Another iMac or Mac Pro decision - Switcher!
Hey all -
So I am going to buy myself a birthday present I think and I believe the time to switch to a mac is upon me. I am lookin for opinions as to which computer you would get based on my needs and uses... (I will be running bootcamp for some applications)
I use my computer for:
Games (Counter-strike, battlefield 20XX (the new one comin out) and a few other first person shooters)
Music
Surfing the web
Office apps for work/grad schol
Poker!
Some video work including use of photoshop
I like to be able to upgrade things such as video cards as they are usually what become obsolete first.
Really my needs point me to the 24" iMac BUT will I be able to get good enough performance out of the graphics card? Can I really upgrade the graphics card as some have said? Am I better off gettin a Mac Pro?
ALSO
Should I wait a few more months to see if any other big system changes occur? Is now the time to buy?? Im not in a HUGE rush to buy - but I would love to start using my new mac
Thank you and ALL opinions are welcome - even negative ones
Jeff
So I am going to buy myself a birthday present I think and I believe the time to switch to a mac is upon me. I am lookin for opinions as to which computer you would get based on my needs and uses... (I will be running bootcamp for some applications)
I use my computer for:
Games (Counter-strike, battlefield 20XX (the new one comin out) and a few other first person shooters)
Music
Surfing the web
Office apps for work/grad schol
Poker!
Some video work including use of photoshop
I like to be able to upgrade things such as video cards as they are usually what become obsolete first.
Really my needs point me to the 24" iMac BUT will I be able to get good enough performance out of the graphics card? Can I really upgrade the graphics card as some have said? Am I better off gettin a Mac Pro?
ALSO
Should I wait a few more months to see if any other big system changes occur? Is now the time to buy?? Im not in a HUGE rush to buy - but I would love to start using my new mac
Thank you and ALL opinions are welcome - even negative ones
Jeff
Comments
Would it be worth it to wait until January?
Thanks!
Jeff
I use my computer for:
Games (Counter-strike, battlefield 20XX (the new one comin out) and a few other first person shooters)
Music
Surfing the web
Office apps for work/grad schol
Poker!
Some video work including use of photoshop
I like to be able to upgrade things such as video cards as they are usually what become obsolete first.
Really my needs point me to the 24" iMac BUT will I be able to get good enough performance out of the graphics card? Can I really upgrade the graphics card as some have said? Am I better off gettin a Mac Pro?
ALSO
Should I wait a few more months to see if any other big system changes occur? Is now the time to buy?? Im not in a HUGE rush to buy - but I would love to start using my new mac
You covered intended use, schedule, and gave a hint of budget, but we don't know what equipment you currently have.
Don't expect to be able to upgrade the graphics card on the iMac, at all.
If you only have old hardware that needs to be upgraded anyway, iMac is probably fine. It'll run the current games, not at the full resolution of the screen, but pretty well, and will continue to run games at least two years to the future at small resolutions.
If you have a display, and a gaming PC that is either current and runs your games, or can be upgraded with a simple graphics card change to do so, I recommend buying a Mac mini alongside it and getting a KVM switch.
If there is no limit to budget, of course get a Mac Pro. Although it will still have one disadvantage compared to a separate gaming PC - having to reboot to get to your work just isn't fun.
As usual, the longer you wait the better and cheaper are the alternatives. Updates to the systems you mentioned are far away.
I did read a few threads on here about the graphics card being upgradable on the iMac - not sure the validity tho...
My current PC is a 3.0ghz with HT with a gig of ram and a decent video card.. My monitor is older that moses unfortunately. It's a 19" CRT with burn-in galore. Sooo one way or another it is gettin replaced
Thanks - does that change your opinion?
Jeff
I dont have a budget, and apparently, neither do you, so get a Mac Pro !
If you wish to run all current games and any (Lets be realistic) games at high/very high for about one year, then get a X1900XT with it.
And once that card is obsolete, you can get any PC GPU for your Mac Pro (As long as its PCI-E)
But it wont work in OSX, just in Windows, so when you wish to use OSX, its recommended you will insert your then dated X1900XT inside to run OSX (Or any Current GPU Apple is offering).
EDIT: Its also recommended you get atleast 2GB of RAM with a Mac Pro (4GB recommended) and a 3GHz Processor.
EDIT_2: Unfortunatly, due to the switch Apple made to Intel, new Processors will probably be unveiled every 4-6 months in both the Mac Pro and iMac. (Im not sure wether this is good or bad)
I personally dont see anything big being unveiled until atleast Mac World (January).
At Mac World I would expect that a speed bump occur (From 3.0 to 3.16) and possibly a new GPU.
Its also possible that a new GPU may be released during Christmas (But that can (I think) be changed easily by oneself).
See you on the Battlefield !
Eh I havent really set up a budget quite yet.
