SpeedfreaK Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 hello, i need a new computer because my other one is very outdated and i like the new imac very much. But i like to game and according to cnet ( http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/apple-ima...tml?tag=bubbl_2 ) the new imac still isn't a gaming machine. Is that true or not (i'm going to get the 24" 2.4 ghz imac with 2 gb of ram)? And is there an imac alternative that looks very good (i hate the ugly cases of most windows computers (the mac pro case is the only case that looks nice)) and has a geforce 8800 on board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 No. At best you're looking at a choice between the Radeon x1600 and nVidia 7600gt on the older iMacs, and Radeon 2400xt and 2600pro cards on the new ones. That's it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 The 2600 would be worth it, but the 2400 isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD_nVidia Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Indeed, I was really surprised they even put ATI cards in, Personally I still think the NVIDIA cards are much better just now, especially on the mobile form side, 8700GT is the fastest mobile graphics card (for gaming, not including workstation cards for raw data output) on the market just now. I think Apple are sacraficing to much power for style, iMacs should have Quad Core already, and now they won't have it till the next iMac update in 6-12 months for a mid way update. (Mobile Quad Cores come out Q1 08 I think) Also for a gaming machine, I really suggest you build one yourself, much cheaper and it isn't that hard. As for cases looking ugly, my Thermaltake Full Tower 12 Slot ARMOR case, fully kitted with fans (4x120mm + 2x92mm) along with my 2 x 22" Xerox LCD's looks perfect on my desk, but don't buy taky mac "look-a-likes" because most look really cheap and nasty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunks0r Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Sounds like your not going to be happy with anything in the apple product line, Even if you do opt for a Mac Pro your stuck with fairly low graphics at a premium price. I and quite a few others on here probably slip into the same catagory. I pieced together a hackintosh in a G5 case. cost me all up around $1100US inc case (off eBay for $100) Which depending which components you get, you can have Quad core/2gb Ram/400GB/7900GT Paired up with a nice 22" silver color LCD and you got a cheap mac gaming machine. And when 8XXX series of cards get official apple support you have a upgrade path to look forward too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRiSX Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 i'm sort of in a similar boat at the moment... i really wanted a new imac... never bought a mac before... but i can't bring myself to put up with the poor performing 2600 pro tried to get osx running on my pc (amd 3000+, asrock 939dual-sata2, 7600gt) and didn't have much luck... got osx installed... got it booting (in a real annoying way)... but i have no sound, no lan (even using a intel pci card and not the onboard)... and the video doesn't appear to work properly trying to look around on here to find a decent setup that will run os x with pretty much full support with minimal effort... but not having much luck grrr @ apple... i want os x but the hardware sucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 hello, i need a new computer because my other one is very outdated and i like the new imac very much. But i like to game and according to cnet ( http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/apple-ima...tml?tag=bubbl_2 ) the new imac still isn't a gaming machine. Is that true or not (i'm going to get the 24" 2.4 ghz imac with 2 gb of ram)? And is there an imac alternative that looks very good (i hate the ugly cases of most windows computers (the mac pro case is the only case that looks nice)) and has a geforce 8800 on board? Probably if you want a gaming machine and a fully compatible hackintosh, you want to build something like this: 1)Intel Bad Axe 2 2)Intel Quad Q6600 3)Two or better four GB of premium RAM, like Crucial Ballistix 4)The graphics card is a question mark. I have a XFX GeForce 7900GT, but I am not planning to use Vista. There are plenty of nice cases: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...t=0&start=0 (for instance) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headrush69 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Exactly what type games are you talking about? Without knowing that then its hard to say for sure if the new iMac will suffice. Like many I was disappointed by the Radeon 2600 Pro in the new iMacs. There has been a lot of debate about this decision. Apparently it is not a Radeon HD 2600 Pro, but actually an under clocked Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT. The few specs so far are misleading, some games are fine while others appear slower than the X1600. Obviously if extremely high FPS is what you are after, an iMac will never be suitable. More knowledgeable sites also say this chip is set up for better DirectX 10.0 performance. This may help or Cider based games to Mac but not sure if what this does for OpenGL based games. If you could wait a little longer we should see some better benchmarks on its usuability. Bottom line: It will never be the power house that a custom Hackintosh system can be. Will it be playable, 30+ FPS, for most games, decision still out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damesj Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 You can get a macbook pro and have a nvidia 8600 gt =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRiSX Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Exactly what type games are you