Is Ivy Bridge processors are really going to bring any obvious or major improvements, on the iMac platform when compared to the i7 that iMacs have now? \
Sorry, but I'm not very savvy regarding all the technical bits and bobs about this things... Not sure what 22nm means, if that's good or not, etc...
I'm considering buying a new iMac 21.5" with i7 processor and 8Gb RAM, that will last me for a few years (not really heavy user: Mail, browsing, iPhoto (my main reason for updating as my old 2006 iMac is struggling), and iCloud.
Thanks.
This is a common user complaint. Old computer is slow. On occasion it can be some kind of hardware issue. Drives from that era are definitely slower. Much of the time it's a combination of things like somewhat full hard drive with the quirks that HFS+ tends to develop over time combined with lack of ram on a newer OS. The thing is that depending on versions that you're running vs ram installed, you should still have a reasonably snappy system. If you buy today, I suggest buying it with stock ram. Add an 8GB kit for $50 giving you a total of 12GB. It should feel okay for a few years that way.
Also can you be a bit more descriptive on how it's struggling? Is it just a frequent beachball or does it start to act flakey when the machine is really warm? I'm asking this stuff in case you're trying to wait for Ivy.
This is a common user complaint. Old computer is slow. On occasion it can be some kind of hardware issue. Drives from that era are definitely slower. Much of the time it's a combination of things like somewhat full hard drive with the quirks that HFS+ tends to develop over time combined with lack of ram on a newer OS. The thing is that depending on versions that you're running vs ram installed, you should still have a reasonably snappy system. If you buy today, I suggest buying it with stock ram. Add an 8GB kit for $50 giving you a total of 12GB. It should feel okay for a few years that way.
Also can you be a bit more descriptive on how it's struggling? Is it just a frequent beachball or does it start to act flakey when the machine is really warm? I'm asking this stuff in case you're trying to wait for Ivy.
Hi Hmm,
Thanks for your input...
It probably starts, shuts down and opens applications pretty much as fast as before... Probably a second or so slower, depending on the application, but not too bad...
It has got 2Gb RAM (updated from 1GB to 2GB in 2008). HDD is 250Gb.
The main concerns that I have got and reasons for considering upgrading to a newer one are:
1- I have got Snow Leopard, which is great, but I can't update to Lion as it has only got Intel Dual Core (its early 2006), therefore can't use iCloud (I have got an iPad 2 and iPhone 4) with my Mac.
2- For Photo programs like iPhoto 11 (reason why iCloud integration would be very interesting) and PS Lightroom, it does struggle, when opening photos, editing, etc... (mainly editing...). I am not a photo professional, but I am starting, got a nice SLR camera a few months ago, photo files are quite large (on RAW format), and it takes me a long time to do even simple enhancing/checking photos... As there is a 5-10 second delay in doing most things...., even with clicking between menus... And this is with one application opened only at the same time, not several ones....
Mail, browsing on Safari is pretty OK.
3-The DVD/CD writer is a bit slow too, for reading and for burning.
4-Takes a while to open iTunes. Once it is open, it is not too bad, although if I have got the iPad and iPhone connected, sometimes struggles for a few seconds (showing spinning multicolor ball instead of mouse) when clicked on different menus, etc... (But I am not sure if this is due to the slow connection between the iDevice and the computer (normal USB or wireless, doesn't matter) or to due with the connection and the Mac....
Hope this helps.... So, still worth waiting until Ivy arrives or going for a i7, 8Gb or 16Gb, 1T HDD and AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5 (got on mine 128Mb VRAM only.
I can't really wait until June, for several personal and financial reasons... but I am happy to wait until late April... I have read mixed information regarding the possible release.... I am not sure anybody knows for sure, is that correct?).
In fact about a year ago Intel, along with sebpveral other companies set up an organization to define cards specifically for such usage. The end result would be cheaper storage solutions tag are also faster. If you can do away with SATA you can save on logic and overhead. Not to mention storage then becomes a plugin card which makes for comapact design and better cooling.
Sounds like they are still a ways out.
Quote:
You make one bad assumption though, such cards would not be expensive at all. They should in fact be cheaper after the initial ramp up. At least relative to current SSD tech. Especially considering that they could be made much faster while remaining cheap.
Those Fusion IO PCIe cards are quite expensive. A 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB drive PCIe RAID SSD doesn't sound cheap to me.
