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buying a new imac... should i wait? How long...

R

redapple99

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
33
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I am looking at getting a 27'' imac but am questioning weather i should wait until the next generation of imac gets released. If i do wait how long would i be waiting? I am in no pressure to get a new one... what would you guys advise?

Thanks
 
redapple99 said:
I am looking at getting a 27'' imac but am questioning weather i should wait until the next generation of imac gets released. If i do wait how long would i be waiting? I am in no pressure to get a new one... what would you guys advise?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm in the same situation as you mate. If you still have a computer that's working I'd wait.

Rav:)
 
how long would i be waiting until the next gen gets released? this will really determine what one ill be getting

thanks
 
Hellhammer said:
Since April 2008. VRAM isn't the only thing that matters though
Click to expand...

So I got a 240 dollar discount off a 27 inch imac today should i go for it if vram doesnt really matter espically seeing i want to get starcraft 2 and diablo 3 as my only games will 512mb be enough i also tend to change my pcs every 3 or 4 years.

and i also hate to get a pc when they change the design as soon as i buy it
 
I'm in the same position. The suspense is killing me.
I really want an iMac 21.5 with the ATI card. But if the whole line up is due an upgrade I don't want to commit to something I know i'll later regret.
At the very least I'm hoping for the option of a better graphics card, hopefully with 512mb instead of 256mb.
I guess for now i'll just let my 3 year old mac mini trundle along.
 
mrmarts said:
So I got a 240 dollar discount off a 27 inch imac today should i go for it if vram doesnt really matter espically seeing i want to get starcraft 2 and diablo 3 as my only games will 512mb be enough i also tend to change my pcs every 3 or 4 years.

and i also hate to get a pc when they change the design as soon as i buy it
Click to expand...

ATI 4850 is very capable card. There aren't more than couple cards which are better but not by much. Go for it, waiting game is endless and may not be satisfying
 
I would buy now. If you must have the new one in a few months, you may only lose $300 after reselling what you have. Resale value of Apple products is always amazing.
 
i think it really depends on the model you want. if your going quad cores i7, you could just buy it now.

but for the base 27" model and 21,5" models i would wait. Cause their upgrade is likely bigger peformance wise.

i7 cant really get any better expect gpu, allthough 4850 is already a great great card.
 
redapple99 said:
ok thanks, i was told in mid 2011. thanks
Click to expand...

The Mac Pro gets a new chipset then. Waiting on the New 6-core CPU and a upgraded GPU.

The current iMac i5/i7 are using the new Intel P55 desktop chipset, the one likely to get used in the rest of the machines.

Just up in the air which GPU they will use. And the other air ball is exactly which i5 and i7s Apple will use.

Really good chance the new iMac and Mac Pro will show at the end of the back-to-school promotion, or soon after the next OS update.

---

The education iMac, bottom one, likely might switch to the Nvidia 320M chipset, but you aren't going there.
 
Sun Baked said:
The Mac Pro gets a new chipset then. Waiting on the New 6-core CPU and a upgraded GPU.
Click to expand...

Westmere and Evergreen are used before that new chipset (was it H67 or whatever) as it supports Sandy Bridge but not Westmere. By that time, Sandy Bridge is just around corner (Xeons are scheduled for H2) and Southern Islands have been around for nice amount of time. Possibly 8-core Mac Pro then

This is irrelevant, just adding some info ;)

The education iMac, bottom one, likely might switch to the Nvidia 320M chipset, but you aren't going there.
Click to expand...

Apple might keep the low-end 21.5" (not edu) Core 2 Duo along with 320M to keep prices down.
 
henrikrox said:
i think it really depends on the model you want. if your going quad cores i7, you could just buy it now.

but for the base 27" model and 21,5" models i would wait. Cause their upgrade is likely bigger peformance wise.

i7 cant really get any better expect gpu, allthough 4850 is already a great great card.
Click to expand...

4850 is crappy.

I have 4890 1GB Vapor-X on my desktop and it is 45% faster. And I am not yet talking about the new generation cards.
4850 is low end right now
gtx 285. 4890. 5830 is mid end
5870 gtx400 fermi are high end.


I think there will be a small bump in October/November! But nut earlier.
 
hundert said:
4850 is crappy.

I have 4890 1GB Vapor-X on my desktop and it is 45% faster. And I am not yet talking about the new generation cards.
4850 is low end right now
gtx 285. 4890. 5830 is mid end
5870 gtx400 fermi are high end.
Click to expand...

