The iMac Gaming Dilemma

[DaFakeSlender]

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight

So all hating aside, I am buying a 5K iMac and I will be using it for gaming. Before you ask, yes I do have a gaming PC and I'm not replacing it with an iMac.

But i will be buying the iMac with the i7 processor, the M395X GPU, I'll be installing 8GB of RAM and I'll have 1TB of flash storage. I just wanted to know what kind of games this will be able to run? (I will most likely be running these games in bootcamp)

 

[maflynn]

I have the M395 model, and I found playing Fallout 3 New Vegas to be decent (running windows). I didn't run it at full resolution (I forget what I set), but overall performance was good.

 

[David58117]

I'm curious - why would you get an iMac for gaming?

 

[cookies81]

Funnily enough, I actually traded my custom built gaming Pc ( i5 4460, 2x radeon 7970, watercooled) for a 2014 retina Imac (m290x). It is not horrible gaming, but it is something to get used to, turning ALL the settings down in windows when I want to game. NOTHING runs at native resolution, I turn it down to 1440p to play anything. Skyrim, LA noire, CSGO, and H1Z1 have all been playable if I turn things down. You will have better luck than me, due to that beefy m395x

I run everything in bootcamp btw..

I have not regretted the trade, didn't get the Imac to game, wanted to be part of the apple ecosystem again, the computers are just beautiful. IOS just works. It does not crash all the time, and you can have control over when it updates!

 

[steve62388]

I'm curious - why would you get an iMac for gaming?

That's not what the OP said, in fact they specifically said they already had a gaming PC.

 

[David58117]

That's not what the OP said, in fact they specifically said they already had a gaming PC.

His first sentence is that he will be using it for gaming.

 

[macmee]

His first sentence is that he will be using it for gaming.

who the hell cares why he's using it for gaming?

 

[David58117]

who the hell cares why he's using it for gaming?

Since I'm asking the question, I'm obviously curious about it.

You guys are reading way more into this question than there actually is...

 

[roadkill401]

The biggest fault that you will get is upgrading of video drivers for the iMac. Apple uses custom cards so the product id's are not standard. you cannot download updated drivers from AMD and have them work. The drivers are about 9+ months out of date and Apple is happy with that.

There may be ways to hack a new set of video drivers, but don't count of it working and could have stability issues if you do.

I have a 2014 m270x and it works pretty well with Fallout 4, set to 1440p. If you are gaming on an iMac its to enjoy the game and not to get the best framerates or maximum resolutions. It is a compromise gaming system but it does work.

 

[maflynn]

The drivers are about 9+ months out of date and Apple is happy with that.

I'm very careful about updating those drivers myself. I usually avoid downloading them directly from AMD, but rather use Apple's

 

[macmee]

The biggest fault that you will get is upgrading of video drivers for the iMac. Apple uses custom cards so the product id's are not standard. you cannot download updated drivers from AMD and have them work. The drivers are about 9+ months out of date and Apple is happy with that.

There may be ways to hack a new set of video drivers, but don't count of it working and could have stability issues if you do.

I have a 2014 m270x and it works pretty well with Fallout 4, set to 1440p. If you are gaming on an iMac its to enjoy the game and not to get the best framerates or maximum resolutions. It is a compromise gaming system but it does work.

I'm very careful about updating those drivers myself. I usually avoid downloading them directly from AMD, but rather use Apple's

Oh yeah! I installed bootcamp the other day on the 2014 iMac and was annoyed that apples trash drivers only support 4k.

So then I found http://www.bootcampdrivers.com/ and downloaded their driver package (which is more frequently updated than apples) and I now have glorious 5k in windows.

I was playing overwatch in 2k, high settings at stable 60fps with the new drivers, not bad at all.

(also I say "playing" when in reality I never really play games so it was probably more like sabotaging my own team)

 

[varian55zx]

I've found it competent for gaming, as long as you aren't trying to game at native resolution.

And gaming in 5K isn't even popular yet so it isn't like we're missing out on very much.

1440p is fine for games and still looks great. I've recently wanted to try some games on my Mac and I've been playing Skyrim on ultra settings with my M395 wonderfully.

 

[CWallace]

But i will be buying the iMac with the i7 processor, the M395X GPU, I'll be installing 8GB of RAM and I'll have 1TB of flash storage. I just wanted to know what kind of games this will be able to run? (I will most likely be running these games in bootcamp)

I have the same configuration (but with 32GB) and I have not had any issues running:

Diablo 3
Overwatch
Heroes of the Storm
Dead by Daylight
Rocket League
Dead Realm
Cities: Skyline
Darkest Dungeon

Where possible, I run native OS X games, but I do have Bootcamp with Windows 10 64-bit. I use the latest AMD drivers from mXDriver.com and they make a significant improvement in Windows performance.

 

[Redface]

I finally solved the gaming dilemma... by buying a PS4 cheap to play what future games my imac M395 won't handle.

 

[Alx9876]

Since you have a gaming PC why not just buy a new graphics card and call it done?

 

[Icaras]

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight

So all hating aside, I am buying a 5K iMac and I will be using it for gaming. Before you ask, yes I do have a gaming PC and I'm not replacing it with an iMac.

But i will be buying the iMac with the i7 processor, the M395X GPU, I'll be installing 8GB of RAM and I'll have 1TB of flash storage. I just wanted to know what kind of games this will be able to run? (I will most likely be running these games in bootcamp)

Good for you, and I mean that seriously. There's always going to be knee-jerk hate from users here when it comes to gaming, but I bought an iMac for gaming (but not for the entire purpose of it), which replaced a dedicated gaming PC long ago and I couldn't be happier.

And sorry, I know I didn't answer your questions on what specific games you'll be able to run but just wanted to vouch that gaming on an iMac can be a completely viable option, considering your willing to spend the money.

Happy gaming!