Game Companies, Analysts Excited by Beefed-Up Video of New G5 iMacs
TMO Reports - Game Companies, Analysts Excited by Beefed-Up Video of New G5 iMacs
by , 2:45 PM EDT, May 3rd, 2005
Game developers and analysts are both singing the praises of the of the updated iMac product line introduced Tuesday morning by Apple Computer. Faster video cards with more video RAM make the new iMacs capable of playing the latest games on the market, which in turn should make the units more attractive to consumers.
When Apple announced the G5 iMac last fall, many in the Mac gaming industry privately grumbled about the included 64MB NVIDIA FX5200 video card, which Aspyr Media director of development Glenda Adams told The Mac Observer "had several performance problems from the start, and has really been a challenge to get games running well on."
When the company debuted the second iteration of the consumer-oriented machines on Tuesday, however, Adams said she was "blown away. Having been in the Mac business for 17 years, these new iMac G5s are the single best consumer Mac Apple has ever released, especially for games. Having 128MB of VRAM and a Radeon 9600 across the board is a huge step up in performance. And the increase to 512MB of system RAM is another big plus."
Exponentially Better VideoThe move from the NVIDIA FX5200 to the ATI Radeon 9600 is about more than simply doubling the video RAM, Adams pointed out. "The 9600 is a faster card than the 5200," she said. "It also handles OpenGL shaders better. I think we'll see much better performance on the new iMacs."
A representative from Feral Interactive, a British Mac games publisher that began distributing its titles in the United States in recent years, agreed. "By adding the 128MB [of video RAM], newer games with larger textures will not limit the speed of the game. The older cards often did not have enough video RAM on the card to run higher-resolution options. You either had to run with low graphics or get a big performance hit sending new data to the card constantly. This new card should currently run most games with the graphics settings maxed."
The downside, of course, is that the new iMacs' video cards aren't upgradeable, which means they'll eventually get long in the tooth, but Adams said: "When they put good cards with plenty of video RAM in every model, like they just announced, it makes me much less worried about upgradeability. These should be good-performing Macs for all the games we're shipping in 2005, like The Sims 2, Doom 3 and Stubbs the Zombie, and should continue to work well on the games we are looking into for 2006."
Feral's representative agreed. "In a perfect world, we would love upgradeable cards, but we understand that iMacs are not just designed for playing the latest games as fast as possible. I would expect us to start hitting performance issues in about 18 months or so, as game and graphic card designs increase in complexity."
What's Not to Like?Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox responded "What's not to like?" when asked for his reaction to the new iMacs. "These are loaded consumer machines," he said. "When you consider that Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme are now built into the two low-end models, that equates to a 'non-price tag price cut.' You can buy a pretty good Mac gaming machine for US$1,300."
He added: "The only thing I would have done differently is put the standard 4X SuperDrive in the low-end model, instead of a Combo drive. But otherwise, these are near-perfect configurations with appropriate price points, which doesn't factor in the software. You get iLife -- a similar package on the PC side would add more to the price."
He pointed out that the new machines feature upgrades almost everywhere, such as double the hard drive space and RAM, as well as one spot that gamers may not always consider: Gigabit Ethernet, which he said "is great if you're a gamer on a LAN."
Observer Comments
I went and ordered the big one today! I am looking forward to get a boost up from my old and trusty dual 450 with a Radeon 9000 installed=) I think we will soon see that Apple doesn't only sell iPods - and if they give the low end model a SuperDrive next time, people will begin to flock around the stores again:)
Tue May 03, 2005 3:42 pm Subject: iLemmings Who Already Bought iMacs Are SOL
"iLemmings who already bought an iMac are now stuck with a non-upgradeable video card that won't play games other than solitaire."
Sorry, Reality Check, but the previous iMac 3D accelerator was better than the awful Intel Xtreme Graphics that ships standard with so many Windows PCs. Even the technology that Apple throws away is better than what the Windows PC manufactures use for most of their dekstop computers.
"What new iLemmings don't realize is that the new iMac is also not upgradeable and will be out of date by end of year, if it doesn't burn out by then."
Wrong again. The new iMac can be upgraded to 2GBs of RAM and 400GBs of disk space. And even the lowest-end iMac comes standard with a 160GB harddrive.
Just compare it to a Dell Dimension, which comes with 512MB of low-quality shared RAM, a much smaller harddrive, and the terrible Intel Xtreme graphics. Not to mention the fact that it CAN'T be upgraded past 512MB of RAM, and it comes with a plain CD-ROM drive. No DVD drive or CD-writer. Talk about out of date.
Also, the graphics card in the older G5 iMacs isn't an issue for someone using their Mac for serious work, and not for gaming like a Windows PC toy.
