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Loving the New 2012 iMac 21.5"!

I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
So, my lovely wife Stephanie won wife of the year AGAIN by totally surprising me on Christmas morning with the new hotness - the super-slim, super-sexy, super-fast iMac 2.9GHz!!

So far, I've played Team Fortress 2 at 1080p with all settings maxed, and it's buttery smooth!

Same with Bioshock! Better graphics, really immersive.

Downloading Left 4 Dead 2 from Steam now, and will give you guys feedback when I've gotten a chance to play it.

Everything is snappy, silky-smooth, and responsive. The screen is beautiful.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
My machine's specs are in my signature. Have been playing several titles so far - Darksiders, Alan Wake, Dead Island, Diablo 3, Borderlands. All run reasonably well!

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I love the 21.5" too! Maybe more than you love yours! ;)
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
So, about L4D2 -

In a word, delicious! I'd never played the game before, so I'm coming to it new. I love the cooperative aspect of the game. You really can't play it alone. There is no "single player" as we're used to in shooters.

In the story mode, you and your band of 4 survivors find yourselves on a rooftop of a hotel. The last time I recall a game starting that way was the original Duke Nukem 3D. Ah, the memories.

As you play through the story mode, there's a very natural mixture of claustrophobic spaces and wide-open spaces, and not for one second do they feel forced or artificial. They do a great job of selling this world of a zombie apocalypse.

The graphical details are amazingly rich, sharp, and dynamic. Facial animations are spot-on. They look photo-realistic. Motion is fluid, and character animations are very compelling.

I play the game in 1920x1080p, with all settings maxed out. Not a hitch, not a hang-up or slowdown. Just gorgeous.

Sound is better with headphones (I used Bose MIE2, and yes, the inline volume control can control the iMac's volume!!), as the build-in audio in the iMac can get loud, but it doesn't go low.

Keep in mind that Steam was offering it on a 75% off sale when I got it for $5, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a no-brainer buy!!
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
Irishman said:
So, about L4D2 -

In a word, delicious! I'd never played the game before, so I'm coming to it new. I love the cooperative aspect of the game. You really can't play it alone. There is no "single player" as we're used to in shooters.

In the story mode, you and your band of 4 survivors find yourselves on a rooftop of a hotel. The last time I recall a game starting that way was the original Duke Nukem 3D. Ah, the memories.

As you play through the story mode, there's a very natural mixture of claustrophobic spaces and wide-open spaces, and not for one second do they feel forced or artificial. They do a great job of selling this world of a zombie apocalypse.

The graphical details are amazingly rich, sharp, and dynamic. Facial animations are spot-on. They look photo-realistic. Motion is fluid, and character animations are very compelling.

I play the game in 1920x1080p, with all settings maxed out. Not a hitch, not a hang-up or slowdown. Just gorgeous.

Sound is better with headphones (I used Bose MIE2, and yes, the inline volume control can control the iMac's volume!!), as the build-in audio in the iMac can get loud, but it doesn't go low.

Keep in mind that Steam was offering it on a 75% off sale when I got it for $5, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a no-brainer buy!!
Click to expand...

I'm downloading L4D and L4D2 as I write this. If you like zombie games, try the games Dead Island, Deadlight, and The Walking Dead - all run well on the 21.5" iMac.
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
MagicThief83 said:
I'm downloading L4D and L4D2 as I write this. If you like zombie games, try the games Dead Island, Deadlight, and The Walking Dead - all run well on the 21.5" iMac.
Click to expand...

I know Walking Dead is a native OSX title, but are Dead Island and Deadlight? I'm not currently planning to install Windows just to run Windows games right now.

I've been watching some Dead Island walkthroughs on youtube, and they look really interesting.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
Irishman said:
I know Walking Dead is a native OSX title, but are Dead Island and Deadlight? I'm not currently planning to install Windows just to run Windows games right now.

