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Poll: Would You Appeal an Gamer Mac based on nMP?
- Thread starter Mago
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Okay...so what kind computer do you have? Soma is a serious gaming. If you're talking about like call of duty, well...it could run effecient. Starcraft 2...or diablo 3..what do you say about those games? What sort of games are we talking about in a sense of hardcore gaming?
I'm going to be buying one of these monitors in the next 90 days.The image quality is just as good as the iMac 5K. To drive this machine you need dual link display ports. The pixels are on par with driving 4 1080P monitors in nVidia Surround. Based on this I know my machine is capable of playing at full resolution at max settings for all of the most recent games.
This includes Fallout 4, Dragon Age Inquisition, Skyrim with graphics mods, GTA V.
For reference my specs are:
Core i7 5930K: 3.5GHz 6 Core with Hyper Threading
4 x 8GB DDR Quad Channel: 2400MHz
2 x nVidia GeForce GTX 970 reference cards in SLI with x16/x16 PCIe lanes
MSI X99A SLI Plus: provides enhanced turbo boost and a boost for memory. In a nut shell the board overclocks the parts until they hit a thermal threshold on the fly based on demand. I have seen as high at 4.7GHz on the processor and 2900MHz on the RAM.
480GB SSD SATA3 6GB/s
If Apple is going to make a gaming machine it should be a Core i7 Extreme 6 Core processor. Don't worry about the 8 core because it is not as good at gaming. Use the best desktop nVidia cards possible and put two of them in. Three and 4 way SLI are better but there is diminishing returns. Finally use the fastest RAM they can get ahold of. The SSD should be PCIe SSD. That would be an amazing Mac.The case would have to be bigger then a nMP but it would fit in a cMP frame no problem. It would be a gaming Mac worth buying especially if Apple gets an updated thunderbolt display that uses dual link thunderbolt2 or thunderbolt 3 to drive it.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, please take it easy, I don't want this thread to be another keyboard battle on Macrumours.
Before buy an monitor for gaming, check this in person: Ultra Sharp 34 curved ultra wide forget 4K for gaming the experience on this monitor (and similar) is too immersive will blow you mind.
Before buy an monitor for gaming, check this in person: Ultra Sharp 34 curved ultra wide forget 4K for gaming the experience on this monitor (and similar) is too immersive will blow you mind.
That is a heck of a monitor as well. It is also on sale at Amazon for $800.00. So two of those would be $1600 instead of $2000. That is tempting.
LOL darn it now I have to think about which setup of displays I would prefer.
First off: that's a nice monitor...if price isn't an issue.
Second:good specs
Lastly: I agree that they should use i7.
Generally speaking I wouldn't spend $2000 on a monitor just to game. However it would come in very handy for work too. I just have to sweet talk the boss and see if I can write it off. If not I'll write it off on next years taxes myself.
Regarding the specs
thanks. I hand picked the parts myself for my own personal machine.I unfortunately wouldn't hold my breath on Apple getting this done. However there are tutorials on making a hackintosh out of a X99 based machine. I haven't decided yet if I am going to attempt it.
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Too bad the Retina iMac doesn't have a target mode. I'd have my main machine running into the iMac in a heartbeat and it would save me a lot of money.
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These things don’t last forever. And yes, I know that people won’t just throw out an iMac after replacing it with one which has a better CPU and GPU. Though, someone might. Or they’ll just sell it to someone who doesn’t play games.
It actually is wasteful because it means you’ll have replace the entire logic board if either the CPU or GPU fails. I’d rather replace a small CPU than a whole logic board. Just look at the 2011 and 2012 MacBook Pros which had bad graphics cards which fried. That’s a lot of PCB and solder being wasted just to save the company a few bucks on manufacturing.
Okay. How about this: It’s a pain to have to replace a Mac every few years just because you can’t upgrade it, even though the machine will last ten years.
