21.5" or 27" iMac for gaming?

[Ballman71]

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Hello, I was going to buy the 3.1GHZ iMac, but I don't want to put down a lot of money on it. Also, I want to be gaming alot on it like bfbc2 and such. Is the 2.7 ghz, amd radeon 512MB, 21.5" good enough for gaming? The specs of the game is 512MB VRAM and 2Ghz. Also, If I put more memory into the Mac, will the game preform better?

 

[derbothaus]

It is a crapshoot. Either one you get, it will be hard to play at native resolution and get worse as time goes on and games get even more demanding. If the 27" iMac's 6970m was put in the 21in then I'd get that for gaming. But it isn't and each iMac's graphics chips are not up to the task of driving the display they reside in. I mean, you can play on med settings but you can't crank BF2 with DX11 and everything on. The best iMac card right now (6970m is equal to a 6850 desktop card. OK, but not "gamer") And you can never replace or upgrade it. If you like WOW and SIms etc, iMac is great but it wont play Crysis

 

[mrsir2009]

If its sole purpose is gaming... Gedda Winbox.

 

[ctucci]

Hello, I was going to buy the 3.1GHZ iMac, but I don't want to put down a lot of money on it. Also, I want to be gaming alot on it like bfbc2 and such. Is the 2.7 ghz, amd radeon 512MB, 21.5" good enough for gaming? The specs of the game is 512MB VRAM and 2Ghz. Also, If I put more memory into the Mac, will the game preform better?

In my Mac experiences, if you buy an Imac for today's graphics intensive games, you're likely looking at upgrading to a new Imac to play "tomorrow's" graphics intensive games.

Something to consider: Recently I picked up a used Mac Pro (for work) for about the same as a new Imac. I just put a 5770 card in it for about $249...the thing just screams.

I just checked Ebay, and I see Pros for less than a grand in some cases. Might be worth looking into...

-=Chris=-

 

[Logos327]

Also something to consider is the TB expandability. There is at lease one company right now (and surely more in the future) that will offer a PCI card expansion case. Within a year, I don't see why you couldn't put a compatible video card inside something like that hooked up to your 21.5".

While it isn't the best answer to upgradeability, it is much better than 0 options.

 

[bungiefan89]

I can tell you from personal experience that the 27" iMac with upgraded processor and graphics card can ply BF:BC2 at max settings in 1080p resolution with a very good framerate.

The extra cost is worth it. Future-proof your machine.

 

[derbothaus]

I can tell you from personal experience that the 27" iMac with upgraded processor and graphics card can ply BF:BC2 at max settings in 1080p resolution with a very good framerate.

The extra cost is worth it. Future-proof your machine.

That's not native resolution though. Can it do 2560x1440 in DX11? The scaler makes things slightly blurry. Not an intense experience imo. Might as well turn off Filters and AA as you really can't get pixel to pixel clarity. But I am a res over effects kind of guy. The OP may not care. Just info.