Question 27" iMac with nvidia 780m 4gb graphics - good for gaming?

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helpmeonce

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Oct 11, 2013
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3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

What do you think?



 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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iMac =/= gaming. For the same price you can get a good build that will run twice as fast. The GTX 780M is nothing spectacular. It falls between 760 and 770 of the desktop models(I think I am being generous here - 670/660TI is more likely). Not to also mentions that only 1 in 100 games gets a mac release.
 
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helpmeonce

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I would run any games I buy on windows. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing out on quality wise and if it will be able to keep up with new and future releases (arkham origins?)
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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What he said. The iMac uses laptop hardware and as such it uses laptop CPUs and GPUs. The GTX 780M is nowhere near the performance level of its' desktop equivalent. You can build a much better rig for gaming for far less than you would spend on a 27" iMac.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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I agree with Shneiky. I've had several iMacs forced into my architecture office by controlling partners, I handle IT as a side-role in the firm, and they are fine/great for people who don't need an additional screen(a matching screen from Apple will set you back a pretty penny), and aren't doing much beyond graphic design or light drafting. As soon as a 3d program is loaded up, the computer just about melts down. We have a few with the 3770's and 680M gpu's and as soon as any load is put to them, the cooling system is immediately overloaded. In additional to a priority being placed on aesthetics over function, you really aren't able to service it yourself nor are you easily able to upgrade parts, so it's kind of a 1 shot deal. A very expensive shot for the hardware included.
 
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TechiGoth

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I have a 2013 27" iMac with the i7 and 780M. I've used Boot Camp to install Windows 7 Pro 64bit as well as OS X Mavericks. I am currently gaming primarily on the Windows side, the most intense being Crysis 2. I have to say it's blazing fast. Crysis automatically configured all of it's graphics settings to Ultra (the highest). It's the fastest computer I've ever owned, period. I use to be into the game of constantly updating my PC to be faster and faster.. but it's a money pit. I love the OS X side for creative needs, and the Windows side for gaming. It's a great investment if your not trying to compete with everyone else's gaming rig by upgrading every year and also have a need for the stability and reliability of Apple hardware.

ANSWER: It's great for gaming and SO SO much more. :)

P.S. - They are making a lot more games for the Mac now. Check out Steam and see what they have. You may be surprised.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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I'd say it's good/ok for current games, but without the ability to update, that 1440 panel is going to need a lot more muscle than the 780M which is equivalent to the 660/660ti on the desktop side which is already inadequate for high detail gaming at 1440. The thermals on the new imacs are terrible as well, so a loaded cpu and gpu will be sitting at base clocks under heavy gaming I am guessing, rarely getting to their full potential.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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There's a good reason why Autodesk products haven't appeared on Macs in almost a decade. It doesn't take much to do straight 2-D CAD but once you start getting into high detailed rendering then those things slow to a crawl.
 
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razvan86

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My config is like this: iMac 2013, 27'' i7 3.5ghz 780m and sad, 8gb ram. I played Akram city on native resolution, everything on high. Cpu temperatures...around 65 gnu around 70. The computer noise level at minimum, barley hear the fan. The game was smooth and never lagged, it worked wonderful from the beginning to the end. I do not know the frame rate, but never, never lagged or made me feel the machine is having a hard time running the game. The cooling is far from being terrible, it works very well. The aluminium back dissipates heat very well, and the fan, is more than enough. If I want I can run it as fast as 2600 rpm and get temperatures as low as 45 celsius in the game.... all this in a very very thin design. But, If you think macs are terrible, and they are worked under their potential, is your opinion and you are totally entitled to it.
 
