“What’s the best gaming Mac in January 2016?” rob-ART morgan asks for Bare Feats.
“It depends on what game(s) you are running,” morgan reports. “Some games are more CPU intensive. Some are more GPU intensive.”
“The pricey 2013 Mac Pro cylinder with dual FirePro D700s only makes sense if you run your games under Windows OS in a Boot Camp partition,” morgan reports. “Why? Because its two FirePro GPUs are hardwired into Crossfire mode.”
Bare Feats tested the following Macs:
• ‘late 2015’ iMac Retina 5K 4.0GHz Quad-Core i7; Radeon R9 M395X GPU
• ‘late 2014’ iMac Retina 5K 4.0GHz Quad-Core i7; Radeon R9 M295X GPU
• ‘late 2013’ iMac 3.5GHz Quad-Core i7; GeForce GTX 780M GPU
• ‘late 2013’ Mac Pro 3.0GHz 8-Core Xeon; FirePro D700 GPU
• ‘mid 2010’ Mac Pro 3.33GHz 6-Core Xeon; GeForce GTX 980 Ti Overclocked GPU (requires NVIDIA web driver)
• ‘mid 2010’ Mac Pro 3.33GHz 6-Core Xeon; GeForce GTX 680 “Mac Edition” GPU
• ‘mid 2010’ Mac Pro 3.33GHz 6-Core Xeon; Radeon HD 7950 “Mac Edition” GPU
• ‘mid 2015’ MacBook Pro Retina 15″ 2.8GHz Quad-Core i7; Radeon R9 M370X GPU
Check out the benchmark results in the full article here.
Yeah baby!
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac17,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 4 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 32 GB
AMD Radeon R9 M395X:
Chipset Model: AMD Radeon R9 M395X
VRAM (Total): 4096 MB
I am the scourge of Arkham Asylum.
My rMBP Mid 2014, with nVidia GFX 750M, doesn’t even make the list. For the most part it plays optimized games, quite well. But alpha, and it seems that’s where all the fun is at, with alpha games it’s a real crap shoot.
It’s Gary’s fault.
I wouldn’t worry Gollum. I’ve heard tell that our 2014 (2013 actual release date) MBPs have a better GPU than the AMD Radeon R9 M370X GPU anyway. And realistically, gamers can’t expect a laptop to be top-of-the-line for graphics anyway. Nonetheless, I <3 mine and play great 3D games on it.
Are there still hard core gamers out there? /S
Casual gaming has become much more common for the average person.
True. Most games for iOS seem to be platforms, there are developmemt systems that let people crank out platforms left and right. I’ve spent most of the last few weeks of gaming in the room, room 2 and room 3. I must stay away from MMOs or I’m doomed. But still, the hard core is alive and well and there are some powerful Windows laptops out there.
Honestly, I didn’t know people still played games on desktop computers. Seriously, I haven’t sat at a computer to play a game in years and I should know, I used to make games for a living. Dooh!
Xbox, Sony, Sega..iPad, Apple TV…. anyone??!!!
Sky Gamblers Storm Raiders. Addictive as hell if you are good enough to play online 😉
I get it why people are giving me bad ratings but I was being honest, I just don’t see people playing desktop games. The people around me have consoles and seem to be completely addicted to their iPads and crazy slot games.
I can see online games really being great. I had some friends that I could barely get out of the house for year but now they don’t play them much. Like I said, not knocking games or gammers in any way, I just don’t personally see them doing it now days.
More people play games like World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Elder Scrolls and FFXIV etc than consoles…
Consoles are big, but its been proven time and time again. When you put a console gamer up against a PC player… the PC player destroys the console gamer.
MS had beta trials for one of the halo games to be released on PC/Xbox, and be able to play together.. the Console gamers quit the beta cause they claimed the PC gamers were cheating.
Many console gamers also have PC’s built, they don’t limit themselves to one console, or to consoles only.
I have my custom built PC (I built) PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/One, Wii U (that rarely gets used) 3DS, Vita, oh yeah… and my iOS devices.
Play most of my games on either my PC or my Vita. (followed by iOS and PS4)
Just cause YOU have friends that only play consoles… doesn’t mean nobody plays on PC.
You can search and find TONS of articles online showing the trend is moving more and more towards the PC and away from the console..
