5870 now or wait for next year's iMac?

[thermodynamic]

Or even this year's BTO 3.4GHz i7 model?

I currently have a 2009 Mac Pro.

I do a little gaming (Sims3, X-Plane 9, maybe Portal 2), and some 3D rendering (Bryce 7 Pro, Poser 2010).

I know 1GB of RAM will help overcome an error Photoshop gives me when using pixelbender effects beyond a certain size (8.5x11 @ 300DPI is the maximum I can use with the 4870 w/512MB RAM.)

But I've been eyeballing the latest iMacs for purchase late this year, if not purchasing a replacement Mac in 2012.

Should I upgrade now or wait for next year?

 

[DanielCoffey]

I can say that Portal 2 plays perfectly on the 2010 MP hex core with 5870.

 

[gpzjock]

It ain't broken I'm not fixing it.

My 2008 2,8ghz Mac Pro with 16 GB RAM and 5870 runs WoW very well and scores the same Geekbench total as a top spec 2011 i7 iMac, around 11000 pts.

Buy the 5870 and stay futureproof until at least 2013.

 

[-BigMac-]

I can say that Portal 2 plays perfectly on the 2010 MP hex core with 5870.

everything plays perfectly on that machine ;D

 

[dh2005]

The 5870 is already a quicker card than the 6970m, which is the top-end BTO option in brand new iMacs. Plus, once an iMac GPU falls out of date (so speaks the bitter voice of experience...), there's no upgrading it.

 

[NutsNGum]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Theoretically, you can upgrade the GPU according to ifixit, problem is that the mxm cards cost a fortune.

 

[beto2k7]

I don't know why people keep waiting for the perfect future. Technology gets obsolete as soon as you open the box. That's just how it is. If you need a computer now and can justify the cost then buy now. If you are asking what to do then my hunch is you don't really need it.

B.

 

[dh2005]

Theoretically, you can upgrade the GPU according to ifixit, problem is that the mxm cards cost a fortune.

Theoretically, yes. I mean, "theoretically", you can do whatever you want within the confines of current technology - but it'll be horribly impractical if you're doing it to an iMac.

I don't know of anybody who's actually replaced a mobile GPU from an iMac.

 

[thermodynamic]

I don't know why people keep waiting for the perfect future. Technology gets obsolete as soon as you open the box. That's just how it is. If you need a computer now and can justify the cost then buy now. If you are asking what to do then my hunch is you don't really need it.

B.

Aye, true...

And I ought to finish my research - how much will the 3D apps really benefit from the faster video card and if it's worth the $500 investment... (Plus, I don't often create print-grade materials and the only games I play I don't play often.)