I think your math may be wrong here:
Refurb i7 is $1699
New i5 w/ 5850 1gb is $2049
So for $350 you get a better graphics card and two less cores. I'm not saying which is better...just that the prices are NOT the SAME.
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2009 Core i7 iMac vs. 2010 Core i7 iMac?
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I think your math may be wrong here:
Refurb i7 is $1699
New i5 w/ 5850 1gb is $2049
So for $350 you get a better graphics card and two less cores. I'm not saying which is better...just that the prices are NOT the SAME.
I'm New...
I am also interested in this topic... so looking at Notebook Check, it has the Mobility 4850 rated higher than the Mobility 5850... so, which is really better? Out of the ATi cards, 4850 ranked 10th and 5850 ranked 11th...
Now, the 5850 is DX 11 compliant and the 4850 is only DX 10.1 compliant. This only matters when boot camping to game on Windows...
Seems to me the old refurb is a much better value than the new i7.
I am also interested in this topic... so looking at Notebook Check, it has the Mobility 4850 rated higher than the Mobility 5850... so, which is really better? Out of the ATi cards, 4850 ranked 10th and 5850 ranked 11th...
Now, the 5850 is DX 11 compliant and the 4850 is only DX 10.1 compliant. This only matters when boot camping to game on Windows...
Seems to me the old refurb is a much better value than the new i7.
It's rated higher because most 5850 use GDDR3 while the one Apple uses has GDDR5 which makes noticeable difference. 5850 with GDDR5 should be around 10% faster than 4850
The price I get on the i5 is 1899 (edu discount).
The new i5 is quad, no hyper threading. So you have the same amount of cores, but the i7 has hyper threading. Am I correct? It's only the SAME price because I already bought the i5 and would need to return it ($189 restocking) so it equals out to the same price.
A related question
This thread has me considering buying a refurbished i7.
How has everyone's experience been with buying refurb'd iMacs? Do they come spic-and-span? Shiny and new? No dings or scratches or signs of wear, right?
This thread has me considering buying a refurbished i7.
How has everyone's experience been with buying refurb'd iMacs? Do they come spic-and-span? Shiny and new? No dings or scratches or signs of wear, right?
So, that amounts to about how many fps for the average game (not Crysis)? I probably won't use my iMac for heavy duty gaming, I may get some games from Steam but I am sure that either card outclasses my HD 2600 PRO.
how about considering the sales tax, esp. in California? Comparing between getting refub from Apple or new from Amazon? The difference will be considered minor?
So, that amounts to about how many fps for the average game (not Crysis)? I probably won't use my iMac for heavy duty gaming, I may get some games from Steam but I am sure that either card outclasses my HD 2600 PRO.
Yeah, it shows some figures of what FPS you should expect. 4850 should play all games just fine, and so will 5850
Well, I didn't count the education discount (or your restocking fee). But it is still $150 more.
There are TWO i5 processor models available. I assumed you were talking about the 3.6GHz Intel Core i5 model using the i5-680 which is dual core w/ HT and TB.
The 4 core version is the 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5-760 w/ no HT but has TB (for some reason the Quad Core model is $50 less with the same GPU than the 2 Core i5)
Freaking Intel.....could they make it any less intuitive?
Ofcoure, but you mention one part that is better on the refurb. While you dont mention better gpu, faster ram and 2 hdd slots.
Guess you plan on marrying a virgin then?
haha good point, weird, i do like virgins ;O but thats a whole different chapter
Dude, don't throw Amazon or MacConnections into the mix. We are trying to make an Apples to Apples comparison here. Literally!!!
Not saying you shouldn't look around. I'd buy off Craigs List if I could find someone who wasn't a scammer.
Geekbench scores.....
Right chaps (and ladies!), bit of a dilemma here....was going to order a new 2010 iMac i7, but have just seen:
a) the price drop on 2009 refurbished i7 models, and
b) Geekbench 2 scores between the two of only 600 points
My question to all here is: Is it worth paying £410 extra between a refurbished i7 and a new 2010 i7?? See the geekbench scores below of 9261 (2010) and 8631 (2009):
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/search?q=imac+i7&commit=Search
Right chaps (and ladies!), bit of a dilemma here....was going to order a new 2010 iMac i7, but have just seen:
a) the price drop on 2009 refurbished i7 models, and
b) Geekbench 2 scores between the two of only 600 points
My question to all here is: Is it worth paying £410 extra between a refurbished i7 and a new 2010 i7?? See the geekbench scores below of 9261 (2010) and 8631 (2009):
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/search?q=imac+i7&commit=Search
totally agree. Better gpu, faster ram. but 2 hdd slots don't matter unless you buy two to start with as it looks like it's heck to aftermarket install.