I did read a few threads on here about the graphics card being upgradable on the iMac - not sure the validity tho...
My current PC is a 3.0ghz with HT with a gig of ram and a decent video card.. My monitor is older that moses unfortunately. It's a 19" CRT with burn-in galore. Sooo one way or another it is gettin replaced
Thanks - does that change your opinion?
It clarifies my opinion.
Get a 24" display. Dell has a good one. (Well, a 20" is obviously an option also but compared, say, to the expense of a Mac Pro, a full HD display is a no-brainer.)
Keep your gaming PC, the processor is plenty fast and if the graphics are not, that can be fixed with a $200 graphics card. (This PC does have PCI Express, does it?) It's the sensible solution, not having to go through, save and put away all your ongoing work and reboot, just to play a game or run other Windows software for a sec. That would suck.
A basic KVM switch to switch your USB keyboard and mouse between one computer to another. If it has DVI (check that it supports 1920x1200) that is one less button to press while switching, and also opens the way for using an Apple display, which I would not recommend though.
Computer. Bang for buck? Get the 17" iMac. It is virtually silent, has dual cores and a fast desktop hard drive, is easily upgradable - you could take it with 2GB memory, or 1GB base memory and put in 3GB yourself. It's pretty much as fast as any desktop PC right now. Want more expandability? Get the Mac Pro. No need to get anything besides the basic graphics card, since the PC is handling that. Later on when the gaming PC ages, you have the option of getting the best card that is available for the Mac Pro then, and moving your gaming on that, but probably even then it's better to upgrade the PC. DirectX 10 generation graphics cards might be really slow coming to the Mac, and expensive when they finally do.
That said maybe youre right. Maybe I should just upgrade my video card in my PC (again) add some more ram, and buy a mac book or mac book pro laptop instead.
I dunno now Im more lost than ever
Seems to me for bang for the buck the 24" iMac would truly be the best bet.
Guy told me I wouldnt really notice the difference between the 2.16 and 2.33 and suggested upgrading ram instead. Do you all agree?
He also said the mac pro would simply be straightup over kill - do you agree with that also?
Thanks
Jeff
However, with the teachers discount (my mom is a teacher) The difference between a mac pro and an iMac as I would set them up is ~100
<----Confused all over
Overkill is good 8)
Get a Mac Pro, sell your PC, spend upwards of £4000 and live a happy life !
Hmm...
However, with the teachers discount (my mom is a teacher) The difference between a mac pro and an iMac as I would set them up is ~100
<----Confused all over
Hmm, the Student discount brings the iMac and MacPro within $100 of each other, or makes the MacPro only $100 more than a regular full-priced iMac 24"? If the difference (including a good monitor, Airport Express, etc.) is only $100, it's a no-brainer. The Mac Pro. Period. Man, I wish I new a student...
Hmm...
However, with the teachers discount (my mom is a teacher) The difference between a mac pro and an iMac as I would set them up is ~100
<----Confused all over
What's your Mac Pro config??? Frankly, when I was initially making my decision, I tried to configure a Mac Pro + a new monitor and there's no way they're $100 apart...and I used the educational discount (taking a night class for fun).
I bought a 24" iMac...no complaints. The machine design is great - as is the new display. I have no concerns from a performance point of view either. It's just a really nice machine. I demoed the iMac this weekend to some of my wife's family, everyone else wants to buy one too!
I am curious about your Mac Pro config. Do tell.
--DotComCTO
P.S. If you're doing a true machine-to-machine exact config and you're only $100 apart, I'd go Mac Pro - no question.
The way I did the mac pro at that prie was basically smallest hd, 2.0ghz, x1900 graphics card, apple care, 1 gig of ram and I think thats it...
Im still leaning toward the 24" iMac as of now..
The 24" is close to the lowest Mac Pro (remember the default Mac Pro is not the lowest one you can configure).
I'm not too keen on the Mac Pro though. The Ram seems expensive and if it's mainly for gaming, the quad processors seem like overkill because it's the GPU that's used more.
Taking all into consideration, I'd go with the suggestion of getting a Mini and keeping your PC for gaming. Bootcamp is still beta and even if you got it working, you've got to deal with partitioning and rebooting.
I know you don't want two machines but the Mini is about the size of an external hard drive. You could sit it on top of your tower.
This way, you can do everything you normally do with your Mac and use the PC like you would a games console. The lowest 1.66 Mini is about 30% slower than the dual 2.16 iMac in terms of CPU so completely reasonable and it's like £400 compared to about £1300.
It's always good to have two machines so that you have a backup anyway.
If Apple ever release a mid tower with an upgradable GPU then that could replace all your machines.
As someone who's probably used to upgrading, you're going to hate
A) having to throw your monitor away with your old computer
C) heat issues with processor upgrades
Therefore, I'd go with a stock Mac Pro. It's a better deal on hardware than even homebuilt PCs.