Here’s one for ya from 2014
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/14/pc-dominates-gaming-hardware-sales
And from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2014/04/28/as-global-pc-game-revenue-surpasses-consoles-how-long-should-console-makers-keep-fighting/#4542c99c6f69
Thank you for your response. Like I said, I was being honest and have only my perspective to go by now days. Funny you should mention Elder Scrolls, I worked for Bethesda for several years. Can’t say it was all that much fun working there but I know the people who played the games we made loved them.
I can see there are still now there are still plenty of gamers out there that prefer the “desktops” still and that’s great. That means my friends who continued to work in that area still have jobs.
Just glad you didn’t take my response as an attack or anything…
Nor an attack on Consoles either.
We *need* home Consoles, as well as Mobile (iOS/Android/3DS/Vita/etc) and desktop game platforms. (PC/Mac/Linux) *AND* we need them all to be in good shape.
I’m happy whenever I see a game company create a Mac or Linux version of their game, everyone wins.
My gaming rig is Windows 7.. will never go 10, will reluctantly go 8.1 if it comes down to it. But I really want to build my next gaming rig to be a Linux/Hackintosh dual boot and completely cut out Windows.
One thing I didn’t even think of at the time I posted the above, free to play MMO’s etc.
I completely forgot how much money they make with their in game stores. (well documented, F2P makes more money than paid subs..)
League of Legends like Gollum mentioned. (I personally don’t like the MOBA games, but they have a HUGE player base)
I agree:
“PC digital games revenue eclipsed mobile in 2015”. (Superdata – Hexus.net). Also gaming PCs are growing now in a declining desktop market.
I use an iMac 27 680MX, 3.4 Ghz all day long for graphics, creativity and for some games. But for hard core gaming and game development I use a PC. The PC is 3 to 5 times faster.
iGads, we have had all versions of the Xbox. My kids prefer PC/Mac gaming. We get games from various sources. For one likes Gary’s Mod and Euro Truck Simulator. The other likes League of Legends. It seems while kids were young, it was all console, but PC gaming is sophisticated. They love building their own computers. To each their own. I am casual about gaming, myself. I like building things.
sad… yet many see the iMac as the best entertainment system ever.
its a tv – youtube, netflix, airplay,
its a computer, its a research station,
its a gaming machine, still has plenty of choices,
its a virtual game system for those older games,
its an android tablet virtualizer,
its an iOS station for development,
its a music player – broadcaster,
its a word editor, music creator, and set of watercolours
the iMac is a beautiful replacement to the home boobtube
just wish Apple made it 50″
It has always been a mystery why Apple thinks the iMac should be a step up from the Mac Mini — Apple forces people to buy a built-in monitor when not everyone has the same needs in a monitor!!!
Apple desperately needs to improve the Mac Mini so that people can use it as a real home theatre hub. The current Mini is woefully inadequate for gaming or pretty much anything else by today’s standards.
And for real gaming, Apple needs a well-cooled tower with support for user updating of GPUs and such. The iMac and Mac Pro are both easily outclassed by PCs in the world of gaming graphics. Apple is not even close.
What I would love to see.. but will never happen.
Apple sells an Apple branded Motherboard with full support for SLI/Crossfire. And make the user BUY OS X for like $50.
and it will be 100% the exact same as the free version on the Mac App Store.
Difference is the Mac App Store free OS X copy won’t install on the Apple Motherboard, the paid Copy will. It will be identified as OS X 11.0e (E=Enthusiast or G=Gaming/whatever)
THERE IS ZERO OFFICIAL APPLE SUPPORT for the user created Mac. 100% community orientated support. Like Hackintosh is now.
But, every app on the MAS can be purchased and installed on the E/G/whatever Mac.
Anyone purchasing this version would know they are getting no support… and almost always be the same people that build their own PC’s now.
Apple would make money on the Motherboards, the extra $50 for the OS, and pretty much kill the Hackintosh.
The only issue would be the resale of these “Macs” but make the paid copy of OS X non transferable. Sell the Mac? log in with an Apple ID that has purchased the paid copy, if not… send them to the MAS to purchase the copy.
And retailer selling these macs, sue them like they did the company selling the pre built Hackintosh’s a few years back. (Apple won easily)
If people were able to legally create a desktop Mac using high end PC parts.. Game companies would pay more attention to the Mac (And Linux)
some interesting things come up if we read the Bare Feats article carefully which has been obvious to certain segments of Mac users.