It probably starts, shuts down and opens applications pretty much as fast as before... Probably a second or so slower, depending on the application, but not too bad...
It has got 2Gb RAM (updated from 1GB to 2GB in 2008). HDD is 250Gb.
The main concerns that I have got and reasons for considering upgrading to a newer one are:
1- I have got Snow Leopard, which is great, but I can't update to Lion as it has only got Intel Dual Core (its early 2006), therefore can't use iCloud (I have got an iPad 2 and iPhone 4) with my Mac.
2- For Photo programs like iPhoto 11 (reason why iCloud integration would be very interesting) and PS Lightroom, it does struggle, when opening photos, editing, etc... (mainly editing...). I am not a photo professional, but I am starting, got a nice SLR camera a few months ago, photo files are quite large (on RAW format), and it takes me a long time to do even simple enhancing/checking photos... As there is a 5-10 second delay in doing most things...., even with clicking between menus... And this is with one application opened only at the same time, not several ones....
Mail, browsing on Safari is pretty OK.
3-The DVD/CD writer is a bit slow too, for reading and for burning.
4-Takes a while to open iTunes. Once it is open, it is not too bad, although if I have got the iPad and iPhone connected, sometimes struggles for a few seconds (showing spinning multicolor ball instead of mouse) when clicked on different menus, etc... (But I am not sure if this is due to the slow connection between the iDevice and the computer (normal USB or wireless, doesn't matter) or to due with the connection and the Mac....
Hope this helps.... So, still worth waiting until Ivy arrives or going for a i7, 8Gb or 16Gb, 1T HDD and AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5 (got on mine 128Mb VRAM only.
I can't really wait until June, for several personal and financial reasons... but I am happy to wait until late April... I have read mixed information regarding the possible release.... I am not sure anybody knows for sure, is that correct?).
So, what do you think....?
Thanks a lot. Really appreciate your help.
It doesn't sound like anything too unusual. The spinning wheel shows up when it's waiting on hardware or sometimes due to bad drivers or a corrupt filesystem. I see it less when I run disk warrior on a machine. I'm not sure why it makes the file system that much less laggy. I'm not suggesting that because it would be money spent on an old system. I think that you're just running a bit thin on ram and your hard drive's file system is most likely a bit cluttered after several years of use, so the combination under Snow Leopard is bogging things down a bit. With your ipad, it uses fairly slow NAND. The spinning wheel sounds like it is just that it's taking a bit longer to map out the device. I'm not an expert on the idevices, so keep that in mind. Really I don't think it's anything more than a combination of old/slow hard drive + slightly low ram for the OS version you're using. A clean install with formatting to allow the disk to check for bad sectors and an upgrade on ram might make the machine feel much newer. I've seen these symptoms before, including in my own hardware. OSX has some quirks to it especially in the way the OS tracks its actions. SSDs mask some of this behavior when opening/closing applications. It's not that they eliminate the inefficiency. They just kind of cover it up by accomplishing the odd tasks considerably faster, and you notice it less when they have to cover for lack of ram. Back on topic, your machine still sounds like it's in good shape, meaning if the display looks good you might even do well selling the old one when you upgrade.
I don't expect new imacs out in April. I won't say whether or not it could happen. It just isn't that likely given the pace of Intel's current rollout. They don't seem to feel threatened by AMD right now, so I think it'll just be a case of where they debut when they're ready. If both cpus and the latest gpus are not shipping in volume, we aren't likely to see new imacs. I wanted to clarify that as opposed to "launched". At the 21.5" end of the imac line, the difference isn't going to be as noticeable with Ivy Bridge. Tdp remains the same at that level as far as I can tell googling this stuff. Upgrades to their integrated graphics don't really apply to the imac currently. They could always switch it to integrated graphics at the low end, but I don't really expect it this round.
By the way, how full is that 250GB HD? Those 2006 HDs were quite a bit slower than one made today, but I think your main problem is ram. This would also likely account for some of your issues editing photos. 39MP images with layers ran reasonably well on a 2006 mac pro at 16 bpc (although they took too long to save). I kind of doubt yours are that big. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of ram and being bogged by spotlight + possibly cluttered file system given your symptoms. By the way, I wouldn't rely on icloud too much yet. It's really not a mature feature at this point.
