Is the "extreme" 2.8ghz CPU upgrade recommended?

[ndriver182]

I've pretty much convinced myself to go with the new 24" iMac. I was primarily considering the standard 24" model with standard specs, but I'm anticipating a little bit more cash coming my way before the purchase than I originally was planning on so now I'm a little curious about the 2.8 ghz upgrade. I know that once you've got the CPU in there that's it... no upgrades.

So my question is whether that extra 400 mhz will be worth the money. It would obviously make the computer more "future proof". Could it help at all running any games under boot camp? I know the GPU isn't the greatest, but it's looking like the GPU isn't AS bad as originally thought so maybe that extra CPU power would help performance.

I'm not huge into video or photo editing and don't play games TOO often on the computer these days since I mostly play consoles, but at the same time I try not to back myself into too much of a corner when it comes to hardware you can't upgrade. At the same time... if that extra power wouldn't get utilized and just be considered bragging right I don't think I'd want to spend the money. Plus, what's up with the 4-6 waiting period for the 2.8 ghz upgrade?

 

[Toddgabweg]

I've pretty much convinced myself to go with the new 24" iMac. I was primarily considering the standard 24" model with standard specs, but I'm anticipating a little bit more cash coming my way before the purchase than I originally was planning on so now I'm a little curious about the 2.8 ghz upgrade. I know that once you've got the CPU in there that's it... no upgrades.

So my question is whether that extra 400 mhz will be worth the money. It would obviously make the computer more "future proof". Could it help at all running any games under boot camp? I know the GPU isn't the greatest, but it's looking like the GPU isn't AS bad as originally thought so maybe that extra CPU power would help performance.

I'm not huge into video or photo editing and don't play games TOO often on the computer these days since I mostly play consoles, but at the same time I try not to back myself into too much of a corner when it comes to hardware you can't upgrade. At the same time... if that extra power wouldn't get utilized and just be considered bragging right I don't think I'd want to spend the money. Plus, what's up with the 4-6 waiting period for the 2.8 ghz upgrade?

I went with the 2.8 ghz because I am a teacher an with the education discount it was worth the slight increase for the extra hard drive space, extra memory and speed increase. 4-6 week waiting period? I ordered mine last Tuesday I should have it by this Tuesday.

 

[ndriver182]

I went with the 2.8 ghz because I am a teacher an with the education discount it was worth the slight increase for the extra hard drive space, extra memory and speed increase. 4-6 week waiting period? I ordered mine last Tuesday I should have it by this Tuesday.

The 4-6 time period it was giving me may have been because I was adding the upgraded processor to the 2.4ghz model as opposed to going with the pre-built 2.8 ghz model...

 

[frick]

The extra CPU power will not help game performance, except at very low resolutions. The 2600 Pro is the system's major bottleneck.

 

[A Pittarelli]

i have a 3ghz c2d, a 6850 i beleive, in my pc and i dont notice much difference than the 6600 that i had it in before so i would say skip the upgrade. c2ds are super fast at any clock

 

[ndriver182]

Ok, so what you're all saying basically is to just get the base 24" model and save the cash I would've spent on the CPU upgrade and spend that in more useful areas like another 1-2 gigs of RAM (probably not through the Apple store). Hard drive space isn't an issue for me since I have exteral drives I can use if need be.

 

[velocityg4]

Ok, so what you're all saying basically is to just get the base 24" model and save the cash I would've spent on the CPU upgrade and spend that in more useful areas like another 1-2 gigs of RAM (probably not through the Apple store). Hard drive space isn't an issue for me since I have exteral drives I can use if need be.

Yes a RAM upgrade would be much more useful for you. You could purchase another 1GB chip off of Newegg.com for between $40 and $50 or go 4GB for $230. If your printer is getting old I would say get the 2.4 iMac, 3rd party memory and a really nice all in one printer.

Just throwing out another possibility, nothing beats a fully refreshed computer system.

As opposed to replacing a few parts at a time. Not in the broader sense of nothing in life is better than a fully refreshed computer system, since I can think of many things better than that.

 

[ndriver182]

Yes a RAM upgrade would be much more useful for you. You could purchase another 1GB chip off of Newegg.com for between $40 and $50 or go 4GB for $230. If your printer is getting old I would say get the 2.4 iMac, 3rd party memory and a really nice all in one printer.

Just throwing out another possibility, nothing beats a fully refreshed computer system.

As opposed to replacing a few parts at a time. Not in the broader sense of nothing in life is better than a fully refreshed computer system, since I can think of many things better than that.

I'm not sure I follow the printer upgrade option. In any case, I actually have an all-in-one already that works well for me so I don't really need that. However, adding another 1-3 gigs of RAM does interest me more. Any particular brands to focus on or stay away from?

 

[BWhaler]

I went with the 2.8, and it has already shipped. I should get it in a couple of days.

I will also upgrade to 4 gigs to make this beauty purrr...

 

[Outcast-au]

I seem to be saying this in every forum these days.

Get the 2.8Ghz ... You cannot upgrade parts in an iMac (memory excepted). So in 12-18 months time you'll be loving your 2.8 over the 2.4. Memory you can upgrade at anytime with after market stuff.

My 2c.

 

[rainydays]

Get the 2.8Ghz ... You cannot upgrade parts in an iMac (memory excepted). So in 12-18 months time you'll be loving your 2.8 over the 2.4. Memory you can upgrade at anytime with after market stuff.

