This is part 2 of 5 Best Desktop
Macs for Gaming for Under $1,000.
#1 - Mac mini Nvidia (March 2009)
If you already have a nice flat panel monitor (keyboard and mouse
also) or HDTV with a fast refresh rate (120 Hz+), then the Nvidia Mac mini is your ultimate
Mac at a value price that can handle intense 3D gaming, among many
other things on a tight budget. Brand new, and starting at just $599,
the newest Mac mini takes full advantage of all features included in
the latest release of Mac OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard." Low End Mac's Dan
Knight recently proclaimed this machine the Best Value in Desktop Macs, and
I would like to echo that point from a gamer's perspective.
With it's blazing fast system bus
and system RAM (both clocked at 1066 MHz), along with various other
features, the Mac mini received the adrenaline shot in the arm it
deserved. The Mac mini now includes FireWire 800, DDR3 RAM (that can
now be maxed at 4 GB), a Mini DisplayPort (for a variety of
solutions), wireless N networking, and, best of all, GeForce 9400M
integrated graphics that is so good you won't believe the gaming
performance until you see it.
The new integrated graphics processor included in the new mini (and
most other current Macs) can handle intense 3D games like Doom 3 at
respectable frame rates! No previous integrated graphics solution has
ever enjoyed performance numbers like those demonstrated in the GeForce
9400M. The graphics engine does tie up system RAM, since it's an
integrated solution (128 MB for RAM configurations under 2 GB, and 256
MB in configurations at or above 2 GB).
I had to look far and wide to find numbers that reflect the actual
graphics performance comparison between the old mini and the new mini.
A British site, Register Hardware, has the
Xbench 1.3 results for both machines. Doom 3 was previously
unplayable at 9 FPS (essentially a slide show) on an old mini, but is
now quite operational (no Star Wars pun intended) at 63 FPS using the
new GeForce 9400M. This was likely on low settings, but would suggest
that even on medium, you should still have a smooth playable game.
Again, as with any Intel Mac, you also have many Windows games to
choose from that should run quite well on the new mini. The new Mac
mini is useful for many other purposes besides gaming. It too, will
handle Blu-ray in Windows, as the iMac previously mentioned will. It
even meets the minimum
requirements for playback of 720p HD video from the iTunes Store.
Once more, you can own a brand new Mac mini for as little as $599
today, so what are you waiting for!
3 Runners Up
iMac G5 (iSight)
The iMac G5 (iSight) from October
2005, available in 17" and 20" models, are very decent gaming machines
and have enough graphics power to handle Doom 3 on Medium at 30 FPS,
include a built-in iSight camera, and support the Apple remote control.
As of this writing, the best
deal from Low End Mac's resellers on a 20" 2.1 GHz iMac G5 was
$680, and I found "Buy It Now" prices on eBay of $525. One advantage of
the iSight model over other G5 iMacs is that it uses less costly RAM
and supports a bit more (2.5 GB vs. 2.0 GB) than earlier G5 iMacs.
With the prices of G5 towers dropping significantly since the
release of Snow Leopard (a dual 2 GHz unit can now be had for the
same price as a 2.1 GHz iSight iMac G5), and with 22" LCD monitors
under $300, you can have a much more powerful G5 system with at least
twice the performance potential for not much more than the cost of the
monitor. If you already have a nice monitor, it's a no brainer.
Overall, the G5 towers are just a better value.
20" 1.25 GHz iMac G4
The 20" 1.25 GHz iMac G4 (USB 2.0)
(November 2003) "iLamp", as some have called the iMac G4 series, is
possibly the most eye-appealing all-in-one that Apple ever
produced.
The 20" model includes plenty of screen real estate (1680 x 1050
pixels) and can be had for
$300 to $400 as of this writing. This was the last G4 iMac and came
equipped with a GeForce 5200FX Ultra (64 MB); the earliest graphics
card capable of Core Image graphics.
It can also take a 1.92 GHz CPU upgrade, if you can find anyone out
there still offering this service. To my knowledge, Daystar was the
last to offer this upgrade, but it has been discontinued for quite some
time. Even with the processor upgrade, there are no video upgrades, and
there are more cost effective solutions out there with much better
graphics. Get one for nostalgia value if you're a collector.
If you don't need that much screen space, the 17" 1.25 GHz iMac G4 is the
same as the 20" model except for the smaller 1440 x 900 display. It's
also more widely available and less costly.
Blue & White Power Mac G3
The Blue &
White Power Mac G3 (Jan. 1999) can be had for $300 to $400 fully
upgraded with a Radeon 9200
PCI and a 1.1 GHz G3 or 500 MHz G4 upgrade - or for as little as $10 (plus
shipping) with no hard drive. With video card and CPU upgrades, the
Blue & White makes a good case for an OS 9 only gaming machine
(it can run OS X versions through 10.4 Tiger, but OS X is far
from optimal for gaming with this machine), but the stock dual 1.25 GHz
MDD is a much better performer, boots into OS 9 and OS X
versions through 10.5 Leopard, and can be had for much less than a
fully upgraded Blue & White G3.
The "Yikes" Power Mac
G4 (August 1999) is essentially the same machine as the Blue &
White, but with a 350 or 400 MHz G4 CPU and a graphite case.
Dan Bashur lives in central Ohio with his wife and children. He uses various PowerPC G3 and G4 Macs running Tiger and Leopard. Besides finding new uses for Macs and other tech, Dan enjoys writing (fantasy novel series in the works), is an avid gamer, and a member of Sony's Gamer Advisor Panel. You can read more of Dan Bashur's work on ProjectGamers.com, where he contributes regular articles about the PSP, classic gaming, and ways you can use Sony gaming hardware with your Mac.