Those Fusion IO PCIe cards are quite expensive. A 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB drive PCIe RAID SSD doesn't sound cheap to me.
All you need is a current generation SSD controller built with a PCI Express interface instead of a SATA interface. Such chips are already either on the market or about to be released. That will give you SSD on PCI Express on the cheap.
As to Raid that is really a marketing term these days. Many SSD storage devices are already using multiple flash chips to store information in part for capacity but also for speed. They may not be traditional RAID systems but the effect is similar, faster than single device transfers.
It doesn't sound like anything too unusual. The spinning wheel shows up when it's waiting on hardware or sometimes due to bad drivers or a corrupt filesystem. I see it less when I run disk warrior on a machine. I'm not sure why it makes the file system that much less laggy. I'm not suggesting that because it would be money spent on an old system. I think that you're just running a bit thin on ram and your hard drive's file system is most likely a bit cluttered after several years of use, so the combination under Snow Leopard is bogging things down a bit. With your ipad, it uses fairly slow NAND. The spinning wheel sounds like it is just that it's taking a bit longer to map out the device. I'm not an expert on the idevices, so keep that in mind. Really I don't think it's anything more than a combination of old/slow hard drive + slightly low ram for the OS version you're using. A clean install with formatting to allow the disk to check for bad sectors and an upgrade on ram might make the machine feel much newer. I've seen these symptoms before, including in my own hardware. OSX has some quirks to it especially in the way the OS tracks its actions. SSDs mask some of this behavior when opening/closing applications. It's not that they eliminate the inefficiency. They just kind of cover it up by accomplishing the odd tasks considerably faster, and you notice it less when they have to cover for lack of ram. Back on topic, your machine still sounds like it's in good shape, meaning if the display looks good you might even do well selling the old one when you upgrade.
I don't expect new imacs out in April. I won't say whether or not it could happen. It just isn't that likely given the pace of Intel's current rollout. They don't seem to feel threatened by AMD right now, so I think it'll just be a case of where they debut when they're ready. If both cpus and the latest gpus are not shipping in volume, we aren't likely to see new imacs. I wanted to clarify that as opposed to "launched". At the 21.5" end of the imac line, the difference isn't going to be as noticeable with Ivy Bridge. Tdp remains the same at that level as far as I can tell googling this stuff. Upgrades to their integrated graphics don't really apply to the imac currently. They could always switch it to integrated graphics at the low end, but I don't really expect it this round.
By the way, how full is that 250GB HD? Those 2006 HDs were quite a bit slower than one made today, but I think your main problem is ram. This would also likely account for some of your issues editing photos. 39MP images with layers ran reasonably well on a 2006 mac pro at 16 bpc (although they took too long to save). I kind of doubt yours are that big. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of ram and being bogged by spotlight + possibly cluttered file system given your symptoms. By the way, I wouldn't rely on icloud too much yet. It's really not a mature feature at this point.
Thanks. It has got 125Gb free space and I did a clean up, etc... a year ago or so...
Yes, although I don't know much about the highly technical side of computing, with what I have heard and read about the new Intel IB processors, it is for graphics and lower consumption... A new Macbook might be out in April (they will benefit more of this new kind of processors than iMacs) but no necessarily it is going to happen the same, at the same time with the iMacs....
Thanks a lot and see what happens.... I am definitely considering selling my old iMac if I end up swapping it...
All you need is a current generation SSD controller built with a PCI Express interface instead of a SATA interface. Such chips are already either on the market or about to be released. That will give you SSD on PCI Express on the cheap.
As to Raid that is really a marketing term these days. Many SSD storage devices are already using multiple flash chips to store information in part for capacity but also for speed. They may not be traditional RAID systems but the effect is similar, faster than single device transfers.
Ok, how about read and write I/O data rates that can take advantage of the bandwidth provided with PCIe? If you are going to develop a PCIe storage memory system, I want it to deliver >1 GByte/s read and write performance. Otherwise, what's the point of using PCIe? Hence, why I keep harping on RAID, even though there aren't any spinning disks.
If it is just a flash storage system where all you're doing is replacing the mSATA interface in the MBA with a PCIe one, it's going to be tough to proliferate.
Ok, how about read and write I/O data rates that can take advantage of the bandwidth provided with PCIe?
Since when is the first generation of anything a top performer. The fact is you will never get those sort of rates if you don't transition to a new interface at some point in time.
