24" iMac released

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Eug
Out of interest's sake, what do you think is the real life performance difference between 2.17 Merom and 2.33 Merom?

My guess is in the ballpark of 5% - not noticeable in actual usage.

The real difference is bragging rights

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: aphex
So with Parallels, you can only do 1 core, but with Boot Camp, if you boot into windows its full on dual core goodness?

Correct. Boot Camp basically gives you full access to the machine, 1:1, while Parallels has to share the machine with OS X. I'm really pleased with Parallel's perforamance, by the way. However, USB support is still kind of a lacking, and a few things, like ripping DVDs, are still funky. If only the hardware wasn't so expensive, I'd go with an Aopen MiniPC for Windows and a Mac Mini for OS X

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: Eug
Out of interest's sake, what do you think is the real life performance difference between 2.17 Merom and 2.33 Merom?

My guess is in the ballpark of 5% - not noticeable in actual usage.

I doubt it's even that much; how frequently do you even peg your CPU at 100%?

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: Eug
Out of interest's sake, what do you think is the real life performance difference between 2.17 Merom and 2.33 Merom?

My guess is in the ballpark of 5% - not noticeable in actual usage.

I doubt it's even that much; how frequently do you even peg your CPU at 100%?

Well, Aperture loves CPU (and GPU).

Also, I do encode a lot of video.

The latter doesn't concern me. I don't care if something takes 30 minutes to encode vs. 28 minutes, cuz I'm not sitting there watching it anyway. However, the former does concern me. Surfing through edited RAW pix in Aperture is very dependent on CPU and GPU power.

However, I'm convinced I'd never be able to tell the difference between 2.33 GHz and 2.16 GHz if all else were equal. 2.33 vs. 2.0 maybe though. That's a 17% clock speed difference.

 

[jdogg707]

I would say 5% is a fair estimate. I already have a 2407FPW and was debating pretty hard between this and the Mac Pro. I think I have settled on the iMac though, dual 24" displays and a lot of power equal a great machine. The 20" is probably the best value around though, Apple is basically giving you bigger, better, faster for $200 less!

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: spike spiegal
a bunch of retarded trolling posts...

how are you not banned yet?

And the fact still stands you've spent the past ten years bad mouthing Intel,

who were you before you were banned?

oh and on topic...

i think when the macbook pro gets refreshed with c2d i might look into upgrading my powerbook.

 

[Eug]

Apparently, the new 24" iMac uses MXM for the GPU.

Upgradable GPU?

I also suspect the CPU is upgradable too, but I don't know for sure.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Eug
Apparently, the new 24" iMac uses MXM for the GPU.

Upgradable GPU?

I also suspect the CPU is upgradable too, but I don't know for sure.

Were the last iteration of iMac's upgradable? For some reason i thought the Macbook and iMac were soldered in, while the mini was upgradable.

 

[Eug]

None of them had upgradable GPUs AFAIK. I think the iMac and mini had upgradable CPUs though.

 

[erikistired]

at least one person on the mac rumors forum put a c2d into the original intel imac, but i don't think the board supported all of the features of the cpu. i don't know if they had any issues or worked out any incompatibilities either, i haven't checked the thread in awhile. i think some of the power saving stuff didn't work right.

eug did you really link to an article in french? upgradable gpus would be nice, even if there's only so far you can go in that tight enclosure.

i'm really starting to want a macbook pro in the worst way, i'm just still hesitant about bugs and i really want the new cpu, hoping it helps with temps a little.

 

[aphex]

arghhhhh, what to do what to do....

Sell the G4 mini and pick up a dual core mini
Sell the G4 mini & IBM T41 and pick up a dual core macbook

 

[aphex]

ok, decided to scrap the macbook idea and stick with my T41, its nice having 2 computers and i just love my thinkpad too much

Now, which Mini to get... (sorry to hijack the thread, lmk if you think i should create a new topic)

$779 Mini (no need to upgrade)
1.83ghz Core Duo
80gb 5400rpm
2gb Ram (already own)
DVD-RW DL
TOTAL = $779

$579 Mini (with upgrades)
1.66 Core Duo
60gb 7200rpm (+$100)
2gb Ram (already own)
DVD-RW DL (+$75)
TOTAL = $754 (not counting selling the parts i upgraded from)

Both i would possibly consider upgrading to a Merom 2ghz+ once the prices drop.

