later versions, Unfortunatly Shader Units on AMD cards seem to run at half the speed of NVidia CUDA cores from reading various sources on the web. So thats a negative against the Mac Pro (Boot camped into windows of course)
The programmer side of me writes iOS Apps and OSX apps so any Mac will do here.
The gamer side of me plays cutting edge titles like the upcoming Call of Duty Ghosts.
So, my choices are a fully maxed out 27" iMac with 1TB Flash drive, 32GB ram and the NVidia GTX 780M with its 4GB ram vs a D500 6 core Mac Pro with 512Gb PCI-e Flash storage + monitor
I want to stay with Apple because I prefer their software and support (I wish Max was available on OSX!).
Is it unlikely that the Mac Pro will offer a CUDA based graphic option like the iMac? it doesnt have to be Quadro based as I find the 4GB GTX 7,8 series are fine for <5 million poly scenes and that with the multicore Mac Pro would make it a great choice for what I need.
Thanks for any help
Anim

From a 3D Artist perspective, this review helped me understand quite a bit regarding the technology behind OpenCL with NVidia vs OpenCL with AMD and the New Mac Pro
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/13/mac-pro-overview
It seems my only options are to use an external thunderbolt enclosure with a GPU in it (e.g. a Titan) and hope it performs ok, plead with the Chaos Group to work on OpenCL with AMD (again) to make VRay support AMD or buy a PC and do what I want. I will also need to get an iMac for iOS development but wont need the top end one if going this latter route,
Thanks
Anim

New Macbook Pro 2014 for Gaming / casual use

Hello there! I currently have a 2011 13" Macbook Pro with
Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB
16GB RAM
500GB Harddrive
and a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
I really like to play video games but with this current setup ^ its very sluggish and I get very low FPS
I'm considering getting the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and with the 3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
My questions:
Will this computer be able to handle a constant 60fps in most games? (Borderlands 2, portal 2, Bioshock Infinite)
And I've heard other places that this computer also has a Nividia graphics card that it switches over to when you play anything that requires more than the Intel 4000 that it comes with.
Thanks for the help!

Hi there!
No it wont.
Macbook Pro's hardware are mediocre for gaming. In your specific case, the 13" does not offer the possibility of a dedicated graphics card, only comes with Intel Iris. The 15" one does, the NVIDIA GT 750M with 2gb, yet it's weak for gaming above 40-50 fps, also dual-core processors are not very powerful these days either and you will most likely experience heating issues on intensive gaming sessions. If you like gaming Mac is not very efficient for it, unless you get a mac pro, but of course you would loose portability. The 27" iMac can be set with the GT 780m, it has 4gb but its still weak since its a mobile graphic chip as well, even the 5k iMac uses almost identical hardware setup than the regular iMac but with an AMD chip (also 4gb ram), while the 5k looks great with such hardware it is unable to handle smooth gaming on that resolution as well.
Dont get me wrong, I'm not here to trash Apple, at the office we work with around 8 to 10 macbook pros but none of them, not even high end ones are able to game smoothly, in fact, some games run better on windows via bootcamp than OS X.
Hope it helps.

Is the MacBook Pro with retina display good for gaming?

I was looking at the MacBooks and I was thinking about the one with retina display. I wanted to know if it was good for gaming also. Just something like skyrim or maybe WOW.

If you're not a heavy gamer, then yes it will be great.
I play WoW at full retina display with the performance I noted above - if you have trouble, you could always revert to 1440x900 just for WoW and Skyrim.
I know WoW lets you choose a resolution within the game so nothing wo worry about outside - not sure about Skyrim but maybe so?
I am a light gamer. I used to have a 2011 MBA, just an off the shelf model with no upgrades, and it played WoW very well for its size etc.
An iMac would be great too. For the price of a rMBP you could go for an iMac for games/home use and a base spec MBA for working on outside...?
However iMacs are pretty outdated atm - not allowed to say much on here but might wanna wait for something to happen...

How good is a Macbook Pro with dual video cards for gaming?

