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iMac 24" Purchase Help!

U

uzit

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 15, 2008
196
0
After the disappointment 2day, I am looking to get a 24" iMac with the 8800GS Graphic card. Do you think it will is worth the upgrade for the graphics card? I will be play WoW and on Bootcamp, I will be playing Fallout/LOTRO/Warhammer online and so on.

I will be getting it with the UK HE Discount and I was told it will cost me £1055.00 which is not bad.

OOR should I wait...:p
 
It's a good machine, I'd be buying one myself but the outdated 800MHz FSB speed puts me off. It's like buying outdated tech as far as I'm concerned, for this reason I'm happy to hold off buying because my late '06 Macbook runs an 800Mhz FSB and a 2GHz C2D that plays WoW at a constant 30FPS in cities at 1280x800 resolution, even on the el crappo GMA950 graphics card.

If you are going to buy though, my advice would be to stump up the extra £103 to get the 3.06Ghz CPU. The reason for this is simple, the more you pay up front generally means the machine will last longer. On a UK HE discount that's £1158. Still very reasonable for a 24" iMac imho.

Just consider that the machine has been out since April 2008. There have been massive improvements in graphics technology available to the Mac, not least DX10 graphics cards which will add to your eye candy in BootCamp. Also, as aforementioned, the processors are outdated, as are the chipsets. Holding out for an nVidia chipset could do massive things for your framerates for the same price you'd pay now. Personally, I wouldn't ever buy a Mac after the first six months of its release. If you wait that long, you may as well wait for the next revision (unless we're talking about Mac minis, then you may as well wait for the day of reckoning :rolleyes:).
 
Theophany, the current iMacs have a 1066Mhz FSB - they are overclocked Penryns.

uzit, I got a 8800GS and it's worth every bit! If you're gonna do some gaming, I suggest you go for the 8800GS as the upgrade is worth it - Snow Leopard also takes advantage of the GPU, so the 8800GS is going to make you very happy :)

Currently I run these games on Bootcamp XP SP3, all on 19200x1200 and all details high with AA off:

Bioshock, Tomb Raider Underworld, Assassin's Creed, Left4Dead, Fallout 3 and C&C Red Alert 3.

Currently the 8800GS (8800M GTS I think) support DirectX 10 - the 9800GS (or 9800M GTS) are pretty much a rebadge, with minor improvements. The new Montevina iMacs are gonna run at the same Ghz, but with lower power consumption.

I can also assume that the new iMacs are gonna have DDR3 Ram, LED backlit LCD (comes at a premium) and the 9600/9800 GPU - maybe an aesthetic change to the stand (slanted like the ACD). If you don't live in the US, then the new iMacs are gonna cost more - in Australia the updated Macbooks cost around $500 extra due to the economy.

I just bought my first mac (iMac) 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier!
 
Thanks for the input guys!

I have a budget of a £1000, the 2.8Ghz model after the HE Discount costs £978 and with the 8800GS card it will cost £1055, I can just about afford that. But I am tempted to go with the 3.06ghz, is there a big difference between the two?
 
uzit said:
Thanks for the input guys!

I have a budget of a £1000, the 2.8Ghz model after the HE Discount costs £978 and with the 8800GS card it will cost £1055, I can just about afford that. But I am tempted to go with the 3.06ghz, is there a big difference between the two?
Click to expand...

For the CPU, no not really, not for the price increase anyway.

Definitely get the 8800 though, huge increase between the ATi and that.
 
iStress said:
Theophany, the current iMacs have a 1066Mhz FSB - they are overclocked Penryns.

uzit, I got a 8800GS and it's worth every bit! If you're gonna do some gaming, I suggest you go for the 8800GS as the upgrade is worth it - Snow Leopard also takes advantage of the GPU, so the 8800GS is going to make you very happy :)

Currently I run these games on Bootcamp XP SP3, all on 19200x1200 and all details high with AA off:

Bioshock, Tomb Raider Underworld, Assassin's Creed, Left4Dead, Fallout 3 and C&C Red Alert 3.

Currently the 8800GS (8800M GTS I think) support DirectX 10 - the 9800GS (or 9800M GTS) are pretty much a rebadge, with minor improvements. The new Montevina iMacs are gonna run at the same Ghz, but with lower power consumption.

I can also assume that the new iMacs are gonna have DDR3 Ram, LED backlit LCD (comes at a premium) and the 9600/9800 GPU - maybe an aesthetic change to the stand (slanted like the ACD). If you don't live in the US, then the new iMacs are gonna cost more - in Australia the updated Macbooks cost around $500 extra due to the economy.

I just bought my first mac (iMac) 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier!
Click to expand...

If they do speedbump the iMac's, it won't be DDR3, only when Nehalem gets in them will it be forced to go to that.

A speedbump will see true-Montevina, perhaps 3.33ghz, 9800 at the topend and DDR2, theres a small chance they'll allow 6 or 8gb of it, but 4 is pretty fine imo
 
With Calpella arriving soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see the new iMacs releasing in Q3 09.