I've been watching some Dead Island walkthroughs on youtube, and they look really interesting.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately they are not. I do Boot Camp for the performance gains in gaming. Dead Island and Deadlight both run really well on the new iMac, settings at max, 60 FPS. What kind of results are getting from gaming in OSX?
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
MagicThief83 said:
Unfortunately they are not. I do Boot Camp for the performance gains in gaming. Dead Island and Deadlight both run really well on the new iMac, settings at max, 60 FPS. What kind of results are getting from gaming in OSX?
Click to expand...

Haven't seen any FPS tools in the games I'm playing (Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and the original Bioshock demo), so if you have any suggestions, I'm open.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
Irishman said:
Haven't seen any FPS tools in the games I'm playing (Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and the original Bioshock demo), so if you have any suggestions, I'm open.
Click to expand...

Hmmm? Let me look into that, I'll get back to you on this. There should be a FPS counter for Mac OSX. I use a program for Windows called "Fraps" and they unfortunately do not have a Mac client.
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
MagicThief83 said:
Hmmm? Let me look into that, I'll get back to you on this. There should be a FPS counter for Mac OSX. I use a program for Windows called "Fraps" and they unfortunately do not have a Mac client.
Click to expand...

Any luck?
 
lewion

lewion

macrumors regular
May 31, 2006
225
2
Sydney
This is a thread I'm going to follow!

I'll be receiving mine at the end of January. 21.5" i7 1TB Fusion and 16Gb of ram... I can't wait to write reviews :)

Are you guys able to test some more games? How well does Diablo 3 play on the GT650M? I actually haven't found any benchmarks yet. But I'm sure interested in them.

Is there a reason you guys didn't choose the i7 over the i5? (A reason that is not money related that is).

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to share my results at the end of the month.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
lewion said:
This is a thread I'm going to follow!

I'll be receiving mine at the end of January. 21.5" i7 1TB Fusion and 16Gb of ram... I can't wait to write reviews :)

Are you guys able to test some more games? How well does Diablo 3 play on the GT650M? I actually haven't found any benchmarks yet. But I'm sure interested in them.

Is there a reason you guys didn't choose the i7 over the i5? (A reason that is not money related that is).

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to share my results at the end of the month.
Click to expand...

With settings at max, plus AA and medium-high shadows, I was able to achieve 50-60 FPS in Boot Camp. I have a thread called the "21.5" GT 650M underdog" that also details more benchmark results but I'm downloading more and more games and I'll post more results here as well. The other day I was playing Batman Arkham City and on high settings I was averaging 50-60 FPS.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
I went with the i5 over the i7 because I don't require the use of hyper threading, and the processor and its 8 cores just would've sat idle most of the time lol. $200 for an extra 4 cores that would in no way improve my workflow...no thanks lol. Even heavy gaming doesn't require the use of hyper threading. The i5 is plenty fast for my needs, and also produces less heat.
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
lewion said:
This is a thread I'm going to follow!

I'll be receiving mine at the end of January. 21.5" i7 1TB Fusion and 16Gb of ram... I can't wait to write reviews :)

Are you guys able to test some more games? How well does Diablo 3 play on the GT650M? I actually haven't found any benchmarks yet. But I'm sure interested in them.

Is there a reason you guys didn't choose the i7 over the i5? (A reason that is not money related that is).

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to share my results at the end of the month.
Click to expand...

Looks like the first benchmark I'll be able to run will be Rage, as it has an FPS tool in it. Maybe the Dirt 2 demo? I know I see Dirt benchmarked on Macworld reviews and barefeats reviews of hardware, so maybe the demo has it too?
 
lewion

lewion

macrumors regular
May 31, 2006
225
2
Sydney
MagicThief83 said:
I went with the i5 over the i7 because I don't require the use of hyper threading, and the processor and its 8 cores just would've sat idle most of the time lol. $200 for an extra 4 cores that would in no way improve my workflow...no thanks lol. Even heavy gaming doesn't require the use of hyper threading. The i5 is plenty fast for my needs, and also produces less heat.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's interesting to see why you wouldn't pick the i7 :) I for one really need the extra processing power for photo editing + I'm an iOS developer and Xcode uses a lot of power too sometimes :) I also picked it up for a longer lifetime... I want this mac to last long, so that's why I maxed it out.
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
Irishman said:
Any luck?
Click to expand...

