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720p,1080p,1440p and Gaming (27'' imac)

B

bo-waleed

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 15, 2009
611
21
i mean gaming on osx and win 7 (bootcamp)

i know the 27 imac Resolution is 2560 x 1440 pixels.

does playing in 720p is as great as playing on native 720p monitor ?

does playing in 1080p is as great as playing on native 1080p monitor ?

and does 1440p beat all the above ?

AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory is enough for gaming in 720p and 1080p,is that right ?

and the 2GB version is for 1440p, is that right ?





sorry for many questions and thank you.
 
you play good enough at 1080p i would prefer 2gb for hight resolutions .
I have one doubt it is possible connect my pc to this imac , i mean to the monitor with thumtherbolt ?
 
it will look bad because you're not running at the native resolution of the monitor - something that you would expect.

1GB is fine for playing games at 1440.
 
bo-waleed said:
i mean gaming on osx and win 7 (bootcamp)

i know the 27 imac Resolution is 2560 x 1440 pixels.

does playing in 720p is as great as playing on native 720p monitor ?

does playing in 1080p is as great as playing on native 1080p monitor ?

and does 1440p beat all the above ?

AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory is enough for gaming in 720p and 1080p,is that right ?

and the 2GB version is for 1440p, is that right ?





sorry for many questions and thank you.
Click to expand...

Opinions differ on this. Here is mine:


720p is garbage. Four screen pixels per graphic pixel. Looks like Lego. Yuk.

1080p looks good. Switch on AA, and this is my personal optimal gaming setup.

1440p looks good, too. Yes, it's sharper than 1080p, but there are visible jaggies that irritate me. And I can't reliably combine 1440p and AA on my iMac without cacking the framerate.


With the new iMacs, particularly with the 2GB card, it should be possible to run many games at 1440p with AA. That, I imagine, would look excellent.
 
bo-waleed said:
i mean gaming on osx and win 7 (bootcamp)

i know the 27 imac Resolution is 2560 x 1440 pixels.

does playing in 720p is as great as playing on native 720p monitor ?

does playing in 1080p is as great as playing on native 1080p monitor ?

and does 1440p beat all the above ?

AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory is enough for gaming in 720p and 1080p,is that right ?

and the 2GB version is for 1440p, is that right ?





sorry for many questions and thank you.
Click to expand...

The 1GB card will play everything at 2560x1440 at the same level as the 2GB, unless you like playing at 20-30FPS.
 
dh2005 said:
Opinions differ on this. Here is mine:


720p is garbage. Four screen pixels per graphic pixel. Looks like Lego. Yuk.

1080p looks good. Switch on AA, and this is my personal optimal gaming setup.

1440p looks good, too. Yes, it's sharper than 1080p, but there are visible jaggies that irritate me. And I can't reliably combine 1440p and AA on my iMac without cacking the framerate.


With the new iMacs, particularly with the 2GB card, it should be possible to run many games at 1440p with AA. That, I imagine, would look excellent.
Click to expand...

Black OPS here - Max settings, 2560, Max 8x AA, Max AF - 60FPS constant. No, you will never need 2GB of VRAM because then you'd be playing at 30FPS 8x AA (while the 1GB plays at 25FPS), something nobody does.
 
Very nice, dude.

Although, didn't I read somewhere that Black Ops was more CPU-dependent than GPU-dependent? I recall people on the Steam forums complaining about it.
 
The 6970M GPU will play most current games at 1920x1080 on high settings with a high FPS. I'm not sure how much of a difference the 1 GB vs. the 2 GB will make with regard to playing at higher resolutions. It certainly couldn't hurt. The higher GPU memory will most likely enable smoother gameplay at the same resolution, and you might be able to increase some of the more demanding settings (i.e. anti-aliasing, AF, etc.). So, if you're looking to game on the new iMac, you should limit your expectations to 1920x1080 (although some games will be able to run at 2560x1600). Personally, I would rather play at a lower resolution with ultra or high settings than at a higher resolution with reduced settings.
 