From the systems engineering standpoint you win big as whole sub systems in supporting logic can be eliminated. Instead of going through a Layer or two of SATA support logic you have a more direct path via PCI Express.
Quote:
If you are going to develop a PCIe storage memory system, I want it to deliver >1 GByte/s read and write performance.
That would come in good time but the reality is that you win as long as it is faster that SATA3 which isn't that hard to do. SATA is already a limiting factor in SSD performance, so a move to a different interface has already been dictated by the advent of solid state storage.
Quote:
Otherwise, what's the point of using PCIe? Hence, why I keep harping on RAID, even though there aren't any spinning disks.
Harping? I didn't even initiate the discussion about RAID. Rather is just showed that the structure of an SSD storage device can be seen as begin similar to RAID. It isn't a major step forward to leverage the hardware to actually do RAID and get some benefit in reliability. In any event you will not get the performance we would all love without parallel access to flash devices.
Quote:
If it is just a flash storage system where all you're doing is replacing the mSATA interface in the MBA with a PCIe one, it's going to be tough to proliferate.
Tough? Why would you say that the chip sets / controllers are either already on the market or are near release.
[QUOTE=wizard69;2071955]Since when is the first generation of anything a top performer. The fact is you will never get those sort of rates if you don't transition to a new interface at some point in time.[quote]
Isn't the first generation of anything typically the top performer relative to the thing they are trying to replace?
PCIe is faster than PCI/AGP who were faster than the expansion interface they replaced.
SATA is faster than PATA/SCSI who were faster than EIDE/SCSI.
Thunderbolt is faster than FireWire/USB who were faster than the ports they replaced.
Maybe when the first Netburst Pentiums were shipped, there were certain ops that we're slower than the P6-based Pentiums at the time.
Quote:
Tough? Why would you say that the chip sets / controllers are either already on the market or are near release.
Because SSDs are expensive. Especially ones that can deliver >700 Mbyte/s rates. The MBA SSD gets around 200 to 300 MByte/s. There's still headroom left before SATA becomes a handicap for the general market.
In the higher end machines it sounds great. In this single drive systems, not so sure about that.
Isn't the first generation of anything typically the top performer relative to the thing they are trying to replace?
Sometimes yes sometimes no.
Quote:
PCIe is faster than PCI/AGP who were faster than the expansion interface they replaced.
Yes but how many generations of PCI Express have we had since? most technology starts out with what is technologically feasible and reliable at the time. As technology improves standards get faster.
Quote:
SATA is faster than PATA/SCSI who were faster than EIDE/SCSI.
Here is a good example, SATA was not faster or better than SCSI when first introduced. Even now Serially attached SCSI is still used. Sometimes it is the protocols that have the staying power not the physical hardware.
Quote:
Thunderbolt is faster than FireWire/USB who were faster than the ports they replaced.
Thunderbolt is not a replacement for USB! Even if it was Intel and Apple have been pretty clear that this is the beginning of TB which is expected to improve in the future with optical and faster hardware.
Quote:
Maybe when the first Netburst Pentiums were shipped, there were certain ops that we're slower than the P6-based Pentiums at the time.
Every ARM chip shipped these days is slow than just about every i86 chip still shipping. AMD is shipping a whole new generation of GPU processors that have a range of performance capabilities not all of which are faster than older chips. Intel ATOM was a massive step backwards in performance. Sometimes performance isn't what your customers are expecting from a new product and instead are looking for other advantages.
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Because SSDs are expensive. Especially ones that can deliver >700 Mbyte/s rates.
Yes they are but the capability will not stay sky high forever. This is what you are missing in this discussion, you introduce new hardware features, in this case PCI Express based SSD card slots, for the future. Look at the installation of optical drives over the years, these where originally pretty pathetic, but now have plateaued, it is a technology though that started out modestly.
Quote:
The MBA SSD gets around 200 to 300 MByte/s. There's still headroom left before SATA becomes a handicap for the general market.
That is called living in the past! Really when it comes down to it all Apple needs to do is to get Anobit to design a reliable high speed ASIC that can be produced at reasonable cost and SATA performance would be left in the dust. That is if they do the controller in house, like I said there are PCI Express interfaced SSD controllers ready to implement.
Quote:
In the higher end machines it sounds great. In this single drive systems, not so sure about that.