I've been a PC guy my whole life (aside from my iPhone which I love). My gf has been pushing me to try out a mac and considering how my PC laptops have a pretty good track record of dying on me or encountering some other problems after a year or two, I can't help but consider making the investment. The only thing is, I'm a big gamer and usually get the latest games. I'm not super tech savvy though I do my research and get a sense of what kind of specs are better and worse.
In terms of gaming, I always assumed that more ram = better. In that sense, I'm a little put off that even the most expensive MacBook Pro only comes with 4 gigs of ram (which is what my year and a half old laptop has now) especially when it seems most newer laptops have 8 gigs minimum for a fraction of the price (and 16 gigs if you're willing to spend as much as you would on the most expensive macbook pro). Does RAM somehow work differently on a Mac or is it truly that little?
Also, how does the whole dual video card thing work, does that mean I'd be having the power of those two cards put together?
Personally, I've been leaning towards the Asus G53SX-NH71 because I can buy it for less than the cost of the cheapest macbook pro and as far as gaming purposes go it seems to have more power than even the most expensive Macbook which costs over double the price.
Am I missing something here? Do the dual video cards really bring that much to the table or for gaming purposes am I better off with a PC?
Thanks.

I've been watching this forum for years, and I'll have to say that gamers are not a big group around here. A few things. First, getting 8GB of RAM for the MacBook Pro is cheap. Most people either don't care, pay Apple to do it, or, like me, DIY. The max you put in a MBP is 8GB, so no 16GB, unless you were looking at the iMac or MacPro.
Second, there is no dual video card in a MacBook Pro. There is an integrated video card, an Intel HD3000, which shares RAM with the CPU, or a discrete video card, an AMD, various versions on different MBP's. The Intel is for low battery usage. The AMD is more powerful, and it's to be used when you've got power. The video card has more applications than just gaming, but also in video and photo editing.
No one here is going to talk you into one platform or another. If you are only going to game in Windows, then it's a waste to get a Mac. If you're going to game in Windows but want the Mac side to do everything else, the build quality and elegance of the Mac will far exceed most products out there. You can run Windows in Boot Camp natively, and as I understand, gamers love it, because the Mac is actually a better Windows machine than most Windows machines. But I don't play games, so I have no proof.
So the choice is yours. And we could argue all day long about the side by side comparison of a cheap Windows machine vs. the Mac. You are using the price vs. price comparison that is a false dichotomy, ignoring how one values various features. For example, the trackpad on a MacBook Pro far exceeds (and I mean light year exceeds) anything on any other laptop out there.
I spent 10 minutes answering your question. I'm not debating you on x vs. y. The choice is totally on what you're going to do. Most of us are trying to contribute to the world, so gaming is low on the needs list.

Using the iMac for display only?

I bought an iMac in 2008. I use it for the majority of my computing needs, and for the most part is serves my purposes for everything. One thing I would like though is more gaming power.
I have a PC tower that is not connected to anything at the moment and needs a little hardware work which I will do myself.
Since the iMac is not user upgradable, and the video/graphics card is not upgradable at all, I was curious if I was able to connect the PC tower to the iMac's screen and use it as a display for a gaming computer and disconnect the tower for regular computing.
While I'm asking, is there any external way to improve the graphics card for gaming that anyone is aware of?

...Its too bad the graphics card is not upgradeable. I'm also going to try and find out if there is some sort of external way to increase performance....
This is the inherent issue with all "all-in-ones", both laptops and desktops, both PCs and Macs. For the most part, they are not upgradable. You can replace HD and RAM, but pretty much everything else "is what it is" and upgrades are "external only." Don't hold your breath that you'll find any way to increase performance (video or CPU.)
In the long run, you may want to consider just selling the iMac and get a new Mac. A Mini or Mac Pro, both of which do not have built-in monitors so would require you to get a monitor anyway, then you could KVM it with the PC. (I have my Mini KVMed with a Dell Poweredge server, which is sitting under my desk.) Alternatively, the new 27" iMac does allow for video input so it could be used as a monitor for the PC.

