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SSD and gaming on the 27'' imac.
- Thread starter bo-waleed
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Installing a SSD may improve some of the gaming experience however it's not directly tied into FPS, from my experience the answer is no.
FPS is a performance of the video chipset whether discreet or integrated, the SSD only affects how an app interacts with it, such as loading the game initially, loading new maps/sections of the game, etc. FPS is influenced by your GPU's fill rate. When I say GPU, it'll also include factors like GPU memory bandwidth and access times as well.
Integrated graphics use system RAM in much the same way discreet GDDR memory works on the same card the GPU is on. GDDR on the card with the GPU will almost always outperform a setup that uses the system RAM which needs to go through the system bus, I/O hubs and such before it even gets to the GPU. The SSD you're referring to is not going to have faster access times than DDR3, which means your FPS won't improve as a result of switching to a SSD drive.
Bootcamp vs VM, bootcamp will likely be a more straight up experience for gaming however it's not entirely 100% like using an actual genuine PC with Windows 7. A Mac still requires the use of Bootcamp drivers which aren't always without issue due to lack of updates and such. Some games don't run well in a VM, etc.
FPS is a performance of the video chipset whether discreet or integrated, the SSD only affects how an app interacts with it, such as loading the game initially, loading new maps/sections of the game, etc. FPS is influenced by your GPU's fill rate. When I say GPU, it'll also include factors like GPU memory bandwidth and access times as well.
Integrated graphics use system RAM in much the same way discreet GDDR memory works on the same card the GPU is on. GDDR on the card with the GPU will almost always outperform a setup that uses the system RAM which needs to go through the system bus, I/O hubs and such before it even gets to the GPU. The SSD you're referring to is not going to have faster access times than DDR3, which means your FPS won't improve as a result of switching to a SSD drive.
Bootcamp vs VM, bootcamp will likely be a more straight up experience for gaming however it's not entirely 100% like using an actual genuine PC with Windows 7. A Mac still requires the use of Bootcamp drivers which aren't always without issue due to lack of updates and such. Some games don't run well in a VM, etc.
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. not fps in game
It just depends on what the game is demanding for. As for loading time, for example Call of Duty loading the maps, will improve drastically. There could be some performance gains from the SSD as well if during the game there needs to be high resolution textures to be read off the drive.
As for the most part, No. If you planned on playing graphic intensive games, you might of wanted to look into a Mac Pro with the expandability for newer GPU's.
As for the most part, No. If you planned on playing graphic intensive games, you might of wanted to look into a Mac Pro with the expandability for newer GPU's.
update on the subject
Hi there fellows,
I didn't want to make a new post, so I've decided to refresh this thread.
I need your expert opinion guys.
I'm planning to buy a top-of-the-line iMac next year, hopefully it will come out around March/April month. I'm also planning to game intensively on my iMac.
Going to play Diablo 3 when it arrives, definitely on Lion OS. As for the other games, obviously using Windows7 on bootcamp. To the point...
I'll surely go with SSD. Should I buy two built in SSDs? One for each OS?
How does SSD behave when partitioned? I'm also planning to make some LP's, using Fraps. Should I use a separate drive to save the files on, to make the most of FPS in game? What would be your idea (as for drives installment)?
Please help me out guys, I'm confused.
Thanks in advance.
---
Karnashuk
Hi there fellows,
I didn't want to make a new post, so I've decided to refresh this thread.
I need your expert opinion guys.
I'm planning to buy a top-of-the-line iMac next year, hopefully it will come out around March/April month. I'm also planning to game intensively on my iMac.
Going to play Diablo 3 when it arrives, definitely on Lion OS. As for the other games, obviously using Windows7 on bootcamp. To the point...
I'll surely go with SSD. Should I buy two built in SSDs? One for each OS?
How does SSD behave when partitioned? I'm also planning to make some LP's, using Fraps. Should I use a separate drive to save the files on, to make the most of FPS in game? What would be your idea (as for drives installment)?
Please help me out guys, I'm confused.
Thanks in advance.
---
Karnashuk