Tough love needed...

[JesseW6889]

Between 21.5" and 27",
2010 and 2011,
i5 and i7,
Thunderbolt or not,
refurbished or new,
education discount or not,
$100 education promo card or not....

So many options, and I don't know what to do!!!

I want a 27" iMac that plays Starcraft 2 on ultra settings... is that possible without paying $2,000? I'm looking to be as budget conscious as I can, but more important to me than budget, is getting the most bang.

Its hard to look at a refurbished 27" vs a new 21.5" because the graphics are better AND the resolution is smaller... so it's going to blow the 27" out of the water, right? Maybe I do want the 21.5" after all...?

I need some advice... and it's driving me crazy because I'm trying to figure out what would be a better deal, refurbished or school promo, etc, etc, etc...

I don't know what kind of processor I need, so I sure don't know what I want... I use a 11' MBA and have an external 22", but thats my only computer!

PLEASE please please help... give me your advice, because mine is all over the place... Thanks!

 

[alust2013]

I don't know if you can find one that will play it that well without buying the $1999 model. I would say that the higher end 21" from this year would probably play it better with the lower resolution (the graphics probably aren't a whole lot better, if at all). i7 wouldn't be necessary either. If you're buying this primarily to play games, I would suggest building a PC though, you can get the performance you want without buying a Pro.

 

[Psilocybin]

I don't know if you can find one that will play it that well without buying the $1999 model. I would say that the higher end 21" from this year would probably play it better with the lower resolution (the graphics probably aren't a whole lot better, if at all). i7 wouldn't be necessary either. If you're buying this primarily to play games, I would suggest building a PC though, you can get the performance you want without buying a Pro.

Custom built pc it sounds like would suit you best. Cheaper and better for this task also slot easier to upgrade


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

 

[JesseW6889]

I want a mac for many other unmentioned reasons, this is just the one thing holding me up :/

 

[ratzzo]

I want a mac for many other unmentioned reasons, this is just the one thing holding me up :/

Yet you mention SC2. You will need a good amount of RAM as you should still run SC2 under Windows (bootcamp or parallels), i5 works just fine. I dont know about the GPU though, and that's what a game relies most on. I'm sure there are plenty of reviews for iMac and SC2 frames per second depending on the quality settings.

Else, you could always just as in the Blizzard boards.

 

[s.hasan546]

Custom built pc it sounds like would suit you best. Cheaper and better for this task also slot easier to upgrade


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

agreed. no mac can replace a gaming rig. My pc build cost me roughly $1350.

i5-2500k
Gigabyte Z68A-D3H
sapphire 6950 2GB
8 gb 1600 mhz
128 gb Crucial M4
500 GB 7200 rpm HDD
Half 912 Case
CM Hyper 212+ CPU cooler
2 HP 23" LED monitors

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I want a 27" iMac that plays Starcraft 2 on ultra settings... is that possible without paying $2,000? I'm looking to be as budget conscious as I can, but more important to me than budget, is getting the most bang.

Bangs per Buck, unfortunately, does not usually sway in Apple's favor.

agreed. no mac can replace a gaming rig. My pc build cost me roughly $1350.
/snip

agreed. I just purchased a 14" Dell laptop for under a grand, with a 2-year next day on site warranty, an i5, 6630m graphics card, and a backlit keyboard. The "Apple tax" really is evident sometimes, even if you're willing to go with Apple's lesser hardware.

I want a mac for many other unmentioned reasons, this is just the one thing holding me up :/

Such is life... I was in your boat too, but when it came down to spending an extra $1000 to play Magicka, I had to say no.

 

[Psilocybin]

i was a hard gamer i was dropping roughly 20 hours a day on world of warcraft had top of the line gaming rig for less than my 2011 iMac right now....i than had a baby and right than i just stopped gaming...sold the rig...bought a macbook, than sold the macbook and bought a macbook air, than purchased a 2011 iMac...i will tell you one thing the gaming rig is 1000 times better and cheaper..if your gaming mostly

 

[MartiNZ]

In terms of SC2, I look to barefeats for stats. Personally I've decided to hold off until Ivy Bridge to look at anything new, and then I'd really have to convince myself hard to get an iMac, I'm pretty resistant to spending $NZ5k+ as it would want me to lol.

Clear the next generation will probably be out around the same time as Heart of the Swarm and it will have that much better a graphics card again - if they change the design maybe even a desktop card ? There will still be plenty of play left, and in the meantime, I make do with 20FPS medium on my Air .

 

[Icaras]

agreed. no mac can replace a gaming rig. My pc build cost me roughly $1350.

Yes, of course a mac can replace a gaming rig. This is completely subjective to the user's needs.

And I needn't look any further for proof than my own experiences. I no longer game on a PC. I game everything on my Mac.

 

[JesseW6889]

Yes, of course a mac can replace a gaming rig. This is completely subjective to the user's needs.

And I needn't look any further for proof than my own experiences. I no longer game on a PC. I game everything on my Mac.

Which 27" do you use and from what year? What games and at what resolution/settings?

 

[JesseW6889]

I develop iOS, so I need a mac, in addition to that, I'd also like to game. Not a lot, but some, and I'm trying to figure out if buying a new or top of the line 2010 model will fulfill my needs. If not, I might as well just buy an older, less expensive 27" model if the newer ones aren't going to do what I need.

No reason to spend $500 extra to 'be closer' to achieving a goal, but still not reaching it!

 

[Icaras]

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Yes, of course a mac can replace a gaming rig. This is completely subjective to the user's needs.

And I needn't look any further for proof than my own experiences. I no longer game on a PC. I game everything on my Mac.

Which 27" do you use and from what year? What games and at what resolution/settings?

The iMac in my sig, from 2010....I bootcamp into windows though and make sure Im always running the latest catalyst drivers.

I play all my games at native resolution.

Edit: I haven't played single player, but I've played black ops multiplayer just fine...recently played medal of honor too...played fine at native resolution...Ive also been playing Battlefield BC 2 and Vietnam....plays great! And of course SC2 and source games run great too.

Edit: By the way, if you want my opinion...when Lion comes out next month, I'll be selling my 27" for the new 21.5". Not only should the graphics performance be great with the smaller resolution, but with the extra money, I'd rather go for the SSD BTO option. All those recent benchmarks and articles on how adding the SSD makes this 2011 iMac the fastest macs ever is something I'm definitely looking forward to.

 

[nightfly13]

My only experience with SC2 was in OS X

If you're planning to run SC2 from bootcamp, then you're probably ok with a much cheaper option (although I'd try to steer you toward a refurb SSD iMac as a value-performance leader - unless you're willing to open it and install your own SSD).

I'm getting a new i7 27" just because I want it to last longer between upgrades and the video horsepower is appreciated.