Comments
Hi,
Sorry to break the line of this Thread a bit.
Is Ivy Bridge processors are really going to bring any obvious or major improvements, on the iMac platform when compared to the i7 that iMacs have now?
Sorry, but I'm not very savvy regarding all the technical bits and bobs about this things... Not sure what 22nm means, if that's good or not, etc...
I'm considering buying a new iMac 21.5" with i7 processor and 8Gb RAM, that will last me for a few years (not really heavy user: Mail, browsing, iPhoto (my main reason for updating as my old 2006 iMac is struggling), and iCloud.
Thanks.
This is a common user complaint. Old computer is slow. On occasion it can be some kind of hardware issue. Drives from that era are definitely slower. Much of the time it's a combination of things like somewhat full hard drive with the quirks that HFS+ tends to develop over time combined with lack of ram on a newer OS. The thing is that depending on versions that you're running vs ram installed, you should still have a reasonably snappy system. If you buy today, I suggest buying it with stock ram. Add an 8GB kit for $50 giving you a total of 12GB. It should feel okay for a few years that way.
Also can you be a bit more descriptive on how it's struggling? Is it just a frequent beachball or does it start to act flakey when the machine is really warm? I'm asking this stuff in case you're trying to wait for Ivy.
This is a common user complaint. Old computer is slow. On occasion it can be some kind of hardware issue. Drives from that era are definitely slower. Much of the time it's a combination of things like somewhat full hard drive with the quirks that HFS+ tends to develop over time combined with lack of ram on a newer OS. The thing is that depending on versions that you're running vs ram installed, you should still have a reasonably snappy system. If you buy today, I suggest buying it with stock ram. Add an 8GB kit for $50 giving you a total of 12GB. It should feel okay for a few years that way.
Also can you be a bit more descriptive on how it's struggling? Is it just a frequent beachball or does it start to act flakey when the machine is really warm? I'm asking this stuff in case you're trying to wait for Ivy.
Hi Hmm,
Thanks for your input...
It probably starts, shuts down and opens applications pretty much as fast as before... Probably a second or so slower, depending on the application, but not too bad...
It has got 2Gb RAM (updated from 1GB to 2GB in 2008). HDD is 250Gb.
The main concerns that I have got and reasons for considering upgrading to a newer one are:
1- I have got Snow Leopard, which is great, but I can't update to Lion as it has only got Intel Dual Core (its early 2006), therefore can't use iCloud (I have got an iPad 2 and iPhone 4) with my Mac.
2- For Photo programs like iPhoto 11 (reason why iCloud integration would be very interesting) and PS Lightroom, it does struggle, when opening photos, editing, etc... (mainly editing...). I am not a photo professional, but I am starting, got a nice SLR camera a few months ago, photo files are quite large (on RAW format), and it takes me a long time to do even simple enhancing/checking photos... As there is a 5-10 second delay in doing most things...., even with clicking between menus... And this is with one application opened only at the same time, not several ones....
Mail, browsing on Safari is pretty OK.
3-The DVD/CD writer is a bit slow too, for reading and for burning.
4-Takes a while to open iTunes. Once it is open, it is not too bad, although if I have got the iPad and iPhone connected, sometimes struggles for a few seconds (showing spinning multicolor ball instead of mouse) when clicked on different menus, etc... (But I am not sure if this is due to the slow connection between the iDevice and the computer (normal USB or wireless, doesn't matter) or to due with the connection and the Mac....
Hope this helps.... So, still worth waiting until Ivy arrives or going for a i7, 8Gb or 16Gb, 1T HDD and AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5 (got on mine 128Mb VRAM only.
I can't really wait until June, for several personal and financial reasons... but I am happy to wait until late April... I have read mixed information regarding the possible release.... I am not sure anybody knows for sure, is that correct?).
So, what do you think....?
Thanks a lot. Really appreciate your help.
In fact about a year ago Intel, along with sebpveral other companies set up an organization to define cards specifically for such usage. The end result would be cheaper storage solutions tag are also faster. If you can do away with SATA you can save on logic and overhead. Not to mention storage then becomes a plugin card which makes for comapact design and better cooling.
Sounds like they are still a ways out.
You make one bad assumption though, such cards would not be expensive at all. They should in fact be cheaper after the initial ramp up. At least relative to current SSD tech. Especially considering that they could be made much faster while remaining cheap.
