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Mac32

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
Hi!

I'm really, really contemplating buying a maxed-out 27'' iMac with the Geforce 680MX graphics card. I'm not a huge gamer, but I like to play shooters like Crysis and Far Cry from time to time..
I know getting a dedicated PC-box for gaming is cheaper, but it would be great to have an "everything in one"-solution.
I know 680MX isn't out yet, but are there any graphics cards experts out there who can make some educated guess (based on the released specs) on how 680MX will perform in high-end shooter games like Crysis in native screen (2560x1440) resolution with graphics settings on high/very high?

Thanks! :)
 

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
The GTX 680MX should be comparable to the desktop GTX 670. I expect it to perform extremely well.
 

theturn

macrumors newbie
May 12, 2012
28
0
can't wait to place my order, x-plane will hopefully run at very high graphic settings
 

connor.e

macrumors member
Jul 15, 2011
35
0
Canada
From what I've read, the 680mx is basically an under-clocked desktop 680. That being said, I believe that it definitely has potential to run Crysis in native res with roughly 30 - 40 fps.

Can't wait to get my hands on one! :rolleyes:
 

Mac32

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Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
Wow, this is really great news. If it's on par with geforce 670, then that's pretty good stuff! I guess I'm gonna get myself an iMac 27'' then. :) And a 13' rMBP next year when it comes out with a Haswell CPU. Oh well, it costs to be on the Apple train.. :)
 

skyenet

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2012
146
6
Near Glasgow - Scotland
can't wait to place my order, x-plane will hopefully run at very high graphic settings

That's what I am hoping as well. Not great on a 2009 iMac ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB so expect a big difference on a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX with 2GB of GDDR5. Got some cracking payware planes and scenery that I am looking forward to using at far higher settings :)
 

Mac32

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Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
What do you guys think about i7 vs i5 CPU? Is it worth the upgrade in CPU in terms of temperature/fan noise and faster system in general?
Sorry for going off topic, but I'm thinking going for the fastest CPU and the 680MX could get very hot...
 

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
What do you guys think about i7 vs i5 CPU? Is it worth the upgrade in CPU in terms of temperature/fan noise and faster system in general?
Sorry for going off topic, but I'm thinking going for the fastest CPU and the 680MX could get very hot...

I wouldn't worry about the heat; if Apple didn't solve it they'll lose a fortune in warranty repairs.

But, for the most part games are GPU-constrained, not CPU-constrained. Few people are performing tasks that would actually benefit from the i7.
 

Mac32

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Nov 20, 2010
1,263
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Thanks! I've done some googling myself, and as far as I can tell the i7 has next to no effect on gaming (vs i5). The i7 in the iMac is higher clocked though, but since gaming don't use the i7 multithreading the difference in FPS shouldn't very big(?), but I would assume one would get higher temperatures and more fan noise from using the i7 cpu option..?
 

pedromartins

Suspended
Sep 7, 2012
93
0
Porto, Portugal
Thanks! I've done some googling myself, and as far as I can tell the i7 has next to no effect on gaming (vs i5). The i7 in the iMac is higher clocked though, but since gaming don't use the i7 multithreading the difference in FPS shouldn't very big(?), but I would assume one would get higher temperatures and more fan noise from using the i7 cpu option..?

Not really, since the i7 would complete the same tasks faster and easily.

However, if you are talking about both being pushed at 100%, maybe you are right... But the iMac is an AIO, not a laptop, so you shouldn't worry too much about it. Let that for Apple :)
 

Soundburst

macrumors 6502a
Oct 4, 2006
691
20
I'll probably play at 1080p as the graphics will be nice enough. . .plus it might make for better ultra settings :S Still confused as whether to bother with i7 :(
 

Lancer

macrumors 68020
Jul 22, 2002
2,217
147
Australia
I'm looking at a maxed out 27" as well, if I can afford it.

It's a pain not knowing the total price but I figure the i7 will run about $240 again, 680MX about the same and Fusion 1Tb about $300 if the Mini is a guide. Add that all to the top 27" and we're looking at a $3k iMac... would you be better off with 2x base model 21.5" LOL
 

trigf

Suspended
Jun 16, 2009
330
356
Anyone know what the real-world performance difference between the 675 that comes standard on the high end 27 inch, and the 680 BTO option?

I think I'll just get the $1999 27 inch, so I don't spend weeks waiting for a BTO build.
 

Mac32

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Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
I'm gonna ditch the fusion drive, and go for 256gb SSD and 3tb hard drive. That way I can control which files I want on my hard drive for myself (ie. music and movies, I have a HUGE lossless library).
Yep, it's gonna be an expensive purchase with 256gb/3tb, 680mx and 3.2ghz i5. :eek: It's gonna be one sweet computer though, especially going from using a 15'' MBP fulltime (many hours every day). :)
 

Mac32

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
Not really, since the i7 would complete the same tasks faster and easily.

