iMac for playing WoW

[Aminozuur]

Ultra is a big word. I can run ultra in 5man with 60fps with my i5 430m+5850m but i wont get that in 25 man raids doing something like BQL (Outdated but yeah.

OT: It wont handle it at max. If your just trolling 10/5man maybe yes but the sec you step into 25 no no. If you want/need a Imac get atleast the i7 and the 6970m 2gb because that resolution needs atleast 2gb. This would leave you at 2300$. For that price you can get a 580 sli or even 3way 580(500$ a card) + i7 2600k

[Pobe]

Suck it up and get quad sli 580s, why settle for just ultra when you can 10box ultra and still push 60 frames.

Mod Warning: Post more constructively.

[Deleted]

I see very little reason to buy a mac outside of being a graphics professional (and even then its debatable). for similar money you can build yourself a great pc, and choose the parts for yourself. Building a PC is pretty easy, fixing a broken mac isnt.

I speak from some experience, I am a graphic designer for the last 8 years, I am forced to use macs all day at work (and it fills me with hate). I have seen the stupendous amount of money my company spend on repairing and maintaining, and of course replacing obselete machines. Whereas my PC i built for £300 runs CS5 fine. (a £2000 G5 from the same era doesnt). I cant even reuse my old screen because mac decided to put some ridiculous plug on it that only works with a few G5 machines. I also have an old mac laptop that works fine, but because they dont make the wierd plugs and sockets anymore, it is unusable.

Sorry for mac hate but I despise them with all my heart and everything I have ever bought from them (a fair bit over last 20 years - at least 6 computers, 2 laptops, 3 ipods, 1 iphone) has either under performed or broken, or simply been made obscelete so that you are forced to upgrade. I was forced to buy them in the past because I was doing graphic design, if you want a computer for gaming dont buy a mac

[Faemn]

My underpowered computer.

[Yossarian]

first of all, thanks for the many useful answers
I'm going to answer to some of you as I see I didn't make myself very clear with my OP

I don't want to start a Mac/Windows war, but why not Windows?

I'm both Mac and Windows user, I'm in no war
I'm planning to buy a new PC and I was just asking about iMacs, but I'm not cutting off Windows at all

Considering the new iMacs use MOBILE GPUs? No, they're not gaming machines.

as I said, I'm not an hardware expert
what do you mean for MOBILE?

I know Macs are not gaming machines, but I'm not going to use it only for gaming, I'm very much into photography for example and a Mac would be better

I play on the new iMac with 3.1 GHz Quad ( highest specced standard model ) with no problem at all on ultra. Also using the ingame "fraps" that Wow for Mac comes with, and I'm only dropping to around 55-65 FPS. I'm overall more happy with this machine than any of my old Windows computers.

If you have the cash, go for the biggest one, I promise you won't regret it.

nice to hear from someone using an iMac
your GPU is the 1Gb model or you upgraded it?

the top model is likely fine for ultra but you really should look into building your own machine since you mention cost is an issue.

again, I didn't make myself clear
cost is not an issue, I'm moving in a new house and I'm buying all my new stuff with the money I spared in the last few years
it doesn't mean I have money to waste, though
I have to plan everything I buy very carefully

If all you are looking to do is play WoW then don't buy a Mac, Macs are not bad computers although I am not a Mac fan, but they do have a more specific use and I can assure you its NOT gaming.

I used an iMac for about 4 years until it died on me for good after dieing about 4-5 times because of WoW, simply put they solder all the hardware to the motherboard except the ram all that stuff being behind the screen on a very poorly ventilated case that is almost impossible to clean dust from the inside is just begging for your GPU to over heat and die, like mine did over and over and over. Whats worse is because the parts are soldered to the motherboard its basically so expensive to replace/upgrade any of its hardware that you might as well buy a new iMac. If you buy that iMac don't expect to upgrade anything but the ram EVER.

6 months ago I replaced my Mac with a new windows 7 machine, It works great and for $1400 (Again 6 months ago so the price has dropped a lot) I can play 3 clients of WoW all in Org city all running around 80fps and my computer only shrugs it off. Beyond that I can play ANY game I want instead of the VERY VERY VEEEEEEEERY tiny library mac has available, it is growing but its still small in comparison to PC.

I'm not trying to Mac bash or say PC is better, they each are tools with specific uses, A mac is a great machine because of its super light OS and its more stable layered style OS, but its better for media editing, web design and that sort of thing, for gaming it is very limited. Again not a bad machine but you really should identify what your needs are when you pick an OS.

Also many programs can be a pain in the ass to get the "Mac version" such as vent.... its not common but it is possible that a vent does not have the proper codecs needed to support a mac using that vent aka you can log onto the vent but you wont be able to listen or talk. People can fix this by turning that codec on in their admin panel but good luck not getting flamed every time you ask or good luck getting a pug to do it for you.

Edit:

If you are hell bent on getting a Mac I really suggest you do yourself a favor and avoid the iMac series as I mentioned above the soldering and the case can cause some issues. Best bang for you buck you might as well buy a tower and a screen or a lap top especially considering it uses all the same parts as their lap tops but is more mobile. One thing I did like about my iMac was how easy it was to take places but its still not as convenient as a laptop.

thanks for the exhaustive answer
I've been a Mac user in the last years and I know very well what I can do and what I can't
I work (and been playing WoW for the last 3 years) with a MacBook
I actually don't play much videogames, just WoW and Football Manager and they both have the Mac client, so gaming is not a issue
my guild use teamspeak, and again there's the Mac client
anyway, I exclude buying a Mac Pro (too expansive, this is what I meant about "wasting money unnecessarely") or a new MacBook (mine is still doing fine for working)

Ultra is a big word. I can run ultra in 5man with 60fps with my i5 430m+5850m but i wont get that in 25 man raids doing something like BQL (Outdated but yeah.

OT: It wont handle it at max. If your just trolling 10/5man maybe yes but the sec you step into 25 no no. If you want/need a Imac get atleast the i7 and the 6970m 2gb because that resolution needs atleast 2gb. This would leave you at 2300$. For that price you can get a 580 sli or even 3way 580(500$ a card) + i7 2600k

you are totally right, I forgot to mention I'm a 25 men raider, 5 days at week

I see very little reason to buy a mac outside of being a graphics professional (and even then its debatable). for similar money you can build yourself a great pc, and choose the parts for yourself. Building a PC is pretty easy, fixing a broken mac isnt.

I speak from some experience, I am a graphic designer for the last 8 years, I am forced to use macs all day at work (and it fills me with hate). I have seen the stupendous amount of money my company spend on repairing and maintaining, and of course replacing obselete machines. Whereas my PC i built for £300 runs CS5 fine. (a £2000 G5 from the same era doesnt). I cant even reuse my old screen because mac decided to put some ridiculous plug on it that only works with a few G5 machines. I also have an old mac laptop that works fine, but because they dont make the wierd plugs and sockets anymore, it is unusable.

Sorry for mac hate but I despise them with all my heart and everything I have ever bought from them (a fair bit over last 20 years - at least 6 computers, 2 laptops, 3 ipods, 1 iphone) has either under performed or broken, or simply been made obscelete so that you are forced to upgrade. I was forced to buy them in the past because I was doing graphic design, if you want a computer for gaming dont buy a mac

nice to hear your point of view
again, I'm not a professional but I would use it for graphics anyway
more, I'm happy with my Apple experience till now and I would keep going on

I thank you all very much, I still don't have my mind very clear so I guess I'd wait for some more feedback
and still sorry my english

[ispano]

You do know what a mobile computer is, right? You know, a laptop? So a laptop GPU instead of one designed for a desktop.