Barefeats : “”It depends on what game(s) you are running.” Some games are more CPU intensive. Some are more GPU intensive.”
when it is GPU intensive game a 5 year old MP with an upgradable card beats everything in the current lineup.
Worse, barefeats ” “Some games are much faster on a Hackintosh. We have been toying with one in our lab. With the GTX 980 Ti installed, it ran Batman: Arkham City 80% faster and Dirt 57% ”
what am I getting at?
It is : NONE of the current mac line up has upgradable cards which for CERTAIN segments of Mac users is a big deal (besides gaming there’s 3D artists etc . I don’t play games so much but I do graphics and want to run two large monitors. )
sit back and think about it , when it is GPU intensive a 5 year old Mac Pro can beat even the current Mac Pro which costs $3,000 for the 2 GB and $4,000 for the 3GB (base with tiny 256 GB drive).
For Tomb Raider game the 5 year old Mac with 980 Ti is near TWICE as fast as the current Mac Pro ( “Pro” ?)
PCs today can get cards which are 12 GB (No I am not a windows user, I’m all Mac and prefer OSX but I’m just pointing it out ).
I dropped a 3 GB card which cost only a $100 plus into old cheese grater Mac Pro (I can get much more powerful cards now). a used 2010 MP costs only a few hundred dollars.
Apple IS neglecting a certain segment of Mac users Also people want internal expansion to avoid the rats nest of wires, not to mention a cheaper mid tower would be good…
Flamers have attacked me for saying it before but it’s just true that Apple has neglected parts of mac for years, no serious mac advertising (in spite of Mac near iPad revenues), Mac App store in a mess (now Shiller moved to fix it) etc.
even if people argue that Apple is going to upgrade the Mac Pro this year, the fact that for so long the gap has existed (3 GB vs 12 GB now) is sad.
treat the Mac and pro Mac users seriously apple.
(and flamers who have called me names for pointing out the above before, if you are happy with you mac book doing Facebook, .. fine, enjoy, but some of us need something more).
I agree. Now a person can’t even upgrade the memory on many of the iMacs. I love apple, but this is a bit irritating. Want to upgrade your hard drive? Have fun pulling the display panel off the housing.
I love Apple and I and their designs, but it seems to me a good design should include easy access to internal components.
“but this is a bit irritating”
No sir. It’s contemptible!
I totally agree. Apple needs to also cater to their technically-savvy market, namely tinkers, IT pros, network admins, and even gamers. Macs should be customizable over time and allow for other components to work. Why can’t we get an 8GB graphics card option? Why can’t we use things like triple SLI or Crossfire or what have you? Why can’t we upgrade processors? Locking things down tight as a drum all the time is going to limit their profit potential.
I’m an Apple-Certified salesperson and an Apple user of over 25 years. I couldn’t imagine using anything else, but the need to customize my components and upgrade is *really* making me think about the Hackintosh route.
Seriously, Apple, rethink your marketing strategy. Many Apple customers WANT customizable components — and priced to compete with the PC side.
You’re the second person I’ve heard this month point toward a Hackintosh. I can’t figure out why Apple has let the Mac Pro languish to the point of absurdity. It’s amusing to see the 5K iMacs beat up the Mac Pro in gaming results. Shameful.
I think the Mac Pro is absolutely gorgeous!
Performance though.. another story.
I have two thoughts i keep mulling over. Hackintosh, and grabbing a last gen Mac Pro for cheap and upgrade everything i can and push it as far as possible.
For me, if I built a Hackintosh I would create a 2nd Apple ID to use on it.. Wouldn’t take the chance that Apple would ban my normal Apple ID because I’m on a “fake” apple. (I honestly don’t know if apple ever has banned anyone using a hackintosh or not.. I just don’t want to risk it)
Apple has very publicly condemned the Hackintosh as breaking the EULA of OS X. That happened, if I recall, in 2006 when finished their transition to Intel CPUs. At first Apple was nice about it and merely included the ‘Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext’ in the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder. That file is still part of OS X as of 10.11 El Capitan. But there have also been other strategies by Apple to stop Hackintosh such as the incompatibility of the EFI ROM with non-Apple Intel CPU PCs. And hackers have rallied to overcome these deterrents. I haven’t kept up with Hackintosh at all.
