Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    PC

    Platform »

    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    Is it good enough?

    Avatar image for twiggy199
    Twiggy199

    644

    Forum Posts

    16

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #1  Edited By Twiggy199

    I've been looking around for a computer and I've found the one i want, but is it good enough to keep up with the lastest games.  Its an i mac and ive heard that if you run boot camp you can't run games at full, is this true?. I understand that i mac isnt built for games or so ive heard, and as you can tell i dont really no much about this subject.  
     The Specs:  

    • 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
    • 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
    • 1TB Serial ATA Drive
    • ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
    • 8x double-layer SuperDrive
    •    
      Edit: ......anyone able to run crysis at full on a mac?.

      Thanks, Twig.
    Avatar image for deactivated-60ae53b407571
    deactivated-60ae53b407571

    582

    Forum Posts

    514

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 1

    i7's are always monsters. While I don't have an i7 myself, I still have a quad processor at 2.4ghz, and it runs pretty much every game of today on high, if not ultra settings.
    RAM looks quite nice, and from what I know, will work well together with your CPU.
    1TB is always nice, but what is the manifacturer? I can recommend Seagate, particularly their Barracuda brand.
    Can't say too much about the graphic card, seems like a generic current-generation card. I'm more of a Geforce guy, but I'm pretty sure it'll work nicely.
    Always nice.
     
    The edit: Crysis runs on macs?
     
    Interesting page when you want to check for system requirements for games and whatnot:
     
     http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

    Avatar image for bigandtasty
    Bigandtasty

    3146

    Forum Posts

    6987

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 3

    #3  Edited By Bigandtasty

    Crysis will definitely run, but not "at full" (technically, no hardware can max out Crysis yet).
     
    I don't know how much bootcamp affects performance. Without taking bootcamp into account, an HD4850 will run Crysis with everything on high settings, 1680x1050 resolution, and no antialiasing at about 35 FPS, according to guru3d.

    Avatar image for phlegms
    phlegms

    1622

    Forum Posts

    101

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 3

    #4  Edited By phlegms

    Yeah that looks pretty good quite honestly. The graphics card is a bit last generation, but you should get some mileage out of it, but you can just upgrade gfx card in the future. 

    Avatar image for jokersmilez
    JokerSmilez

    1377

    Forum Posts

    573

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 5

    #5  Edited By JokerSmilez

     Boot camp won't effect performance at all. All Boot Camp does is allow you to install Windows on a Mac on a seperate partition.
     
    If you're looking for a gaming machine that's going to run Windows anyway, I wouldn't get a Mac. You probably can get a PC that is better speced for gaming at a similar if not lower price (around $2200, right?), especially if you don't really have much interest in the "Mac" part. Buying one that's already put together is going to be the more expensive route. Building one yourself is much cheaper and not too difficult. Tested.com has a great how-to video on building a $1500 gaming machine (which can be a lot cheaper, since they have a 1gb HDD and a 80gb SSD).
     
    Also, in before the inevitable Mac hate...

    Avatar image for marz
    Marz

    6097

    Forum Posts

    755

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 5

    User Lists: 11

    #6  Edited By Marz

    Are you running OS X, or windows?   if you are using OS X, then you won't be playing most of the latest games due to not having Direct X capabilities unless you use an emulation program and that will pretty much kill performance on a lot of games.  Otherwise your specs are very decent for a windows PC.

    Avatar image for damodar
    damodar

    2252

    Forum Posts

    1248

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #7  Edited By damodar

    I'd probably go for a 5000 series GPU instead of a 4000. 
     
    I'd probably also go for a PC if you're gonna run windows and play lots of games.

    Avatar image for mrhankey
    mrhankey

    781

    Forum Posts

    347

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 26

    User Lists: 2

    #8  Edited By mrhankey
    @Twiggy199: 
    Looks good .
    The only issue will be the 4850 won't have a long life span so plan on a graphics card update in a year or do what others have said and go for a HD5850 or an HD5870...actually go for the former.
     

    and concerning your MAC question....NO!!!!
    Avatar image for metal_mills
    metal_mills

    3604

    Forum Posts

    4049

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 10

    User Lists: 3

    #9  Edited By metal_mills
    @Asrahn said:

    " i7's are always monsters. While I don't have an i7 myself, I still have a quad processor at 2.4ghz, and it runs pretty much every game of today on high, if not ultra settings. RAM looks quite nice, and from what I know, will work well together with your CPU. 1TB is always nice, but what is the manifacturer? I can recommend Seagate, particularly their Barracuda brand. Can't say too much about the graphic card, seems like a generic current-generation card. I'm more of a Geforce guy, but I'm pretty sure it'll work nicely. Always nice.  The edit: Crysis runs on macs?  Interesting page when you want to check for system requirements for games and whatnot:   http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri "

    I recommend against seagate. They use to be good but have seemed to have turned to shit in the last few years. My seagate HDD broke after 6 months, 2 friends of mine hard drives both died too. Both were seagate.
    Avatar image for hitmanagent47
    HitmanAgent47

    8553

    Forum Posts

    25

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #10  Edited By HitmanAgent47

    Hd4850? you will get alot of stuttering. Is that the limit of what a mac can use for the gpu?

    Avatar image for n00bosaurusrex
    n00bosaurusRex

    178

    Forum Posts

    2716

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 1

    #11  Edited By n00bosaurusRex

    That older ATI GPU isn't quite as future-proof as other GPU options on the market.  You'll run into problems sooner down the line if you go with that one.  You probably won't be able to max certain current games either, depending on what your preference is for average FPS (don't hold your breath on being able to max crysis, no matter what).   Even a 4870 would be a better option if thats a choice.
     
    Thats a great processor, however.  Pair it up with a beefier GPU and you'd be good to go.  Macs are a lot more expensive, but I assume since your asking this you are already set on getting a Mac and you're just curious about running PC games on it.
     
    If you aren't aware, valves steam platform recently released support to run natively in the Mac OS.  I think they'll be aggressively adding more games to the Steam-on-Mac library, so you might not even need to run bootcamp to play some great games.

    Avatar image for me3639
    me3639

    2006

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 9

    User Lists: 4

    #12  Edited By me3639

    Seek out at least 1 gb for video card.

    Avatar image for rhodric
    rhodric

    283

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #13  Edited By rhodric

    probably need a new video card if you wanna run crysis 2 on high. remember, any pc with a top notch video card is a high end gaming pc.

    Avatar image for deactivated-60ae53b407571
    deactivated-60ae53b407571

    582

    Forum Posts

    514

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 1

    @Metal_Mills said:
    " @Asrahn said:

    " i7's are always monsters. While I don't have an i7 myself, I still have a quad processor at 2.4ghz, and it runs pretty much every game of today on high, if not ultra settings. RAM looks quite nice, and from what I know, will work well together with your CPU. 1TB is always nice, but what is the manifacturer? I can recommend Seagate, particularly their Barracuda brand. Can't say too much about the graphic card, seems like a generic current-generation card. I'm more of a Geforce guy, but I'm pretty sure it'll work nicely. Always nice.  The edit: Crysis runs on macs?  Interesting page when you want to check for system requirements for games and whatnot:   http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri "

    I recommend against seagate. They use to be good but have seemed to have turned to shit in the last few years. My seagate HDD broke after 6 months, 2 friends of mine hard drives both died too. Both were seagate. "
    Man, that's odd. I've never had any trouble what so ever with my Barracuda drives, and I know a couple of friends who have gotten the (more) recent 1TB+ HDDs, and they work perfectly.
     
    What I in turn would raise a finger of warning against are Samsung HDD's, never had one that works without a real goddamn hassle, and that hasn't broken down or started acting up again after just a month or so. They have a nasty tendency of not including the software (their own goddamned stuff) required to allow the damn thing to run at a rough ~90% output that most drives do. IE: Buy a 200GB Samsung drive, and you may find that you're barely getting 120 out of it.
    Avatar image for geno
    Geno

    6767

    Forum Posts

    5538

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 15

    User Lists: 3

    #15  Edited By Geno

    That's about mid end. You should be able to run most games at medium-high, nothing at max though. Don't expect to run Crysis well on it. 

    Avatar image for fuzz_butt
    Fuzz_Butt

    133

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #16  Edited By Fuzz_Butt

    Ok first of all, you're getting an iMac for gaming. Why? If you get a windows based pc you'll save a shitload of money and you'll get something faster.. If you're really looking forward to game on a Mac you're crazy. A 4850 is not great for the "latest games."

    Avatar image for mikemcn
    mikemcn

    8642

    Forum Posts

    4863

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 8

    #17  Edited By mikemcn

    I have almost the exact same setup, the I7 is beautiful and the ram is fine, but the card isnt going to last, my 4850 is nearing the end of it's life, it cant quite handle Bad company 2 at max settings and 1920 by 1080. But i just lowered a setting or too and it ran fine.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.