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How much do you think Apple would charge for a Mac with a 6-Core i7 Extreme processor and Nvidia’s best graphics card?
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It's going to have to be a sibling of the Mac Pro. That means that it will not be inexpensive. However since Core i7 Extreme processors and Xeons share sockets they could reduce costs by having similar machine.
Lets say they go with the nMP design. They replace the AMD graphics cards with GTX 970/980/980 TI SLI and swap out the Xeon with a Core i7 Extreme. Aside from that the machine remains essentially unchanged. The only issue here is the GPUS are mobile chips. However there is precedent of mobile SLI in gaming laptops so it is possible.
My estimate on the price range of such a machine while maintaining a profit margin would be:
$3500
3.5GHz 5930K
16GB DDR4 2400MHz
2 x GeForce GTX 970 SLI
256GB PCIe SSD
$4000
upgrade graphics to two GTX 980
$4500
upgrade graphics to two GTX 980TI.
Performance would be better if they use the desktop graphics cards but the machine would have to be bigger.
I'm starting to think I'm in the wrong thread.
I would want to be able to upgrade the graphics card a few years down the road, and it doesn't look like AMD and Nvidia will be making cards for the nMP down the road. The was the great thing about the cMP; it could use regular PCIe graphics cards. If Apple is going make a gaming machine, I think it should be like a smaller Mac Pro, but with a non-proprietary Solid State Drive slot, an i5 or i7 CPU and a couple of hard drive bays, and sell it for around $1,500.
In terms of being expandable that boat has sailed. I wouldn't expect this gaming machine to be upgradeable. It would probably end up being a cross between a Mac Mini and iMac. this is of course all hypothetical but we can dream.
For processors they could use the i5 6500 for the base. A i5 6600K for the step up and the i7 6700K for the top end. It could use DDR3 or DDR4. The only issue is if the machine has SLI it won't be able to have PCIe SSDs. This could be mitigated with two SATA3 6GBs SSDs in Raid0. The Z170 chipset could handle the drives then.
A machine like this would probably be able to start at roughly $1500 with specs something like this:
Core i5 6500
8GB DDR3
2 x GeForce GTX 960 SLI
2 x 128GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD in Raid 0
You're probably still looking at close to or a little more then $3000 for the top end if it goes like this:
Core i7 6700K
32GB DDR3
2 x Geforce GTX 980
2 x 500GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD in Raid 0
We are talking Witcher 3 in 2560x1440 with dual 980tis in SLI for 144hz Gaming. That is serious gaming for me.
That's overkill gaming for me. If Apple were to offer an xMac, I think it would be closer to i5/970 than SLI 980s.
Although I never played witcher 3
maybe it's barely playable with macs at this point.
On boot camp the latest maxed iMac does ok enough to play the game and look good. Not the best but ok.
There are MXM 980s that are the full equal of desktop version.
They are in that MSI gaming machine.
It's what nMP should have been. If you insist on "mobile" GPUs, use ones with future options.
They are in that MSI gaming machine.
It's what nMP should have been. If you insist on "mobile" GPUs, use ones with future options.
But Overkill is not an argument against a gaming machine, it depends on the perspective how you want to game. Windows gives me all the gaming options I and pretty mich every gamer needs, so why should Apple produce a gaming Mac? That was my point.
Because until Apple makes a gaming machine, we’ll have to use Windows machines and Hackintoshes for gaming, neither of which are good options. Since we’re Mac users, we’d really like to be able to play games on a Mac, and we really don’t want to have to make Hackintoshes to do it.But Overkill is not an argument against a gaming machine, it depends on the perspective how you want to game. Windows gives me all the gaming options I and pretty mich every gamer needs, so why should Apple produce a gaming Mac? That was my point.
No woman ever said: "Maybe he is right?"
What a bloody sexist reply... You should appologize.
Now, while I disagree with what koyoot’s been saying about workstations becoming the new gaming machines and NUCs becoming the norm for most folks, that wasn’t exactly a sexist comment. The only way it was sexist is that it uses gender-specific pronouns.
