Looking for advice on a Basic iMac and wether or not it can game OK?

[W1MRK]

Hello all.

For the longest time (since 1998) I have built my own PC's for gaming. I finally decided to try a Mac for the first time two weeks ago. I wont go back. I have the 1499 3.2 ghz core i3 21.5" model and I am having a blast. This is what computing should be like.

I have a question I have asked on other forums but wanted to hit you guys up on it as well. I play World of Warcraft on mine and enjoy it.

I am selling the gaming PC I just gave my wife to get her a 3.02 ghz core i3 1199 model iMac with the ATI 4670 at 256mb, 4 gigs of ram.

I am thinking this should be able to run World of Warcraft ok. Not expecting the settings maxed, more on fair or good. I am just looking for a good playing experience. The 1199 is more in the budget for what we can do. Other than that it will be used for basic writing and email surfing.

I know the 4670 is not much by todays standards but with a i3 in a mac I am thinking it should run fine, and work for at least 4 or so years down the road.


Looking forward to your thoughts

Thanks Mike

 

[biggd]

You'll be cool dude
All I do all day 6 days a week is fix PC's
I bet you keep your iMac longer then any of your "home" built systems.
They almost never die...

 

[i Smack]

The only advice I can give you if you go for this, is to buy a USB keyboard. Playing WoW with the Apple bluetooth just doesn't cut it. I plan to get the Logitech G19 soon as a permanent replacement.

 

[Kabir8]

27" iMac
with the 4850.

I can play Starcraft 2 with no problem - Full Res (it looks incredible)
I play Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Settings on High - Full Res
Same with Left For Dead 2, and other GPU intensive games.

All play very fluidly, and I am quite pleased.
The power is there

 

[DanielCoffey]

I play WoW on my mid-2007 iMac (c2d 2.8GHz, 4Gb, ATI HD2600pro) on low to medium settings without any issues. Sunshafts off and water to low and I'm fine. With a much newer machine you should be fine in all but the most demanding situations if you are reasonable with your expectations.

 

[josh1231]

Hello all.

For the longest time (since 1998) I have built my own PC's for gaming. I finally decided to try a Mac for the first time two weeks ago. I wont go back. I have the 1499 3.2 ghz core i3 21.5" model and I am having a blast. This is what computing should be like.

I have a question I have asked on other forums but wanted to hit you guys up on it as well. I play World of Warcraft on mine and enjoy it.

I am selling the gaming PC I just gave my wife to get her a 3.02 ghz core i3 1199 model iMac with the ATI 4670 at 256mb, 4 gigs of ram.

I am thinking this should be able to run World of Warcraft ok. Not expecting the settings maxed, more on fair or good. I am just looking for a good playing experience. The 1199 is more in the budget for what we can do. Other than that it will be used for basic writing and email surfing.

I know the 4670 is not much by todays standards but with a i3 in a mac I am thinking it should run fine, and work for at least 4 or so years down the road.


Looking forward to your thoughts

Thanks Mike

I don't play games a great deal any longer, however every time I get something to play I wish I had a separate gaming PC.

I have an IMac 27" I5 with the 4850 and 8GB Ram, and it really doesn't do that well on games, especially compared to a gaming system you could build for $1199. Even such games as Flight Simulator and Sims 3 have lags and delays, and have to be played on rather mediocre settings.

Also, rebooting into windows every time you want to play a game is a pain as well. I have parallels 6, but it still doesn't work well for gaming.

Your wife will love the Mac. You probably won't like it for gaming.

Love my Imac,

 

[gdeputy]

I don't play games a great deal any longer, however every time I get something to play I wish I had a separate gaming PC.

I have an IMac 27" I5 with the 4850 and 8GB Ram, and it really doesn't do that well on games, especially compared to a gaming system you could build for $1199. Even such games as Flight Simulator and Sims 3 have lags and delays, and have to be played on rather mediocre settings.

Also, rebooting into windows every time you want to play a game is a pain as well. I have parallels 6, but it still doesn't work well for gaming.

Your wife will love the Mac. You probably won't like it for gaming.

Love my Imac,

Flight Simulator is actually pretty demanding.

An iMac will handle non intensive games fine, but if gaming a big concern to you I would avoid the iMac, essentially it uses laptop GPU's.

 

[W1MRK]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I should probably state that all the games I will be laying will be mac based. I will not be using a Bootcamp style system.

Just Popcap games
Steam Games
And Blizzard Games

Thanks

Flight Simulator is actually pretty demanding.

An iMac will handle non intensive games fine, but if gaming a big concern to you I would avoid the iMac, essentially it uses laptop GPU's.

 

[RRmalvado]

Blizzard and Valve games do not demand a "good" video card.