Tue May 03, 2005 6:04 pm Subject: Upgrading video cards
I'm not a gamer, so I ask this as a sincere question. When people upgrade their systems so they can play the latest and greatest video games, are they just upgrading their video cards, or are they getting brand new systems, with faster processors, etc.? If the latter, does the lack of an upgradeable video card really matter?
Tue May 03, 2005 9:08 pm Subject: Re: Pro Update
QuoteEngine Joe wrote:QuoteAnonymous wrote:
I think this shows there will soon be a significant update in the Power Mac line as iMac's are now competing with the low end Power Mac's.
Er... except that we just had one about 4 days ago.
June is coming and Stveie is doing the show! The last update was for the Tiger release, something is in the air, they've been hedging the bet, but June is gonna rock!
Tue May 03, 2005 10:35 pm Subject: Just bought a 20" too
After sitting on this powerbook as my only system for over 4 years, I'm expecting to be blown away. Things I didn't expect were the better graphics card, gigabit ethernet, built in AE and BT, and double layer DVD burner. I was *hoping* but I actually *got* for once. The hard drive, RAM, Tiger, iLife, and processor speed alone would have been enough. But all the extras and $100 reduction make this un-freakin'-believable. Now I have to prepare my wife for this weekend when I'll be locked in my office setting up the new beast. And picking my jaw up from the floor every few minutes.
QuoteEngine Joe wrote:QuoteAnonymous wrote:
I think this shows there will soon be a significant update in the Power Mac line as iMac's are now competing with the low end Power Mac's.
Er... except that we just had one about 4 days ago.
Hey, EJ:
Just what do you think Steve's going to be talking about during his 90 minute Stevenote at WWDC? Tiger will be old news by then, and he spent most of WWDC '04 talking about it. The recent Power Mac updates are just to keep the natives from getting too restless. but you can be sure that, after this kick-ass iMac update, he is going to blow out the jams with a mind-blowing PowerMac announcement. Quad processors, or dual dual-core chips- something exponential for the Year Of High-Def. Anyone who buys a PM now instead of waiting til June, is gonna be kicking themselves with a major case of buyer's remorse. Standard Airport Extreme & BT 2 in the new iMacs? That means the "iHome" entertainment hub is coming, in one form or another. Something to plug into your TV to stream the "iTV Movie Store" offerings to... I think the WWDC is going to be BIG.
Just ordered the new imac on the Australian online store. Does anybody know if the built in antenna has been upgraded to facilitate any future higher speeds? I was thinking of installing a 802.11n card in the future.
I suppose I'll have to wait until the beast arrives to find out if the wifi g module is installed as a card or soldered on somewhere.
Quotejimothy wrote:
I'm not a gamer, so I ask this as a sincere question. When people upgrade their systems so they can play the latest and greatest video games, are they just upgrading their video cards, or are they getting brand new systems, with faster processors, etc.? If the latter, does the lack of an upgradeable video card really matter?
I just depends on what you start with. Sometimes just adding a video card will get the frame rate up on a machine. But then if its a dell they like to put real slow or last years memory bus in a computer and the video card doesn't do you any good. If you look at the hard core gamers they build or buy special machines that cost as much or more than the high end Macs. These are the kids that in the 60's and 70's built cars as a hobby.
But then there's more to life than sitting around and playing games on your computer to keep from interacting with other people face to face.
There are those that have peecees and need them rebuilt.
Stormbringer
QuoteStormbringer wrote:
I just depends on what you start with. Sometimes just adding a video card will get the frame rate up on a machine. But then if its a dell they like to put on a real show for their friends by taking them on a bus to the future, things Macs won't have for years to come. If you look at the hard core gamers they build or buy special machines that do more than the high end Macs. These are the kids that in the 60's and 70's built cars as a hobby. My car I want it serviced by Apple for ridiculous prices.
But then there's more to life than sitting around and troubleshooting Macs to keep from interacting with other people face to face.
I pee on the old toilet-seat iBooks.
Stormbringer
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
iLemmings who already bought an iMac are now stuck with a non-upgradeable video card that won't play games other than solitaire. What new iLemmings don't realize is that the new iMac is also not upgradeable and will be out of date by end of year, if it doesn't burn out by then.
snarf, snarf blech. sticky puddle of goo.
Quotejimothy wrote:
I'm not a gamer, so I ask this as a sincere question. When people upgrade their systems so they can play the latest and greatest video games, are they just upgrading their video cards, or are they getting brand new systems, with faster processors, etc.? If the latter, does the lack of an upgradeable video card really matter?
there's also the "overclocking phenomenon"
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