Gaming on the 570 or 575?

[blesss]

Looking to hear any/all experiences about gaming on either of those two cards in the 27". Trying to make a decision to pick up an iMac in the next couple days and not sure if I should splurge for the 580 or if the base or 575 are good enough. If it matters, I will be upgrading to the 512 SSD for sure, but I definitely don't need the i7 for my use case.

I don't intend to do any super serious gaming on it but I guess I'd like the option/freedom to if I felt like it - titles would include things like league, CSGO, overwatch, witcher etc - on either macOS or bootcamped windows 10.

Cheers!

 

[Ph.D.]

Most games play very smoothly at 1440 resolution with the 570 (I have one). Borderlands, XCOM, Civ. V, Portal, etc.

I also have a linux box with an I7 and a 1070 in it, and I actually think the base iMac is a little smoother!

 

[blesss]

Most games play very smoothly at 1440 resolution with the 570 (I have one). Borderlands, XCOM, Civ. V, Portal, etc.

I also have a linux box with an I7 and a 1070 in it, and I actually think the base iMac is a little smoother!

this is good to hear! i dont know too much about those games, are they considered somewhat demanding ones?

 

[padams35]

this is good to hear! i dont know too much about those games, are they considered somewhat demanding ones?

Ph.D.'s listed examples are all older games as is league of legends. They aren't particularly demanding. I play Civ V and Portal (and Portal 2) in macOS at 1080p on a mid-2011 21" iMac.

I would expect the 570 to handle everything on your list with ease, unless you meant the highly demanding Witcher 3 which should still run but might be limited to low/medium settings.

 

[EugW]

How long do you want to keep this machine? If for an extended period, then get the 580 with 7600K.

There's not much price difference between the 512 GB 580 model ($2279) and the 512 GB 575 model (US$2169).

I got the 575 model, but I don't game on the Mac. If I were in your shoes, it'd be a no-brainer to get the 580, especially now that we know that the 7600K runs reasonably cool. (I bought my 7600 since on paper it runs cooler, but evidence from users in this forum have since taught us that the 7600K runs nearly as cool, and both are way, way cooler than the i7 7700K.)

 

[Ph.D.]

Ph.D.'s listed examples are all older games as is league of legends. They aren't particularly demanding. I play Civ V and Portal (and Portal 2) in macOS at 1080p on a mid-2011 21" iMac.

I would expect the 570 to handle everything on your list with ease, unless you meant the highly demanding Witcher 3 which should still run but might be limited to low/medium settings.

Yes, indeed, they are all older games (inc. Portal 2 - great game). I forgot to include Bioshock Infinite, which also runs very smoothly.

But note that there are few "demanding" games such as Witcher 3 available on the mac under Mac OS. The Mac's OS tends to get games a few years late, if ever, hence most are naturally older.

My comparison with my linux box (with 1070) is also perhaps hobbled by the likely less game-optimized Linux graphics drivers vs. Windows. But it's true that I prefer using the iMac over what should be the faster machine, if only for the awesome screen.

In the end, if all you are going to do is use bootcamp to run Windows, an iMac isn't your best option. I bought the iMac for office stuff; it's just that I've been pleasantly surprised by its gaming ability too with these sorts of titles.

 

[blesss]

thanks everyone! my main reason for the iMac is because i've used macbooks for years (air/mbp/12") and wanted a desktop while sticking with macOS. all my work will be done on there, the gaming is just a plus. ended up ordering the i5 580 with 512 SSD!

 

[mpConroe]

Good choice! Think about upgrading a RAM in your new iMac. I'm waiting right now for a parcel with 32(2x16)GB of RAM from Corsair.

 

[blesss]

Good choice! Think about upgrading a RAM in your new iMac. I'm waiting right now for a parcel with 32(2x16)GB of RAM from Corsair.

yup, considering it! will go up to 16 at least, maybe 24. any more is overkill for my needs haha

 

[AFEPPL]

570 sits about 25% below the 1060 performance wise
580 sites about on par with the 1060

A 1080 by comparison is 125% faster and delivers over double the framerate.
If gaming is your thing and you want A list titles at high res with high frame rates, go for a console or a gaming rig it will be better and cheaper. Or get the low end device and a consoles for less money. Shame apple won't allow HDMI inputs however.....