It seems there aren't that many quality free screen recording programs for Mac that simultaneously capture FPS while recording, unless someone here knows otherwise. I've seen some on the Mac App store but they cost a pretty. Any luck benchmarking in Mac OS?

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Here's one: http://www.araelium.com/screenflick#3

I just want to mention that I'm happily gaming on my iMac 21.5" GT 650M, and it delivers solid performance. So far, every game has been playable (Borderlands 1,2; Hitman; Max Payne 3; GTA IV; Alan Wake). The Witcher 2 is a very demanding game, but with the some graphical tweaking and bumping down the resolution, I was able to average 30-40 FPS on high! Of worthy note, I was able to OC the 650M using MSI afterburner (core clock 1035, memory clock 1400; default clocks 900 & 1254). I also use SMC fan control to keep the GPU temp down, and use real temp and GPU-Z to monitor. All in all, I'm very satisfied with the machine, and I'm happy with the level of gaming performance. I don't mind sacrificing some graphical details for more fluid gameplay.
 
T

Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
"The Witcher 2 is a very demanding game, but with the some graphical tweaking and bumping down the resolution, I was able to average 30-40 FPS on high!" (from MagicThief83)

Great to know! Can I ask what resolution you ended up using? Thanks! :)
 
Last edited:
T

Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
MagicThief83 said:
I just want to mention that I'm happily gaming on my iMac 21.5" GT 650M, and it delivers solid performance. So far, every game has been playable (Borderlands 1,2; Hitman; Max Payne 3; GTA IV; Alan Wake). The Witcher 2 is a very demanding game, but with the some graphical tweaking and bumping down the resolution, I was able to average 30-40 FPS on high! Of worthy note, I was able to OC the 650M using MSI afterburner (core clock 1035, memory clock 1400; default clocks 900 & 1254). I also use SMC fan control to keep the GPU temp down, and use real temp and GPU-Z to monitor. All in all, I'm very satisfied with the machine, and I'm happy with the level of gaming performance. I don't mind sacrificing some graphical details for more fluid gameplay.
Click to expand...

Hey, sorry to repeat this, but my previous message didn't quote properly, and so may have been missed. My apologies if I'm breaking etiquette.

But MagicThief, can I ask: what resolution did you have to go down to for the high settings on Witcher 2? And do you think you could play decently on native resolution at medium?

Thanks!!
 
M

MagicThief83

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2012
478
0
NYC
Trinite said:
Hey, sorry to repeat this, but my previous message didn't quote properly, and so may have been missed. My apologies if I'm breaking etiquette.

But MagicThief, can I ask: what resolution did you have to go down to for the high settings on Witcher 2? And do you think you could play decently on native resolution at medium?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I went down to 1366 x 768, and it still looked and ran decently. I'm not sure if OC'ing my card helped (I think it made it run a little better). I'll try running the game at native res on medium and I'll let you know what performance I get.
 
T

Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
MagicThief83 said:
I went down to 1366 x 768, and it still looked and ran decently. I'm not sure if OC'ing my card helped (I think it made it run a little better). I'll try running the game at native res on medium and I'll let you know what performance I get.
Click to expand...

Cool! Thanks so much. You're a gentleman and a scholar....:)
 
I

Irishman

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
3,392
843
Here are the benchmarks I've run:

I've got the 2.9GHz Core i5 with 8GB RAM, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB

Rage (transcode benchmark) - 70 MT/s
XBench - 242.79
Geekbench - (32 bit) - 9312
Novabench - 955
Blackmagic - 107 Write / 99 Read
Unigine Heaven (default) 20.3 FPS (with 4x AA)
 
B

bandityo

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2012
75
11
Irishman. Do you think the 650 is giving you better performance notiably over the 640 would have? Im trying to decide between the two and do play some games, but nothing crazy.

David
 
2Turbo

2Turbo

macrumors 6502
Feb 18, 2011
360
0
bandityo said:
Irishman. Do you think the 650 is giving you better performance notiably over the 640 would have? Im trying to decide between the two and do play some games, but nothing crazy.

David
Click to expand...

Me too. Wonder if 650m is worth it since we could OC the 640m.
 
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