Gaming Machines

[Blizzard]

Hi all,

I would love some advice... without judgement....

So I currently play Ark on a MacBook Pro, and while I love my Mac for everything but Ark, it sucks for gaming....

What I want to know is, does the new iMac they are bringing out have enough CPU and GPU (!?) to play ark at it's finest or should I spend that kind of money elsewhere purely for the sake of gaming??

Here is the new iMac Pro they are bringing out in Dec: https://www.apple.com/au/imac-pro/

I like the look of Alienware, but is it a brand thing or is it actually decent? I don't want another laptop, so I am looking for advice on the best desktop machine.

Thanks so much!!

[DattoSSS]

I have an old Alienware, they are great but were bought put by Dell so lots of feathers now, but no more meat than the other chickens.

Build yourself a desktop gaming PC, easy to do and far stronger machine than a laptop - and always upgradeable

[DrunkMunki]

Macs are built for reliability and stability, their CPU and graphics are always a few years behind and arent designed to be gaming machines, mainly memory intensive software such as graphics which requires a lot in memory.

If you are looking into playing games, look at what everyone else uses, usually custom built machines...
what it really gets down to is minimal specs.
CPU: 3.2Ghz (i7)
RAM: Min 16GB
GPU: this is the expensive bit that matters, buy for the future.... which at this stage is a GeForce 1060+
everything else can be whatever you can budget,
SSD: i can see a major difference between using hard drive and an SSD, so that should also be out there, and they are getting pretty cheap.

i use mwave.com.au and pccasegear.com.au .. but there are many sites out there that can help.. peeps im sure will post some

Side Note: do NOT get Alienware, its just branding crap.... can find better laptops out there without the pricetag

[Alysianna43]

I have an Asus Republic of Gamers gaming laptop, and its still running ark on epic settings 3 years later, and besides having an external harddrive for the actual storage of the games, I would recommend ROG, but thats just based on my experience with this laptop and a friends desktop that is also ROG, though not as good as my laptop. So, natually, i would suggest looking into a ROG computer.

[DrunkMunki]

I have a ROG Rampage Extreme 3 motherboard, lasted ages!

[Stick]

To answer your question briefly, yes the new imac will play Ark quite well. They have droped the new Vega GPU into them which is supposed to rival the Nvidia 1080 (their second highest tier graphics card). The biggest issue is the 5k display. If you wanted to run Ark on the screens native resolution then you will be quite upset with its performance. Ark is just a terribly GPU intensive game, I have the highest grade consumer graphics card and the game still drops to 30 frames when rendering in large bases.

Whilst the iMac will play ark very well it will also be a waste of money if you are not using it to its full potential (is it right that its going to retail here for around $6k?). The best bang for buck "gaming machines" will be built out of hand picked components, the best part about this is that you can create a computer based on your needs and wants and leave nothing wasted.

A comparable custom PC could be built for around 3.5k. This would include all of the bits needed to create a high end beast that would provide you with a few years of happy performance (including a great gaming monitor). Tell us what you need out of your pc and im sure we can help you select the parts needed to build a great gaming rig.

[Blizzard]

Tell us what you need out of your pc and im sure we can help you select the parts needed to build a great gaming rig.

Thanks for your reply Stick! Basically I just want to be able to play Ark at its best, on epic rather than low - and to be able to see into the water, not the stupid concrete crap I get now.

I assume that building a PC around Ark would pretty much set me up for any game!?

Choosing components is all really above my knowledge of computers so any help would be amazing. Does it matter what case you choose with regards to things that go in it?! I have been looking here: https://www.pccasegear.com/category/25/cases and I have no idea what to pick - though i do love the ones with pretty lights!

[Blizzard]

Check this out.... stunning! https://www.pccasegear.com/products/393 ... ing-system

[Muddy]

Answer the following questions and I'm sure you'll get the help needed on here:

What is the primary purpose of this PC?
Gaming, Video Editing, Photo Editing, HTPC, etc. Try to include any specific games/programs/etc. that you frequently use.

Is there a secondary purpose for this PC?
Example: A PC that is primarily used for gaming, but is also used to edit videos and stream on Twitch

What is your budget?
Preferred amount: $What you'd rather spend
Maximum amount: $Absolute maximum you can spend

What is your monitor setup, or your planned monitor setup?
How many monitors? What size/resolution? What refresh rate? G-sync/Freesync?

Even if you don't need to buy a new monitor, please tell us about the ones you have, as the screen refresh rate and resolution do affect which GPU setup is best within your budget.

Do you require an Operating System?
Yes/No

Please list any peripherals you require:
Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Headphones/Speakers, etc.

Are you re-using any parts?
Please list them here. Brands and model names are appreciated!

Will you be overclocking?
Yes/No

Do you have any preferences for aesthetics?
This may include case size/colour/window, LED lighting, colour theme, etc.

[Blizzard]

Answer the following questions and I'm sure you'll get the help needed on here:

What is the primary purpose of this PC?
Gaming - Ark

Is there a secondary purpose for this PC?
No, it's going to pretty much be a PC that is primarily used for gaming. I am happy with my MacBook Pro for other purposes.

What is your budget?
Preferred amount: $1,500 (I know this is not at all possible haha).
Maximum amount: $3,000ish

What is your monitor setup, or your planned monitor setup?
I would prefer to have one large monitor, I like LG tv's but have never had a PC monitor from them. I am thinking of perhaps something like this: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/350 ... ng-monitor

Do you require an Operating System?
Yes

Please list any peripherals you require:
Keyboard, Mouse & Monitor. I am fussy with my keyboards - I like them to be soft touch (I dislike high keys). I would also love them to have a cool LED colour in them Monitor as above.

Are you re-using any parts?
No - complete fresh new baby! haha

Will you be overclocking?
Considering I had to google what that meant, i'd say no!?

Do you have any preferences for aesthetics?
This is a solid example of what I like: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/360 ... case-black
I really like black case with purple LED's.