Apple Could Adopt AMD's New Radeon HD 6990M GPU for Next iMac

[Icaras]

Macs have never been the best gaming rigs, and never will.

I'm very glad you say this...

Oh how I could spend all day proving you wrong there but I won't. I'll just say the iMacs can play a ton of games. Sure not the latest at the highest resolutions. But 95% of people don't need or want that. I say for everyone who is not a bleeding edge gamer - the current iMac line up is a best buy for games.

You completely....missed his point. Reread what he said: "Macs have never been the best gaming rigs, and never will." There is really nothing more you can do to argue with that, as that is simply the fact.

I am very happy that iMacs are indeed capable gaming rigs, and that's fine with me, but we can all agree here that they will never be the best. Hell is right on the dot. They're gaming rigs, yes, but the best? No. Nontheless, you still won't see me telling anyone to let that fact stop them from gaming on a Mac.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

I'm interested in them using a Pair of 6990M in the iMac

or MacBook Pro and even the Mac Mini.

With OpenCL 1.1 firmly entrenched at AMD and Apple for OS X [system-wide] putting 2 of these, on-board would truly turn any of their MacBook line, iMac and Mac Mini systems into a real number crunching solution.

 

[Rocketman]

Layer two of them on an iPad 3HD A5 processor. Do a mac that can approach an iPad controlling a bank of a dozen GPU cards over PCI-E to a 8K x 8K projector at a planetarium.

Let's see iPads exceed Server and Pro performance at pad price and format. External TB!

Rocketman

 

[iSayuSay]

Wow .. really? And when iMac 2011 will be held? it's just 2 months since last refresh and we're speculating already.

I think 6990M is not going to make it by that time, there always newer and better GPU. It's the fastest updated component in computer world, it's a pain for wallet to always have greatest GPU. Even gamer would admit that.

 

[MythicFrost]

They better not. 7970M will greatly trump this and I wouldn't settle for anything less. 7990M would be nice though

 

[toddybody]

Oh how I could spend all day proving you wrong there but I won't. I'll just say the iMacs can play a ton of games. Sure not the latest at the highest resolutions. But 95% of people don't need or want that. I say for everyone who is not a bleeding edge gamer - the current iMac line up is a best buy for games.

And you know what? The Barefeats website agrees with me too.
http://www.barefeats.com/imac11c.html

So anyone who says the iMac is terrible at games simply does not understand and needs to be informed. The iMac won't ever break frame rate records. But it plays most games at a very acceptable (and at sometimes darn good) level. So I'm not complaining and neither should anyone else.

The iMacs run mobile GPU's for a reason. They are sleek, sexy and are pretty good. Those SLI/crossfire options sure they give good performance but they are big ugly things that need a lot of power (and a dedicated fan at times) to run. I care about my power bill and in the performance per watt of power used to run the GPU I like how the iMac's mobile cards are.

Apple never failed in the GPU department. They just choose their GPU's (for iMacs and notebooks) with the best specs for the least power used. Apple never wanted the most powerful GPU in these devices. And neither do I.

The simple fact is, mobile graphics (not CF at that) + High Native Screen Resolution leave it in a mediocre state. Not to sound snarky, but true PC gamers require much more graphical muscle and would scoff at the ignorant bragging of a 6970m. Sure, the iMacs can run most things Source well...and also Blizzard offerings; but titles like Crysis, Crysis 2(DX 11 + HR Pack), Metro 2033, AvP...you're not going to have anything close to a premium experience (high settings, 30FPS+ Min).

BTW, I lol'd at "(And a dedicated fan sometimes)"...as if that were a bad thing. The iMac's cooling solutions are a joke.

 

[accessoriesguy]

alright they could do that, or actually switch to ARM processors to go back to Nvidia. Although I am starting to doubt that now.

 

[Teilzeitemo]

Wow .. really? And when iMac 2011 will be held? it's just 2 months since last refresh and we're speculating already.

I think 6990M is not going to make it by that time, there always newer and better GPU. It's the fastest updated component in computer world, it's a pain for wallet to always have greatest GPU. Even gamer would admit that.

It is, but it has become cheaper in the past few years, at least in the desktop segment. Today you can max out quite anything on 1080p with a 200€ GPU.
The real pain is to stay with apple if you have a serious gaming attitude - almost not affordable, at least highly inefficient money wise.

 

[chrmjenkins]

They better not. 7970M will greatly trump this and I wouldn't settle for anything less. 7990M would be nice though

7970M will be Q1 2012 at the earliest. However, it's likely that the next iMac will come next Spring/Summer with Ivy Bridge and 7xxx anyway.

