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I will go 21,5". i3 or i5?

D

diegobgr

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 22, 2009
340
0
Hi.

I will get my new iMac next week.

I am going to get an advanced 21,5" but I doubt if I should get i5.

With the increase I can get a needed for me Time Capsule (but I also can get it later, maybe October...). So if I can save the i5, it's good.

I will use iMac for photo work and editing and gaming (at least I will game until a year and half more or less)
 
diegobgr said:
Hi.

I will get my new iMac next week.

I am going to get an advanced 21,5" but I doubt if I should get i5.

With the increase I can get a needed for me Time Capsule (but I also can get it later, maybe October...). So if I can save the i5, it's good.

I will use iMac for photo work and editing and gaming (at least I will game until a year and half more or less)
Click to expand...

ok. sounds like you have already made your decision. Personally, if you were going to upgrade to the dual i5 on the new imacs, I would get the refurb 27" i5 quad for $70 CHEAPER
 
diegobgr said:
Hi.

I will get my new iMac next week.

I am going to get an advanced 21,5" but I doubt if I should get i5.

With the increase I can get a needed for me Time Capsule (but I also can get it later, maybe October...). So if I can save the i5, it's good.

I will use iMac for photo work and editing and gaming (at least I will game until a year and half more or less)
Click to expand...

I've been debating this same question too. For space reasons (desk with built in hutch), I have to go for a 21.5 inch. I keep going back and forth on the i3 or the DC i5. Main difference I see is turbo boost in the i5 + hyperthreading, vs. just hyperthreading alone and no turbo boost in the i3. Will this make a big difference for iMovie, Handbrake rip, and gaming?
 
SiMBa37 said:
I've been debating this same question too. For space reasons (desk with built in hutch), I have to go for a 21.5 inch. I keep going back and forth on the i3 or the DC i5. Main difference I see is turbo boost in the i5 + hyperthreading, vs. just hyperthreading alone and no turbo boost in the i3. Will this make a big difference for iMovie, Handbrake rip, and gaming?
Click to expand...

Turbo boost lets the 3.6 go up to 3.8 on ideal conditions. The i3 will always run at 3.2 instead. So even if the i3 had the turbo, it would turbo up to 3.3 or 3.4. To me, the hyperthreading is more significant than the turbo boost, but turbo boost is nice, if you have it, why not.

The reason I'm scared to custom order a i5 is the possible screen issues that still exist.

Therefore, Amazon just got the i3 model in stock so I ordered it for Saturday delivery. If it looks good (the screen), I'll live with the i3. It is still a very fast chip. If the screen looks bad, I'll return it, and wait on the next generation of iMacs.

Like many, the 27-inch is too big for my desk enclosure.

The i3 seems to be getting 6000 score on Geek Bench (my old 2.4 GHZ Core 2 Duo gets 3350). We'll have to wait and see what the i5 gets.
 
powerbook911 said:
The reason I'm scared to custom order a i5 is the possible screen issues that still exist.
Click to expand...

Not sure how this works, so you're saying that if you buy an i5 BTO 21.5 if there is a problem and you take it to the genius bar for replacement, you'd have to get a new one shipped to you, rather than pick up a new one right away from in the store, right?

Yeah, I could see how that would be annoying.

I guess my question was more of since I'm limited really to the 21.5 models, would an i5 BTO be worth the $200 to "future proof" my iMac for the next 4 to 5 years? Or is it not worth it, and I should just go for the i3 3.2ghz?
 
SiMBa37 said:
Not sure how this works, so you're saying that if you buy an i5 BTO 21.5 if there is a problem and you take it to the genius bar for replacement, you'd have to get a new one shipped to you, rather than pick up a new one right away from in the store, right?

Yeah, I could see how that would be annoying.

I guess my question was more of since I'm limited really to the 21.5 models, would an i5 BTO be worth the $200 to "future proof" my iMac for the next 4 to 5 years? Or is it not worth it, and I should just go for the i3 3.2ghz?
Click to expand...

Yeah, see a stock machine is a bit easier to return. Also, the stock machines are now in stock at Amazon, which is really really easy to return.

To return a BTO machine to Apple, you have to get bounced around between CSRs and service people until they finally decide yours is faulty.
 
diegobgr said:
Hi.

I will get my new iMac next week.

I am going to get an advanced 21,5" but I doubt if I should get i5.

With the increase I can get a needed for me Time Capsule (but I also can get it later, maybe October...). So if I can save the i5, it's good.

I will use iMac for photo work and editing and gaming (at least I will game until a year and half more or less)
Click to expand...

The core i5 is not worth it, save your money.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901

The Core i3 is clearly the winner here.For price vs performance.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/16

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2010/2...ni-review.html

Tests for the entry level i3 540 of the base mac.
This is not even the i3 550, and you can already see the improvement. The i3 would provide about a %10 increase in performance over the i3 540 give or take.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...3-540-clarkdale-lga1156-processor-review.html
 
I will go to the store tomorrow.

Or I can wait and buy it trought Apple Store on Monday, and get i5.

Anyone has another opinion?
 
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