For games like Diablo, is 512MB Video Memory to low?

GunZi said:

if 512MB isn't low, i might consider buying the 21.5 inch. i mean, i have a laptop that as 1GB of video memory..

i can't afford much more than 1999 for the high end mac. what do you guys think?

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Diablo 3 will run fine with it. The card has DDR5 vram which is really quick and it's not a hardware killer game.

With the Nvidia GT 650M it will be no problem to play Diablo3, the rMBP 15" also has this graphic card and runs good in games like D3.

GunZi said:

if 512MB isn't low, i might consider buying the 21.5 inch. i mean, i have a laptop that as 1GB of video memory..

i can't afford much more than 1999 for the high end mac. what do you guys think?

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I'd say yes, but you want to play on low-med settings. That GPU also uses slower DDR3 memory instead of DDR5. I was playing Diablo on my 2009 Mini. It uses a 9400m (much slower card) and has 256mb of DDR3. It was also driving a 22" monitor. With the settings on low and virtually no detail, I could run at 15-18 fps. I expect it will run okay with the 21.5" base model.

Scrapula said:

I'd say yes, but you want to play on low-med settings. That GPU also uses slower DDR3 memory instead of DDR5. I was playing Diablo on my 2009 Mini. It uses a 9400m (much slower card) and has 256mb of DDR3. It was also driving a 22" monitor. With the settings on low and virtually no detail, I could run at 15-18 fps. I expect it will run okay with the 21.5" base model.

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No it has DDR5 vram.

I don't pay attention to that as much for games. If you're dealing with applications that leverage CUDA processing, video ram is a bigger deal, as things simply won't run if you don't have enough.

If you want to play on decent settings at 1920x1080 then you really want a card with 1GB VRAM, most new games system requirements are asking for this.

Sure you will be able to play Diablo fine on medium settings, anything from this year and before will play fine, but things in the future will probably start to struggle pretty quickly.

I hope gaming isn't the main purpose of the computer, if its just a few hours a week then the 21.5" iMac is fine.

what about starcraft 2 ?

In my case I won't use my iMac for gaming with the exception of Starcraft II. Will the 27 base model suffice for playing in high settings?

Seriously? Doing homework and playing games? Please do not waste your money on the iMac!!!

GunZi said:

it's perhaps 2 -3 hours a day when i first start playing a game, but after a few weeks it might drop to 1,5 - 2 hours.

i will also be using the computer to do some homework on. Got an iPad as a portable device.

i'm highly considering the high end 27 inch without getting a special configuration, but it's a little pricey.

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the 675MX will blow a 512mb 650 out of the water, they don't even compare.

Also the 27" one you can easily upgrade the RAM at a later date when you have spare money, rather than have to take the LCD off like in the 21".

Drugs ...no just recommend to you purchasing the 21" iMac and buying a PS3 or XBOX. But it's all up to you!

I was on the fence between a maxed out 21.5" or a 27" with the 680MX. Since I will be doing a fair amount of gaming, and the iMac has replaced my video game console, I opted for the 27" with the 680MX. I don't really need the screen real estate though. I think maybe I might be better off with the 21.5" and just tinkering with the settings, until I get playable frame rates. Since the iMac will be my only gaming system and I will game primarily in Bootcamp, this is heavily pushing me to the 680MX. I want to future-proof the system as much as possible-512MB is already a big bottle neck, and future games will only struggle. Not sure what I should do though...tough decision.

MacDouble said:

No it has DDR5 vram.

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Oops. Sorry.

I do not own a XBOX and would prefer the 21" screen size
Gonna go now to the local apple store and check it out

GunZi said:

i mean, i have a laptop that as 1GB of video memory..
.

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I'd say 512mb should probably be fine - all depends on what games and whether you MUST run in max detail.

Be aware: a lot of manufacturers like to do stuff like put 1gb or 2gb of video memory in a machine because it is a nice headline spec they can quote, and then pair it with some really crappy GPU with a small core count which is crippled due to the lack of processing power - the video memory is there, but its pointless.

I'm looking at you, Dell.

GunZi said:

i will also be playing games like portal 2 and starcarft.

What do you guys think of the base model of the 27 inch? with GTX 660M and 512MB?

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I don't think this is a good idea for your plans. The GTX 660M and the 650M/DDR5 are almost the same chip - the same number of cores, bandwidth and memory speed. The only difference is that the 660M is clocked 100Mhz higher (the 650M is nothing more than a 660M that didn't pass its QC binning). All other things being equal, the higher clock speed of the 660M translates to a 10-15% higher frame rates in games. There's no denying that's a sizable performance advantage but unfortunately, all things aren't equal because the 660M is paired with a 2560x1440 resolution panel while the 650M goes with a 1920x1080 screen. That means at their native resolutions, the 660M has to drive 40% more pixels than the 650M. The increased performance of the 660M will be eaten up by the need to drive the greater number of pixels. You will likely get better gaming performance with the 650M on a 21.5" iMac. You can obviously play at a lower resolution on the 27" iMac but it'll never look as good as playing at the LCD's native resolution. Plus, if you're going to play at a 1920x1080 resolution anyway, you might as well get the iMac that has that as its native resolution.

In short, it's a bad idea to get the 27"/512MB 660M config because you think the faster graphics chip will translate to better gaming performance over the 21.5"/512MB 650M - it won't unless you play your games at non-native resolutions. Get the 27" iMac if you want the increased screen real estate for your other non-gaming uses.