Help with Mac build for gaming

The Mac Pro still uses the 5870 which isnt anything for gaming these days. the 680mx in the iMac however will handle almost anything at full resolution fine.

Thats your best bet for graphics

 

If gaming is a big issue for you, forget the macs. You will be frustrated so dont even try to convert your mac into a cutting edge gaming system. You will just end up overpaying for an average system. Since you already have the PC, I would keep that for gaming and get a mac with a small footprint like a macbook or mac mini for normal computing. Another option is perhaps a combo of mac + console. An extreme option is Hackintosh.

 

I am a gamer as well and chose the latest imac with 680mx. It's my first apple computer and before I built 4 gaming pc rigs. If you want a tower, I believe Apple will be coming out with Mac Pros sometime this year which I'm sure will be a better gaming rig than the new imac. The new imac handles games on ultra settings just fine and the gameplay is smooth. I chose a 3.4 i7, 1 tb fusion, 8gb of ram (you can upgrade the ram up to 32gb yourself, it's really easy) and a 680mx. My pc was 4 years old running a GTX275 and finally decided to go for a apple computer all in one setup. I'm glad I did... it's a smexy beast! I'm done with pc's.

 

if budget isn't an issue, then i don't see why you shouldn't max out all the option except for the RAM, which can be upgraded via third party seller.

 

the best mac for gaming at the current state is the 27" iMac with the 680mx

 

Long time mac gamer here.

I just bought a 2012 27inch 3.2ghz iMac. I chose the following upgrades:16gb RAM, 1TB Fusion drive, and the 680mx graphics card.

I run diablo 3, starcraft, and WoW all on ultra graphics settings and I run at 60-100 FPS. I also installed Windows 7 using BootCamp, and I play Dota 2 on the steam client on the Windows side. This also runs perfectly at max graphics.

Anyone here that says you're going to have nightmares doesn't know what they're talking about.

Couldn't be happier that I'm able to run Mac OS on my main computer and run any video game I choose at the top end graphics.

 

I'm having a hard time deciding on iMac vs Monitor/Mac-Mini/Gaming PC.

I don't really want the clutter of Screen/MacBook or Mini.

It's just disgusting how Apple is so controlling. How hard could it be to include HDMI input on Cinema Display or iMac?

I would love to have 21" iMac and Gaming PC, using the iMac for screen. Why must I buy a 3rd party Monitor just to game with a PC? It's bull crap!

 

I'd go with the iMac. You'll be happier in the long run.

As long as you don't mind playing future games on med-high settings you'll be better off imo. I don't want a ugly pc box and monitor with 100 cables in the back, so I just went with the 27" with the 680mx which is a beast card.

just my 2 cents.