Buying advice on 20" iMac - Final Specs

[cwedl]

Hi, I will be ordering a 20" iMac next week just have a few questions.

Here are the extra specs I was thinking on getting

2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB SDRAM

The RAM I will get from crucial and I will sell the other 512Mb stick on ebay. - The reason why I am maxing the RAM out is because I may do video editing later on, and will also do photoediting when creative studio CS3 comes out.

The Graphics Card? - My friend said that is a waste of money upgrading the graphics card, I may play sims on there when it becomes universal binary but thats it. video editing as well probably.

Also I was considering on getting a TV device for the Mac, do they work on the intel macs? how well?


Thanking you all in advance......


Christian

 

[Caitlyn]

Hey!
Sounds like an awesome iMac. 2GB will be great for what it sounds like you want to use it for. As for the graphics card, if all you're doing that is extensive is video editing, I think you will probably be okay with the standard video card. From what I've heard and seen, the performance isn't incredibly different between the two. As for TV devices, some very reliable and highly rated ones can be found at www.eyetv.com. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Atlasland]

As for TV devices, some very reliable and highly rated ones can be found at www.eyetv.com. Good luck with your purchase.

I'm not sure if the software is Universal yet.. can someone confirm if eyeTV is universal? It's a pretty decent ptogram (not perfect though).

Anyway, to the OP - congrats on the upcoming purchase.


[personally I'd max out the video card - for £40/$80 I'd have thought it was worth it - severely improved gaiming, video editing, and it would help with those fancy OS effects (like Aero Glass in Vista! - by the miracle of BootCamp!).]

 

[Artful Dodger]

This sounds just like my setup that I have (see sig) I've been happy with it so far as it does everything I need/want it to. The most important thing is it's a 20" for my Flash 8 daily travels, soon to start with using Painter a lot more with the beginning of PSE4.
I think you'll be very happy with it and that 2GB Ram will help until most everything is UB. I wasn't sure about the 256VRAM, I tried to get one but that's another story. So in the end I have the 128VRAM, no stuck or dead pixels and as my sig. says i'm happy and I think you will be as well
Enjoy your new iMac when it comes in.

 

[dmw007]

Looks like you have selected a very nice computer cwedl. Although, I would upgrade the VRAM to 256MB- it will not make a huge difference in performance, but it can not be upgraded later.