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manmeetpaul

Suspended
Original poster
May 6, 2011
9
0
I was just customizing the dell XPS and I was pretty much happy about the graphics, for the guys who don't know about the XPS, it offers the ATI 5870, the one which is given with the mac pro, I am a hard-core gamer, I love playing cod4 but the problem is I have the outdated macbook, so I never had the pleasure of the game, so my only question is---" is the 6770m graphics card good enough to play heavy duty games, and if it is good enough then will it be as good as now even after 3 years, I mean will it run advance games or remain outdated like the mb"
Please reply and thanks in advance...!!

HINT--- I have a flexible budget so I can even go for the 27" top model provided if it works better than 5870 ATI.
 

shenfrey

macrumors 68020
May 23, 2010
2,424
657
No 3-year old graphics card will be "up to date" for the hardcore gamer.

Depends what you mean by gaming. Do you want light games or heavy games?

Sims 3, WoW, Spore? Yes on low to medium settings.

Crysis 2, Shogun 2, Shift 2. Skyrim? Go build your self a gaming PC: )
 

dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
I was just customizing the dell XPS and I was pretty much happy about the graphics, for the guys who don't know about the XPS, it offers the ATI 5870, the one which is given with the mac pro, I am a hard-core gamer, I love playing cod4 but the problem is I have the outdated macbook, so I never had the pleasure of the game, so my only question is---" is the 6770m graphics card good enough to play heavy duty games, and if it is good enough then will it be as good as now even after 3 years, I mean will it run advance games or remain outdated like the mb"
Please reply and thanks in advance...!!

HINT--- I have a flexible budget so I can even go for the 27" top model provided if it works better than 5870 ATI.

I think you need to give some definitions, here.


"Hardcore gamer" - to me, that means somebody wanting to play the latest games at the highest resolutions. In which event, even the 5870 is kinda 'old news'. And it's gonna flat-out suck in three years.

"Heavy duty games" - like Call of Duty 4?! That's three years old, and runs well on pretty moderate hardware. I expect even the entry-level 21.5" iMac would make a very decent fist of that.
 

henrikrox

macrumors 65816
Feb 3, 2010
1,219
2
I think the new imac is very decent at gaming,

when you can play portal 2 which is brand new between 40-70fps, with max resolution and max detail/aa etc, i consider it a very good gaming computer.

Atleast if you bump the aa/af etc down in games. Or go down to 1080p
 

dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
Yeah. I think the cards in the new machines are pretty solid. Probably the best that we could've expected.
 

manmeetpaul

Suspended
Original poster
May 6, 2011
9
0
I think you need to give some definitions, here.


"Hardcore gamer" - to me, that means somebody wanting to play the latest games at the highest resolutions. In which event, even the 5870 is kinda 'old news'. And it's gonna flat-out suck in three years.

"Heavy duty games" - like Call of Duty 4?! That's three years old, and runs well on pretty moderate hardware. I expect even the entry-level 21.5" iMac would make a very decent fist of that.

So can you tell me a better card in "affordable price"
 

topmounter

macrumors 68030
Jun 18, 2009
2,600
962
FEMA Region VIII
If you're actually a "hard core gamer", then you probably already know the answer to your question (and that does vary by what games you play, the OS they support and their system requirements).


That being said, I tried using my 24" iMac for gaming back when I bought it (under OS X, you may have better results gaming in Windows under Bootcamp), but that really didn't last long. I ended up building a new PC that I use exclusively for gaming. I'm not a fan of mass produced PC's with a proprietary BIOS and full of crapware (Dell or otherwise), so if you can successfully operate a screw driver and don't drool uncontrollably, then I always recommend ordering the parts you want from Newegg and screwing the PC together yourself.
 

dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
So can you tell me a better card in "affordable price"

No, probably not. But that's not what's confused me about your opening post.


At the moment, I don't understand your needs. Do you need to play the latest games at the highest settings, or do you need something that will run games released a few years ago? Or do you need something in-between? If so, where in-between?
 

dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
I add, which card is better, The 6770m or 5870?

Is that a desktop card, the 5870? If so, I'm sure that'll be faster. I hear the 6970m (which is faster than the 6770m) is similar to the desktop 5850 (which is slower than the desktop 5870).
 

manmeetpaul

Suspended
Original poster
May 6, 2011
9
0
No, probably not. But that's not what's confused me about your opening post.