 

[Nostromo]

As long as Apple puts those glossy displays on the iMac I don't care about what great graphics processor they put inside.

Give us a matte option, and I'll cheer for every improvement.

 

[AAPLaday]

I've almost given up on the iMacs now. Decided i wont be getting one in the future. Dont get me wrong i still think they are solid machines but for gaming i know im going to be constantly let down. I dont have the desk space or need for a 27" yet thats the only way to get a decent GPU in one. Even then with the high res your going to have to turn the settings down more than id like. Factor into it all that problems with tinted screens and not offering a matte option, along with the difficulty in accessing the hard drive/putting in your own aftermarket SSD, and its lost its appeal to me.

 

[the8thark]

AAPLaday the iMac never lost it's appeal to you. You are just not the target audience of the iMac. It's not the PC for you. And judging by what you say it never was. The iMac is good for a lot of people but not for everyone.

 

[coolspot18]

The 6970M (mobile GPU) is a pathetic card to throw into a DESKTOP computer.

True, but due to the size of iMac, there aren't many other choices... unless you want a thicker computer.

 

[iSayuSay]

I'm not going crazy about this news, and I don't certainly hope iMac goes Mobility Crossfire with future gen.

I just hope Apple could use single desktop GPU instead. Maybe modify the board or connection, put the heatsink outside like they do today, make it custom like Apple used to, I dont mind. But desktop GPU chip please, not mobility.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Still I wouldn't be surprise if we see these in an 27" BTO this year.

 

[theSeb]

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Given Apple's track record, I'd say this card making it into iMacs is doubtful- but I'd love to see it!

What track record are you referring to? Using the fastest available mobile SB processors in the 2011 MBP? Or using the fastest available consumer desktop SB processors in the 2011 iMacs? That track record?

 

[theSeb]

I've almost given up on the iMacs now. Decided i wont be getting one in the future. Dont get me wrong i still think they are solid machines but for gaming i know im going to be constantly let down. I dont have the desk space or need for a 27" yet thats the only way to get a decent GPU in one. Even then with the high res your going to have to turn the settings down more than id like. Factor into it all that problems with tinted screens and not offering a matte option, along with the difficulty in accessing the hard drive/putting in your own aftermarket SSD, and its lost its appeal to me.

What do you expect? A desktop gpu in an iMac?

 

[theSeb]

alright they could do that, or actually switch to ARM processors to go back to Nvidia. Although I am starting to doubt that now.

Switch to ARM processors? Why do you think they would need to switch to ARM to go back to nvidia? Which desktop ARM processor should they use exactly? You seem confused. Do you think the use of an AMD graphics card instead of nvidia in the iMac has something to do with intel?

 

[AAPLaday]

What do you expect? A desktop gpu in an iMac?

Not desktop no. Just a beefier mobile one in the 21" since I find the 27 just too big.

 

[theSeb]

Not desktop no. Just a beefier mobile one in the 21" since I find the 27 just too big.

I see no reason to not have the 6970 in the 21". Heat maybe?

 

[AAPLaday]

I see no reason to not have the 6970 in the 21". Heat maybe?

Yeah it would be heat. If they removed the optical drive however we might be in business. Also Apple seems to like the fact that their products with bigger screens get the more powerful hardware. I dont see this changing anytime soon.

 

[Mobius 1]

M17x says hello

 

[L0s7man]

I wish they would just pop the new chip in. Why do we have to wait until some arbitrary date in the future for a speed bump? This is essentially just that.

I'll be (probably) buying an iMac in 4-6 weeks. Would love to see one with this chip. There is no reason not to.

However, speed bumps were usually about HDD/CPU, nothing else really.

Sigh, kinda shame. iMac is a nice gaming machine and this would make it even nicer!

 

[dwward]

BREAKING:

Apple may adopt new components in the refresh of its next generation products......

Your observation is spot on, but then that is the nature of these rumor sites. It's nerds (in this case apple nerds) writing for nerds.

Go to Canon Rumors or Nikon rumors, it's all the same.

 

[Preclaro_tipo]

Request and History Question

Would you please, if you think it is important to you. Go to http://www.apple.com/feedback/imac.html

and request the 6990M be added to the graphics card options. Thank you very much. The reason I ask is that sometimes I think the company holds it convictions so strongly that it is deaf toward the market...if enough people say something I think they are capable of changing their minds.

Also, does anyone recall if apple has added a graphics option to an existing line of computers...I thought they have with the mac pro but I don't particularly remember them doing so with the iMac.

Thank you!