iMac actually ... good?

[crsgardner]

Just saw the 24" iMac release. It actually doesn't seem that bad for the money. Employee discount I can get the 24" for about $1880. I looked at the Mac Pro about a month ago and backed away because of the cost and relatively crappy video card.

How is the 7600GT? Ok? All the benchmarks I've seen put it about 25% less speed than my current setup. I have a 7800GTX in my self-built rig and it runs really nice (although hot and somewhat loud). My rig, however, is single core.

If I got an iMac, it would probably be in addition to (not in replacement of) my current rig. What's the consensus on the hardware? Tech specs: http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

 

[Bateluer]

Well, if you're buying a Mac, you're not buying it for gaming.

The 7600GT is a decent card for the money though the iMac 124in at 1880 is still pretty pricey for a computer.

edit - typo fixed

 

[crsgardner]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Well, if you're buying a Max, you're not buying it for gaming.

I can assure you I am. Used to freelance for gaming magazines and sites like Gamespot.

I guess I'm just drawn to the Mac allure of "shiny". It does definitely have one thing better than my current rig though: quietness. My rig is in the den right next to my living room. The fans can get so loud I sometimes have to turn them off when I'm watching a movie.

I'm just wondering if the 7600GT would be serivcable. So far, looking at the benchmarks, my 7800GTX gets about 25% faster speed. Wonder if the one in the iMac is overclockable...

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: crsgardner

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Well, if you're buying a Max, you're not buying it for gaming.

I can assure you I am. Used to freelance for gaming magazines and sites like Gamespot.

I guess I'm just drawn to the Mac allure of "shiny". It does definitely have one thing better than my current rig though: quietness. My rig is in the den right next to my living room. The fans can get so loud I sometimes have to turn them off when I'm watching a movie.

I'm just wondering if the 7600GT would be serivcable. So far, looking at the benchmarks, my 7800GTX gets about 25% faster speed. Wonder if the one in the iMac is overclockable...

I thikn his point was there are not many games for the Mac, unless you want to dual boot with Windows.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: crsgardner

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Well, if you're buying a Max, you're not buying it for gaming.

I can assure you I am. Used to freelance for gaming magazines and sites like Gamespot.

I guess I'm just drawn to the Mac allure of "shiny". It does definitely have one thing better than my current rig though: quietness. My rig is in the den right next to my living room. The fans can get so loud I sometimes have to turn them off when I'm watching a movie.

I'm just wondering if the 7600GT would be serivcable. So far, looking at the benchmarks, my 7800GTX gets about 25% faster speed. Wonder if the one in the iMac is overclockable...

Why not spend $20 or so and put quieter fans in your rig?

 

[crsgardner]

I thikn his point was there are not many games for the Mac, unless you want to dual boot with Windows.

Wouldn't do anything but.

Why not spend $20 or so and put quieter fans in your rig?

Because I'm getting a little tired of building rigs. lol When I was younger I had plenty of time to do so.

Besides, this is with the "quiet" fans. Got rid of the stock fans within the first few minutes of ripping the CPU and card out of the box.

I did a quick calculation with parts from Newegg and using the cheapest 24" I could find, the total hardware comes out to around $1790. That's not including stuff like the webcam or remote. That isn't too far from $1880.

 

[Solema]

Honestly, and in my unbiased opinion, the 7600GT will struggle with games, especially at the 1920x1200 native resolution. While the new 24" mac seems pretty nice, and probably is, Apple is making a mistake not offering anything faster than a 7600GT in it. 1920x1200 really needs a 7900GT/X or AT X1900XT/X for gaming, especially with the inherent quality loss at non-native resolutions.

 

[ElFenix]

for the money you'd be better off buying the 23" apple display and mac mini, as the computer will be obsolete before you'll need a new display. it'd be a shame to have to toss such a nice monitor because the computer is 'slow'.

 

[tuteja1986]

I would really buy an Old mac to see if you even like Mac OS :! if not then just stick with windows... much better idea would be trying linux :! The computer that apple is selling is a total ripoff , you would be better off Dell 24" LCD with Core 2 E6600 , 2GB OCZ DDR 2 , Asus/Gigabyte Core 2 Mobo , 2x 300GB Western Digital HDD sata , Benq DVDRW , Case with 550W PSU , ATI X1800XT/7900GT. that would end up cheaper too

 

[bunnyfubbles]

iMacs have fundamental flaws. What are you going to do with what should still be a perfectly usable 24" display when the rest of the hardware is relatively obsolete?

I guess it could still somehow be used as a monitor, but its going to be bigger/bulkier/heavier than necessary.

 

[nwrigley]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
iMacs have fundamental flaws. What are you going to do with what should still be a perfectly usable 24" display when the rest of the hardware is relatively obsolete?

I guess it could still somehow be used as a monitor, but its going to be bigger/bulkier/heavier than necessary.

I think the iMacs are pretty nice machines and are not over priced for what you get. Having said that, I wouldn't buy one myself.

I shoot for closer to the $1,000 range when buying a system and PCs are better at that price point. I do agree that the 7600GT may be under powered for a 24" display. I would hate to have such a nice monitor attached to the system without being able to use it with another system and the iMac upgrade path is basically non-existant.

If gaming is not your #1 use for the system (and especially if multimedia creation is the #1 use) then the iMace or Macs in general isn't a bad way to go.

I've personally never used Windows on a Mac before though, so I can't really speak for that.