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iMac Upgrade vs. i7 iMac (2009)

D

dexthageek

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 7, 2007
391
0
At first I panicked, when I saw the changes to the iMacs. I only purchased by i7 refurb a month ago. However, after looking at the specs on the high-end, it is what I (and others) was expecting.

1. Minor GPU Upgrade
2. Minor CPU Upgrade

The extra VRAM would be nice, but more importantly we need better ATI drivers for OSX to bring graphic performance on par with windows.

It looks like Apple is now using the i7-870 (2.93Ghz) vs the i7-860(2.8Ghz)
Not much of an improvement there.

So all I can say is I am still very Happy with my i7 iMac (2009)

It is nice to see Apple did not increase prices on the iMac line.
 
For the quad core 27 inch, there is no point upgrading - I was going to be replacing my MBP with this update; however, it didn't have what I wanted: HDMI, USB 3.0, (Blu ray - this will never happen) and a significant update to the GPU / CPU, so I'm waiting for the Sandy Bridge iMac.
 
hmm.... can anybody answer me this? I'm disappointed by the upgrade, especially the graphic card. Did they degrade themselves on this?

last generation graphic specs
Manufacturer ATI
Mobility Radeon HD 4850
Codename M98
Pipelines 800 - unified
Core Speed * 500 MHz
Shader Speed * 500 MHz
Memory Speed * 850 MHz
Memory Bus Width 256 Bit
Memory Type GDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory 1024 MB


And this generation

Manufacturer ATI
Mobility Radeon HD 5750
Codename Madison-XT
Pipelines 400 - unified
Core Speed * 550 MHz
Shader Speed * 550 MHz
Memory Speed * 1600 MHz
Memory Bus Width 128 Bit
Memory Type DDR, GDDR3, GDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory 1024 MB

core speed is a little faster, but pipelines are down to 50%

I was planning to get the new imac refresh, but looking at these specs, should I be buying the last generation imac instead?
 
Sorry I cannot answer any questions above for I do not know the answers but

I bought an iMac end of June, base 21.5. Put 4 gb of extra ram in myself. I always like the best new things so please help me out, this new refresh isn't anything major is it?
 
Corey213 said:
Sorry I cannot answer any questions above for I do not know the answers but

I bought an iMac end of June, base 21.5. Put 4 gb of extra ram in myself. I always like the best new things so please help me out, this new refresh isn't anything major is it?
Click to expand...

If you like the best new things, why did you buy the base model? :confused:

Either way...it's not a major upgrade by any means, but it's up to you if you feel you need to buy a new computer every month.
 
sadcamper said:
If you like the best new things, why did you buy the base model? :confused:

Either way...it's not a major upgrade by any means, but it's up to you if you feel you need to buy a new computer every month.
Click to expand...

I'd say it's major eliminating Core 2 Duo and now starting at Core i3 for the first time. It's a pretty significant performance upgrade over the old base model. But it really depends what you do with your computer whether you would really notice it or not.

Those who really needed the performance would have bought the i5 or i7 last gen anyway.
 
Boy, was I confused to see an Update so soon.

But I am more than glad now that the specs are out.

Lets see:

USB3.0 = was rumored, but nothing at all. Fine by me.
Blueray = Didnt exprect it, and dont think that it will be soon.
CPU = basicly the same. I did buy the high end model. So my i7 is also 2.93 (I think)
GPU = now thats a funny thing :) So yes, its Series5 from AmdAti, and besides that? Well the 4850 is faster XD
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Vergleich-mobiler-Grafikkarten.358.0.html

The 27" is the same, the gorgious display is the same. So 4me, no worries.
Still lovin it.

Cheers Tod
 
Probably not worth upgrading from the previous refresh, but from any before that it definitely is. Major step up going for the i3 and dedicated graphics in the low end from the core 2 duo and integrated nVidia graphics imo!
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
TerrorOFdeath said:
Boy, was I confused to see an Update so soon.

But I am more than glad now that the specs are out.

Lets see:

USB3.0 = was rumored, but nothing at all. Fine by me.
Blueray = Didnt exprect it, and dont think that it will be soon.
CPU = basicly the same. I did buy the high end model. So my i7 is also 2.93 (I think)
GPU = now thats a funny thing :) So yes, its Series5 from AmdAti, and besides that? Well the 4850 is faster XD
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Vergleich-mobiler-Grafikkarten.358.0.html

The 27" is the same, the gorgious display is the same. So 4me, no worries.
Still lovin it.

Cheers Tod
Click to expand...

the 5750 is better then the 4850, it not a mobility gpu... and now your i7 is not 2.93ghz, its 2.8ghz
 
TerrorOFdeath said:
Boy, was I confused to see an Update so soon.

But I am more than glad now that the specs are out.