At the moment, I don't understand your needs. Do you need to play the latest games at the highest settings, or do you need something that will run games released a few years ago? Or do you need something in-between? If so, where in-between?

I don't want to compromise, I had enough from the macbook, and yes, i want to play each and every game at the highest settings, the games would be: cod7, crysis 2, some latest rockstar games and some old games like GTA 4
I don't want the best graphics card but just a reasonable card that could run the latest games at highest settings...
 

rockyroad55

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2010
4,152
59
Phila, PA
I don't want to compromise, I had enough from the macbook, and yes, i want to play each and every game at the highest settings, the games would be: cod7, crysis 2, some latest rockstar games and some old games like GTA 4
I don't want the best graphics card but just a reasonable card that could run the latest games at highest settings...

You're better off building your own rig and using the macbook for work purposes.
 

topmounter

macrumors 68030
Jun 18, 2009
2,600
962
FEMA Region VIII
I don't want to compromise, I had enough from the macbook, and yes, i want to play each and every game at the highest settings, the games would be: cod7, crysis 2, some latest rockstar games and some old games like GTA 4
I don't want the best graphics card but just a reasonable card that could run the latest games at highest settings...


No "reasonable card" is going to "run the latest games at highest settings", PC or Mac. Otherwise nVidia and ATI would never sell anything other than "reasonable cards"... unless of course you consider the "latest" cards from nVidia and ATI are somehow "reasonable" at $500+ price points... and if that is what you are actually looking for, then you better be looking at a PC (or maybe a Mac Pro, but you're still going to be a bit behind the curve, but at least you can upgrade a Mac Pro to the latest supported card).
 

manmeetpaul

Suspended
Original poster
May 6, 2011
9
0
No "reasonable card" is going to "run the latest games at highest settings", PC or Mac. Otherwise nVidia and ATI would never sell anything other than "reasonable cards"... unless of course you consider the "latest" cards from nVidia and ATI are somehow "reasonable" at $500+ price points... and if that is what you are actually looking for, then you better be looking at a PC (or maybe a Mac Pro, but you're still going to be a bit behind the curve, but at least you can upgrade a Mac Pro to the latest supported card).

The latest card is 5870, I mentioned it, it is available with the dell too, thats why I call it reasonable, but the questions remains, will 6770 work?
 

Stan Mikulenka

macrumors 6502
Nov 20, 2009
330
0
Calgary, Canada
Hi paul,
I think you should get the 6950 or 6970 if you want ATI cart or nVidia GTX580 for slightly more money,
or
6990 ~ GTX590 if you can spend double then those...
And as others said ➨ build your own gaming rig.
 

manmeetpaul

Suspended
Original poster
May 6, 2011
9
0
Hi paul,
I think you should get the 6950 or 6970 if you want ATI cart or nVidia GTX580 for slightly more money,
or
6990 ~ GTX590 if you can spend double then those...
And as others said ➨ build your own gaming rig.

can we fit any possible card in the imac?
 

Badger^2

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2009
1,962
2
Sacramento
Does your whole world revolve around gaming?

Do you "hardcore gamers" not have a family or life to live? How do you find the time to "hardcore game"? And why is that the only requirement for your new computer?

If your whole world revolves around gaming, and thats the only criteria for buying a computer -- then clearly you should buy a PC that can be updated from time to time.
 

rockyroad55

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2010
4,152
59
Phila, PA
Does your whole world revolve around gaming?

Do you "hardcore gamers" not have a family or life to live? How do you find the time to "hardcore game"? And why is that the only requirement for your new computer?

If your whole world revolves around gaming, and thats the only criteria for buying a computer -- then clearly you should buy a PC that can be updated from time to time.

Or a console.
 

MyFakeAcc

macrumors newbie
May 6, 2011
29
0
What about the 21,5"?
I'd prefere the smaller size since I'm used to "work" with 2 displays and I'm no hardcore gamer at all - expect me to play Diablo3 but... dunno if there will be anything else.

Is the 27" way better in performance (for games) than the 21,5" when playing with native res? I know the 6970M is stronger than the 6770M but 1440p could eat this advantage up?
 
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