Macbook Pro 15'' options for gaming and college

Hi there Apple Community!
I'm having trouble choosing the best cost benefit for a new Mac. I'm a college student and my main priority is to have a mobile unit to cary with me for classes. I'm also a gamer, and since this will be my main computer I'd like to have one that could also run games like Civ 5 and WoW smoothly. Therefore I believe the best option for me would be the cheapest 15'' MBP.
However, both the price and the extra weight scare me. I'm not confortable with walking around with a R$ 6,600.00 notebook (about US$ 3,300.00 - I'm in Brazil and thanks to taxes all the prices are overrated ).
I'm studying options to reduce the risk of walking with such a valuable piece of hardware around while giving me what I need where I need, and after some time I've matured the idea of having more than 1 device.
My first option would be to get me cheapest 13'' MBA along with a Mac Mini - the one with the Radeon 6630M videocard on it. They cost together about the same as the 15' MBP, and would give me both a lighter option to go to college and a dedicated videocard for games, though this card is weaker than the one in the MBP - and I'm not sure how well this card would handle the games I want to play.
Another option would be to get myself the both cheapest 21'' iMac (with the same videocard as the MBP) and the cheapest MBA. This would be a bit more expensive than the MBP, but no big deal, and I'd still have both a decent unit at home for games and the mobility I need for college.
My last option would be to get the 13'' MBA and use the rest of the money to assemble a gaming Windows 7 PC. This would be my last resort, though. I know I can assemble a terrible machine with this budget, but I believe I could have what I need - decent (not extreme) gaming experience at home - from a Mac, even if I have to use Bootcamp.
I'd like to know from you who own Macs what you think about these options. I intent to make my purchase this month or the next, as my classes begin in August. What would u think to be the best combination? Or is the MBP the best option? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Thanks for the reply, OGELTHORPE. Refurbished products were the 1st thing I thought when I saw the cost of a 15''MBP. Unfortunately there's not even a link for this store in Brazil's store. I'm not sure, but I believe this is because of the mistrurst we brazillians have upon refurbished equipments sold by many other companies that fail to meet quality specs - some companies even try to push them as 'new' to the customers... I know that US Apple follows refurbishing rules to the letter - not hard to find people around the web saying that they got a nice deal for buying a refurbished Apple and that they would do it again. I wish I could buy a refurbished unit from the american Apple Store and have it delivered to Brazil, but I believe this is way too much to ask for the 'free shipping' they offer...
As for gaming, I do like it, but I'm not looking for a gaming station - otherwise I'd look for a PS3, Xbox 360, etc. I do want a computer to complement my studies at home - this is my main focus after all, and it would be desirable if this new computer could also run some games for me to play when I can.
I'm just not satisfied with the Intel HD 3000's performance (some people say they are even weaker than the previous nVidia models they replace). This is why I'm trying to get my hands on one of those new Radeon videocards.
Anyway I've heard that Apple may show some new products on this week's presentation at WWDC.Let's hope something good is coming.

Costumizing a mbp for gaming/video

Hi could someone tell me what would be the best costumization for gaming and video editing/playback for the macbook pro? And would a regular macbook be just as good in proformance? I am trying to spend as little money as possible while getting good proformance!
Right now i have a G5 imac with 2GH, 2x512mb memory, and a ATI Radeon 9600 128mb it cant play call of duty 2 without lag or it says "file handle none free" Im assuming that means not enough video memory?

for video editing, you really need the 2gb of memory. But don't go 2gb from apple. The most you should get from apple is 1gbx1dimm because everything above that is way overpriced. You can get a 1gb stick for about $80 and upgrade it yourself.
If you want the best deal, I would go with the 2.16 15"/100gb 7200rpm HD (need a fast HD for video capturing)/1gbx1dimm. I think that's $2599 non-edu.
If you want the 2.0ghz to save money...then just go with the cheapest memory option but still get the 7200rpm hard drive. then buy 2 1gb sticks of ram after-market. I purchaed transcend memory and it works fine and has a warranty.

IMac for gaming?

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