Those Fusion IO PCIe cards are quite expensive. A 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB drive PCIe RAID SSD doesn't sound cheap to me.
Hi Hmm,
Thanks for your input...
It probably starts, shuts down and opens applications pretty much as fast as before... Probably a second or so slower, depending on the application, but not too bad...
It has got 2Gb RAM (updated from 1GB to 2GB in 2008). HDD is 250Gb.
The main concerns that I have got and reasons for considering upgrading to a newer one are:
1- I have got Snow Leopard, which is great, but I can't update to Lion as it has only got Intel Dual Core (its early 2006), therefore can't use iCloud (I have got an iPad 2 and iPhone 4) with my Mac.
2- For Photo programs like iPhoto 11 (reason why iCloud integration would be very interesting) and PS Lightroom, it does struggle, when opening photos, editing, etc... (mainly editing...). I am not a photo professional, but I am starting, got a nice SLR camera a few months ago, photo files are quite large (on RAW format), and it takes me a long time to do even simple enhancing/checking photos... As there is a 5-10 second delay in doing most things...., even with clicking between menus... And this is with one application opened only at the same time, not several ones....
Mail, browsing on Safari is pretty OK.
3-The DVD/CD writer is a bit slow too, for reading and for burning.
4-Takes a while to open iTunes. Once it is open, it is not too bad, although if I have got the iPad and iPhone connected, sometimes struggles for a few seconds (showing spinning multicolor ball instead of mouse) when clicked on different menus, etc... (But I am not sure if this is due to the slow connection between the iDevice and the computer (normal USB or wireless, doesn't matter) or to due with the connection and the Mac....
Hope this helps.... So, still worth waiting until Ivy arrives or going for a i7, 8Gb or 16Gb, 1T HDD and AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5 (got on mine 128Mb VRAM only.
I can't really wait until June, for several personal and financial reasons... but I am happy to wait until late April... I have read mixed information regarding the possible release.... I am not sure anybody knows for sure, is that correct?).
So, what do you think....?
Thanks a lot. Really appreciate your help.
It doesn't sound like anything too unusual. The spinning wheel shows up when it's waiting on hardware or sometimes due to bad drivers or a corrupt filesystem. I see it less when I run disk warrior on a machine. I'm not sure why it makes the file system that much less laggy. I'm not suggesting that because it would be money spent on an old system. I think that you're just running a bit thin on ram and your hard drive's file system is most likely a bit cluttered after several years of use, so the combination under Snow Leopard is bogging things down a bit. With your ipad, it uses fairly slow NAND. The spinning wheel sounds like it is just that it's taking a bit longer to map out the device. I'm not an expert on the idevices, so keep that in mind. Really I don't think it's anything more than a combination of old/slow hard drive + slightly low ram for the OS version you're using. A clean install with formatting to allow the disk to check for bad sectors and an upgrade on ram might make the machine feel much newer. I've seen these symptoms before, including in my own hardware. OSX has some quirks to it especially in the way the OS tracks its actions. SSDs mask some of this behavior when opening/closing applications. It's not that they eliminate the inefficiency. They just kind of cover it up by accomplishing the odd tasks considerably faster, and you notice it less when they have to cover for lack of ram. Back on topic, your machine still sounds like it's in good shape, meaning if the display looks good you might even do well selling the old one when you upgrade.
I don't expect new imacs out in April. I won't say whether or not it could happen. It just isn't that likely given the pace of Intel's current rollout. They don't seem to feel threatened by AMD right now, so I think it'll just be a case of where they debut when they're ready. If both cpus and the latest gpus are not shipping in volume, we aren't likely to see new imacs. I wanted to clarify that as opposed to "launched". At the 21.5" end of the imac line, the difference isn't going to be as noticeable with Ivy Bridge. Tdp remains the same at that level as far as I can tell googling this stuff. Upgrades to their integrated graphics don't really apply to the imac currently. They could always switch it to integrated graphics at the low end, but I don't really expect it this round.
By the way, how full is that 250GB HD? Those 2006 HDs were quite a bit slower than one made today, but I think your main problem is ram. This would also likely account for some of your issues editing photos. 39MP images with layers ran reasonably well on a 2006 mac pro at 16 bpc (although they took too long to save). I kind of doubt yours are that big. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of ram and being bogged by spotlight + possibly cluttered file system given your symptoms. By the way, I wouldn't rely on icloud too much yet. It's really not a mature feature at this point.
