A Mac for gaming

Mac Pros are overkill for games, and very expensive. They're workstations, not personal computers. They are due for an update, so definitely by the end of the year at the latest. If you were to get one, get the lowest CPU + the best GPU you can.

iMacs are better than they used to be for games, but the larger resolution the 27" will be a hindrance for running games at max settings, especially in the future. ME3 and AC3 would likely be fine, but don't expect something like The Witcher 2 to run amazingly.

My advice would be to build a gaming PC yourself for ~$800 which will smoke the iMac, and use the rest to buy a Mac Mini or low-end MBP. Best of both worlds.

 

Mac Pro is definitely overkill. It will have way more power than you need and you'll just end up feeling like you wasted a lot of money. What I would suggest is getting a maxed out iMac. It should have what you need in order to play some pretty decent games in bootcamp and everything else you need. Building your own pc would definitely be better...but you said not living in the US makes it hard to do that. So yeah haha.

[edit]: I just looked up the Imac specs. You can have a hell of a machine for 2 grand. Versus the more expensive mac pro. I would definitely go with the 3.1Ghz processor and go from there. Here is the link: http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html Cheers!

 

imac is probably your best bet, however a high-end 15'' or a 17'' can play games well too. you'll probably get a lot of "don't buy a mac for gaming" responses, and while i agree that you shouldn't by a mac for gaming, you can certainly game on one with great results. use bootcamp, don't try to game through virtualization.

just curious...does dell access mean you have access to alienware products? if so, they are priced similar to macs and they are insane in terms of gaming.

 

I can understand why not Dell. Take a look at Gamer Xtreme 1000/. Lots of options to choose from, but you kinda need to know what you're looking at. Also, look at the other models they offer.

On the Apple side, iMac 27" with the bumped up VRAM actually is decent for gaming.

 

you could look at iBUYPOWER too. you can build a good, affordable rig there.

AMD Athlon™ II X4 640 Quad-Core CPU, 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module, NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 - 1GB, 500 GB HARD DRIVE 16M Cache 7200 RPM 6.0Gb/s with a keyboard, mouse, a 3-year warranty & Lifetime Technical Support for $489.00.

pretty good if you ask me.

 

I know you said you are against Dell but I would take a serious look at the Alienware machines offered through Dell. They are high quality machines.

If you have to go with an Apple machine, go for a high end 21" iMac imo. Mac Pro is way too much money.

 

If you are willing to settle for older games for the foreseeable future, then an iMac might suffice. But unfortunately, only a Mac Pro has the GPU options for the higher end games that are coming out at the end of this year (BF3, ME3). And a Mac Pro isn't really worth the cost if its for gaming only.

 

it's just too unjustifiable to purchase a mac for gaming, i.e. buy it and play only mac supported games, or even buy it and devote your hdd to bootcamp and play games on it that way. however, if you are going to use a good amount of your hdd for media and would prefer osx, and then you also want to game, then a dual-booted mac is obviously what you would want to go with.

however if your sole purpose is to game, do not buy a mac. if money is not an issue, go alienware and if it is then customize a machine according to your budget and have it shipped to you.

 

The 27 iMac with the 6970 would be great for gaming. There are several videos on YouTube of various games on the new iMacs. The 6970m is equivalent to a GTX 460, which is no slouch. Check out the review of the new iMacs at anandtech.com. I can't wait to get one myself. Oh and if you can, get the ssd option. I build pc's on the side and always recommend it to my clients who want a performance machine. It's the single best upgrade one could get.

Lastly, there is VERY LITTLE difference between the i5 and i7 processors. Check out the bench section of the anandtech.com site. In gaming performance, you would not benefit for an i7. Anandtechs bench will show this. Save the money from that upgrade and put it in a SSD.

 

Going against the grade.

If you want a mac for gaming and you have the cash then a mac pro is the only way I would go. Bottom of the range CPU, top GPU, and aftermarket RAM, 12gb is plenty. With many games this combo will be 50% more FPS than the top imac especially in Win7.

You can have completely separate HD with windows 7 64bit on it and a proper graphics card, not a mobile one. As new graphics cards become available you can upgrade. The 6970 will probably be out for the pro soon. It also means you can choose your monitor and sound system to your needs.

I use a 24" cinema display & logitech sound system in my study. Then if my family go away I drag it into the lounge and plug it into my 60" plasma and full surround sound system. In either case its a winner.

If you could find one you could look at a 2009 machine which would be much cheaper and give you the ability to upgrade yourself. This is what I did, I found an ex lease quad 2.67ghz locally and upgraded it.

Lastly as another non US-er, you could use a freight forwarding company like 'myus.com' to get stuff to you.

 

As the proud owner of a 2011 27" iMac with the upgraded processor and GPU, I can say without a doubt that this is a very powerful gaming machine.

StarCraft 2 - High settings gives me an average of 80 frames per second on the highest resolution, and the game is gorgeous.

Assassin's Creed 2 - Completely maxed settings with only an occasional hiccup here and there, runs very smoothly

Left 4 Dead 2 - Max settings delivers a very constant 59-60 frames per second, even at max resolution

Half-Life 2 - Max settings delivers average of 170 frames per second (old but fun game, lol)

But you don't HAVE to get the super high-end iMac. A lower end one will probably give you great performance. But yeah, a Mac Pro would probably be overkill.

 

Go for the Pro

Hello,

I would suggest the Mac Pro. Mainly because it represents better long term value than the iMac, and it will meet your gaming needs for a few years more than the iMac. Don't think of it as overkill, think of it as longevity. And yes, if you can wait for the expected update, do so.

Cheers,

Ray

 

sure you can play games on a iMac why not ,
some even play crysis warhead on netbooks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqzhtI_xhPY
so anything is possible if you are determined enough

better spend the money on a Alienware area 51 ALX
intel® Core™ i7-990x (3.46GHz, 12MB, 6.4GT/sec)
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1866Mhz
Dual 2GB AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 CrossfireX™
1Tb ssd
and 2 nice dell 30" monitors
might be a bit more expensive then a iMac , but
that should give you enough oompf to enjoy gaming without having to wait for the next frame to turn up on display and without having to worry about settings , just slide everything to max

you did say money is no object or

 

As I stated above, the 6970m is roughly the equivilent of the GTX 460. The GTX 460 is a better graphics card than the Mac Pro's 5770. Sure the Mac Pros have Xeon processors, but they wont matter much for gaming since most games do not utilize more than 2 cores (most use 1). Thus, the new iMacs processors and GPU are much better than the current Mac Pro lineup.

To see a the differences between the GTX 460 and Radeon 5770, see anandtech.com benchmarks.