How is gaming on a base iMac?

[Hoggle]

We are in the market for a new desktop, and are probably going to pick up a 21.5" imac base tomorrow. I have had a MacBook Pro, so I am familiar with the operating system. I know that Macs are not primarily gaming machines, but I'm curious at how it will run most of the newer games on the market.

I have StarCraft 2, and would play that, but also eventually will pick up a copy of Windows 7 to run bootcamp for pc games. One of the games I am dying to play is The Witcher 2 for instance...Just kinda curious what others experiences have been.

For what it's worth I am really looking forward to replacing our outdated vista pc with an iMac, just hope I can do some gaming on it as well....I also don't need super ultra settings as well. I would be perfectly happy with Medium to High settings as well.

 

[elithrar]

I have StarCraft 2, and would play that, but also eventually will pick up a copy of Windows 7 to run bootcamp for pc games. One of the games I am dying to play is The Witcher 2 for instance...Just kinda curious what others experiences have been.

For what it's worth I am really looking forward to replacing our outdated vista pc with an iMac, just hope I can do some gaming on it as well....I also don't need super ultra settings as well. I would be perfectly happy with Medium to High settings as well.

SC2 will run fine, at native resolution with medium settings (or thereabouts). Might be a bit smoother at 1600x900.

The Witcher 2 is a fair system hog, and the graphics card in the 21.5" isn't a standout. I'd probably expect "reasonable" framerates (30-40fps) at medium settings @ 1600x900. Less if you want 1920x1080.

 

[RollTide]

IN My Steam Library I have:

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover (Talk about resource hog)
Left for Dead 2
Red Orchestra

All run great on high except for Cliffs of Dover Which I have on medium across the board and 1xAA. Hopefully after optimization I can run it higher.

 

[QCassidy352]

I have the high end 21.5, and it runs SC2 very well at native res, high settings (starts at about 60 fps and drops into the 30s in big battles, so it never gets choppy). The 6750m is somewhat weaker but not a huge difference, so I'd strongly suspect you could do native res and medium settings or drop the resolution down one notch and play on high.

 

[galliano]

The Witcher 2 is a fair system hog, and the graphics card in the 21.5" isn't a standout. I'd probably expect "reasonable" framerates (30-40fps) at medium settings @ 1600x900. Less if you want 1920x1080.

Assume you are referring to running Witcher 2 via boot camp right?

Just to share, I've played Crysis 2 & Portal 2 via boot camp on medium settings and it has been very very smooth with no lag. Using the new 21.5" base model with 8Gb ram and 500Mb Vram.

 

[HBOC]

I have NBA 2K11 and Black Ops and they both run fine, MUCH better than I expected@!

 

[elithrar]

Assume you are referring to running Witcher 2 via boot camp right?

Yes, seeing as it's not OS X native and it quite clearly won't be playable (like most modern games) via virtualisation (VMWare/Parallels).

 

[Hoggle]

Yes, seeing as it's not OS X native and it quite clearly won't be playable (like most modern games) via virtualisation (VMWare/Parallels).

Exactly...I will eventually be picking up a copy of Windows 7 to use for bootcamp. Just kills me how darn expensive it is for the basic Win7 ($200)...So I won't be picking it up right away, but sometime soon hopefully.

Thanks for the replies so far, really looking forward to picking up the iMac.

 

[galliano]

Thanks for the replies so far, really looking forward to picking up the iMac.

I think these days.. the hardware has already caught up / exceeded the playable specs for all games. Honestly, not everyone needs the best resolution in games .. which in this case, the iMac is definitely not for consideration if a gamer is that serious.

What i like is that iMac has caught up to the current baseline standards, which is sufficient for gaming natively via Boot Camp.