# Is an iMac suitable for gaming?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [November 15, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734 "2010-11-15T12:22:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734/1 "2010-11-15T12:22:49Z")
For some reasons I may need to get an iMac ([the most basic entry here](http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC508LL/A?mco=MTg1ODA3OTA)). How is its hardware when it comes to gaming? I am thinking of booting it in Windows 7 using bootcamp.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734/2 "2010-11-15T18:22:23Z")
The only real issue you’ll encounter is which games will run on it in the first place, and that won’t be a problem if you’re dual-booting. Unless, of course, you’re planning on playing whatever is the current bleeding-edge game that requires a video card that won’t be released for two more years, but if you were looking at a game like that, you’d already know what details to go into.
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### Author:  [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734/3 "2010-11-15T18:38:18Z")
Unless your gaming world consists solely of medium-settings World of Warcraft, you’re not going to be happy gaming on a 21.5" screen using a 256MB 4670 Mobility.
That’s assuming a Win7 driver for an Apple OEM card even exists. You’re DOA if it doesn’t.
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### Author:  [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-imac-suitable-for-gaming/560734/4 "2010-11-15T18:49:50Z")
I have an early 2006 iMac. I figure anything I can run, you can run 100x better.
Starcraft II is a-ok on my machine. I run it at 1440x900, but with pretty low settings otherwise. It’s absolutely fine.
Civ IV runs fine.
Source games like Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Day of Defeat:Source all barely run on my machine under OS X, but work fine under Windows 7 (which I just discovered thanks to another thread). I guess the Windows drivers are better for my video card; ymmv.
The only real problem you’re going to have is that you can’t upgrade the video card later. Other than that, you shouldn’t have any problems running much of anything, really.