Apple doesn’t have gamers in mind when choosing components for its latest Macs, but PC maker Digital Storm has proven that it’s possible to build a beastly gaming rig into the iMac’s gorgeous all-in-one form factor.
Check out the company’s stunning new Aura PC, which puts NVIDIA’s latest GTX 1080 graphics card behind a 34-inch curved display.
Apple has been criticized for not making Macs better at gaming. Even as the library of games grows thanks to platforms like Steam and the Mac App Store, Macs still don’t come anywhere close to PCs in gaming performance.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey recently made headlines when he said his company’s Rift headset would be compatible with Macs because not even a $6,000 Mac Pro is capable of supporting it, yet you could buy a compatible PC for a fraction of the cost.
But Apple could make Macs great at gaming without sacrificing its iconic designs.
Photo: Digital Storm
The Aura is proof of this. Behind its 34-inch WQHD (3440 x 1440) display, you’ll find speedy Intel processors, ample RAM, and NVIDIA graphics cards that will deliver a smooth experience inside any game you can buy today.
Starting at $1,999, the “Good” Aura comes with an Intel Core i5 chip, a GTX 960 4GB graphics card, and 16GB of RAM. The “Better” model gives you a faster Core i5 chip and a GTZ 97o 4GB for $2,294, while the “Best” model gives you a Core i7 and a GTX 980Ti 6GB for $2,748.
Things get really interest when you upgrade to the $3,127 “Ultimate” Aura. This gets you a Core i7 6700K processor and NVIDIA’s latest GTX 1080 graphics with a whopping 8GB of memory. It’s built with VR in mind, and it’ll play any game in 4K at high settings.
Photo: Digital Storm
All three models come with a 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD and a 1TB 7,200 rpm hard drive as standard — plus a Vortex liquid CPU cooler to keep things quiet.
You’d need to spend $3,199 on an iMac to get a high-end Core i7 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of RAM — and even after adding the top-of-the-line Radeon R9 M395X GPU with 4GB of memory, you’re going to get a poor experience when you take the resolution past 1080p.
And if you need more power in the future, you can pull components out of the Aura and upgrade them individually when you’re ready. I don’t even need to tell you there’s no chance of doing that with the iMac.
Digital Storm wins this one, Apple.
Source: Digital Storm
Via: Geek
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
22 responses to “Beastly all-in-one proves the iMac could be great for gaming”
*would not be compatible
Isn’t Thunderbolt 3 supposed to be able to eventually get an expansion PCI chassis, stick a high end GPU card and then connect it to any Thunderbolt 3 port in a laptop or desktop that doesn’t have PCI slots?
I own an iMac and I wish Apple would just offer a high end i5/i7 headless unit, maybe just stick everything in a MacPro cylinder and call it a MacPro mini or something like that. I don’t like having to drag a big monitor in for repairs if the problem has nothing to do with the monitor. That’s a little bit of a hassle. Eventually, the MacPros and other Macs are going to get higher end GPU’s and I think they might be sticking 2 of the new Polaris GPUs in the upcoming MacPros. I’m sure the new iMacs will have powerful enough GPUs for Oculus Ripoff product.
Apple’s waiting for new GPU’s to come out of AMD so I’m sure the new Mac lineup will be able to deal with Oculus. But the thing is. Who gives a flying fig out VR? It’s not going to stick, it’s just another way to waste money on something most people will end up not using. Remember, Google Glass and the hype behind that? Remember 3D TV screens for the home? Most people simply don’t want to put something on their head for extended periods of time, especially if it’s disorienting.
Gaming are for those that don’t have a job or simply want to waste one’s time. It’s not a productivity tool.
Why is gaming any different to watching movies or playing sports? It’s a totally valid hobby that you definitely don’t need to be unemployed to enjoy. I work 10 hours a day, have a wife and three children, and I still find some time for gaming here and there.
If I can’t turn it into a Hackintosh I’m not interested. ;)
I wonder how noisy that thing is. I hate noisy fans.
It’s liquid cooled
Killian ‘ding-dong’ Bell is undoubtedly the greatest Bullshitter in the whole universe. #SCNR
Thanks! Is there an award I can collect for that?
Killian Bell says the Digital Storm Aura will “play any game in 4K at high settings.” That would be a good trick on its 2.5K screen. As Bell writes, the computer has a “34-inch WQHD (3440 x 1440) display.” That is much less resolution than the 4K 4096-by-2304-pixel display of the 21.5-inch iMac and of the 5K 5120-by-2880-pixel display of the 27-inch iMac.
I was actually referring to the GTX 1080 with that line.
You can use downscaling(also known as supersampling) to render games at higher resolution than the screen itself supports, effectively acting as anti aliasing
I don’t care about gaming but give us new Mac mini and Pro! Don’t make us going for Hackintosh!
Bought a G4 cube. making a hackintosh.
Gaming and Mac? XD hahahhahahaha
No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig – it’s still a pig…
I bet the BSOD looks beautiful on a 4K curved monitor with high resolution graphics…
What is the keyboard in these pictures? I’m diggin’ it
Looks like a Corsair K95
Lies. Overwatch doesn’t support 21:9 (3440×1440) lol
Nice screen, shame about the awfully ugly legs, keyboard and mouse.
Mac, gaming? ROFLMAO!
For $3,127 I can make a super mega computer. I’m not a fan of “great design” when it limits the user a lot. You depend on that monitor, if it breaks you are f… It’s gonna termothrottle alot compared to a norml chassis tower, it’s hard to access its components, etc. Bottom line is I don’t find it useful. But that’s just my opinion.