I can only suggest trying different resolutions out and decided for yourself.

Personally I can't see how 720p + AA would look like garbage since Xbox360 and PS3 games run at this resolution stretched over a 40-50" screen. Also at 720p one virtual pixel fits over 4 physical screen pixels exactly, so there's no interpolation. Although admittedly I don't own a 27" iMac (yet), and maybe there's something to be said about sitting far away from a TV vs. being closer to an iMac sitting on your desk.
 
Sunday Ironfoot said:
I can only suggest trying different resolutions out and decided for yourself.

Personally I can't see how 720p + AA would look like garbage since Xbox360 and PS3 games run at this resolution stretched over a 40-50" screen. Also at 720p one virtual pixel fits over 4 physical screen pixels exactly, so there's no interpolation. Although admittedly I don't own a 27" iMac (yet), and maybe there's something to be said about sitting far away from a TV vs. being closer to an iMac sitting on your desk.
Click to expand...

Mate, trust me. 720p looks like crap.

Also, your HDTV is either native 720p or 1080p - not 1440p, as is the screen of a 27" iMac. You're comparing apple and oranges, slightly.
 
dh2005 said:
Very nice, dude.

Although, didn't I read somewhere that Black Ops was more CPU-dependent than GPU-dependent? I recall people on the Steam forums complaining about it.
Click to expand...

All these modern day games can ramp heavily the CPU. The Core i7 2600 @ 3.4ghz is fast.

I used to run my own gaming system with a Core i7 920 @ 3.8ghz to 4.2ghz with a GTX 480 1536mb VRAM and this system feels just as snappy, presumeably even faster than the 3.8ghz clocked first generation Core i7.

Of course, the 6970M is not as fast as a GTX 480, but keeping that in perspective, this card is only as fast a DESKTOP 5850... can anyone find a good reason to put 2GB on a 5850? There is none, because it just isn't fast enough to run the settings necessary to require 2GB of VRAM.

I'm not saying you can't benefit from it, but you'd have to be a special type of gamer to run something at 25-30FPS with Transparancy 8x Anti-aliasing with the 2GB card instead of most of us, who'd be running with 2x Anti-aliasing just to get playable 45+ FPS... which would be the same FPS regardless if you're running a 2GB card or 1GB card.
 
OptyCT said:
The 6970M GPU will play most current games at 1920x1080 on high settings with a high FPS. I'm not sure how much of a difference the 1 GB vs. the 2 GB will make with regard to playing at higher resolutions. It certainly couldn't hurt. The higher GPU memory will most likely enable smoother gameplay at the same resolution, and you might be able to increase some of the more demanding settings (i.e. anti-aliasing, AF, etc.). So, if you're looking to game on the new iMac, you should limit your expectations to 1920x1080 (although some games will be able to run at 2560x1600). Personally, I would rather play at a lower resolution with ultra or high settings than at a higher resolution with reduced settings.
Click to expand...

It won't.

People don't realize this a 6970 mobility part, while fast, is only as fast as a 2 year old desktop Radeon 5850.

It is not fast enough to take advantage of 2GB of VRAM at framerates that are playable.
 
well guys i like to play in 60 fps and i don't like 30 fps.


and i forget something important : what's about watching movies/anime ? 720p,108p ?


and is watching under 720p on the 27'' imac looks bad ?
 
Zen0Jin said:
It won't.

People don't realize this a 6970 mobility part, while fast, is only as fast as a 2 year old desktop Radeon 5850.

It is not fast enough to take advantage of 2GB of VRAM at framerates that are playable.
Click to expand...
What about technology like ID's mega textures in future game?
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
What about technology like ID's mega textures in future game?
Click to expand...

I don't think people need to worry about those things, because games that use those options will be increasingly taxing to the 6970M.