However, if you are talking about both being pushed at 100%, maybe you are right... But the iMac is an AIO, not a laptop, so you shouldn't worry too much about it. Let that for Apple :)

I saw some numbers on i5 vs i7 temps on the MBA (if that's applicable), and the i7 gave noticably higher temps (10-15C) and fan speeds during CPU-intensive tasks.
Are there any experiences with the previous iMac model using the highest i7 CPU model?
 

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
I'm gonna ditch the fusion drive, and go for 256gb SSD and 3tb hard drive. That way I can control which files I want on my hard drive for myself (ie. music and movies, I have a HUGE lossless library).
Yep, it's gonna be an expensive purchase with 256gb/3tb, 680mx and 3.2ghz i5. :eek: It's gonna be one sweet computer though, especially going from using a 15'' MBP fulltime (many hours every day). :)

Remember at this point we don't know how easy it will be to install after market drives.
 

jkmags

macrumors member
May 6, 2011
63
42
Im looking forward to seeing the new prices for a maxed out 27" iMac too, what I'm worried about are the Apple upgrade costs.

I'm afraid they're going to go crazy on the upgrade prices, possibly 200 for upgrade from i5 to i7, then 1k for the 768 ssd or 500 for the 512, 300 - 500 for the max GPU and 200 for Applecare. I would like to update my system next year but if the BTO iMac configured is over 3k Im not sure what I would do... though I am only guessing at prices so maybe I'm way high in my est...
 

LachlanH

macrumors regular
Oct 5, 2011
158
7
I find it hard to believe that a 680mx will be on par with a desktop 670.

It's not that I don't believe it....... I just find it....amazing. Like, too good to be true level of amazing.

Honestly if people are expecting desktop 670 levels of performance in an imac....well.....prepared to be let down is all I will say. I would be delighted to be wrong, but I don't think I am.



And regarding the SSD options, as far as I can tell the only options will be the 128gb that comes with the fusion option, or 768gb SSD only. No 256gb or 512gb options.
 

cosmicjoke

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2011
484
1
Portland, OR
Well, FWIW Tom's Hardware puts the GTX 680M somewhere between a gtx 660ti and a 560ti

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

It's performing nowhere close to a GTX 670 or 680, but it's going to get good performance on most games w/ some details lowered @ 2560x1440p... For an all in one, that's nothing to complain about..

p.s. it's faster than the top end graphics card in the Mac Pro (5870)
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,182
19,028
Hi!

I'm really, really contemplating buying a maxed-out 27'' iMac with the Geforce 680MX graphics card. I'm not a huge gamer, but I like to play shooters like Crysis and Far Cry from time to time..
I know getting a dedicated PC-box for gaming is cheaper, but it would be great to have an "everything in one"-solution.
I know 680MX isn't out yet, but are there any graphics cards experts out there who can make some educated guess (based on the released specs) on how 680MX will perform in high-end shooter games like Crysis in native screen (2560x1440) resolution with graphics settings on high/very high?

Thanks! :)

Crysis is a rather old game now and Far Cry is even older. If all you want to play is Crysis and games from that generation, the 675MX will have no problems playing it at native resolution/high settings. If you want to play modern games with good performance, 680MX is a significant upgrade.

Even the 2011 iMac (6970m) had no problem with playing modern games like Skyrim at high settings with reasonable performance at native resolution. Now 680MX is much faster than 6970m.

----------

Well, FWIW Tom's Hardware puts the GTX 680M somewhere between a gtx 660ti and a 560ti

680MX (1536 shaders @720Mhz) is significantly faster than 680M (1344 shaders @720Mhz). The 680MX is basically a downclocked desktop 680, while 680M is a downclocked desktop 670.
 

elithrar

macrumors 6502
May 31, 2007
372
3
680MX (1536 shaders @720Mhz) is significantly faster than 680M (1344 shaders @720Mhz). The 680MX is basically a downclocked desktop 680, while 680M is a downclocked desktop 670.

This is on the mark. The 680MX is *very* good for a mobile chip, and let's be honest, with a 122W TDP, it's stretching the definition of mobile.
 

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
I find it hard to believe that a 680mx will be on par with a desktop 670.
But you must compare Apple's with Apple's. So don't expect the Mac version of a game to run similar framerates as a 670 in a Windows machine with the windows version of the game. DirectX has a 30-50% advantage over OpenGL unfortunately.
 
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