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When will apple use decent GPU's?
- Thread starter nlr
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It was a long road to get to the nvidia 5850m. Given the limitations of the iMac, I don't for see any change in tactic. More mobile GPUs for the future.
Apple uses mobile GPU's in the iMac due to space and heat constraints. It wasn't until last refresh that they started to name the mobile GPU's after the desktop GPU counterpart in power. So the 5750 in the high end iMac is actually a mobile 5850. The 5670 in the iMac is a mobility 5730.
The refresh prior to that one in which they used a 4850 which was a mobility 4850. The 4670 was a mobility 4670(this still applies for the current low end 21.5"). So both times Apple was using the second best card they could've possibly used from AMD on the high end spectrum and the only difference between the mobility 4870 and mobility 4850/mobility 5850 and mobility 5870 is clock speed which won't make a great deal of performance improvements anyway.
So the fact that AMD released their new 6xxx desktop cards this week has zero importance on what Apple will put in the iMac. Wait till AMD releases their mobile GPU's and then you can guess as to what Apple will be putting in the next iMac.
The refresh prior to that one in which they used a 4850 which was a mobility 4850. The 4670 was a mobility 4670(this still applies for the current low end 21.5"). So both times Apple was using the second best card they could've possibly used from AMD on the high end spectrum and the only difference between the mobility 4870 and mobility 4850/mobility 5850 and mobility 5870 is clock speed which won't make a great deal of performance improvements anyway.
So the fact that AMD released their new 6xxx desktop cards this week has zero importance on what Apple will put in the iMac. Wait till AMD releases their mobile GPU's and then you can guess as to what Apple will be putting in the next iMac.
iMacs will never use high-end desktop GPUs unless the dimensions are changed. The best we can get are high-end mobility GPUs
So its not realistic to hope the next imac will play crysis/most games on high on bootcamp?
Even if it did, it doesn't really matter. There are more demanding games coming out all the time. Besides, Crysis is already quite old and what I've heard, its coding isn't that good, thus it will never run "very well". iMacs are okayish at gaming but for serious gaming, a desktop PC is the best and only option.
Sandy Bridge + Mini-ITX + a ~720p projector looks like what I might be hauling around to show off games if I don't want to lug a LCD.
And now that SilverStone's Sugo SG07 is out, you can use any GPU in Mini-ITX form format, including ATI 5970.
In some respects it's not really an issue anyway as I believe your gaming experience will rely more and more on the speed of your Internet connection and less and less on the specs of the graphics hardware. Do you want to get pwned at full res on high?
I'm waiting for the HD 6670/6750 right now. I want something single slot and without an external power requirement.
I don't have any problems with 768 kbps DSL while playing a game and hosting Skype.
I have a good feeling people have blazing fast speeds compared to that.
I'm waiting for the HD 6670/6750 right now. I want something single slot and without an external power requirement.
I don't have any problems with 768 kbps DSL while playing a game and hosting Skype.
I have a good feeling people have blazing fast speeds compared to that.
I guess it depends on the game and the amount of latency in the connection. Given the amount of social interaction being engineered into modern games, the benefit of a fast connection often out ways that of a higher end card.
You're right games come out all the time but they're never demanding like crysis was and the new 6 series can max out crysis easily now..
So technically if a imac/macbook pro can max out crysis at native resolution then I can can expect it to play most new games till like late 2011..
So technically if a imac/macbook pro can max out crysis at native resolution then I can can expect it to play most new games till like late 2011..
Where are you getting that? The 6000 series is only as powerful as the 5000 series, but has some added power efficiency. Maybe the mobility cards will see a real increase in efficiency when the 6k series comes out. It would be nice to have a card in the imac with both GDDR5 and 256bit bus, so it can actually properly use 1gb of vram.
Staying under 150 ms is probably your best bet. Here in the US Midwest the UK is about as far as I want my server to be on a game. That's only for Joint Operations as well since they've moved to a worldwide server listing. It's hard to find players when there are only about 500 left.
Crysis at very high @2560x1600 isn't even playable with ATI 5970 so I somehow doubt that it would be with iMac. Let alone if you use the hidden ultra settings...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5970,2474-8.html
Alienware uses similar GPUs like the 5870m for the top of the line. Difference is they offer crossfire as well. More choices is always better.
+ Laptops don't have resolutions like 2560x1440. More pixels = more horsepower needed