Starcraft 2 Performance on 2010 iMac?

[travistaylor]

I have searched MacRumors forums, YouTube, and Google and I have yet to find enough informatn to satisfy my question...

How does StarCraft 2 perform on the current lineup of the iMac? I'm most interested in the 21.5" model, as I cannot afford the 27" version. Specifically, I'd like to know what resolution and settings the 4670 and 5670 models can handle...

Thanks, guys!

 

[aki]

Someone else can probably give you a better answer but until they arrive...

I play SC2 on an older i7 27" iMac with the ATI 4850, and I can run max resolution with settings on high or ultra without any particular issues (bar shaders, from memory - that really eats the frame rate). Having said that I usually play on low settings mostly, I only tested it on high settings when I first got it.

Since you are considering a newer machine with a better GPU, I can't imagine you would have any problems.

 

[travistaylor]

Thanks, aki.

I'm currently playing on a 2007 (non-unibody) 2.4ghz C2D MacBook Pro (256MB GPU). I can play on low shaders and medium everything else. I suppose I would like to know if the neew iMac can handle Ultra. More specifically, if the 5670 is worth the extra cash over the entry-level model.

Thanks for the input!

 

[TMRaven]

mobility 5730 (5670) will be worth it over mobility 4670. however, if you really want to game with the best performance and quality of picture/graphics, I'd recommend getting 21.5 inch mobility 5730 or 27 inch mobility 5850 (5750)

The 27 inch with mobility 5850 will be able to play at native resolution and all ultra comfortably on 2-4 player games, but might have to lower shaders to high for 4-8 player games and/or story mode.

Can't say much about mobility 5730, but I do know that it's around 60% of the performance of mobility 5850.

 

[iMacN00b]

mobility 5730 (5670) will be worth it over mobility 4670. however, if you really want to game with the best performance and quality of picture/graphics, I'd recommend getting 21.5 inch mobility 5730 or 27 inch mobility 5850 (5750)

The 27 inch with mobility 5850 will be able to play at native resolution and all ultra comfortably on 2-4 player games, but might have to lower shaders to high for 4-8 player games and/or story mode.

Can't say much about mobility 5730, but I do know that it's around 60% of the performance of mobility 5850.

As is normal, a really sound reply from you TMRaven. There should be a "Green" button for good answers!

They say a picture paints a 1000 words. It's not my video, but this chap has put out a nice film for SCII on th 27" i5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlhWR4a_8w&feature=related

He writes: I get about 25-30 Fps on Ultra Graphics and with medium i get about 55-60fps

 

[Queso]

Can't say much about mobility 5730, but I do know that it's around 60% of the performance of mobility 5850.

It does have roughly 60% of the pixels to push around though, as the max screen resolution on the 21.5" is lower than the 27". I would guess it would result in similar frame rates at native resolution.

 

[davidcmc]

It does have roughly 60% of the pixels to push around though, as the max screen resolution on the 21.5" is lower than the 27". I would guess it would result in similar frame rates at native resolution.

That's a good point.
But StarCraft 2 can run in windowed mode and there's no FPS loss when comparing it to the full screen mode.

Also it has nothing to do with the resolution (windowed would have less resolution than full screen), because there's an option for Windowed Full Screen, which, as the name sugests, runs in windowed mode but fills the whole screen (same resolution of full screen mode).
In both Windowed Full Screen and Full Screen mode the FPS remains the same.

It's a nice job what Blizzard has done with this game.

 

[TMRaven]

It does have roughly 60% of the pixels to push around though, as the max screen resolution on the 21.5" is lower than the 27". I would guess it would result in similar frame rates at native resolution.

But 60% of the resolution won't put the mobility 5730 at same performance as mobility 5850-- mainly because increases in resolution do not at all mean exact same percentages of performance drops in fps.

 

[Queso]

But 60% of the resolution won't put the mobility 5730 at same performance as mobility 5850-- mainly because increases in resolution do not at all mean exact same percentages of performance drops in fps.

OK. I stand correctly. Thanks

 

[travistaylor]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I have ultimately decided to upgrade an old gaming PC I had a few years ago. Going to put a new MoBo, an I5, 4GB Ram, and a GTX 460 in it. It makes sense for me in this case, as I will be traveling next year for my job. They provide a Dell laptop for the position, so I wouldn't be able to use the iMac next year anyway. I'll just get some parts for Christmas and drop a couple hundred bucks on whatever is left and call it a day. That machine will have no problem playing SC2 on Ultra.

Can't wait to wrap up my traveling job and buy an iMac, though!

 

[Brother854]

Just for a data point. I have the 27" 2.8Ghz i7 iMac with 8GB Ram and the ATI Radeon HD 4850. If I run all the settings on Ultra, I only get around 26-34 fps. It often pops up the warning in the game that tells me to turn down the settings because my frame rate is dropping. I don't really notice a difference between Ultra and High so I run it one step down on high. The GPU gets to 179-183 degrees while playing.