talking about? Without knowing that then its hard to say for sure if the new iMac will suffice. Like many I was disappointed by the Radeon 2600 Pro in the new iMacs. There has been a lot of debate about this decision. Apparently it is not a Radeon HD 2600 Pro, but actually an under clocked Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT. The few specs so far are misleading, some games are fine while others appear slower than the X1600. Obviously if extremely high FPS is what you are after, an iMac will never be suitable. More knowledgeable sites also say this chip is set up for better DirectX 10.0 performance. This may help or Cider based games to Mac but not sure if what this does for OpenGL based games. If you could wait a little longer we should see some better benchmarks on its usuability. Bottom line: It will never be the power house that a custom Hackintosh system can be. Will it be playable, 30+ FPS, for most games, decision still out. the 2600 pro in the imac needs better drivers... currently it performs better in windows (on an imac) then it does in os x... but it is still a low end card and the 7600gt upgrade from the previous model imac beats it in just about every test... yes it is a directx 10 card... but it performs REALLY badly with any directx 10 game... this is really only a concern if you are going to run vista on your imac (something i was thinking of)... it won't have any affect on cider based games as they don't support dx10 (yet) if you are happy to run your games with lower details and at around 1280x800 or lower... then the 2600 pro in the imac will most likely be sufficient once better drivers are out... right now... its horrible http://www.barefeats.com/imacal3.html <-- benchmarks of a couple games on os x and windows You can get a macbook pro and have a nvidia 8600 gt =P haha, very funny... if i wanted a laptop i would get a macbook pro... but i don't! why can't they offer the 8600gt in the imac!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 my macbook pro with ati runs most games on mid to high settings, the new imac should be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headrush69 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 yes it is a directx 10 card... but it performs REALLY badly with any directx 10 game... this is really only a concern if you are going to run vista on your imac (something i was thinking of)... it won't have any affect on cider based games as they don't support dx10 (yet) Apparently the current crop of DirectX 10 games are more or less just upgraded to be compatible with 10 and aren't really optimized for it. What I was trying to suggest, is that once developers start to learn and better optimize for DirectX 10, we'll see if this improves the effectiveness of this chip. Whether this helps when/if Cider does support DX10 and/or when new ports to Mac are also optimized for this chip, we will see. And yes. better drivers will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedfreaK Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 according to the site wich is mentioned above i should buy the older imac... I want a nice looking system which has great performance and which runs os x like a real mac (so i wanted an imac, but with this video card, i think i will build an ugly windows/hackintosh machine) but someone said that the video card is replaceable in the new imac, so maybe i ask the shop keeper to put a good card in my imac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headrush69 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 but someone said that the video card is replaceable in the new imac, so maybe i ask the shop keeper to put a good card in my imac Although MXM removable video cards was used in some past models, doesn't mean there was a stock of upgraded video cards you could buy from your local retailer. I would be surprised if the new iMacs have this and even if they did, that better cards existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquanutz Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 the new imac, which i own, is just fine for gaming. i can play everything i played on my 7900gs at roughly the same speeds as the system in my sig. i bought the 20 inch 2.4ghz with the 2600HDpro (don't let the Pro fool you, it's an XT) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 People at CNet and other reviewing sites thing a gaming machine MUST RUN WINDOWS. Therefore, a Mac will never be a good gaming machine to them. An iMac won't disappoint when it comes to playing games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedfreaK Posted September 3, 2007 Author Share Posted September 3, 2007 Maybe they can insert the geforce 8600M (which is used in the macbook pro) and then let it work with titan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buiten Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 people who are telling the TS that the imac is fine for gaming, are giving misleading information. I too wanted the imac, but mostly because of it's lack of harddisk space/crappy gpu I'm going to pass and wait for the next upgrade. I mean the 2600xt is a crappy gpu, the 7600gt was better, but for nextgen games you really do need something faster. So you want to play new games? Get a pc You want a great overall machine, which also happens to look beatifull? Get the new or the old imac (whichever one you think looks best). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRiSX Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 i'm holding off for better drivers... ATI already improved the performance of the 2600 cards with the last driver upgrade... i'm sure it'll get better... its still not great, but it will be better in future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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