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I'm getting a MAC for Christmas and want to know if it's good for gaming.

Here are my specs:

2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 1GB video memory

Ty in advance :)

That hardware running OS X, ok for gaming.
That hardware running Windows, good for gaming.
Consider using a bootcamp partition for your gaming for the best performance and most titles.
 
I would at least talk to them and say what I just posted (The burn-in time for a computer is 70 hours (if something is going to go wrong, it most likely will go wrong in 70 hours). By christmas, if there is an issue, you would have to get it repaired rather than replaced. Plus, not using it now means you are wasting part of your 1 year warranty.). At least see what they say.

I don't know about the 70 hours thing; I think they've had it over a month...

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That hardware running OS X, ok for gaming.
That hardware running Windows, good for gaming.
Consider using a bootcamp partition for your gaming for the best performance and most titles.

Wait...

1. What's OS X?
2. I though IMac was Apple? (sorry if I sound a bit stupid)
3. What's bootcamp?
 
I don't know about the 70 hours thing; I think they've had it over a month...

So your parents are using it? Is that what you mean?

70 hours usage just is when a component is most likely to fail. If it survives that, you have good model (or at least a high change of nothing failing). It is the same on all computers. Think of it as a rule of thumb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn-in).

Here is a quote: "Burn-in is the process by which components of a system are exercised prior to being placed in service (and often, prior to the system being completely assembled from those components)."

Hope this helps :)
 
So your parents are using it? Is that what you mean?

70 hours usage just is when a component is most likely to fail. If it survives that, you have good model (or at least a high change of nothing failing). It is the same on all computers. Think of it as a rule of thumb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn-in).

Here is a quote: "Burn-in is the process by which components of a system are exercised prior to being placed in service (and often, prior to the system being completely assembled from those components)."

Hope this helps :)

No, I meant that they bought it about a month ago and have it in safekeeping over my Godmothers house, fresh in the box as far as I know.

And yes you're a massive help:)
 
I don't know about the 70 hours thing; I think they've had it over a month...

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Wait...

1. What's OS X?
2. I though IMac was Apple? (sorry if I sound a bit stupid)
3. What's bootcamp?

OS X is the operating system for macs. Windows is the operating system of PC's. OS X is made by Apple, and so it your iMac. Easy way to put it;

iMac is the hardware you bought from apple.
OS X is the software that runs on your iMac that is made by apple.

Running OS X (which comes pre-installed) is running Mac. Putting Windows on it makes it run as a PC.

Bootcamp is a program built in where you can easily install Windows on a Mac. You would do this if you need Windows, but never wanted to buy another computer to run Windows. It allows you to jump between Mac (OS X) and Windows with just a restart.

If your Steam games show they work with Mac (OS X), then you won't need Windows. Some games use Windows but I feel you won't really need to install it for a what you are wanting to play.

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No, I meant that they bought it about a month ago and have it in safekeeping over my Godmothers house, fresh in the box as far as I know.

And yes you're a massive help:)

Well I would say that someone (if not you) should run it and use it for a week. Even if they just switch it on and make sure basic things work (sound, web cam, screen, keyboard, mouse, check for scratches...).
 
If they bought it a month ago, it doesn't really matter now if it'll be good for game or not because the specs are already fixed.

That all said, it should be fine for many games on the market.
 
OS X is the operating system for macs. Windows is the operating system of PC's. OS X is made by Apple, and so it your iMac. Easy way to put it;

iMac is the hardware you bought from apple.
OS X is the software that runs on your iMac that is made by apple.

Running OS X (which comes pre-installed) is running Mac. Putting Windows on it makes it run as a PC.

Bootcamp is a program built in where you can easily install Windows on a Mac. You would do this if you need Windows, but never wanted to buy another computer to run Windows. It allows you to jump between Mac (OS X) and Windows with just a restart.

If your Steam games show they work with Mac (OS X), then you won't need Windows. Some games use Windows but I feel you won't really need to install it for a what you are wanting to play.

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Well I would say that someone (if not you) should run it and use it for a week. Even if they just switch it on and make sure basic things work (sound, web cam, screen, keyboard, mouse, check for scratches...).

That's probably best. Make sure it keeps in shape, if you will?
 
That's probably best. Make sure it keeps in shape, if you will?

Exactly. Just to make sure it looks ok. Your 1 year warranty would still help you if you had a issue, so don't worry to much. It is just that if, for example, the screen was cracked, Apple could fix it but for a fee. I think it could be hard to persuade them that it was like that when you opened it (if you nice enough, you may be able to). That is why I would recommend checking now.
 