Lets see:

USB3.0 = was rumored, but nothing at all. Fine by me.
Blueray = Didnt exprect it, and dont think that it will be soon.
CPU = basicly the same. I did buy the high end model. So my i7 is also 2.93 (I think)
GPU = now thats a funny thing :) So yes, its Series5 from AmdAti, and besides that? Well the 4850 is faster XD
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Vergleich-mobiler-Grafikkarten.358.0.html

The 27" is the same, the gorgious display is the same. So 4me, no worries.
Still lovin it.

Cheers Tod
Click to expand...

The new screen is IPS I was not aware that last year had that!
 
Corey213 said:
Sorry I cannot answer any questions above for I do not know the answers but

I bought an iMac end of June, base 21.5. Put 4 gb of extra ram in myself. I always like the best new things so please help me out, this new refresh isn't anything major is it?
Click to expand...

The ATI GPU in the new base iMac is better than the 9400m in my wife's prior base 21.5.

Cheers,
 
IIRC you have a slow integrated GPU, the new discrete one is a BIG deal in comparison, sorry! Just dont tell anyone! :p hehe
 
henrikrox said:
the 5750 is better then the 4850, it not a mobility gpu... and now your i7 is not 2.93ghz, its 2.8ghz
Click to expand...

Sorry to tell you this, but thats wrong. Off course its a Mobile Version. Like Hell they would put an normal GPU in the iMac XD.

Ok CPU my bad, but still no biggy.

Hmm, IPS Panel.. didnt the "old" 27" have those too?
But i must say its good enough, and i also have ps3 hooked up on it.

Tod
 
TerrorOFdeath said:
Sorry to tell you this, but thats wrong. Off course its a Mobile Version. Like Hell they would put an normal GPU in the iMac XD.

Ok CPU my bad, but still no biggy.

Hmm, IPS Panel.. didnt the "old" 27" have those too?
But i must say its good enough, and i also have ps3 hooked up on it.

Tod
Click to expand...

Some rumors seem to indicate that it may be a desktop 5750 that is simply underclocked.
 
TerrorOFdeath said:
Sorry to tell you this, but thats wrong. Off course its a Mobile Version. Like Hell they would put an normal GPU in the iMac XD.

Ok CPU my bad, but still no biggy.

Hmm, IPS Panel.. didnt the "old" 27" have those too?
But i must say its good enough, and i also have ps3 hooked up on it.

Tod
Click to expand...

I think it will be the desktop one underclocked this time!

<thread hijacking> Have you found a way to get 1080p from the HDMI on your ps3? </thread hijacking>
 
leman said:
Oh, but they did. They bumped the price of the quad-core model by 200€, at least here in Germany
Click to expand...

And in Portugal (from 1829€ to 2029€) and in most Euro-countries...

I even doubt if it is worth buying the 2010 with the Late 2009 next to it :mad:
 
propsd said:
And in Portugal (from 1829€ to 2029€) and in most Euro-countries...

I even doubt if it is worth buying the 2010 with the Late 2009 next to it :mad:
Click to expand...

Yes, I kind of regret not having bought the 2009 i7 model long long time ago... as I run lots of statistical simulations, the HT would really help, but now I have to pay a large premium for marginal speed increase...
 
leman said:
Yes, I kind of regret not having bought the 2009 i7 model long long time ago... as I run lots of statistical simulations, the HT would really help, but now I have to pay a large premium for marginal speed increase...
Click to expand...

I'm seriously considering buying the 2009 i7... It will be cheaper than the new Quad i5 and probably with some kind of discount.
 
DannyBres said:
England went from 1634 to 1649! :D
Click to expand...
That's because whilst the Euro has fallen recently quite badly against the Dollar the Pound has only slipped from $1.60 to $1.55 or so. As a bonus the Eurozone will be cheaper to holiday in this year :)
 
I think there were a few small upgrades that have added up to a bigger update than I thought. The dual hard drive SSD is the biggest update if you can handle the $750 cost.

I think a 27" iMac with 2.93GHz Quad i7 (8 virtual cores), 16GB RAM, 1GB ATI HD5750, 256GB SSD and 2TB hard drive is a significant boost over the old 27".
 
opera57 said:
Probably not worth upgrading from the previous refresh, but from any before that it definitely is. Major step up going for the i3 and dedicated graphics in the low end from the core 2 duo and integrated nVidia graphics imo!
signature_silverapple.jpg
Click to expand...

The i3 isn't a big deal (not when compared to the e8600 3.33 model). The i5 upgrade that's now available for the 21.5 at 3.xghz is huge though. That model will probably bring on a lot of purchases from those who were waiting for something powerful in the smaller model.

Oddly, it's faster (as far as I can tell, without the processor details) than the one in the 27" model.
 
leman said:
Yes, I kind of regret not having bought the 2009 i7 model long long time ago... as I run lots of statistical simulations, the HT would really help, but now I have to pay a large premium for marginal speed increase...
Click to expand...

Just get a refurb i7 (2009) They are available in the US store for $1849
 
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