I'm considering buying a 24" iMac for my home. My current home PC has a NVidia 6600GT card. How does this card compare to the HD 2600 PRO?
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iMac's HD 2600 PRO - Comparison
- Thread starter mmccaskill
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don't buy an iMac yet
my mom's waiting to buy an iMac, and she's waiting 'til for the next release cycle which should be very soon.
my mom's waiting to buy an iMac, and she's waiting 'til for the next release cycle which should be very soon.
Depends on what you are doing.
The 3DMark06 (v1.0.2) HDR/SM3.0 Score for the ATI card is about triple that for the nVidia (2218 vs. 753).
Doom 3 Timedemo1 (1600x1200x32, 4x AA, 8x AF, Ultra Quality) is 33fps for the ATI and 5 for the nVidia.
my mom's waiting to buy an iMac, and she's waiting 'til for the next release cycle which should be very soon.
If by soon you mean June/July, then yeah. If Apple waits until Montevina it will likely go down in June or July.
Well there are really two reasons for me buying this:
1) I can work from home when I want/need since my MacPro is at work.
2) I play Star Wars: Galaxies. Looks like the iMac could handle that.
1) I can work from home when I want/need since my MacPro is at work.
2) I play Star Wars: Galaxies. Looks like the iMac could handle that.
I am not even sure any reasonable alternatives to the 2600/8600 exists. For my next computer I would expect something better, but I just had a look around and there does not seem to be anything with a power consumption in par with those 2.
anyone know?
my mom's waiting to buy an iMac, and she's waiting 'til for the next release cycle which should be very soon.
Very helpful answer.
I play SWG on full 1920 x 1080 with most settings maxed and I run about 20-23 fps in high traffic areas and around 27-30 out in the wild.
It's really playable
Which server are you on btw?
It's really playable
Which server are you on btw?
It's not a 2600 Pro, but an underclocked 2600 xt mobile; the xt is faster than the pro. But xt or not, it still beats your 6600 over the head with a baseball bat. IMO, the card in the iMac is way underrated, especially when you re-clock it back to its original speed. Plays FSX medium high at about 30 fps, usually more, underclocked. In short, it's good.
C'mon, there's no need for that. It is a perfectly good card. Just because it chokes compared to your 8800 GTS, that doesn't mean it's trash.
If not a different card for the iMac "Pro" (unlikely), i bet you there is a high chance there will be a 512MB version.
Ah that's the kind of information I am looking for. Thanks.
I take it a simple google search will reveal how one can re-clock it? Any heat issues with the re-clock?
If the GPU is important to you, I would recommend waiting a few weeks. There's a reasonable chance we'll see a slightly tweaked iMac in May, which may feature a better GPU (not that the 2600 is a bad card).
Despite the prevailing wisdom among most users here and the MR Buyers Guide I believe the next iMac revision actually won't come until September. I think we're looking at another 5 months with the current line. Of course it could come next week and then I'll look like an idiot. At any rate I don't think you will see anything beyond a Penryn (or Montevina if it comes later) processor and perhaps a bigger HD and more RAM by default. There won't be a major redesign this year.
It's possible the GPU might be changed or they could add a BTO option but what would the alternative be? The 2600XT in the current iMacs is quite a nice part. No matter what they do it will be a mobile card, obviously.
And yes, it will handle the game you want to play quite adequately.
OK, well I do hope you get what you're wishing for and that does sound like a logical procession. I still have this feeling the iMac updates are a long way off yet.
OK, well I do hope you get what you're wishing for and that does sound like a logical procession. I still have this feeling the iMac updates are a long way off yet.
I'd rather have Halle Berry. I'd settle for Jessica Alba though.
Yeah, a google search or even just using the macrumors guides should give you the info on overclocking. If things get hot
, download smcfancontrol and crank up the fans. They spin about ~1000 rpm default, but they go up to 5600 if you let them. I keep my fans at 1500 rpm during every day use, and I use my 2200 rpm setting for gaming.Good luck!