iMac Gaming & BootCamp?

Scrapula said:

For people that want to play games, why not just buy a PC?

Click to expand...

Because I want a really nice Mac for a main machine first, and a Windows PC for the occasional Windows game second. I'm not buying an iMac because I want to play a lot of games in Windows, it's just a nice benefit. One that will make me wait on buying a new iMac until I can have a 3TB Fusion drive and still use bootcamp.

To the OP, I've used my 2011 iMac 21 inch with Windows 7 + Steam for a year and a half, and have no complaints. Everything works fine.

I don't think Windows 8 will be officially supported for another 2-3 months.

Vuddha said:

Choices of drive 768GB SSD, 1T or 3T Fusion HHD, 1T or 3T HDD

The problem is with Bootcamp you need to partition your internal drive It will not work on an external Drive. When you have a Fusion Drive you have to partition HDD and use the non fusion HDD partition side for Bootcamp and Windows. You cannot use the SSD side for Windows so you lose the extra speed you may have if you could. (Note - 3TB drives can't currently be partitioned for Bootcamp.) and I rather use Bootcamp. I am confused as to what Drive setup I should get?

I may get the 768SSD But at this time I don't even know if Bootcamp will work on the 768 SSD. Does anyone know??
So this is the reason I might wait.

Click to expand...

Sure, you can partition the 768GB SSD and bootcamp it. The only problem with that solution is the $1300 initial investment.

Whether OWC can/will offer their own alternatives is yet to be seen.

Well this totally sucks =[ I really wanted that nice 3tb hdd and partition some for windows.

I guess I have to wait for the prices too, maybe it will make me go for the ssd and later add an external drive which i really want to avoid right now.

The big problem is games on windows wont benefit from the fusion drive. You cannot bootcamp to it without some internal tinkering and even then there really is not much space on a 128 drive for osx/programs and windows and games.

TLDR it is really pointless to do fusion if you are trying to game on windows.

Scrapula said:

I have Bootcamp with Windows 7. I haven't used it for anything in over a year. I won't bother with it this time around. If I wanted to run Windows, I would have just switched to Windows. I just prefer Unix, which I was using when Apple was on System 9, otherwise I would just own a PC.

For people that want to play games, why not just buy a PC?

Click to expand...

Where would I put this PC used just for games?

There is no room for it on my desk.

MagicThief83 said:

This is exactly where I'm headed (1TB Fusion), except I have a Thunderbolt external instead of USB 3. I think I'm going to allocate 600 GB to the Bootcamp partition, leave 400GB for OSX, should be good enough right?

Click to expand...

Yep. Actually it's about half - 1 TB Fusion is really 1.13TB in actual drive space. It's the same 1 TB spinner plus the 128GB SSD.

TouchMint.com said:

The big problem is games on windows wont benefit from the fusion drive. You cannot bootcamp to it without some internal tinkering and even then there really is not much space on a 128 drive for osx/programs and windows and games.

TLDR it is really pointless to do fusion if you are trying to game on windows.

Click to expand...

No, it's not pointless. Your Windows side won't get the benefit of fast booting and app loading, but gameplay shouldn't suffer.

MagicThief83 said:

Digital copy is no longer available unfortunately, I could've also used my student discount, but to no avail.

----------

Just ordered the OEM disc from Newegg.com.

Click to expand...

I just bought/downloaded and installed Windows 7 here https://softwarecareworld.com/
and it worked perfectly.

forty2j said:

Me: I'm buying a new Audi. Are there any concerns about taking it to the corner store?
You: If you're going to the store, why not just buy a bicycle?

Click to expand...

You are talking to someone who owns 3 bicycles, LOL.

forty2j said:

Me: I'm buying a new Audi. Are there any concerns about taking it to the corner store?
You: If you're going to the store, why not just buy a bicycle?

Click to expand...

Lol you made my day sir ! Kudos

MagicThief83 said:

I don't understand what you are trying to say? You can in fact Bootcamp the 1TB Fusion drive-the catch is you are not partitioning any of the flash storage, only the 5400 rpm HD gets partitioned. What tinkering is there? If I allocate 600GB to the Bootcamp partition, thats all 5400 rpm HD space, leaving OSX with 128GB of SSD and 277GB of 5400 rpm HD space. I don't understand your logic here. Games in Windows don't have to benefit from the Fusion drive, at least I don't think they should, as I'm not buying the iMac purely for gaming. However, my main use of the iMac (OSX) does indeed benefit from the Fusion drive, so why wouldn't I configure my system with it?