Sounds like they are still a ways out.
Those Fusion IO PCIe cards are quite expensive. A 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB drive PCIe RAID SSD doesn't sound cheap to me.
All you need is a current generation SSD controller built with a PCI Express interface instead of a SATA interface. Such chips are already either on the market or about to be released. That will give you SSD on PCI Express on the cheap.
As to Raid that is really a marketing term these days. Many SSD storage devices are already using multiple flash chips to store information in part for capacity but also for speed. They may not be traditional RAID systems but the effect is similar, faster than single device transfers.
It doesn't sound like anything too unusual. The spinning wheel shows up when it's waiting on hardware or sometimes due to bad drivers or a corrupt filesystem. I see it less when I run disk warrior on a machine. I'm not sure why it makes the file system that much less laggy. I'm not suggesting that because it would be money spent on an old system. I think that you're just running a bit thin on ram and your hard drive's file system is most likely a bit cluttered after several years of use, so the combination under Snow Leopard is bogging things down a bit. With your ipad, it uses fairly slow NAND. The spinning wheel sounds like it is just that it's taking a bit longer to map out the device. I'm not an expert on the idevices, so keep that in mind. Really I don't think it's anything more than a combination of old/slow hard drive + slightly low ram for the OS version you're using. A clean install with formatting to allow the disk to check for bad sectors and an upgrade on ram might make the machine feel much newer. I've seen these symptoms before, including in my own hardware. OSX has some quirks to it especially in the way the OS tracks its actions. SSDs mask some of this behavior when opening/closing applications. It's not that they eliminate the inefficiency. They just kind of cover it up by accomplishing the odd tasks considerably faster, and you notice it less when they have to cover for lack of ram. Back on topic, your machine still sounds like it's in good shape, meaning if the display looks good you might even do well selling the old one when you upgrade.
I don't expect new imacs out in April. I won't say whether or not it could happen. It just isn't that likely given the pace of Intel's current rollout. They don't seem to feel threatened by AMD right now, so I think it'll just be a case of where they debut when they're ready. If both cpus and the latest gpus are not shipping in volume, we aren't likely to see new imacs. I wanted to clarify that as opposed to "launched". At the 21.5" end of the imac line, the difference isn't going to be as noticeable with Ivy Bridge. Tdp remains the same at that level as far as I can tell googling this stuff. Upgrades to their integrated graphics don't really apply to the imac currently. They could always switch it to integrated graphics at the low end, but I don't really expect it this round.
By the way, how full is that 250GB HD? Those 2006 HDs were quite a bit slower than one made today, but I think your main problem is ram. This would also likely account for some of your issues editing photos. 39MP images with layers ran reasonably well on a 2006 mac pro at 16 bpc (although they took too long to save). I kind of doubt yours are that big. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of ram and being bogged by spotlight + possibly cluttered file system given your symptoms. By the way, I wouldn't rely on icloud too much yet. It's really not a mature feature at this point.
Thanks. It has got 125Gb free space and I did a clean up, etc... a year ago or so...
Yes, although I don't know much about the highly technical side of computing, with what I have heard and read about the new Intel IB processors, it is for graphics and lower consumption... A new Macbook might be out in April (they will benefit more of this new kind of processors than iMacs) but no necessarily it is going to happen the same, at the same time with the iMacs....
Thanks a lot and see what happens.... I am definitely considering selling my old iMac if I end up swapping it...
Cheers...
All you need is a current generation SSD controller built with a PCI Express interface instead of a SATA interface. Such chips are already either on the market or about to be released. That will give you SSD on PCI Express on the cheap.
As to Raid that is really a marketing term these days. Many SSD storage devices are already using multiple flash chips to store information in part for capacity but also for speed. They may not be traditional RAID systems but the effect is similar, faster than single device transfers.
Ok, how about read and write I/O data rates that can take advantage of the bandwidth provided with PCIe? If you are going to develop a PCIe storage memory system, I want it to deliver >1 GByte/s read and write performance. Otherwise, what's the point of using PCIe? Hence, why I keep harping on RAID, even though there aren't any spinning disks.
If it is just a flash storage system where all you're doing is replacing the mSATA interface in the MBA with a PCIe one, it's going to be tough to proliferate.
