AI members are causing me trouble
I pass on info I get from this site to friends and colleagues. I tell them where I got the info and encourage them to check out the site, but nooooo, they prefer to have me get the answers. I suppose, however, that's how I'm using AI members.
You guys seem to know everything, and that's why you're causing me problems.
Having gotten that off my chest, the new questions are about the latest Mini and iMac updates.
Colleague A wants me to find out which iMacs he can play games on.
1) Will Core 2 Duo handle the job, or will he need i5 or even i7?
2) Is 4GB of RAM enough?
I don't even know the questions I should be asking him about the games he plays, as I don't play those games.
Thanx in advance for making me seem like I know something about computers - although, that can be a curse.
You guys seem to know everything, and that's why you're causing me problems.
Having gotten that off my chest, the new questions are about the latest Mini and iMac updates.
Colleague A wants me to find out which iMacs he can play games on.
1) Will Core 2 Duo handle the job, or will he need i5 or even i7?
2) Is 4GB of RAM enough?
I don't even know the questions I should be asking him about the games he plays, as I don't play those games.
Thanx in advance for making me seem like I know something about computers - although, that can be a curse.
Comments
What WILL make a difference with graphics intense games like X-Plane, FPSs, Spore, etc., is the Graphics card... The best GPU he can afford WILL make a huge difference in detail and frame-rates for these games. It will definitely be noticeable.
BTW, this is his first Mac, and I guess I'm guilty for that as I praised the Mac ad nauseam.
Oh, another question: Can he play his PC games on BootCamp with XP?
Thanx, youse guys is the most goodestest.
What graphic cards would you recommend? I have no idea what to tell him.
It does depend on the games he wants to play.
If it's more recent 3D games (which is probable) like Modern Warfare 2 and Far Cry 2, the 9400M is not a good choice so avoid the lowest iMac.
The next option up is decent and the 21.5" model will be a good first Mac. The Radeon 4670 will play pretty much any game he wants but higher end games on medium quality.
The i7 won't have much over the i5 for gaming and both of them will play pretty much any game on high quality with the 4850:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMlcruXkeUs
The 27" screen is more immersive for games and the quad-core is more future-proof.
I personally find the 27" screen to be too big - I prefer 20-22" screens - but it's unlikely he'd ever feel the need for a larger screen if he had the 27".
It really comes down to budget and needs. It's quite a difficult choice between them:
The 21.5" with 4670 is fine for most gaming but for just $200 more, you jump to a much bigger screen - one that you can double up as a nice movie screen. For just $300 more again, you pretty much double the performance in the GPU and CPU.
Can he play his PC games on BootCamp with XP?
Yes, he will probably have to do that. Parallels 5 is an option but Bootcamp is the best way to go.