[JustinCase]

Is it possible to change out video cards in an iMac? I'm thinking about buying a used one, but the video doesn't look adequate for gaming. It has a ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB Memory - and I play World of Warcraft. With the new 3.1 version (of the game), I am more concerned about framerate than anything else.

There is another iMac with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro, how much better is that? Price is of course an issue, but if it is tons better, I can go for that.

[Big Mac]

Nope. GPUs in iMacs and MacBooks are permanent parts of the logic boards–not upgradable. That's why a lot of people strongly wish Apple would bring back a consumer tower.

[AKcrab]

(Our World of Warcraft test is to go to FireTree realm. Our warrior stands next to the totem pole at the entrance to Camp Narache (Red Cloud Mesa). He runs East toward the large tree at the top of the hill. Turns around and runs West back to the totem pole. Using Titan Performance addon, we are able to capture min, max, and average frame rate. All settings were maxed, 24 bit 1X multi-sampling, no vertical sync, no glow effect. We not only get consistent results but we confirmed that this stresses the GPU mightily.)

LEGEND
Mac Pro R1900 = Mac Pro 3GHz with Radeon X1900 XT
iMac 2.33 G7600 = iMac C2D 2.33GHz with GeForce 7600 GT
iMac 2.8 R2600 = iMac C2D 2.8GHz with Radeon HD 2600 Pro
iMac 2.4 R2600 = iMac C2D 2.4GHz with Radeon HD 2600 Pro
MBP 2.4 G8600 = MacBook Pro 2.4GHz with GeForce 8600M
Mac Pro G7300 = Mac Pro 3GHz with GeForce 7300 GT
iMac 2.16 G7300 = iMac C2D 2.16GHz with GeForce 7300 GT
iMac 2.0 R2400 = iMac C2D 2.0GHz with Radeon HD 2400 XT
iMac 2.0 R1600 = iMac CD 2.0GHz with Raceon X1600 XT (256M)

UPDATED CONCLUSION
The Aluminum iMac (2.8GHz, 2.4GHz) with the Radeon HD 2600 Pro GPU disappointed us when it came to 3D gaming. It lost to the previous generation iMac (2.33GHz) with the optional GeForce 7600 GT in most 3D games we tested. And the Aluminum iMac (2.0GHz) with the Radeon HD 2400 XT was a slower than the older iMac 2.0 with the Radeon X1600!

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

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by AKcrab 

UPDATED CONCLUSION
The Aluminum iMac (2.8GHz, 2.4GHz) with the Radeon HD 2600 Pro GPU disappointed us when it came to 3D gaming. It lost to the previous generation iMac (2.33GHz) with the optional GeForce 7600 GT in most 3D games we tested. And the Aluminum iMac (2.0GHz) with the Radeon HD 2400 XT was a slower than the older iMac 2.0 with the Radeon X1600!

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

Still, 65fps ain't shabby. NTSC video is 30fps (60 half-frame fields per second), so 65 should look "not bad." Is this indication of raw frame rate not the whole story though? In other words, does the iMac 2.0 with the Radeon 2400 look at least "OK?"

[cgc]

Don't forget you can turn the settings or decrease screen resolution a bit also to boost fps. If I were in the market for a used iMac, I'd get the one with the R2600 in it...

[Simon]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Still, 65fps ain't shabby. NTSC video is 30fps (60 half-frame fields per second), so 65 should look "not bad." Is this indication of raw frame rate not the whole story though? In other words, does the iMac 2.0 with the Radeon 2400 look at least "OK?"

That's the thing. You always need much more fps in these games than the refresh rate of your screen. As soon as the scenery becomes more complex, you have many other characters around, or there are a lot of visual effects the frame rate will drop. Also you might not want to have to run the game at medium or low settings. Lots of people want best quality rendering and audio. In other words just because the game clocks in with more fps than the screen's refresh rate doesn't mean it will play better than you'd be able to see.

I too would not opt for the 2400. Make sure to at least get a 2600 or even an 8800.

[JustinCase]

Thanks so much for the info - having a hard time really finding out much about how certain software relates to hardware and ya'll made things easy. I very much appreciate the responses.

My framerate right now is about 2 in a 25 man raid (and that is with all settings as low as I can get them) - so you can see why I am having some difficulty in game. It is choppy to say the least. I have never seen 65 fps on a good day on this lower end G5 (my G4 just died, think it is the power supply after 8 years of service. And yes, I hope to find another and resurrect it ) It was about the same as this - but the fact that I could play at all on an 8 year old mac was pretty impressive.

So I will keep an eye out for the 2600, that is a darn sight better than what I have. The only place I have found reliable refurbished macs is powermax.com. I am totally open for any other suggestions if you know any? I still have my G4s monitor - that is working well. Thought the iMac would be the most practical way to upgrade (1.6 GHz PowerPC G5), unless I went $400 for the Radeon 9800.

Again, thanks so much for the responses.

[Simon]

The Apple refurb store has a 2.8 GHz 24" iMac with a 2600 for $1200 right now. I don't know if that fits your price range, but it is a very nice deal.

[boy8cookie]

Originally Posted by AKcrab 

[ IMG ]http://www.barefeats.com/image07/imal_wow.gif[ /IMG ]
(Our World of Warcraft test is to go to FireTree realm. Our warrior stands next to the totem pole at the entrance to Camp Narache (Red Cloud Mesa). He runs East toward the large tree at the top of the hill. Turns around and runs West back to the totem pole. Using Titan Performance addon, we are able to capture min, max, and average frame rate. All settings were maxed, 24 bit 1X multi-sampling, no vertical sync, no glow effect. We not only get consistent results but we confirmed that this stresses the GPU mightily.)

I underlined the bit that confuses me, how can you claim 'all settings maxed' but have the multisampling at 1x...

[JustinCase]

Originally Posted by Simon 

The Apple refurb store has a 2.8 GHz 24" iMac with a 2600 for $1200 right now. I don't know if that fits your price range, but it is a very nice deal.

Wow, that is a nice deal... will look into that. Thanks