I just figured getting the better cpu would be better than the better gpu and faster ram? Maybe I'm wrong? To me, it looked like i7 (hyper + turbo) is better than i5 (turbo, no hyper). and that the gpu and ram differences are negligible.
I also have been debating on the i7 quad refurb for $1699 and seems to be the way to go you really can not beat the price, the only difference seems to be the graphics card.
Even more important (for non gamers) is the third internal SATA port in the 2010 model. I think it will be only a very short time before people reconfigure this third port as an esata connection. I'm certainly leaning towards that. If it wasn't for this 3 sata port in the 2010 the 09 i7 refurb would be a no-brainer choice from a cost/performance perspective.
cheers
JohnG
How is this going to be possible without drilling a hole in the back of your iMac case? I'm not sure I need external storage that much.
I'm more interested in the 3rd SATA port to possibly do RAID0 with two SSD drives when the prices and long term performance get better. But, that could be done with the 09 models buy cannibalizing the optical drive SATA port.....oh the dilemmas.
Where there's a will there's a way ~~~~~~~~~~
Waiting to see how people deal with the sata/case cannibalization.
cheers
JohnG
I just ordered the new iMac 27" i7 a few days ago... and now I find this thread! My item hasnt shipped yet... Is it too late to call and change/cancel the order without a restocking fee? I did buy a BTO system with an upgraded 2TB HDD, if this makes a difference.
I was ready to buy an i7 iMac 5 months ago, but the thought of getting a whistling yellow screened system stopped me. I was opptimisic that the new systems would have the problems fixed. With my edu discount, I paid $2079 for the iMac before taxes (and minus the HDD increase). So, the difference for me would be $380 to get the i7 refurb. I was wondering though... are refurb units still eligable for the back to school promotion? As in, can I still get the free ipod and $100 printer??
The other issue I was wanting to avoid is getting a problematic refurb and have to keep shipping it back and waiting for a replacement. As is, I ordered by new iMac on Tues and it wont even go out in the mail until tomorrow. Being shipped from China to FL is going to take another week. So if I get a bad system, it takes 2 weeks to get it to me, and probably a week for me to ship one back. I just worried about being out of a computer for such a long time. Initally, I wanted to buy the new iMac from my local apple store just for the convenience of not waiting on shipping... and if there are any issues I could exchange it in the store. But when I called my Apple store, I spoke with 3 employees and none of them even new about a refreshed iMac, let alone had any in stock. When I do get the iMac, if it does have issues, can I exchange at an apple store? Or since its BTO will I have to mail it back?
I was ready to buy an i7 iMac 5 months ago, but the thought of getting a whistling yellow screened system stopped me. I was opptimisic that the new systems would have the problems fixed. With my edu discount, I paid $2079 for the iMac before taxes (and minus the HDD increase). So, the difference for me would be $380 to get the i7 refurb. I was wondering though... are refurb units still eligable for the back to school promotion? As in, can I still get the free ipod and $100 printer??
The other issue I was wanting to avoid is getting a problematic refurb and have to keep shipping it back and waiting for a replacement. As is, I ordered by new iMac on Tues and it wont even go out in the mail until tomorrow. Being shipped from China to FL is going to take another week. So if I get a bad system, it takes 2 weeks to get it to me, and probably a week for me to ship one back. I just worried about being out of a computer for such a long time. Initally, I wanted to buy the new iMac from my local apple store just for the convenience of not waiting on shipping... and if there are any issues I could exchange it in the store. But when I called my Apple store, I spoke with 3 employees and none of them even new about a refreshed iMac, let alone had any in stock. When I do get the iMac, if it does have issues, can I exchange at an apple store? Or since its BTO will I have to mail it back?
Great I love my i7 refurb!
And at $1699 it is a steal!
I personally believe that the odds of getting a problematic machine is the same for both "New" and "Refurbished"
Refurbished Models go through extra QC so the changes of a problematic refurb and slightly less.
Am also on the fence between new models and refurbished i7. I'm leaning towards the latter, although the 4850 GPU will probably see little benefit to OpenCL unfortunately.
But it is pretty good value for the money and it ships within 24h
Well, I did some research and found out that a refurb system does NOT qualify for the BTS promotion. So really, with the edu discount, and free $200 ipod, the price difference between new and refurb is only $180. At that rate, I'll just keep my order for the new iMac. I dont mind paying a little extra for peace of mind that no one has owned it before me. And while minimal, it's still nice to have a small processor speed bump, graphics bumb, and fater RAM. I think that would help with the resale value if I ever need to get rid of it or upgrade.
As a side note... it's still an expensive purchase!! With my edu discount, a $2079 system + $130 HDD upgrade + $180 tax + $120 Apple Care, quickly became a $2509 machine!!! I was schocked with how fast it all adds up! I had enough issues paying the initial $2079, lol. Oh well... I'm still really excitied and cant wait for it to arrive! Aug 6th delivery date.