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21.5 vs. 27 in terms of gaming and future proof

B

brachson

macrumors member
Original poster
Hello,

My choice is between 21.5 high end and 27 low end (2011 model).

I am wondering which should I choose in terms of gaming but not this year as its going to be great on 27 but in 2-3 years of time.

It's 1920x1080 (21.5'') vs. 2560x1440 (27'') so there is no way the performance going to be the same playing in example BF3 on these 2 iMacs - I guess 21.5 wins?

So if I am going to buy this computer for next 4-5 years should I go 21.5'' in terms of gaming? Is my calculation correct?

PS.
Please do not say go for high end 27'' 🙁 No funds for that!
 
Get the high end 21.5 inch, it will perform better because the graphics card does not need to power a huge display. Upgrade the ram to 8gb or more for cheap, and enjoy!
 
Get the high-end 27" iMac to be complete!

Hmm, okay. Get the low-end 27" iMac and play games at 1920x1080. You probably won't notice the lower resolution, the size is fantastic, and the increased resolution has tremendous practical benefits for everday use.

Finally, women look down on men with 21.5"(Modern Review of Sex and Gender, Oct. 2006). For an additional $200, you become a better, more sophisticated man of high esteem.

Glory and honor.
 
Roy G Biv said:
Get the high-end 27" iMac to be complete!

Hmm, okay. Get the low-end 27" iMac and play games at 1920x1080. You probably won't notice the lower resolution, the size is fantastic, and the increased resolution has tremendous practical benefits for everday use.

Finally, women look down on men with 21.5"(Modern Review of Sex and Gender, Oct. 2006). For an additional $200, you become a better, more sophisticated man of high esteem.

Glory and honor.
Click to expand...
The decreased resolution will look terrible on the 27 inch display.
 
Roy G Biv said:
Hmm, okay. Get the low-end 27" iMac and play games at 1920x1080. You probably won't notice the lower resolution...
Click to expand...

OK I don't know but imho there is no way you will not notice the lower resolution (same resolution as on 21.5'' but on 6 inches bigger screen)

Roy G Biv said:
the size is fantastic, and the increased resolution has tremendous practical benefits for everday use.
Click to expand...

This is true and this is why I originally wanted 27'' but in 4 years time photo editing will be the same and gaming will be impossible 🙁
 
brachson said:
I am wondering which should I choose in terms of gaming but not this year as its going to be great on 27 but in 2-3 years of time.
Click to expand...

No current machine will be considered adequate for high-end games in 2 or 3 years. Future proofing is folly. If you want options in 2-3 years, build a gaming PC.
 
miles01110 said:
No current machine will be considered adequate for high-end games in 2 or 3 years. Future proofing is folly. If you want options in 2-3 years, build a gaming PC.
Click to expand...

not true - I am currently on 4 years old PC build for 50/50 gaming/work

I am able to play most of the games on medium settings at least (OK may be not Crysis)

I am not talking about playing Ultra for 3 years but to be able to run it... wont 21.5'' be better in this competition?
 
I'd say go for the high end 21.5" iMac with the i7 processor. It'll perform much better than the 27", mostly because the base 27" is limited to its i5 processor.
 
i went from base 21 to high end 27 and its a huge leap for gaming, actually you should almost be able to max out every game besides the few beefy ones, frame rate doubled with same games i tried on both machines
 
electricdreams said:
i went from base 21 to high end 27 and its a huge leap for gaming, actually you should almost be able to max out every game besides the few beefy ones, frame rate doubled with same games i tried on both machines
Click to expand...

of course it is a huge leap which is not an option in my case - buy Ford or Opel? Buy Porshe its a huge leap! It's maximum speed is twice as Opel's.
 
mikelegacy said:
Really? Because 1080P is full HD. There wouldnt be a speck of pixelation on that screen.
Click to expand...

1080P HD is full HD, which is 1920x1080. The resolution of the 21.5" iMac. In my opinion, get the high end 21.5" iMac. It should be fine for gaming... I know you like to game, but the iMac will last for quite a while for your other tasks (perhaps for work, etc).
 
electricdreams said:
i went from base 21 to high end 27 and its a huge leap for gaming, actually you should almost be able to max out every game besides the few beefy ones, frame rate doubled with same games i tried on both machines
Click to expand...

Of course it's a huge leap. You're paying for it 😉

mikelegacy said:
Really? Because 1080P is full HD. There wouldnt be a speck of pixelation on that screen.
Click to expand...

But you have to stretch 1080p on a larger resolution, which will degrade quality. Whether it looks horrible is subjective to the user.

Anyway I've just been testing out the original L4D on my new iMac and it plays beautifully under OSX, perhaps a tad smoother than my 2010 27" iMac with 1GB RAM (but the difference I would say is quite negligible). As i suspected, the decreased resolution along with the halved RAM evened out, and having an SSD with Sandy Bridge really rounds the machine's performance nicely for gaming.

I have yet to install Windows 7 as well as other games, and I'm eager to see improved performance on it.
 
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