Which should i go for?

 

[aphex]

^ :beer:

 

[Eug]

It looks like it makes no sense to get the 1.67. The 1.83 costs $25 more.

 

[p0lar]

I did it. I pulled the trigger on a 24" iMac with the CC and placed my order tonight. Now, I have to sell a pair of dual xeon machines and some networking hardware, plus a 20" Dell LCD, so I won't have to pay a penny.

I went with this config from Apple:
24" iMac
7600GT
3 year AppleCare

This is my first Mac, and I only considered it because I know I'm not limited to the scope of Apple applications. I'll report upon arrival!

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Eug
It looks like it makes no sense to get the 1.67. The 1.83 costs $25 more.

Well, technically yes. But the 1.83 would have a 5400rpm drive while the 1.66 would have a 7200rpm drive. I could always upgrade the drive in the 1.83, but then im going even more expensive.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: p0lar
I did it. I pulled the trigger on a 24" iMac with the CC and placed my order tonight. Now, I have to sell a pair of dual xeon machines and some networking hardware, plus a 20" Dell LCD, so I won't have to pay a penny.

I went with this config from Apple:
24" iMac
7600GT
3 year AppleCare

This is my first Mac, and I only considered it because I know I'm not limited to the scope of Apple applications. I'll report upon arrival!

2.17 or 2.33? Congrats!

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Eug
It looks like it makes no sense to get the 1.67. The 1.83 costs $25 more.

Well, technically yes. But the 1.83 would have a 5400rpm drive while the 1.66 would have a 7200rpm drive. I could always upgrade the drive in the 1.83, but then im going even more expensive.

I'd rather have more space, but that's just me.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: p0lar
I did it. I pulled the trigger on a 24" iMac with the CC and placed my order tonight. Now, I have to sell a pair of dual xeon machines and some networking hardware, plus a 20" Dell LCD, so I won't have to pay a penny.

I went with this config from Apple:
24" iMac
7600GT
3 year AppleCare

This is my first Mac, and I only considered it because I know I'm not limited to the scope of Apple applications. I'll report upon arrival!

2.17 or 2.33? Congrats!

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Eug
It looks like it makes no sense to get the 1.67. The 1.83 costs $25 more.

Well, technically yes. But the 1.83 would have a 5400rpm drive while the 1.66 would have a 7200rpm drive. I could always upgrade the drive in the 1.83, but then im going even more expensive.

I'd rather have more space, but that's just me.

Well i have 500gb across two external FW drives that I use on my Mini right now, so space isnt as much of a concern for me at the moment as speed... Too bad they sold out of the refurbs... They had a 1.66 Duo w/ DVDRW and 80gb for $649 earlier

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: Eug
2.17 or 2.33? Congrats!

2.16, or whatever it is.. anyway, it's the default config except the applecare, bt keyboard/mouse and 7600GT. The performance increase on the other stuff didn't justify the price, IMHO.

This is a major move for Apple. I can't say that I shifted to the other side, but I can say with certainty that they have relocated the fence.

This is the first PC in 17 years I didn't build myself. I was going to upgrade my previous machine (dual 2.8GHz Xeon w/agp) with a newer video card, but it was futile and a waste of money. This thing landing @ $2k was just spot-on, especially with a 24" monitor included.

We'll know in a week or so!

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: spike spiegal
That's because most of us have legitimate jobs in the IT industry

I pity the company that hires people that are not only clueless, but also extremely rude.
Sounds like a bad policy to me.