Put it simply, you'll be turning down your resolution to 1920x1080 and turning down your MSAA/AF just to get playable frames on those games, whether you have the 2GB or the 1GB 6970M.
 
Zen0Jin said:
People don't realize this a 6970 mobility part, while fast, is only as fast as a 2 year old desktop Radeon 5850.
Click to expand...

What ?? i didn't know about this.


i think i might just get the base 27'' imac and and just stick to my ps3 for gaming.



and what about AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB ?
 
bo-waleed said:
well guys i like to play in 60 fps and i don't like 30 fps.


and i forget something important : what's about watching movies/anime ? 720p,108p ?


and is watching under 720p on the 27'' imac looks bad ?
Click to expand...

It looks like 480p videos back on the day when our screen was CRT on 1024x768. It looks okay, but you´ll start notice the blurred edge and a bit pixelation when play 720p videos on 27¨ iMac

1080p videos looks fantastic though.

Remember when there was a debate about 720p vs 1080p difference on HDTV? This time there won´t. You´ll easily spot anything less than 1080p on 27¨ iMac .. no debate required :p
 
bo-waleed said:
What ?? i didn't know about this.


i think i might just get the base 27'' imac and and just stick to my ps3 for gaming.
?
Click to expand...

The desktop 5850's a pretty good card, y'know? Whip the pants off your PS3's graphics hardware... which, I might add, is older than two years. And PS3 games are much more expensive.

It's just about the best card that you can put into a machine of this design. And I like this design. Which means it's the best that I can get. Can't get better than the best, mate...

... also:


iSayuSay said:
It looks like 480p videos back on the day when our screen was CRT on 1024x768. It looks okay, but you´ll start notice the blurred edge and a bit pixelation when play 720p videos on 27¨ iMac

1080p videos looks fantastic though.

Remember when there was a debate about 720p vs 1080p difference on HDTV? This time there won´t. You´ll easily spot anything less than 1080p on 27¨ iMac .. no debate required :p
Click to expand...


Yep.
 
Any time you play at non native resolutions it looks like ass. I refuse to do it.

That said i've been doing some comparisons trying to figure out how the 6970m compares to desktop cards that i'm more familiar with. It seems similar to a desktop Radeon 6850 or a Nvidia 460GTX(which I have). The 460GTX works well at the resolution of my 24" monitor, 1920x1200. I can play crysis 2 with everything maxed without issue. Civ5 as well. WoW and Rift.
However the higher resolution of the 27" screen is a different story. Although the i7 imac has a higher end CPU versus my Core i7 920 so that may help some. A lot of MMO's are more CPU limited than GPU.

At any rate my imac is due to arrive tomorrow(though I have to work) and then i'll be putting it through it's paces and let you guys know how it goes.
 
archer75 said:
Any time you play at non native resolutions it looks like ass. I refuse to do it.

That said i've been doing some comparisons trying to figure out how the 6970m compares to desktop cards that i'm more familiar with. It seems similar to a desktop Radeon 6850 or a Nvidia 460GTX(which I have). The 460GTX works well at the resolution of my 24" monitor, 1920x1200. I can play crysis 2 with everything maxed without issue. Civ5 as well. WoW and Rift.
However the higher resolution of the 27" screen is a different story. Although the i7 imac has a higher end CPU versus my Core i7 920 so that may help some. A lot of MMO's are more CPU limited than GPU.

At any rate my imac is due to arrive tomorrow(though I have to work) and then i'll be putting it through it's paces and let you guys know how it goes.
Click to expand...

It is basically a downclocked 6850, which is to say basically a 5850 (a bit slower actually than a 5850).
 
Seriously guys, these comparisons between GPUs is useless. The HD6970m performs very good and can handle the current Games at Very High settings with 1080p at more than playable frame rates...some even on High and 1440p.
2GB Ram is good for a lot AF and AA at 1440p.
 
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