The current iMacs have a FSB of 1066MHz - which is the same as the Montevina chips, also, the 3.06Ghz overclocked iteration of the 2.8Ghz Santa Rosa/Penryn is the same as the Montevina's X9100 (6MB L2 cache, 1066Mhz FSB, 3.06Ghz) or the T9900 (released 1Q 09). The only difference between the current Santa Rosa/Penryn and the Montevina/Penryn is the wattage. So upgrading to the Montevina chips won't see drastic changes - similar to the updated macbooks.

Unless they go for the QX9300, which is a quad core Montevina with 12MB cache, 1066Mhz FSB and 3Ghz :D
 
iStress said:
Theophany, the current iMacs have a 1066Mhz FSB - they are overclocked Penryns.
Click to expand...

Exactly, so they're still 800Mhz FSB chips. If somebody offers you an overclocked 800Mhz chip or a native 1066Mhz chip, what are you going to choose?

Besides which, the RAM is still clocked at 800Mhz, so there is a performance bottleneck in that aspect.
 
iStress said:
Theophany, the current iMacs have a 1066Mhz FSB - they are overclocked Penryns.

uzit, I got a 8800GS and it's worth every bit! If you're gonna do some gaming, I suggest you go for the 8800GS as the upgrade is worth it - Snow Leopard also takes advantage of the GPU, so the 8800GS is going to make you very happy :)

Currently I run these games on Bootcamp XP SP3, all on 19200x1200 and all details high with AA off:

Bioshock, Tomb Raider Underworld, Assassin's Creed, Left4Dead, Fallout 3 and C&C Red Alert 3.

Currently the 8800GS (8800M GTS I think) support DirectX 10 - the 9800GS (or 9800M GTS) are pretty much a rebadge, with minor improvements. The new Montevina iMacs are gonna run at the same Ghz, but with lower power consumption.

I can also assume that the new iMacs are gonna have DDR3 Ram, LED backlit LCD (comes at a premium) and the 9600/9800 GPU - maybe an aesthetic change to the stand (slanted like the ACD). If you don't live in the US, then the new iMacs are gonna cost more - in Australia the updated Macbooks cost around $500 extra due to the economy.

I just bought my first mac (iMac) 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier!
Click to expand...


Glad to hear to say that.. Have just ordered a imac to with the 8800 upgrade and was afraid that even the 8800 card whould not be enough.. but since u play the same games as me i know i have made the right decision..
 
I own an iMac 24" 3.06Ghz 2.0Go RAM 800Mhz 500Go HD Nvidia 8800 GS. Since most of you are saying that the FSB chipset is a 800Mhz overclocked to 1066Mhz. My intent was to expand my memory to 4Go RAM. Would using 1066Mhz memory be a waste investing over the current 800Mhz or would it be still considered an upgrade in performance.

I got a few scenerios to decide from. 1st one being simply buying an extra 2Go ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB412G/B?mco=MzE3MDE0Mw ) of that 800Mhz which I assume is the same as the one installed in my iMac. 120$ each.

#2 would be to remove the current memory and replace it with 2 x 2Go 1066Mhz DDR3 PC3-8500 ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB786G/A?mco=MzE3MDE0NA ). 240$ for 2.

#3 would be to remove the current memory and replace it with 2 x 2Go 1066Mhz DDR3 ECC ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB981G/A?mco=MzE3NzU2Ng ). 120$ each.

All these options are similar in prices. Also which memory can or can't fit the iMac? Thanks.
 
Fltengr said:
I own an iMac 24" 3.06Ghz 2.0Go RAM 800Mhz 500Go HD Nvidia 8800 GS. Since most of you are saying that the FSB chipset is a 800Mhz overclocked to 1066Mhz. My intent was to expand my memory to 4Go RAM. Would using 1066Mhz memory be a waste investing over the current 800Mhz or would it be still considered an upgrade in performance.

I got a few scenerios to decide from. 1st one being simply buying an extra 2Go ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB412G/B?mco=MzE3MDE0Mw ) of that 800Mhz which I assume is the same as the one installed in my iMac. 120$ each.

#2 would be to remove the current memory and replace it with 2 x 2Go 1066Mhz DDR3 PC3-8500 ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB786G/A?mco=MzE3MDE0NA ). 240$ for 2.

#3 would be to remove the current memory and replace it with 2 x 2Go 1066Mhz DDR3 ECC ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB981G/A?mco=MzE3NzU2Ng ). 120$ each.

All these options are similar in prices. Also which memory can or can't fit the iMac? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Your iMac probably comes with two 1GB sticks, so you'll need two 2GB sticks. You can get them at many places - I just got 4GB of DDR2 800MHz at OWC for $50.

Regarding your other options, I do not believe that you can use DDR3 memory in the April 2008 iMacs, just the new ones. I believe that the slots have connectors in different positions.
 
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