Eyefintiy 6770m 512mb v 6970m 2gb. Really Need Advice & Fast

[Juris]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm repeating myself (didn't get an answer before to another iMac thread) but heres the deal. Current setup:

 

iMac i5-2500S 2.7ghz, 24gb Ram, Ati 6770m 512mb (desktop equivalent = 5670)

 

I have an offer for the next 2011 iMac up

 

iMac i7-2600 3.4ghz, 24gb Ram, Ati 6970m 2gb (desktop equivalent = 6790)

 

With the 6770 512mb in Eyefintiy I'm getting 10-12fps (pathetic) when not in a dogfight, just gliding around.

 

Simple Question: Will the 6970m cope with Eyefinity at the following resolutions and provide decent (25-30) fps.

 

5760x1200

5040x1050

 

Its going to cost me approx 300 euro to upgrade to the higher iMac from my lower one & as its very hard to find a 2gb iMac for sale I'm under serious time pressure to decide if this will suit. Its also hopefully to run Assetto Corsa racing later this year. Pls don't say build a PC, I need to keep on the Apple side of things for work & a Mac Pro would eat me alive in electricity bills (I know I've owned 2). Please help. Thanks.

 

Edit: Apparently the 6970m is on a desktop par with a 6790 not the 6850.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Juris

[Bandit.]

i dont know about the specifics of the video card but it doesnt surprise me you are struggling using eyefinity with only 512mb of vram. so depending on your resolution 2gb of vram couls make a big difference.

as for the rest of the details youll have to get someone more familiar with ati card

[Juris]

Hi I can choose between 5040x1050 and 5760x1200. The limitations in available resolutions come from a combination of the iMacs & Cinema displays limited selection.

 

Its not a dedicated gaming system so I'm kinda stuck upgrading to iMac to another iMac & space in the room is such that a desktop tower just won't fit.

[gavagai]

To answer the question whether it will run 3 monitors with decent fps: probably not. Typically, people who go for 3 monitor setups invest in a much stronger card than a 6790.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

At a minimum I would want a 7950 with 3gb of vram for a 3 monitor setup.

[Juris]

Cheers for the advice. I took it, of sorts. Decided to replace my i5 2.7ghz iMac with 512mb 6770m with an iMac i5 3.1ghz and 1gb 6970m which I reckon after I sell the old iMac will cost me about 50 euro difference so its not much for some extra fps. As its meant to be about 70% in single screen mode all I can hope is I can get another 10fps out of it in triple. Not smooth but maybe passable for now. Will report back with my findings when it arrives later this week.

 

I'm actually a bit pissed at DCS at this stage. Even my 512mb 6770m I can get 50-60fps in triples in iRacing on high settings (its a bloody complex physics engine with some serious calculations going on) but I get 10fps in DCS. To sound like so many broken records here on the forum, we need EDGE or at least for DCS to give a damn about ATI cards.

[xracer]

I'm actually a bit pissed at DCS at this stage. Even my 512mb 6770m I can get 50-60fps in triples in iRacing on high settings (its a bloody complex physics engine with some serious calculations going on) but I get 10fps in DCS. To sound like so many broken records here on the forum, we need EDGE or at least for DCS to give a damn about ATI cards.

 

Same experience for me when i had a 5850 1 GB in iRacing, ran 3 screens perfect at high resolutions. The difference again here i think is that the drawing distance in iRacing is nowhere near DCS level. iRacing do have a very neat design for multiple screens tough.

[SkateZilla]

 

I'm actually a bit pissed at DCS at this stage. Even my 512mb 6770m I can get 50-60fps in triples in iRacing on high settings (its a bloody complex physics engine with some serious calculations going on) but I get 10fps in DCS. To sound like so many broken records here on the forum, we need EDGE or at least for DCS to give a damn about ATI cards.

 

 

Graphics Engine and Physics Engine are two different things that use 2 different peices of Hardware.

 

iRacing Car Models are no where near the poly count of the DCSW Top Tier models,

Same with the Cockpits.

 

iRacing is Rendering a smaller Area than DCSW with Lower Poly Models, Your Gonna Get Better FPS.

[tintifaxl]

Actually flight simming on an iMac needs serious money. The top model with the GTX680m is highly recommended and should be able to run DCS at native res just fine. Anything lower you have to make compromises in eye candy, resolution or suffer from the consequences.

[Juris]

I do understand the points made regards the differences in iRacing and DCS but unfortunately the draw distances etc are only part of the issue. When I mentioned iRacing I stated I was running it on high settings @ 50-60fps. DCS is on low with minimum draw distance, @ 10fps.

 

As for different hardware being used in iRacing & DCS for physics etc and poly counts in iRacing your talking maybe 16 cars in view, each with a significant poly count and they are usually much closer than you ever get (or want to) to an enemy Flanker. I'm new obviously to DCS but with only 1 AI wingman its 10 fps. Theres no excuse at this stage. Its just a graphics engine thats out of date and even then many state the fact it is very CPU dependent & doesn't utilize multicores sufficiently. Its a bi-plane in a jet era, trying to fly jets. We're seeing DX11 graphics engines such as that in Assetto Corsa racing which would blow your mind in poly complexity and terrain detail. Our trees don't even have collision detection. Just look at ARMA 3 in flight, the FPS compared to DCS is in its multiples and thats with significant draw distances.

 

Sorry if I'm harping, I don't mean to. I really want to enjoy DCS but if your have to spend the kind of money to play it most people simply don't (pls don't say its cheaper on pc I know but a GTX680 is serious cash PC or Mac) have then DCS will never grow and expand.

[Juris]

Just got my upgraded iMac with the 3.1ghz i5 & 6970m 1gb (couldn't justify the 2gb) over my previous 2.7ghz i5 & 6770m 512mb and performance has increased by.........1 fps.

 

Seriously what am I missing here. Every other game has jumped in performance, iRacing FPS has doubled, BF3 about the same (both on triples), ARMA 3 is now silky in triples on high settings but DCS is still a dog even on low low settings. Any ideas for more fps. Mods, lua editing, vulcan mind meld???