imacs

[skim36]

I'm looking over getting a new computer and I have to say...I'm leaning heavily toward the new imac after seeing one...this coming from a longtime windows pc user.  Does anyone here have one or can give me some insight as to how they are?  I'm of course, a gamer so I'd like to know how games run on them....also if it's pc only games, anyone running xp on theirs...it must be a little slower.....any comments welcome.  They've gotten great reviews so far from what I've read.....and some great games are getting ported this holiday season....I'm just tired of windows and messing with pc's in general.  I will probably have one before the year is out, just wanted some input from the forum...hopefully some imac users out there can give an unbiased opinion.  Thanks...

[shmokes]

XP isn't slower AT ALL.  You must understand that Mac OS now runs on THE SAME hardware as Windows.  This means that the hardware can now run Windows natively.  You turn it on and boot into Windows and NOTHING else is running.  It's not Windows running on top of Mac OS X, it's just Windows, just like Windows runs on any other computer.

With that said, you need to pay attention to the hardware inside the iMac, just like you would the hardware in a PC.  If it doesn't have a great videocard inside, you're going to run into problems as a gamer.  Games like Bioshock and Crysis demand serious horsepower.  My gut tells me that an iMac isn't a great gamer's machine, but I could be wrong.  I have no idea what kind of hardware it's sporting inside.  Additionally, isn't the iMac a closed box?  Is the videocard upgradeable?  That's kind of a big deal.  The ability to upgrade the videocard in a few years allows gamers to breath new life into their system for a few hundred dollars, rather than having to replace the whole thing outright. 

I think they are great machines, and if I were buying a computer I would seriously consider one because my busy schedule has caused me to pretty much abandon PC gaming.  But if gaming is a high priority I think you may want to think twice before buying an iMac.

[DrumAnBass]

I have a 20" iMac Core2 Duo 2.16 ghz- older white model. But I don't use it for gaming.

Here are the specs for the graphics chips in the current models:
http://www.apple.com/imac/technology/graphics.html

I would agree with schmokes - if gaming is a priority, an iMac might not be the best machine. But for a general day to day computer, I love it. And maybe the new Radeon HD 2600 Pro built into the new silver iMacs is enough to handle some decent gaming...?

Article on the 2600 Pro: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/radeon_hd_2600_performance_preview/

[skim36]

I've been doing some research and here's some interesting stuff.  I've read alot of posts from people crapping on the new imacs and how they're a crappy gaming machine, not like they're built for that anyway, but the interesting thing is these benchmarks:

http://www.barefeats.com/imacal.html

Seems when booting to os-x...some games have average or below average frames per second.  However, they booted to windows, mainly windows vista...and the frame rate dramatically increased.  All three operating systems did well with different games, depends on the game I guess....but it shows that the windows drivers are sometimes better optimized for these games.  I'm giving ATI a little more time to tweak the drivers for leopard and see what happens.  I think I am picking up an Imac next week.  The best of both worlds.  I'm planning on doing some audio recording and such, so that is what swayed me to the imac.  The fact that they can run windows is just the icing.  What do you think?

As for upgrades, hard drive and memory mostly.  It has an ATI HD2600 or 2400 depending on the model...video card which I hear is soldered onto the board.  But it seems plenty fast enough for what I'll use it for.  Maybe an occasional game....not going to push the latest and greatest on it and expect it to perform.  If I want to do some serious gaming...I'll crank up my PS3.  Audio recording and maybe some video editing....it comes with all that.  I'll go with the 2 gig upgrade right off the bat.  But I think it will be a nice machine.

[TOK]

If you're into games, buy a PC. If you're actually looking to spend less time messing with the setup, you're totally off track in your computer selection.

[skim36]

Well, still shopping around for now...and wow...sorry to hear about the trouble, Jim.  But no machine is perfect.  I looked at some desktop PCs today and for the same money as an imac I can get a pc that really screams.  Quad core instead of duo....double the ram...double the hdd space...double the graphics card...etc.  Just looking for something different.  I thought I was sold on the mac...but I'll ask some more questions before I buy.  I do like games, this old pc here is going in my arcade once I upgrade....but I'm not an avid pc gamer that needs the latest and greatest.  There's pros and cons with each way to go.  Thanks for all the posts, and I'll post when I decide and buy one or the other.

[shmokes]

But the PC won't give you the feeling of personal superiority over your peers that will come with a Mac purchase.   

[ChadTower]

PCs don't come in grape.

[crashwg]

FYI, the Mac OSX 10.x.x (not sure of the latest revision) can run on a lot of PC hardware.

LINKIE

[AtomSmasher]

http://www.macorpc.org/

[DrumAnBass]

I think you have to go SGI these days if you want grape:

[skim36]

Update:

So I end up with a Gateway.  Who knew?  A 2.4 gig quad core with 3 gig of ram and an 8500 gt.  500 gig hdd.  Vista Home Premium.  Striking.  So, I go to Ebay after about a month and look around.  Find an item I like, win the auction and go to pay and what's this?  Link doesn't work for paypal.  So I go to paypal directly.   
Nope.  So, I call the seller and tell him and he sends me a direct link.  Nope.  So he sends me a number to call paypal.  Apparently, there's nothing wrong with their site.  So I call my ISP.  They run me through the gauntlet of disabling phish filtering, adjustments for cookies....firewalls and antivirus.....nothing.  I install firefox ...same problem.  I reboot in safe mode with just networking....same problem.  It appeared that Vista recently had an update that changed the way it looks at certificates.  If Vista sees the certificate as not valid, it no longer asks you if you still want to continue, it just automatically blocks it.  I realize that now.  After I boxed the thing up and returned it to Best Buy.  Best Buy manager said that they are offering refunds for any Vista related issues until Jan 31st.   Anyway, got my money back and decided to build my own.  I have a 2.4 gig quad core, 4 gig ram, 500 gig hdd with an 8800 GT 512 coming in the mail as we speak.  And it just a few dollars less than what I spent at Best Buy, and it will be 4 times the computer.  I may try Vista again in the future.  I know how to work around some of it's glitches now....did some research on the net, but I made a slipstreamed copy of my XP and I'll start with that.