Resolved Not another "will my iMac run this or that" thread.

[h4x0rRat]

Like everyone else that seeks for information, I'm a notorious PC user. I'm a UNIX lover and I've always been sad due to the fact that most of the UNIX based operating systems had lack of support when it comes to gaming, but developers changed their mind and more than ever are porting their stuff to OSX.

I'm going to order a baseline 21,5" iMac before Christmas this year, mainly because any kind of Apple product becomes extremely expensive in my country (Brazil) due to the abusive taxes and so on.

Ok, enough "useless" information, so here goes my questions:

- I'm not a heavy gamer, and I'm NOT going to play anything but native OSX games such as the ones from VALVe like Counter-Strike: Source. I'd love to hear feedback from baseline 21,5" iMac owners about how the game runs under their machine using the native resolution and everything maxed out, obviously with vSync turned off.

- After a long research, I've heard iMacs can literally "fry" when you play games, because their cooling system is often called "horrid" (this is not a confirmation, I'm just telling you what I've found on Google). As previously stated, I'm not a heavy gamer, whenever I get to play something it takes a range from one to two hours max, do you really think I can overheat and fry my machine doing that? You must consider that I'm getting the most cheap iMac, I'm not sure if it affects cooling quality after all due to sizes, etc.

Oh, let's not forget about my lovely english skills

 

[miles01110]

CSS will run fine. Unless your computer shuts down there are no heat issues with iMacs.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Intel CPUs, the ones Apple uses in their Macs, have a maximum temperature they can reach. If the CPU gets too hot, the computer will shut down itself to prevent any overheating.

Maybe have a look at Advanced Search to find similar threads:

​

 

[h4x0rRat]

Assuming the system shutdown itself whenever temperatures get extremely high, I shouldn't be scared at all right? I mean, will the system really handle it for me and do it before anything bad happen?

Anyway, I've tried to search (even before register) but sadly there's no real answer for my first question. Thanks anyway for the informations, both of you.

 

[SlickShoes]

I wouldnt worry about any source games fyring your iMac unless you are playing them constantly for 72 hours or something.

Your iMac you plan on buying will run VALVe games at native res with everything turned up fine. Whilst the graphics cards could do with 1GB and not 512mb for modern gaming, for source engine games they will be fine.

 

[h4x0rRat]

I wouldnt worry about any source games fyring your iMac unless you are playing them constantly for 72 hours or something.

Your iMac you plan on buying will run VALVe games at native res with everything turned up fine. Whilst the graphics cards could do with 1GB and not 512mb for modern gaming, for source engine games they will be fine.

You really meant 72 hours of non-stop gaming?
As previously stated, I highly doubt I'm going to ever hit more than five hours a day. What do you think about gaming for around that amount of time daily? Risky? I know it's a pretty weird and unreliable question, there's no real answer for this but feedback is always welcome, specially if it comes from people that had similar experiences.

God, my english strikes again.

 

[SlickShoes]

You really meant 72 hours of non-stop gaming?
As previously stated, I highly doubt I'm going to ever hit more than five hours a day. What do you think about gaming for around that amount of time daily? Risky? I know it's a pretty weird and unreliable question, there's no real answer for this but feedback is always welcome, specially if it comes from people that had similar experiences.

God, my english strikes again.

I have a 21.5 2010 iMac at work and it is left on for sometimes 3 days at a time, not always running games but some intensive programs and while it gets hot it has never had to shut itself down.

I have a 2011 macbook pro at home and I game on that modern games like Skyrim and Star Wars Old Republic, it gets hot, but i play for 3 hours+ and then leave it on overnight downloading things. Again I have never had a problem.

I have played team fortress 2 12 hours a day for 2 days one weekend and had 0 problems.

An iMac is going to feel a lot hotter than a normal desktop computer, part of this is due to the aluminium being a conductor so it will be very hot to touch, but thats could because it conducts the heat out of the computer rather than insulating it.

If you have the spare cash or you work in education then get applecare, that way you can leave it on 24/7 if you want and if it breaks get it fixed under warranty, although it shouldnt over heat from what you describe you want to do with it.

 

[Huntn]

Welcome to the MacRumor forums! Your English skills are more than adequate. You'll have no worries playing Counter Strike on you iMac, and the information you picked up about Mac cooling systems frying due to inadequate cooling systems is in error or fabricated.

Like everyone else that seeks for information, I'm a notorious PC user. I'm a UNIX lover and I've always been sad due to the fact that most of the UNIX based operating systems had lack of support when it comes to gaming, but developers changed their mind and more than ever are porting their stuff to OSX.

I'm going to order a baseline 21,5" iMac before Christmas this year, mainly because any kind of Apple product becomes extremely expensive in my country (Brazil) due to the abusive taxes and so on.

Ok, enough "useless" information, so here goes my questions:

- I'm not a heavy gamer, and I'm NOT going to play anything but native OSX games such as the ones from VALVe like Counter-Strike: Source. I'd love to hear feedback from baseline 21,5" iMac owners about how the game runs under their machine using the native resolution and everything maxed out, obviously with vSync turned off.

- After a long research, I've heard iMacs can literally "fry" when you play games, because their cooling system is often called "horrid" (this is not a confirmation, I'm just telling you what I've found on Google). As previously stated, I'm not a heavy gamer, whenever I get to play something it takes a range from one to two hours max, do you really think I can overheat and fry my machine doing that? You must consider that I'm getting the most cheap iMac, I'm not sure if it affects cooling quality after all due to sizes, etc.

Oh, let's not forget about my lovely english skills

 

[h4x0rRat]

Once again, thank you all. Moving prefix to "resolved".