Has anyone gone from a i7 7th gen gaming rig to a iMAC?

[Pascal325]

And used it for gaming too? I currently have an i7-7700k, with an ASUS ROG board, 16gb of memory, 1080 FTW GTX video card, Corsair water cooling, 1000w Season Platinum PS, Soungblaster X-FI or whatever its called, Phantek Temperated glass case with a 34" Ultrawide Curved Dell Monitor.

So, just wondering what peoples thoughts are going from something like this to a high-end IMAC? I'd sell the parts to put the money towards the iMAC. I have a late 2012 iMAC that I just upgraded the HD one to an external SSD, and it works great, just not for gaming.

Now I only game once every 2 weeks these days. The games I played recently, COD Infinite Warfare, Destiny 2, COD WWII (haven't bought it, just tried it), GTA.

Even an maxed out MacBook Pro with external monitor is a possibility.

 

[BigJohno]

Why do you want to go from that machine to an iMac? You will not get anywhere near the same performance gaming...

 

[Pascal325]

Why do you want to go from that machine to an iMac? You will not get anywhere near the same performance gaming...

Oh, I am aware of that. I just rarely play games and like the interface of Mac OS better than Windows. Even though my career is working on Windows servers all day, I don't like having to fix my own crap daily either!

 

[BigJohno]

if you don't need to game on it just buy a Macbook pro and keep the windows rig. Since Apple thermals are **** anything maxed out will be a waste. Buy a low or medium spec'd machine.

 

[tn-xyz]

I have a late 2012 iMAC that I just upgraded the HD one to an external SSD, and it works great, just not for gaming.

well, you answered it yourself.

apple's computers are nowhere near the power of a custom built PC for gaming, especially not the 2012 imac.
keep your current PC for gaming and do everything else on your imac.

even if you got a new apple machine, it will be basically non-upgradable down the road when games become more demanding.

 

[Pascal325]

That is how they use to be, but it seems lately the newest models have changed that. So I am asking from those who have experience with it, how are they now?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

That is how they use to be, but it seems lately the newest models have changed that. So I am asking from those who have experience with it, how are they now?

The latest iMacs will play most games just fine at 1440p and will look amazing on that 5K screen, its not going to match a 1080 NVIDIA graphics card though.

The 580 will run VR though, so its no slouch and should give you great casual gaming for years to come.

I would recommend that you bootcamp into windows for most games though, just because you can get better frame rates with better drivers for games under windows.

 

[Mac32]

I still play PC games in Bootcamp on my late 2012 iMac (i7, 680MX, 16gb, SSD), but have to use 1920x1080 in newer games which sucks. I'm a STALKER-fan, so that's what I basically play most of the time (including Lost Alpha, Call of Chernobyl etc). STALKER mods run well (not great) with various visuals updates. However, 680MX has great overclocking potential. When playing STALKER in dx10 I overclock at +280/+415 which is 100% stable, and the temps are around 80C (with high static fan at aronud 2250-2275rpm speed - using Fan control software). For newer dx11 games +250/+375 is max, otherwise the GPU draws too much power and the iMac reboots.

Important tip: Turn off all visual improvement options in Windows. (I use Windows 7.) It makes Windows look rather plain, but it gives a noticable improvement in performance and frees valuable GPU ram. When you only have 2gb GPU ram, everything counts.

 

[gian8989]

You can use the 1080 as a external gpu with thunderbolt 3 and use the second monitor to play games.

 

[Pascal325]

You can use the 1080 as a external gpu with thunderbolt 3 and use the second monitor to play games.

How?
[doublepost=1510013658][/doublepost]

I still play PC games in Bootcamp on my late 2012 iMac (i7, 680MX, 16gb, SSD), but have to use 1920x1080 in newer games which sucks. I'm a STALKER-fan, so that's what I basically play most of the time (including Lost Alpha, Call of Chernobyl etc). STALKER mods run well (not great) with various visuals updates. However, 680MX has great overclocking potential. When playing STALKER in dx10 I overclock at +280/+415 which is 100% stable, and the temps are around 80C (with high static fan at aronud 2250-2275rpm speed - using Fan control software). For newer dx11 games +250/+375 is max, otherwise the GPU draws too much power and the iMac reboots.

Important tip: Turn off all visual improvement options in Windows. (I use Windows 7.) It makes Windows look rather plain, but it gives a noticable improvement in performance and frees valuable GPU ram. When you only have 2gb GPU ram, everything counts.

With yours probably, but this 2012 imac 13.1 only has the 650M 512mb card. But if I got a new powerhouse iMAC, then yes probably so.

 

[Precursor]

I did
I had a complete watercooled NCase M1 setup, moved to iMac just for the MacOS (fed up with Windows). Setup Steam on it, downloaded games and been playing without issues. I'd probably get around 10 fps higher in bootcamp but honestly too lazy to even switch to Windows on bootcamp, so far so good on High Sierra.

 

[gian8989]

How?
3

egpu with thunderbolt 3

 

[Pascal325]

I did
I had a complete watercooled NCase M1 setup, moved to iMac just for the MacOS (fed up with Windows). Setup Steam on it, downloaded games and been playing without issues. I'd probably get around 10 fps higher in bootcamp but honestly too lazy to even switch to Windows on bootcamp, so far so good on High Sierra.

Are all the games available on Steam in a MAC as they are for Windows?

 

[koulmj]

I keep telling people that Mac's don't game as well as PC's. But people keep attacking me for that "misunderstanding", but will say it again. Mac's don't game as well as PC's.

Flame me....

 

[Precursor]

Are all the games available on Steam in a MAC as they are for Windows?