----------



Is this legit?

Click to expand...

What I am getting at is games on windows will be running off the 5400/7200 drive. There are people on this post assuming that the fusion drive will improve their gaming performance on windows which it will not.

As for mac tasks you are right it will speed up things. This is just directed at the windows gamers.

forty2j said:

Sure, you can partition the 768GB SSD and bootcamp it. The only problem with that solution is the $1300 initial investment.

Whether OWC can/will offer their own alternatives is yet to be seen.

Click to expand...

42 I agree. that is why I'll most likely Wait and see what shakes out.

----------

[/COLOR]

Is this legit?[/QUOTE]

Considering I'm using Windows 7 on my MBA to respond to you, yes...

Mac32 said:

Well I'll put it this way: Do you want to run Windows and high-end, demanding games with GBs of graphics from a slow 5400rpm HD or a fast SSD? The fusion drive is a neat consept if you're only going to have one partition, but if you want Windows/bootcamp, then not so much...

Click to expand...

That's a good point. An i7/680MX doesn't do you much good if it's constantly waiting on a 5400RPM drive.

I guess you could spec your iMac with an SSD only and then install your own SSD in the HDD spot. Boot Camp works fine on a separate drive.

In response to others who question using an iMac for gaming: I have used an iMac for gaming since the Intel iMac was released. My limitation is aesthetic (i.e., the wife). One computer that can handle the wife, daughter, myself and fill my semi-casual gaming needs makes it a bargain.

I currently use a Late2009 i7 (Radeon 4850). I am anxiously awaiting the 2012 iMac so I can crank up the detail in Skyrim. /

----------

BTW- you don't need a 'digital' version of Windows. Even if you wind up getting physical media, just use this.

http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clustera/framework/w7udt/1.0/en-us/Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe

MatthewAMEL said:

That's a good point. An i7/680MX doesn't do you much good if it's constantly waiting on a 5400RPM drive.

Click to expand...

Disk speed has no impact on i7/680MX performance. Disk access times are measured in ms as for CPU/GPU in ns. Load times would be different thou

Does the Fusion Drive's 1TB section use a 7200 rpm drive or also 5400?

Is it possible to use bootcamp with an external thunderbolt SSD, and using the external drive as the Windows/gaming "partition"?
I mean it should be possible, but with iMac/Apple you never know...
Have anyone tried this? If so it would be useful to know, thanks.

Mac32 said:

Is it possible to use bootcamp with an external thunderbolt SSD, and using the external drive as the Windows/gaming "partition"?
I mean it should be possible, but with iMac/Apple you never know...
Have anyone tried this? If so it would be useful to know, thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's complicated but possible:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1414769/

MagicThief83 said:

Considering I'm using Windows 7 on my MBA to respond to you, yes...

Click to expand...

If only you would've brought this to my attention sooner...oh well, guess I'm stuck with a Windows 7 disc. One question, let's say you install W7 on your MBA and decide you want to use it on your new iMac. Can you install W7 and use the same activation key on your iMac, or is it tied to your MBA? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Sorry about the timing. I've been told and I'm not sure if this is true, but if you install it on another computer with the same key then the original install won't be activated anymore so I guess the answer to your question is no. I can't confirm this though since I never tried.

Jnardis said:

Considering I'm using Windows 7 on my MBA to respond to you, yes...

Click to expand...

Doesn't really answer the question, in my mind. I'd like to know if you're getting officially licensed versions, and not genetically modified knockoffs.

----------

Jnardis said:

I've been told and I'm not sure if this is true, but if you install it on another computer with the same key then the original install won't be activated anymore so I guess the answer to your question is no. I can't confirm this though since I never tried.

Click to expand...

OEM keys are tied to a single piece of hardware.

forty2j said:

Doesn't really answer the question, in my mind. I'd like to know if you're getting officially licensed versions, and not genetically modified knockoffs.

----------



OEM keys are tied to a single piece of hardware.

Click to expand...

Yes it's an OEM key.