How will fusion drive improve gaming performance?

Baconstripss · Nov 26, 2012, 12:27 PM

I get that fusion drive will improve boot-up time, file transferring speed and when opening programs. But I've read a couple of posts that fusion drive will improve the GPU's performance. Is that true?

I'm thinking about buying the high end 21.5" iMac and possibly with fusion drive. I just think that 200-250$ is a bit of an overkill if it isn't really improving gaming performance. I'm not transferring huge files or anything and it's mainly for light-medium gaming.

TLDR: Is the 200-250$ extra for the fusion drive worth if gaming-wise? Or will it even improve the GPU-performance?

Siderz · Nov 26, 2012, 12:58 PM

Fusion Drive will simply mean that things can load faster...and if things can load faster...everything can work faster...

reputationZed · Nov 26, 2012, 01:09 PM

It may cut down on load times, in some cases significantly, but it won't increase your FPS or allow you to play at a higher quality. The Fusion drive is not increasing GPU performance so much as the GPU is not waiting on the drive to supply data.

Xikum · Nov 26, 2012, 01:18 PM

It definitely wont improve the GPU capability. The very best you will get is that load times will be improved.

Baconstripss · Nov 26, 2012, 02:41 PM

Yeah okay.

I'm thinking in addition to the medium gaming to do some light movie editing in Final Cut Pro. The fusion drive should be pretty slick when doing editing.

So do you guys think the 200-250$ would be worth the upgrade?

TouchMint.com · Nov 26, 2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baconstripss

Yeah okay.

I'm thinking in addition to the medium gaming to do some light movie editing in Final Cut Pro. The fusion drive should be pretty slick when doing editing.

So do you guys think the 200-250$ would be worth the upgrade?

I just posted this on another topic but if you are planning to boot into windows and game you will only be using the standard 5400 drive (not the fast ssd part of the fusion) without tweaking.

The way I understand it is that the 21inch base model cannot be upgraded to fusion so that means you need to buy the $1499 model and then upgrade to fusion so that will be another $250. That puts you at $1749 that is only $50 cheaper than the 27inch which comes with overall better screen cpu gpu and upgradable ram. For me its a no brainer but some dont want a bigger screen so who knows.

Baconstripss · Nov 26, 2012, 03:50 PM

Yeah the price is almost the same, but i've read that in native resolution the high-end 21.5" will perform better than the low end 27" + you don't get fusion drive ind the low end 27" at that price :-)

In addition I think the 27" is getting too big for my needs.

But yeah i see the problem with booting into windows and using fusion drive..

Nov 26, 2012, 12:27 PM	#1
Baconstripss macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011	How will fusion drive improve gaming performance? I get that fusion drive will improve boot-up time, file transferring speed and when opening programs. But I've read a couple of posts that fusion drive will improve the GPU's performance. Is that true? I'm thinking about buying the high end 21.5" iMac and possibly with fusion drive. I just think that 200-250$ is a bit of an overkill if it isn't really improving gaming performance. I'm not transferring huge files or anything and it's mainly for light-medium gaming. TLDR: Is the 200-250$ extra for the fusion drive worth if gaming-wise? Or will it even improve the GPU-performance?
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Nov 26, 2012, 12:58 PM	#2
Siderz macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: London, UK	Fusion Drive will simply mean that things can load faster...and if things can load faster...everything can work faster... __________________ Apple
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Nov 26, 2012, 01:09 PM	#3
reputationZed macrumors 65816 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: 34°55′42″N 80°44′41″W (34.928201, -80.744835)	It may cut down on load times, in some cases significantly, but it won't increase your FPS or allow you to play at a higher quality. The Fusion drive is not increasing GPU performance so much as the GPU is not waiting on the drive to supply data. __________________ But you and I, we’ve been through that, And this is not our fate. - Dylan 1968
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Nov 26, 2012, 01:18 PM	#4
Xikum macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2011	It definitely wont improve the GPU capability. The very best you will get is that load times will be improved.
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Nov 26, 2012, 02:41 PM	#5
Baconstripss Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011	Yeah okay. I'm thinking in addition to the medium gaming to do some light movie editing in Final Cut Pro. The fusion drive should be pretty slick when doing editing. So do you guys think the 200-250$ would be worth the upgrade?
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Nov 26, 2012, 03:50 PM	#7
Baconstripss Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011	Yeah the price is almost the same, but i've read that in native resolution the high-end 21.5" will perform better than the low end 27" + you don't get fusion drive ind the low end 27" at that price :-) In addition I think the 27" is getting too big for my needs. But yeah i see the problem with booting into windows and using fusion drive..
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