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razvan86

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I was a pc user for more then 20 years, and I have 1000 real motives to switch to a mac. Terrible is a very strong word. Most probably compared with a windows machine, a mac will play a direct x game ported into open gl worse, but this is not the reason why people buy macs. If you want to play games you can always boot up into windows and play with no problems. I am not going to explain here why people buy macs, but as you suggested the cover is wonderful. And the 780m is a very strong graphic card, given that fact that is a mobile card... it is the 24 th card (mobile and desktop) in the world at this point. 80% of the people use way more inferior cards than this in pcs, another thing is tat most of us have full hd displays, and plaint a game full hd with everything maxed is not such a challenge. the 27'' iMac has 70% more pixels than a full hd display.... so is not rely fair to compare it with a pc, is it now?
 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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Well 1st - try Crisys 3 (2013) not 2 (2011).
Well 2nd - try Batman Arkham Origins (2013) and not Batman: Arkham City (2011).

Crisys 2 and Arkham City are games developed on 2009 technology released in 2011. And in 2011 we had Sandy Bridge and GTX 5** and HD 6***. Bragging that your 2013 machine can run older stuff is nothing phenomenal.

It is so funny when people address Macs as tools for the "creative". If not anything else, Mac limits your creativity. Mac was something for the creative in 2005, but not anymore. There is no "Mac-exclusive" software that is worth it anymore. Even my 2 producers (my superiors at the studio, I am 3D and Visual FX generalist) who are die hard Mac fans, requested me to build them 2 new workstations, instead of the new Mac Pro, because they can't plug in their custom PCIe cards for full support of all the meta-data from the 4k footage from their Red Epic. People have been moving away from Macs for years. Not to mention that rendering on a Mac is so painful - it overheats, it crashes and it trashes your work.

Anyway to keep it to the point - 27 iMac for gaming? Same as a descent laptop for less of the price, but nowhere near a descent desktop for 2/3 of the price.
 
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Benevolence

Benevolence

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The main problem with using an iMac for gaming is that they have notoriously terrible cooling. Also, I'm going to agree with Shneiky, as an online editor working with HD footage, I ended up going the hackintosh route to save $$$$ on hardware, but with Final Cut lagging behind the curve, I'm now almost exclusively using Adobe, and using my Hackintosh side for converting QT and Prores422 footage.
Bottom line is the iMac is just a laptop with a large screen, and suffers from the same cooling problems that laptops have. Doesn't matter what hardware you are trying to go with if you can't run it at native speeds because of inadequate head dissipation.
 
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razvan86

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Shneiky

Shneiky

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It is not me who is bragging about Macs "being so creative". Anyway I did mention the problem with the new MacPro right? There is nothing Pro about it. A machine that does not allow you to do your work, your way.

On the Pixar using Macs note - they were owned by Steve Jobs. They had, have and will have to. Apart from the rendering farms they have, yes they use Macs. Any other big studio that uses exclusively Macs? Well, um, no.
 
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jdferdri

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I played Akram city on native resolution, everything on high. Cpu temperatures...around 65 gnu around 70. The computer noise level at minimum, barley hear the fan. The game was smooth and never lagged, it worked wonderful from the beginning to the end.
1XU44n
 
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Shahmeer S

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I agree 100%.
The Mac OS is AMAZING, but the hardware does just not come up to par, and it is also waaay to expensive. They only reason I got my MBP was because my school was selling laptops for 30% discount (no, not second hand), and I am going to build a PC soon, and switch back to Windows.

Its been a couple of frustrating years as a gamer with a low spec mac.
 
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razvan86

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if you think of selling your mbp, I would like to help you, and buy it from you, just to spare you the pain, and effort. You can always buy a acer or a dell for half of that price. and you can buy a mac, or something else, when you grow up and see the real thing behind the price. I agree with you 100% macs are not for kids.
 
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Shahmeer S

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Haha, thanks but I'll still need a laptop (my school promotes a 1-to-1 laptop program in which every student has to have a laptop), and even if I wanted to sell it, I most probably couldn't, as I live in Vietnam. But thanks anyways!

P.S. I'm building a higher spec gaming oriented PC, so I'll use my mac solely for work, which my mac is absolutely perfect for :)
 
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razvan86

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what is the average salary in Vietnam? Here in Danmark is around 2500 Euro. This might be one of the causes that influence you when one might buy a computer. I lived some years in Romania, where the average salary was around 300 euro....an I would never buy a mac there. See my point?
 
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