Me, I have no apple products at all, have 7 or 8 x86's and 2 SPARC's though, running Windows, Linux, Solaris, or OpenBSD, but I could very well see myself owning a Mac, they just don't have any models that appeal a whole lot to me right now.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: p0lar

Originally posted by: Eug
2.17 or 2.33? Congrats!

2.16, or whatever it is.. anyway, it's the default config except the applecare, bt keyboard/mouse and 7600GT. The performance increase on the other stuff didn't justify the price, IMHO.

This is a major move for Apple. I can't say that I shifted to the other side, but I can say with certainty that they have relocated the fence.

This is the first PC in 17 years I didn't build myself. I was going to upgrade my previous machine (dual 2.8GHz Xeon w/agp) with a newer video card, but it was futile and a waste of money. This thing landing @ $2k was just spot-on, especially with a 24" monitor included.

We'll know in a week or so!

I got the memory upgrade too. If you're multitasking and running anything under Rosetta, 1 GB is not ideal.

2 GB seems to be the bang-for-the-buck sweet spot for an Intel Mac IMO.

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: Eug
I got the memory upgrade too. If you're multitasking and running anything under Rosetta, 1 GB is not ideal.

2 GB seems to be the bang-for-the-buck sweet spot for an Intel Mac IMO.

Oh, I agree 100%; however, their asking price was just too far out of budget when I know I can buy decent DDR2-PC5300 SODIMM to achieve the same thing, at less cost (I'm going to stack it to 3GB) and still have the Apple RAM left over in the event I sell the machine or a return is warranted.

Just my $0.02 as a consumer, heh.

 

[Eug]

Just a note, in case you're not aware: There are only 2 RAM slots. Apple asks for $175 for the upgrade to 2 GB. 2 GB at Newegg is $200, plus shipping. The cheapest I've seen for 3rd party 2 GB modules (which will be needed to hit 3 GB) is $700. :Q

P.S. It's really irritating it's only SODIMMs. My G5 iMac uses desktop DIMMs. Does it have anything to do with the chipset, since the 24" is using Merom? It's not as if they'll be short on space in a 24" machine.

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: Eug
Just a note, in case you're not aware: There are only 2 RAM slots. Apple asks for $175 for the upgrade to 2 GB. 2 GB at Newegg is $200, plus shipping. The cheapest I've seen for 3rd party 2 GB modules (which will be needed to hit 3 GB) is $700. :Q

P.S. It's really irritating it's only SODIMMs. My G5 iMac uses desktop DIMMs. Does it have anything to do with the chipset, since the 24" is using Merom? It's not as if they'll be short on space in a 24" machine.

$175USD isn't bad for the upgrade, but that's not including the value of a pair of 512MB SODIMMs, which is nearly $100. My major issue was that in CAD, it wasn't as fair, especially with a 14% GST/PST tack-on.

On a similarly related note, upgrading to the 7600GT was only $90CAD instead of $125USD.. sounds odd? Mine came out to about $2325USD, not including taxes (add another 14%, <oink oink>).

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: p0lar

Originally posted by: Eug
Just a note, in case you're not aware: There are only 2 RAM slots. Apple asks for $175 for the upgrade to 2 GB. 2 GB at Newegg is $200, plus shipping. The cheapest I've seen for 3rd party 2 GB modules (which will be needed to hit 3 GB) is $700. :Q

P.S. It's really irritating it's only SODIMMs. My G5 iMac uses desktop DIMMs. Does it have anything to do with the chipset, since the 24" is using Merom? It's not as if they'll be short on space in a 24" machine.

$175USD isn't bad for the upgrade, but that's not including the value of a pair of 512MB SODIMMs, which is nearly $100. My major issue was that in CAD, it wasn't as fair, especially with a 14% GST/PST tack-on.

On a similarly related note, upgrading to the 7600GT was only $90CAD instead of $125USD.. sounds odd? Mine came out to about $2325USD, not including taxes (add another 14%, <oink oink>).

Education deals rock. I'm getting my video card upgrade for CAD$82.