Ok, how about read and write I/O data rates that can take advantage of the bandwidth provided with PCIe?
Since when is the first generation of anything a top performer. The fact is you will never get those sort of rates if you don't transition to a new interface at some point in time.
From the systems engineering standpoint you win big as whole sub systems in supporting logic can be eliminated. Instead of going through a Layer or two of SATA support logic you have a more direct path via PCI Express.
If you are going to develop a PCIe storage memory system, I want it to deliver >1 GByte/s read and write performance.
That would come in good time but the reality is that you win as long as it is faster that SATA3 which isn't that hard to do. SATA is already a limiting factor in SSD performance, so a move to a different interface has already been dictated by the advent of solid state storage.
Otherwise, what's the point of using PCIe? Hence, why I keep harping on RAID, even though there aren't any spinning disks.
Harping? I didn't even initiate the discussion about RAID. Rather is just showed that the structure of an SSD storage device can be seen as begin similar to RAID. It isn't a major step forward to leverage the hardware to actually do RAID and get some benefit in reliability. In any event you will not get the performance we would all love without parallel access to flash devices.
If it is just a flash storage system where all you're doing is replacing the mSATA interface in the MBA with a PCIe one, it's going to be tough to proliferate.
Tough? Why would you say that the chip sets / controllers are either already on the market or are near release.
Isn't the first generation of anything typically the top performer relative to the thing they are trying to replace?
PCIe is faster than PCI/AGP who were faster than the expansion interface they replaced.
SATA is faster than PATA/SCSI who were faster than EIDE/SCSI.
Thunderbolt is faster than FireWire/USB who were faster than the ports they replaced.
Maybe when the first Netburst Pentiums were shipped, there were certain ops that we're slower than the P6-based Pentiums at the time.
Tough? Why would you say that the chip sets / controllers are either already on the market or are near release.
Because SSDs are expensive. Especially ones that can deliver >700 Mbyte/s rates. The MBA SSD gets around 200 to 300 MByte/s. There's still headroom left before SATA becomes a handicap for the general market.
In the higher end machines it sounds great. In this single drive systems, not so sure about that.
Isn't the first generation of anything typically the top performer relative to the thing they are trying to replace?
Sometimes yes sometimes no.
PCIe is faster than PCI/AGP who were faster than the expansion interface they replaced.
Yes but how many generations of PCI Express have we had since? most technology starts out with what is technologically feasible and reliable at the time. As technology improves standards get faster.
SATA is faster than PATA/SCSI who were faster than EIDE/SCSI.
Here is a good example, SATA was not faster or better than SCSI when first introduced. Even now Serially attached SCSI is still used. Sometimes it is the protocols that have the staying power not the physical hardware.
Thunderbolt is faster than FireWire/USB who were faster than the ports they replaced.
Thunderbolt is not a replacement for USB! Even if it was Intel and Apple have been pretty clear that this is the beginning of TB which is expected to improve in the future with optical and faster hardware.
Maybe when the first Netburst Pentiums were shipped, there were certain ops that we're slower than the P6-based Pentiums at the time.
Every ARM chip shipped these days is slow than just about every i86 chip still shipping. AMD is shipping a whole new generation of GPU processors that have a range of performance capabilities not all of which are faster than older chips. Intel ATOM was a massive step backwards in performance. Sometimes performance isn't what your customers are expecting from a new product and instead are looking for other advantages.
Because SSDs are expensive. Especially ones that can deliver >700 Mbyte/s rates.
Yes they are but the capability will not stay sky high forever. This is what you are missing in this discussion, you introduce new hardware features, in this case PCI Express based SSD card slots, for the future. Look at the installation of optical drives over the years, these where originally pretty pathetic, but now have plateaued, it is a technology though that started out modestly.
The MBA SSD gets around 200 to 300 MByte/s. There's still headroom left before SATA becomes a handicap for the general market.
That is called living in the past! Really when it comes down to it all Apple needs to do is to get Anobit to design a reliable high speed ASIC that can be produced at reasonable cost and SATA performance would be left in the dust. That is if they do the controller in house, like I said there are PCI Express interfaced SSD controllers ready to implement.
In the higher end machines it sounds great. In this single drive systems, not so sure about that.
Remember we are talking about the future here.
Remember we are talking about the future here.
Sure, but I was thinking Apple should start basically right now, not 3 or 4 years down the line.