Yes, it is against the EULA, which is why I would hate doing it. But I feel as if Apple is backing me into a corner. I don’t want to invest $3,000 on a machine, and the only customizable component being the RAM.
Granted — Macs are going to run Mac OS better than any Hackintosh. USB 3.0 on a Hackintosh is unstable, and virtually every system update entails updates to all third-party components, and usually with unsupported drivers. It’s a constant battle of keeping stuff compatible. You usually won’t have that problem if you stick with the Apple hardware.
Hackintoshes, however, are not for the business market, nor are they for the general consumer. They’re for the geeks who wish to experiment.
That being said, I will always advocate Apple hardware over Hackintoshes. I just want Apple to consider opening up a little bit, and giving their geek customers room to breathe.
Exactly.
Someone built a hackintosh that was faster than the top of the line Mac Pro for under 2k.. And you don’t want to know the price tag from Apple. And only able to upgrade the ram yourself.
Years ago everyone bashed compaq/HP etc for making their stuff only upgradeable through them, if at all. Now that Apple is doing it, many Apple fanboys don’t see the issue… just throw more money to Apple.
There are a million stories in the Naked City.
I own the 2013 Mac Pro. It is a cylinder, not a trash can as its detractors like to sneer. It has taken me to Mars and beyond. It has attacked unsolved mathematical problems. And it runs my business. It graces my elegantly appointed study, inconspicuous behind dual monitors, breathing softly to dissipate the heat of my computations.
It may be the case that Apple has become weak. I weary of the accusations. I only know what they have done for me, which was to provide me with a livelihood these thirty years and counting.
I think of the Mac Pro as a nuclear plant cooling tower. If I obtained one, the first thing I’d do would be to grab some flame colored tissue paper, cut out some fun licks of flames, then tape them into the inside edge of the tower. Whenever the Mac Pro was running, the air rising out of the tower would play upon the tissue paper, making them waft in the gentle cooling breeze, making the nuclear cooling tower look like it was on fire. What fun.
I think the Mac Pro is a great concept that, despite the inability to use expansion cards without cabling on a card box, pushed the future. But I also have to notice that Apple has sat on the hardware and obviously NOT updated it to keep it contemporarily competitive. 🙁
Maybe i’m being slightly sarcastic, but only slightly. My Mac Pro is what I wanted from a Mac Mini. So I made my Mac Mini an ATV alternative in my summer home, and replaced it with a Mac Pro.
“despite the inability to use expansion cards without cabling on a card box, pushed the future. ”
Yet, that’s exactly what inhibits the future. TB2 for instance, cannot support modern video cards at full speed. Apparently TB3 will. Great! How do we add TB3……? Aw crap!
Vanity at the expense of versatility.
*sigh* Not Apple at their best.
Since you’re mathematically inclined…
If a=b
and b=c
Then a=c.
Trash can, is therefore a legitimate aesthetic descriptor.
Fair enough! I admit that I myself refer to my 2009 MP as a cheese grater.
“It has attacked unsolved mathematical problems.”
Maybe if Apple bothered updating its Mac Pro more than once every 4 years or so, it would have solved your math problem by now.
I won’t argue your experience, and if you upgrade every 3-5 years it maybe ok to go the Mac Pro route.
But today, starting 2016 Apple is selling the same 2013 Mac Pro technology. It creates a disturbance in the force.
Please Apple upgrade the Mac Pro!!!
Apple was slow to roll out the Cylinder because, I believe, it was a radical design, build with next-gen robotic tooling facilities, in a stateside factory, a daring experiment all new from the ground up. And like the other Macs, its release depended on Intel’s production schedule for the latest processors. Thus, I exercised patience and extended my faith in Apple’s good intentions…this one time.
Better late than never.
Limited upgradeability is a lingering issue that may force Apple to modify the cylinder’s interior design, perhaps as early as this year. I’d want to see them adopt a more generous trade-in policy if they don’t.
The other main issue is the enclosure. My point of view is that external cabling and peripherals provide more degrees of freedom. I’ve adapted to the new paradigm, and for the first time in years everything is off the floor!
I remember reading about all the good fate, effort and investment Apple has put together to design and produce the new Mac Pro. It is still an amazing concept and machine but if the chassis requires a major redesign (it may not) just a generation later then it wasn’t all that well thought to begin with. Externally the old Mac Pro were always the same size. And also the starting price is considerably higher.