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Upgrade to 2gb graphics card or not?

post #1 of 6
7/12/11 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
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.
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post #2 of 6
7/13/11 at 5:50am
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.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #3 of 6
7/13/11 at 11:59am
Thread Starter 
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.
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post #4 of 6
7/15/11 at 2:48pm
The only conceivable benefit from that much video memory is if you do GPU computing, or want to run multiple very high resolution displays.
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post #5 of 6
7/15/11 at 6:09pm
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.
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post #6 of 6
7/16/11 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
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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