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OS X Is the this iMac a good machine for gaming

D

Dukeluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 31, 2013
20
0
Hey I am thinking about purchasing this iMAC for general use and gaming, plus I am going to upgrade the ram to 16GB. Will the game be any good for Civ 5 and other online games? I do not know much about graphics cards, do other macs have better graphics cards.

Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Originally released September 2013
27-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1440 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1,529.00 Save $270.00 15% off
 
If you can afford it, get the iMac with the 780M or 775M. There is a big step up in performance and I reckon it will come in handy in the long term.
 
well i m gaming on a lower spec 27" iMac & loving it. Its will be a decent gaming rig get it.
 
I'd recommend skipping the memory and going for the same model refurb but with a 775m card. You should be able to get a good deal that way. Unless you have some specific need for more memory, eight gigs is plenty for general use and games for at least the time being and you can always add more later if desired at some point. More is not always better. Sometimes more is just wasted money.

If you like to play games, you can't go wrong getting the best graphics option you are comfortable with spending for. Given what an iMac is going to cost you, I'd make 775m the minimum spec you should be looking at where you want to play games. I say that in part because more and more new releases are wanting more than 1 gig of video memory and the 775m will give you 2 gigs which should be plenty for the foreseeable future.

Some people will advocate going all the way with graphics card to the top model but it is more money and personally I don't agree it is a need to enjoy gaming or decent longevity for your system if you cannot afford it. If you can afford it, of course it is hard to go wrong getting the best available graphics option but again, don't feel bad if you can't swing that. You'll still be fine.

Do not get less than the 775m which has 2 gigs of RAM though. For a gamer I think that would not be a wise choice considering this is a new system purchase for you and hopefully it will last you a good long time.

Hope that helps.
 
Definitely go for the 775 or preferably, the 780m.

The 755m will struggle at high resolutions pretty severely and wont offer much in the way of futureproofing.
 
think i am going to do this instead

Originally released September 2013
iMac 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
27-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1440 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1739

Looking to adding 16gb ram + 8gb to give me 24gb. If i can find it.
 
Not sure what you mean by general use but 16GB is overkill for games. My Mac only has 6GB.
 
insane79 said:
well i think 8gb is enough but most mac games are so so ports & their recommended specs in games is always almost double in ram, for e.g. Metro last nite the developers recommend 4gb on windows & 16gb on osx :eek:
link to prove it-
http://store.steampowered.com/app/43160/
Click to expand...

It's just bs.
The reason why most recommend more RAM on OSX is because Intel HD gfx can use more VRAM when RAM increase.
If the game runs at 2GB in win and linux and need 16GB on OSX, then it's a nasty memory leak.
I've yet to see a game that needs more than 4GB ram alone.

Anyways, RAM is cheap and you can add it later on if you feel that you need it.
 
I've been playing BF4, COD Ghosts, and BF3 on my mid 2013 iMac with 680MX with no problems. Most of my settings are set pretty high! So going with the 4GB card on the new iMacs will not be a problem! :D
 
insane79 said:
well i think 8gb is enough but most mac games are so so ports & their recommended specs in games is always almost double in ram, for e.g. Metro last nite the developers recommend 4gb on windows & 16gb on osx :eek:
link to prove it-
http://store.steampowered.com/app/43160/
Click to expand...

I don't know of any Mac game but this one with that recommendation and the requirement is 8 so presumably it still runs acceptably with 8 or else the requirement would be higher.

So, I guess if you want to play Metro Last Light you'll want to try it out with 8 gigs and if it won't run and buying memory for this one game is worthwhile for you, by all means do it up. :D

----------
Dukeluke said:
Originally released September 2013
iMac 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
27-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1440 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1739

Looking to adding 16gb ram + 8gb to give me 24gb. If i can find it.
Click to expand...

This is a fine choice in my opinion. At this point, I'm assuming some work you do requires the added RAM since you seem set on getting that. If you don't have some app needing it though, honestly you won't see any difference with everyday apps and tasks nor games other than Metro Last Light (maybe!).
 
Last edited:
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