iMac G5 gaming capability

ezra2323ezra2323
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
This is my first post ever on the Apple Insider!



I'm a long time Windows user but have been so impressed by the interopability of my iPod/iTunes compared to other music players/devices, I started to research Apple computers and have been impressed what I have found. OS X seems to be far better than Windows XP. I think I am ready to make the jump from Windows to Mac.



With the release of the iMac G5 it looks like I may found my new computer. The machine looks simply awesome. However, before I fork out $2000 I have some concerns perhaps a member can address.



I'm looking at a 1.8 G5 with a 250 GB hard drive (10,000 audio files), 1 GB RAM, and the standard Nvidia 32 card that comes with the system. Price = $2000.



I'm not a die hard FPS gamer but I love RTS and MMORPG games. World of warcraft will be THE game for me. Do you think the system I have displayed here will handle this game with room to spare? I do not want to spend $2000 on a PC that cannot even handle a game like World Of Warcraft. For $1800 I could get a Dell with a graphics card that could more than handle World Of Warcraft or Everquest II (not on Mac unfortunately). I don't want to buy another Dell, but neither do I want to spend $2000 on an iMac that cannot handle World of Warcraft and other MMORPG/RTS games coming over the next 3 years, nor spend $3000 on a PowerMac which is probably far more than I need.



Any advice is greatly appreciated and I'm looking forward to joining the Mac community.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    tacojohntacojohn Posts: 980member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ezra2323

    This is my first post ever on the Apple Insider!



    I'm a long time Windows user but have been so impressed by the interopability of my iPod/iTunes compared to other music players/devices, I started to research Apple computers and have been impressed what I have found. OS X seems to be far better than Windows XP. I think I am ready to make the jump from Windows to Mac.



    With the release of the iMac G5 it looks like I may found my new computer. The machine looks simply awesome. However, before I fork out $2000 I have some concerns perhaps a member can address.



    I'm looking at a 1.8 G5 with a 250 GB hard drive (10,000 audio files), 1 GB RAM, and the standard Nvidia 32 card that comes with the system. Price = $2000.



    I'm not a die hard FPS gamer but I love RTS and MMORPG games. World of warcraft will be THE game for me. Do you think the system I have displayed here will handle this game with room to spare? I do not want to spend $2000 on a PC that cannot even handle a game like World Of Warcraft. For $1800 I could get a Dell with a graphics card that could more than handle World Of Warcraft or Everquest II (not on Mac unfortunately). I don't want to buy another Dell, but neither do I want to spend $2000 on an iMac that cannot handle World of Warcraft and other MMORPG/RTS games coming over the next 3 years, nor spend $3000 on a PowerMac which is probably far more than I need.



    Any advice is greatly appreciated and I'm looking forward to joining the Mac community.



    I play WarCraft III on my G4 powerbook which has a ATI 9600 64MB and I have no problems with that. I don't know what the requirements of World of Warcraft will be, but apple says that Doom 3 will be playable on the new iMac...



    Keep in mind that my powerbook is a 1.25GHz G4 with 512 ram too, not a 1.8GHz G5 with a much faster bus...
  • Reply 2 of 14
    ezra2323ezra2323 Posts: 3member
    Thanks Tacojohn.



    I think however that World Of Warcraft is SIGNIFICANTLY more graphics intensive than Warcraft III. My Warcraft III PC version works on a Pentium III.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    I think the processor will be up to speed for WoW and Doom 3, but I'm having serious doubts about the graphics card.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    voxappsvoxapps Posts: 236member
    No one here really knows how well the iMac will handle demanding games, although that doesn't stop everyone from speculating with great -uh- emotion.



    In a week or three, you should be able to head down to your local Apple dealer and find out in person.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    g2gg2g Posts: 39member
    I would say wait till you have time to try it at the apple store...the 5200 gforce isnt so bad 8x etc...you might not be able to turn the res that high but...try one and then see what you think..I am waiting to see if they update the PB line..then I will switch for GOOD!!!!I am also waiting to see if the imac g5 is somthing I would buy for a family comp...compusa is opening a store in SWFL..so I can go check them out in person.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    The native resolution for the 20? iMac is 1680 x 1050. Unless you like your games to jerk more then a 13 year old with his daddies Playboys the 5200U will ?NOT? be able to run World of Warcraft at that resolution. However if you can stand the blurry interpolated 800X600 graphic quality with medium settings, then you should be able to play with reasonable FPS. I for one cannot stand when TFT displays are running at a non-native resolution, but that?s just me. Especially when playing games like Warcraft, the vehicles and people running around are real small and real detailed.



