Does gaming on iMac cause it to fail sooner than not?

[Schnauzer World]

I'm playing Guild Wars 2 on bootcamp using the red drivers from bootcampdrivers.com. I set the resolution to 1440p and it runs fine, but worried it might damage the hardware or cause premature wear. This is my only computer and can't afford a new system and I need the iMac to last as long as possible.

Guild Wars 2 is an older game and does have high hardware requirements, so I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

My iMac's specs are in the signature.

 

[maflynn]

but worried it might damage the hardware or cause premature wear.

You're using it as intended. As long as the temps are pushing 100c, you'll be fine. Computers are not museum pieces to put on the self. Playing games, is but one acceptable tasks you can perform on a computer and its a lot better then using it for spreadsheets

 

[kagharaht]

After your games do you shut it down, sleep or leave it running? Maybe letting it sleep or shut down will give it a rest to last longer.

 

[Schnauzer World]

After your games do you shut it down, sleep or leave it running? Maybe letting it sleep or shut down will give it a rest to last longer.

I select the "sleep" option.

 

[Michael0816]

I don't use my Mac EVER. Sometimes I turn it on for a few minutes to stare at the screen, but 99,99% of the time it's just decorating my desk. This baby should last me, at least, dozens of years. 👍

 

[wilberforce]

Probably the only thing that is affected is the fan running high for long periods and hence sucking dust into the machine, which will affect its ability to cool the CPU/GPU, which will result in throttling the CPU/GPU performance (not damaging it).
Suggest vacuum the air inlet ports along the bottom edge from time to time (with the machine off!). This is what I did.
People have this misconception that 100C is hot for a computer. Just because 100C is hot for a carbon life form (like a human being), does not mean it is hot for silicon (or a machine like a car), which is subject to much higher temperatures during manufacture. A computer processor is designed to run continuously at 100C (typically).
The LCD screen will likely age with use. Previous models of the 5k iMac (especially 2014 and 2015) got image retention and screen discoloration after several years. I have not seen reports that the 2020 screen has the same problems, but it may just be a matter of time. Obviously, sleep or turn off the screen when not in use.
I have not heard of people needing to bake GPUs on recent iMacs to revive them or redo thermal pastes. This used to be an issue on some GPUs due to heat.
Btw, that is an excellent spec Intel iMac with the 5700XT GPU. The best and last of it’s kind.

 

[Slartibart]

I don't use my Mac EVER. Sometimes I turn it on for a few minutes to stare at the screen, but 99,99% of the time it's just decorating my desk. This baby should last me, at least, dozens of years. 👍

I assume you are asking for purpose for your Mac… while I am a member of a generation who cares about the sensibility of purchases, let’s not dive into questioning how well sometimes some people are equipped for the physical world out there with all its restrictions… where was I? Right. Well, here are a few bullet points indicating how you assign purpose to your Mac… ALWAYS:

• your nephew needs a few centimetres to reach their soup bowl from the kids high chair? Just place your Mac below them.
• as a resident of Wellington NZ the wind is frequently causing your flat entry door shut? Use it as a spacer to keep it open.
• you are a hobby chef? Place the screen of your Mac horizontal, use a plain white Finder background - you will never have easier removed fish bones from filet of bass using it as illumination from below.
• dropped something under the sofa? Depending on your Mac you might obviously need an extension cord , but what you have there is an excellent torch light at your immediate disposal.
• Annoyed by the local mosquito population during the evenings? You might be unaware, but yes, you OWN a fly swatter “designed in Carlifornia” right there.

or - we know: b.o.r.i.n.g. - you use it like everyone else owning one is using it - programming and running a sieve for prime numbers in Cobol to calculate the sum of all primes.

I doubt there are actually any other possible use cases for a Mac - I mean anyone who could imagine anything beyond the above has been awarded probably at least more than one IgNobel ?!?!!! - but heck, maybe someone from the MR community reading here has any rare additional use for their Mac they like you, @Michael0816, to inform about (?)

As written, personally I consider it as highly improbable, but hey, I am open like you for surprises…



@Schnauzer World : @maflynn provided solid info.

 

[kagharaht]

I select the "sleep" option.

That's a good routine. For me, I never shut down my iMac M3 anymore. This M3 iMac uses less than 5 watts idle.

