Upgrade to 2gb graphics card or not?

medusamanmedusaman
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I am contemplating getting a new build your own iMac 27" with an upgrade to the i7 processor and 16gb ram. however I am wondering if I should also upgrade the graphics card to the 2Gb version. I do not play games on my Mac but would want to run two additional monitors through the thunderbolt ports.



What benefits would upgrading the graphics do for me?



Thanks for any advice.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    For heavens' sake, don't buy RAM from Apple...



    The GPU and CPU you HAVE to, though, so make sure you're happy with whatever you choose.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    medusamanmedusaman Posts: 4member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    For heavens' sake, don't buy RAM from Apple...



    The GPU and CPU you HAVE to, though, so make sure you're happy with whatever you choose.



    No, the ram is coming from crucial. I certainly wouldn't pay Apple prices for that.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    futurepastnowfuturepastnow Posts: 1,772member
    The only conceivable benefit from that much video memory is if you do GPU computing, or want to run multiple very high resolution displays.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    guinnessguinness Posts: 473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Medusaman View Post


    I am contemplating getting a new build your own iMac 27" with an upgrade to the i7 processor and 16gb ram. however I am wondering if I should also upgrade the graphics card to the 2Gb version. I do not play games on my Mac but would want to run two additional monitors through the thunderbolt ports.



    What benefits would upgrading the graphics do for me?



    Thanks for any advice.



    None really.



    Unless you running games with maxed out filtering effects would you need that much VRAM.



    Otherwise, it doesn't take that much to drive a monitor, even 3 of them, some of AMD's GPU's even do 6 at once.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    medusamanmedusaman Posts: 4member
    Thanks for the responses guys, I have strange tale for you.



    After the feedback I got I decided I was simply going to build a new iMac 27" with an upgraded 3.4 processor and leave the video card at 1024ram.



    Then when online I noticed a refurb unit with exactly the spec I was going to have built but nearly £300 cheaper. So, I decided to buy it quickly.



    It arrived yesterday and had the 3.4 processor upgrade as expected BUT in addition it also had an upgrade to a 2TB drive and an upgrade on the video ram to 2048 ram (even though it was advertised as only 1TB. I am so chuffed.



    I just ran this spec though the apple store and it would have cost me £2009 and I got it for £1500. Result!!
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