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Yeah, that would be a better alternative. Of course, it would also be nice if Intel didn’t have the CPUs soldered in. Then I’d be more willing to go the mobile route for gaming since it would actually be possible to upgrade a part or replace a fried part. The iMac and 15” MacBook Pro should also have have MXM modules. I just don’t know where you’d buy MXM upgrades. Who sells them?
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Worth yo say this is an good business for people selling hardware upgrades, as you.
I Don't think am gamer used to build upgrade it's own system will ever look at Apple for Gaming, I suggested this "Gaming Mac Pro" as response to the bunch of AIO or Custom Barebones available or announced on the gaming market as Zotac's NEN Steam Machine.
It's the kind of device where Xbox or PS4 Owners consider when they want to upscale on gaming, is where I consider the "gaming Mac Pro" should target, not the DIYers market whish is the less likely to engage on Apple's Ecosystem.
Was that sexist? I am sorry for not taking responsibility of peoples interpretations of words...
One last thing I will ad in the topic of workstation - next gaming. Internal roadmap of AMD shows only Opterons, FirePro cards and APUs. ONLY.
The roadmap may change but at this stage chances for it equals 1%. Intel has similar roadmaps. If you will want to build custom PC, not be forced to buy NUC or All-in-One computer or laptop, or trashcan-like computer like Mac Pro you will have to buy workstation parts. That is OEMs way of dealing with declining desktop market. Welcome to Internet of Things era. That is what I meant there. In other words, in future 95% of the computer market will be BGA-type. Whether you like it or not.
I am sorry for not taking responsibility of peoples interpretations of words...One last thing I will ad in the topic of workstation - next gaming. Internal roadmap of AMD shows only Opterons, FirePro cards and APUs. ONLY.
The roadmap may change but at this stage chances for it equals 1%. Intel has similar roadmaps. If you will want to build custom PC, not be forced to buy NUC or All-in-One computer or laptop, or trashcan-like computer like Mac Pro you will have to buy workstation parts. That is OEMs way of dealing with declining desktop market. Welcome to Internet of Things era. That is what I meant there. In other words, in future 95% of the computer market will be BGA-type. Whether you like it or not.
Stacc already mentioned that on page 2. Again, I know that most gamers aren’t going to be interested in a Mac for gaming. I don’t care about that. I’m talking about a computer for Mac users; who want a Mac for gaming instead of a Windows PC or a Hackintosh.
In near future not only cpu will be soldered, also pcie expansion will be an luxury option and surpassed by Thunderbolt, we will see pc with only Thunderbolt 3 and usb-c/display port 1.2 connectors also for power/charge.Was that sexist?
One last thing I will ad in the topic of workstation - next gaming. Internal roadmap of AMD shows only Opterons, FirePro cards and APUs. ONLY.
The roadmap may change but at this stage chances for it equals 1%. Intel has similar roadmaps. If you will want to build custom PC, not be forced to buy NUC or All-in-One computer or laptop, or trashcan-like computer like Mac Pro you will have to buy workstation parts. That is OEMs way of dealing with declining desktop market. Welcome to Internet of Things era. That is what I meant there. In other words, in future 95% of the computer market will be BGA-type. Whether you like it or not.
Maybe the PCIE video card would last a bit more will be the last pcie peripheral offered on the market eventually doomed to be ruled by usb-c/Thunderbolt 3 and mostly non-upgradeable Barebones.
Just like the car market, notwithstanding how eye poping is tuning cars, every year is more complicated and more and more exclusive, people now is not usual upgrading they car's, also the stereo which was the most popular upgrade is now doomed and every year more complicated or inconvenient or just impossible.
So when people think on upgrade an car is unlikely to think on a more powerful engine or stereo, most people think on sell and buy a new one.
The computer consumer market is walking the same road but much faster.