Not all but most of the ones I play are available on Mac, you'll see little windows/mac icons on corner of game pictures
You can also filter games available for Mac
[doublepost=1510116323][/doublepost]

I keep telling people that Mac's don't game as well as PC's. But people keep attacking me for that "misunderstanding", but will say it again. Mac's don't game as well as PC's.

Flame me....

Why flame you for what everybody knows, and what's the point of it mentioning here when we all acknowledged the same already

 

[gian8989]

The biggest problem is not the GPU power but the 0 GPU drivers update from apple in bootcamp.
Luckily the is bootampdrivers site

 

[Mac32]

The biggest problem is not the GPU power but the 0 GPU drivers update from apple in bootcamp.
Luckily the is bootampdrivers site

Can't you just use the original GPU drivers? I do that for my Nvidia card, it's just like having a normal Windows machine.

 

[gian8989]

Can't you just use the original GPU drivers? I do that for my Nvidia card, it's just like having a normal Windows machine.

Yes you can but drivers update sometimes add support for some games so if you are a gamer it could be a problem (I am not a gamer so I am not sure how much this can impact games performance).

 

[Mac32]

Yes you can but drivers update sometimes add support for some games so if you are a gamer it could be a problem (I am not a gamer so I am not sure how much this can impact games performance).

Hmm, I think you have misunderstood some things.. You just use the original drivers, that's all. Maybe it's different with AMD, but I doubt it.

 

[Persian-apple]

well, you answered it yourself.

apple's computers are nowhere near the power of a custom built PC for gaming, especially not the 2012 imac.
keep your current PC for gaming and do everything else on your imac.

even if you got a new apple machine, it will be basically non-upgradable down the road when games become more demanding.

Im an owner of the new 5k imac with radeon pro 580 16gb ram 4.2i7 3tb fusion and this thing works just fine for Gaming On nearly maxed out setting on 2016 and some 2017 titles and the cod WWII runs (98percent of the time) at locked frame rate 60fps with most setting(70-80percent of stuff) on extera or what ever maximum theybhage and 1440p
The Assassins creed origins Runs locked 30fps on high setting and im using thye bootcamp drivers from apple Not bootcampdrivers.com thats why i cant go higher on Origins batman arkham knight Works just fine 1440p maxed out 30fps locked (only one setting is 8x instead of 16x everything else is on the highest) no noticabke throttling
And he 580is On par with the 1060m its somewhat near a 1070m why Underestimate it ?
Its a repected gpu honestly even for gaming
[doublepost=1510241645][/doublepost]Alright man listen Up if there are more important stuff that Gaming on 120fps 4k With a Hevay gaming head set and a gaming mouse and you want thte form factor or the macos this might be a Really Good choice for you

Look,The new imac (to me) is the first time apple actually put a real gpu in their Macs (other than macpros which Have Ok GPUs)
This thing is 5.5teraflops (the top end rmbp with the 560 is only 1.9tflps i guess so dont even consider it for gaming seriously)
So the radeon pro 580 is something in the middle of a nvidia1060 and a1070m and Even if you use Official bootcamp drivers from apple You can play almost any thing on high 1440p (90percent of stuff on max setting 45+fps and 1440p and if you get the bootcampdrivers.com you might even be able to go much higher
This IS a gaming machine i see no throttling
The only issue is that if you choose the fusion drive the Bootcamp is installed on the hdd and its gonna boot slower but for me The gaming performance is Fine
Its your choice Bro
Cause i dont know if you need That 120fps On everything maxed out or not
But i myself Have to tell you one thing :dont waste your time on gaming too much specially dont waste on opting for he highest setting at the rate gpus are getting outdated
There is more to life honestly!
So that being said My recommendation would be :
Sell that Gaming rig of yours and get the top end imac 16.32gb ram i7 4.2ghz pro 580 1tb ssd (and if you really need the 3tb fusion like me go for it but expect it to be slower when booting up in windows and well You know ssds are much more reliable)
And Get a fresh copy of windows 10 installed and do your windows work on that side
And its gonna be fine for heavy gaming on 1440p too

 

[Pascal325]

With only one audio output, how can you use a gaming headset with the iMAC?

 

[Persian-apple]

With only one audio output, how can you use a gaming headset with the iMAC?

If your gaming head seat doesnt use the 3.5mm out put jack then what I would rec Recommend is to buy a cheap user interface and connect external speakers and Studio head sets to it(well in a producer and Thats what i use it for but low end models are pretty vheap and should do it if your head phone has studio jacks which are way bogger than the normal output jack)

 

[Glideslope]

With only one audio output, how can you use a gaming headset with the iMAC?

USB Interface.
[doublepost=1510406960][/doublepost]

You can use the 1080 as a external gpu with thunderbolt 3 and use the second monitor to play games.

Seriously? You're recommending they drop $3,000 on a top end iMac and another $300-800 for a stout External GPU just to Game?

OP: Use a Win Box for serious gaming.

 

[Pascal325]

It does have that. The MAC doesn't have a MIC input and I don't like using the built in MIC. To get quality sound from the headset and MIC I like to use my good headset. So what do people use with no mic input?

If your gaming head seat doesnt use the 3.5mm out put jack then what I would rec Recommend is to buy a cheap user interface and connect external speakers and Studio head sets to it(well in a producer and Thats what i use it for but low end models are pretty vheap and should do it if your head phone has studio jacks which are way bogger than the normal output jack)

 

[gian8989]

USB Interface.
[doublepost=1510406960][/doublepost]

Seriously? You're recommending they drop $3,000 on a top end iMac and another $300-800 for a stout External GPU just to Game?

OP: Use a Win Box for serious gaming.

I am not reccomending, just saying it is a possibility. He would only need the enclosure since he already has the gpu and monitor.

Btw: amd just released on their site new drivers update for bootcamp.