Whatever you say mate.

I wouldnt call a card that can run most new games at reasonible settings very good a crappy card. And if you are serious about gaming, you shouldnt go mac. I just think its a nice bonus.

But some people are never happy :rolleyes:
 
henrikrox said:
Whatever you say mate.

I wouldnt call a card that can run most new games at reasonible settings very good a crappy card. And if you are serious about gaming, you shouldnt go mac. I just think its a nice bonus.

But some people are never happy :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

This mainly applies to pc crowd the newest and greatest product which are outdated in less than 2 months good luck keeping up
 
hundert said:
4850 is crappy.

I have 4890 1GB Vapor-X on my desktop and it is 45% faster. And I am not yet talking about the new generation cards.
4850 is low end right now
gtx 285. 4890. 5830 is mid end
5870 gtx400 fermi are high end.


I think there will be a small bump in October/November! But nut earlier.
Click to expand...

You can't compare high-end desktop card to high-end mobile card... Same as I say " Core i7 X980 is faster XX% faster than Core i7 620M which is crap". ATI 4890 is based on whole other chip than e.g. 4850 is.

Mobile ATI 4850 is almost the fastest mobile chip available, 5850 being even slower and 5870 being some % faster. Mobile and desktop parts don't go hand in hand

If you're a hardcore gamer, then Macs aren't for you, simple as that. ATI 4850 still plays ALL games at decent FPS, that's what most of us care.
 
I am not a gamer, but do animation (ToonBoom, After Effects) and HD editing (FinalCut) to earn my daily bread. This are mostly artistic and tv projects.

I think I will buy next week an i7 quad-core iMac with 8 or 16GB of RAM, but I am a little afraid of the GPU of ATI 4850 graphic card. Is there a way to update to something better like GTX? Anyone has done it? I really want to last this iMac for a long time (6 years at least).

And no, I don't think that iMac will update in 2010. And if they will, there won't be any bigger changes.
 
Hellhammer said:
Since April 2008. VRAM isn't the only thing that matters though
Click to expand...
Not sure what you meant, but 512 has been a BTO option for 4 or 5 years on the intel iMacs; I've got it in a really old iMac.

Hellhammer said:
You can't compare high-end desktop card to high-end mobile card... Same as I say " Core i7 X980 is faster XX% faster than Core i7 620M which is crap". ATI 4890 is based on whole other chip than e.g. 4850 is.

Mobile ATI 4850 is almost the fastest mobile chip available, 5850 being even slower and 5870 being some % faster. Mobile and desktop parts don't go hand in hand

If you're a hardcore gamer, then Macs aren't for you, simple as that. ATI 4850 still plays ALL games at decent FPS, that's what most of us care.
Click to expand...

True true, but some of us really want to use the iMac for prof apps that are multicore using monsters. I really would like to see the 6core/12thread come to the iMac.
 
Gonna have to wait until christmas of 2011 for that.

iMacs can't be treated as towers.
 
fingernagel said:
I think I will buy next week an i7 quad-core iMac with 8 or 16GB of RAM, but I am a little afraid of the GPU of ATI 4850 graphic card. Is there a way to update to something better like GTX? Anyone has done it? I really want to last this iMac for a long time (6 years at least).
Click to expand...
As Hellhammer said, the 4850 is a good card (albeit mobile) and it's near the top of its class. There probably won't be significant boosts in iMac graphics until next year.

manhattanboy said:
Not sure what you meant, but 512 has been a BTO option for 4 or 5 years on the intel iMacs; I've got it in a really old iMac.
Click to expand...
It's been BTO since April 2008.

manhattanboy said:
I really would like to see the 6core/12thread come to the iMac.
Click to expand...
Unless they go AMD I doubt it'll be anytime before 2012.
 
manhattanboy said:
Not sure what you meant, but 512 has been a BTO option for 4 or 5 years on the intel iMacs; I've got it in a really old iMac.
Click to expand...

First 512MB card in iMac was NVidia 8800 GS, before that ATI 2600 PRO was the best card for iMac and it came with 256MB.

True true, but some of us really want to use the iMac for prof apps that are multicore using monsters. I really would like to see the 6core/12thread come to the iMac.
Click to expand...

It will, just wait ;) I agree with iMacmatician, Ivy Bridge seems the time for cheap and cool hexas
 
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