    Apple doesn?t have gamer in their vocabulary, the iMac has never come with a decent graphics card and never will, BTO or otherwise. That to me is a shame; I shouldn?t have to buy a 3,000-dollar Mac ?Pro? computer to play the games I want. I already have a 5,000-dollar Sun machine for work. What I need is a home machine with a little more balls and a little less fu-fu (NONE-WINDOWS of course).
  • Reply 7 of 14
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Relic

    The native resolution for the 20? iMac is 1680 x 1050. Unless you like your games to jerk more then a 13 year old with his daddies Playboys the 5200U will ?NOT? be able to run World of Warcraft at that resolution. However if you can stand the blurry interpolated 800X600 graphic quality with medium settings, then you should be able to play with reasonable FPS. I for one cannot stand when TFT displays are running at a non-native resolution, but that?s just me. Especially when playing games like Warcraft, the vehicles and people running around are real small and real detailed.



    Apple doesn?t have gamer in their vocabulary, the iMac has never come with a decent graphics card and never will, BTO or otherwise. That to me is a shame; I shouldn?t have to buy a 3,000-dollar Mac ?Pro? computer to play the games I want. I already have a 5,000-dollar Sun machine for work. What I need is a home machine with a little more balls and a little less fu-fu (NONE-WINDOWS of course).



    I don't think that Apple can have currently a much better video card in the Imac G5. A faster video card, will produce more heat, and will recquiere more place for cooling.

    A better video card in a Imac will imply a different case. it's not only a matter of money. This is the limit of a very compact design.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    imac600mhzimac600mhz Posts: 104member
    I know a friend who is playing World of Warcraft Beta on a new iBook G4 1.25Ghz 32Mb Graphics Card he says it plays just fine. Plus Apple do say on their web site that the new iMac will be able to handle World of warcraft and Doom 3
  • Reply 9 of 14
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Powerdoc

    I don't think that Apple can have currently a much better video card in the Imac G5. A faster video card, will produce more heat, and will recquiere more place for cooling.

    A better video card in a Imac will imply a different case. it's not only a matter of money. This is the limit of a very compact design.



    this is not going to change and apple continues to use these dead end designs that leave no wiggle room for the future.



    perhaps they would have been better off going with the latest radeon mobility coupled with 128 or even 256MB VRAM.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    neilwneilw Posts: 77member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Powerdoc

    I don't think that Apple can have currently a much better video card in the Imac G5. A faster video card, will produce more heat, and will recquiere more place for cooling.

    A better video card in a Imac will imply a different case. it's not only a matter of money. This is the limit of a very compact design.



    In other words, form once again wins out over function. This is why Apple drives people nuts.



    Anyway, back to the original question, you should base your decisions on some real-world data, not the overwrought speculation that fills these forums. Find out how the games you're interested in run on a single-processor PowerMac with the 5200. Performance should be *similar* to the new iMac. Or, just wait for the new iMacs for some real reports; they should be on display in the Apple stores next week.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    phorbinphorbin Posts: 5member
    I am playing the world of warcraft beta test now very easily on my 1.2 GHZ AMD with a geforce 4 so the G5 should be able to rock it no problem. Sadly my G5 hasn't arrived yet. Otherwise i'd be playing the beta test on that.\
  • Reply 12 of 14
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    The Halo frame rate numbers for the new iMac ( on apple.com ) are very good. My suspicion is that they have given the 5200 a 128bit memory bus ( unlike the crippled 64 bit bus in my eMac, and I think, the fp iMac ).



    I think that the 5200 is livable.



    For me the real issue is screen resolution. There is no way that the 5200 can drive the 17" or 20" display at full resolution. If you are going to run an LCD at non native res then it needs to be a integral factor of the native res, eg: run the 20" at 840x510. While that resolution should be plenty fast enough, and look fine ( not blurry ), I dont think you will see many games supporting it, particularly games that arent Mac originals.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    little mouselittle mouse Posts: 127member
    I would say go for it. WoW plays fine on the old cube with a 1ghz upgrade and graphics card which is just about equal to the 5200.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    daveleedavelee Posts: 245member
    For the iMac G5 Apple quotes an FPS gain of 189% and 212% in Halo and UT2004 respectively over the 1.25 Ghz G4 iMac. (Obviously no absolute values are quoted, as they are still probably pretty poor by PC standards.)



    There is a paucity of information on xlr8yourmac regarding benchmarks for the G4 iMac in any game, let alone these two. However, the G4 iMac (with GeForce 2MX) often scores around 15-20 FPS in the UT2003 demos. If we take these values to be the absolute lowest that Apple can compare to (and even then they should probably be higher for a 1.25GHz wirh GeForce 4MX) and IF we take the Apple benchmark as accurate (which might be quite a dangerous thing to do anyway), we shoud probably expect FPS in the range of 40-50 for the iMac G5 for equivalent tests.



    Might all be balls but may give people a rough idea...
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