 

[Michael0816]

I assume you are asking for purpose for your Mac… while I am a member of a generation who cares about the sensibility of purchases, let’s not dive into questioning how well sometimes some people are equipped for the physical world out there with all its restrictions… where was I? Right. Well, here are a few bullet points indicating how you assign purpose to your Mac… ALWAYS:

• your nephew needs a few centimetres to reach their soup bowl from the kids high chair? Just place your Mac below them.
• as a resident of Wellington NZ the wind is frequently causing your flat entry door shut? Use it as a spacer to keep it open.
• you are a hobby chef? Place the screen of your Mac horizontal, use a plain white Finder background - you will never have easier removed fish bones from filet of bass using it as illumination from below.
• dropped something under the sofa? Depending on your Mac you might obviously need an extension cord , but what you have there is an excellent torch light at your immediate disposal.
• Annoyed by the local mosquito population during the evenings? You might be unaware, but yes, you OWN a fly swatter “designed in Carlifornia” right there.

or - we know: b.o.r.i.n.g. - you use it like everyone else owning one is using it - programming and running a sieve for prime numbers in Cobol to calculate the sum of all primes.

I doubt there are actually any other possible use cases for a Mac - I mean anyone who could imagine anything beyond the above has been awarded probably at least more than one IgNobel ?!?!!! - but heck, maybe someone from the MR community reading here has any rare additional use for their Mac they like you, @Michael0816, to inform about (?)

As written, personally I consider it as highly improbable, but hey, I am open like you for surprises…



@Schnauzer World : @maflynn provided solid info.

Care to explain the meaning and reasoning behind your highly sophisticated post from a rather high horse?

 

[Ruggy]

After your games do you shut it down, sleep or leave it running? Maybe letting it sleep or shut down will give it a rest to last longer.

I'm not sure.
It's like those light bulbs that have been on for 100 years or more. It's the heating up and cooling down that kills them. It's usually when you switch something on that you kill it.
Sleep mode I don't know it may be best, but in any case I'm a great believer in leaving things warm if possible to reduce temperature changes as much as possible. I never turn screens off for example.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

After a gaming session, I normally run my iMac for a few minutes in idle mode until the fans are silent again before sleeping it or powering it down.

FYI AMD dropped new Bootcamp GPU drivers today for the 5700XT.

 

[Nermal]

For what it's worth, I play games regularly on my iMac. All was well for five years, then the fan went haywire. I'm fully aware that we're in "sample size of 1" territory here though!

 

[kagharaht]

For what it's worth, I play games regularly on my iMac. All was well for five years, then the fan went haywire. I'm fully aware that we're in "sample size of 1" territory here though!

My last fan component failure was for my 2008 MacBook Pro 15". The left Fan started to grind and sound awful around 2011. I replaced it and it ran fine ever since. Finally retired the MBP 2017 and replaced with MBA 2017. I've never had any other Fan issue on all the Macs I've ever used. Just that one model. I'm running Topaz Video Ai upscaling my family videos and others who sent me their tapes... iMac M3 has been processing for months now...so far fan sounds pretty normal...but we'll see what happens in a year or two.

 

[Ericdjensen]

I assume you are asking for purpose for your Mac… while I am a member of a generation who cares about the sensibility of purchases, let’s not dive into questioning how well sometimes some people are equipped for the physical world out there with all its restrictions… where was I? Right. Well, here are a few bullet points indicating how you assign purpose to your Mac… ALWAYS:

• your nephew needs a few centimetres to reach their soup bowl from the kids high chair? Just place your Mac below them.
• as a resident of Wellington NZ the wind is frequently causing your flat entry door shut? Use it as a spacer to keep it open.
• you are a hobby chef? Place the screen of your Mac horizontal, use a plain white Finder background - you will never have easier removed fish bones from filet of bass using it as illumination from below.
• dropped something under the sofa? Depending on your Mac you might obviously need an extension cord , but what you have there is an excellent torch light at your immediate disposal.
• Annoyed by the local mosquito population during the evenings? You might be unaware, but yes, you OWN a fly swatter “designed in Carlifornia” right there.

or - we know: b.o.r.i.n.g. - you use it like everyone else owning one is using it - programming and running a sieve for prime numbers in Cobol to calculate the sum of all primes.

I doubt there are actually any other possible use cases for a Mac - I mean anyone who could imagine anything beyond the above has been awarded probably at least more than one IgNobel ?!?!!! - but heck, maybe someone from the MR community reading here has any rare additional use for their Mac they like you, @Michael0816, to inform about (?)

As written, personally I consider it as highly improbable, but hey, I am open like you for surprises…



@Schnauzer World : @maflynn provided solid info.

This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen on this site in ten+ years