Yh it's just 1 year

Well I hope you enjoy it when you get it :) You will more than happy with gaming on it. By Christmas though, OS X Yosemite will be out (just an update for you iMac) found in the app store). Quite a few users have said that this update increase gaming performance by around 30% so you would benefit from it. Just ask about it on the forums if you don't know how to upgrade to it (it is free). You will also have iLife to download (Pages, Numbers, Keynotes) for free as well.
 
Well I hope you enjoy it when you get it :) You will more than happy with gaming on it. By Christmas though, OS X Yosemite will be out (just an update for you iMac) found in the app store). Quite a few users have said that this update increase gaming performance by around 30% so you would benefit from it. Just ask about it on the forums if you don't know how to upgrade to it (it is free). You will also have iLife to download (Pages, Numbers, Keynotes) for free as well.

Oh wow, Yosemite sounds good. On a side note, I think I'll get a different mouse and keyboard since we have IMacs in music class (which I won't be doing in September onwards) and I personally find the mouse & keyboard kind of *****. I can change them, right?
 
Well I hope you enjoy it when you get it :) You will more than happy with gaming on it. By Christmas though, OS X Yosemite will be out (just an update for you iMac) found in the app store). Quite a few users have said that this update increase gaming performance by around 30% so you would benefit from it. Just ask about it on the forums if you don't know how to upgrade to it (it is free). You will also have iLife to download (Pages, Numbers, Keynotes) for free as well.

Yosemite will increase gaming performance? do you have a link where do you find this, i tried to search but i didn't found anything
 
Oh wow, Yosemite sounds good. On a side note, I think I'll get a different mouse and keyboard since we have IMacs in music class (which I won't be doing in September onwards) and I personally find the mouse & keyboard kind of *****. I can change them, right?

Yes, you can use any mouse or keyboard. By any chance is it the old wired keyboard and mighty mouse though (the ball on the muse)? If that is what you hate, the one's you get with your iMac are much better.

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Yosemite will increase gaming performance? do you have a link where do you find this, i tried to search but i didn't found anything

Sure:

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/10887509283
http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2bdnru/has_anyone_else_noticed_huge_gains_in_gaming/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1740978/
http://www.imore.com/improving-graphics-performance-os-x-metal-answer

Note sure about the last on. Just search 'OS X Yosemite gaming increase'.
 
Yes, you can use any mouse or keyboard. By any chance is it the old wired keyboard and mighty mouse though (the ball on the muse)? If that is what you hate, the one's you get with your iMac are much better.

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Sure:

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/10887509283
http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2bdnru/has_anyone_else_noticed_huge_gains_in_gaming/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1740978/
http://www.imore.com/improving-graphics-performance-os-x-metal-answer

Note sure about the last on. Just search 'OS X Yosemite gaming increase'.

Lol yh those are the ones, they are so bad xD
 
Be reasonable and keep your expectations in line and you'll be fine.

It was more than adequate for Blizzard games.
 
Well the wireless keyboard and magic mouse are much better that those! The mouse uses gestures. I would recommend a magic trackpad as well, and maybe a gaming mouse just for games.

Here is a video of the mouse you will have: http://youtu.be/uK0qZAkummU

So just to double check, the IMac should be good for Steam games and MMO's like C9, ArcheAge and Blizzard games?
I don't expect them to run on ultra high graphics though lol
 
You have the highest 21.5" iMac.

It's not the highest. It can be BTO-ed to an i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a FD/SSD configuration.

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So just to double check, the IMac should be good for Steam games and MMO's like C9, ArcheAge and Blizzard games?
I don't expect them to run on ultra high graphics though lol

On my 21.5" iMac (3.1GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 1GB GT 750M), BF4 plays fine.

1680x1050, mix of high and ultra, 16xAF, FXAA and it gets 47-50 fps, with the lowest being 35 and easily shooting past 60 in quite a number of situations.

So yeah, the 750M is surprisingly capable.
 
In a moment of boredom I realized that, isn't Macs meant for work and study and such?

iMacs can do anything and everything. On my model (same as yours), I do HD video editing, photo editing 3D animation, and gaming.

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It's not the highest. It can be BTO-ed to an i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a FD/SSD configuration.



I class it as the highest model (out of the 3 teers it is) and yours is just an upgraded highest model ;)

If you buy anywhere than apples site, they highest you can get is mine.
 
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