able for gaming?

[zoran]

Is the new MacMini with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M card able to play demanding games? What games wont it be able to play adequatelly?

 

[Pachang]

No I don't think so. COD4-6 and any new 3D game will be unplayable.
Even the latest best configured iMac can't play new games with highest graphics settings.

 

[MacHamster68]

i would not recommend it with a imac or a mini , they are just no gaming machines , its not so much about the processing power , its more a thing of the graphic cards are not really suitable for gaming , and as you physically cant upgrade them to top graphic cards
it has to be a mac it has to be a mac pro where you get the optimum processing power and you can upgrade graphic cards , but then you will be cheaper of with a pc , as for most demanding games you need windows anyway to play them nowadays , so there is no point of buying a mini or a imac if you want to do serious gaming you simply need a pc

if i would be you i would go for a i7 processor overclock it to about 4ghz use a nvidia quadro plex graphics card and a bit of ram rouhgly absolute minimum for games i would suggest about 12gb ddr3 under that i would not even try to play any demanding games and you need a 10000 rpm harddrive ,
you could go with less but then it would be a compromise, there is a reason why serious gamers spend more then others pay for a car on their gaming machines

 

[chaosbunny]

if i would be you i would go for a i7 processor overclock it to about 4ghz use a nvidia quadro plex graphics card and a bit of ram rouhgly absolute minimum for games i would suggest about 12gb ddr3 under that i would not even try to play any demanding games and you need a 10000 rpm harddrive
you could go with less but then it would be a compromise

Sure every game is unplayable and not worth it without every single setting maxed out.

To the op, there are some threads discussing the nvidia 9400 and gaming, just look them up in the games section. If you can push your budget I'd go with an iMac since they have dedicated and not integrated graphics cards (except the low end model). An excelent option might be to look for refurb 24" iMacs. Any current Mac with a dedicated gpu will play most games out there on high settings. Maybe in 2-3 years you'll need a new one though.

 

[MacHamster68]

i know you can play nearly every game even on a netbook with 1.6 intel atom and shared graphics ,when you lower every game setting to absoluter minimum and disable most features , but aehm that is not the point here he did ask for demanding games , so he needs something like that here
and not a iMac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_fbJdl7CDI

so the only mac then could be made to keep up is a Macpro

 

[yourashero]

i know you can play nearly every game even on a netbook with 1.6 intel atom and shared graphics ,when you lower every game setting to absoluter minimum and disable most features , but aehm that is not the point here he did ask for demanding games , so he needs something like that here
and not a iMac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_fbJdl7CDI

so the only mac then could be made to keep up is a Macpro

...and 1 out of 50,000 people are stupid enough to spend that kind of money to play games.

Get the mac mini and a ps3 or xbox. Or depending on what mini your getting and if you need a monitor or not, get an imac with a 4850. It will game just fine, however, a $1700 PC will do better.

If you already have a monitor, I'd say the mini/game console combo will work just fine. You can play all the games you want on them for 10 years and they'll never lag.... unless its borderlands.

 

[MacHamster68]

yes not many will spend that much on a gaming pc , but there are a lot hardcore gamers around ,and for them money is no subject to take in consideration when buying gaming parts