For average usage, the 2.8 upgrade is a waste of money really. It does make a difference if you do a lot of CPU-intensive tasks.
Not saying that you don't have a point. And I might regret not getting the 2.8 since I do a lot of CPU-intensive tasks. But I bet the average user won't notice the difference, even over a period of 3 years. With the exception of marginally shorter encoding of videos and music.

 

[diamond.g]

Personally the C2D Extreme is a huge slap in you guy's face. The whole point of the proc is the unlocked mulitplier. It is an overclockers chip. And you have no way of unleashing it's true power. Those are golden sample chips that would happily run at 3.4-3.6 GHz on air with no VDD bump. Shoot even the E6600 runs at 3+GHz on air, and that is just with FSB increases.

The C2D line is so efficient with power that most people don't even have to replace their stock cooling systems for those clocks. Ah, I miss the good ole' days of the perfect overclock. It was probably more fun than actually using the systems I built.

 

[velocityg4]

I'm not sure I follow the printer upgrade option. In any case, I actually have an all-in-one already that works well for me so I don't really need that. However, adding another 1-3 gigs of RAM does interest me more. Any particular brands to focus on or stay away from?

This 1GB Chip has customer reviews listing it as working in their iMac's. I also have never had any problems with G.Skill

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231069

As for 2x2GB

These should work as G.Skill memory usually works in Macs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135

These are listed as mac compatible.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146684

As for those saying you can not upgrade anything other than the RAM that is untrue. You can always upgrade the hard drive yourself and unless they changed things with this iMac you should be able to pull the CPU and replace it with another Core 2 Duo processor later on, though I don't know if the new iMac is Socket M or the new Socket P or if the processor is soldered on now. These upgrades will void your warranty of course, which I could care less about.

 

[roland.g]

I went with the 2.8

 

[MK25toLife]

I am going to be running my new iMac pretty hard with music/audio programs that require a lot of CPU, I already plan on upgrading to 4GB of RAM, but do you think 2.8 is really necessary? I'll probably be using this thing almost everyday, doing a lot of .WAV editing and using a digital audio workstation such as Pro Tools. Just want to get an idea if the 2.8 is really needed w/4GB of RAM.

 

[jesteraver]

I want to see a couple results with geekbench.

2.4 GHz w/4 GB
2.8 GHz w/2 GB
2.8 GHz w/4 GB

For sure the 2.8 GHz w/4 GB will run faster.

I wonder how much faster the 2.8 GHz w/2 GB will compare to a 2.4 GHz w/4 GB. I'll be very surprised if the results come back, that they are pretty close.

 

[Broken Friday]

You 2.8 consumers are getting suckered.

 

[ndriver182]

I actually pulled the trigger on the 24" 2.4ghz last night and am anxiously awaiting new shipping info... hopefully it'll show up sooner than later.

I decided against the 2.8 because of the money and simply due to the fact that I really don't think it'll be necessary for me. I do plan to max out at 4 gigs of RAM though once I get it since I purchased with the measly 1 gig.

*Side question* Are there just two RAM slots on these units like on the MBP's? So I'll have to pull the 1gb stick and replace with 2x2GB?

Knowing how I am with computers I'll probably end up keeping the iMac for a couple of years and selling it to upgrade to the next big thing barring unforeseen financial difficulties... lol. I just love tech too much. Some people always buy new cars. I go through tech. I think it's an illness.

 

[CBAviator]

I've pretty much convinced myself to go with the new 24" iMac. I was primarily considering the standard 24" model with standard specs, but I'm anticipating a little bit more cash coming my way before the purchase than I originally was planning on so now I'm a little curious about the 2.8 ghz upgrade. I know that once you've got the CPU in there that's it... no upgrades.

So my question is whether that extra 400 mhz will be worth the money. It would obviously make the computer more "future proof". Could it help at all running any games under boot camp? I know the GPU isn't the greatest, but it's looking like the GPU isn't AS bad as originally thought so maybe that extra CPU power would help performance.

I'm not huge into video or photo editing and don't play games TOO often on the computer these days since I mostly play consoles, but at the same time I try not to back myself into too much of a corner when it comes to hardware you can't upgrade. At the same time... if that extra power wouldn't get utilized and just be considered bragging right I don't think I'd want to spend the money. Plus, what's up with the 4-6 waiting period for the 2.8 ghz upgrade?

4-6 week waiting period? It's probably because you selected the wireless keyboard. Take that off and it should dramatically decrease your shipping time.

 

[ndriver182]

4-6 week waiting period? It's probably because you selected the wireless keyboard. Take that off and it should dramatically decrease your shipping time.

Yeah, that's what the problem was... figured it out a couple days ago. That being said the Apple site is saying my current order won't be delivered for at least another 1-2 weeks... ugh

 

[bousozoku]

You 2.8 consumers are getting suckered.

I don't believe so. It's tough enough to keep a machine from being obsolete and an all-in-one product like an iMac has less of a chance. The Extreme 2.8 GHz processor will give them some extra time.

They can add RAM anytime, but they might not be able to replace the processor. How quickly do processor pin configurations change? Too quickly, I'd say.

 

[diamond.g]

I don't believe so. It's tough enough to keep a machine from being obsolete and an all-in-one product like an iMac has less of a chance. The Extreme 2.8 GHz processor will give them some extra time.

They can add RAM anytime, but they might not be able to replace the processor. How quickly do processor pin configurations change? Too quickly, I'd say.

The mobile platform's pin config doesn't change that often physically (or at least it hasn't since the Pentium M was introduced AFAIK). Electrically I think it changes more often, but there is very little rhyme or reason sometimes (see Pentium M socket compatibility with Core Duo and even some Core 2 Duo chips).

I just find using the Extreme processor as overkill (price wise) especially since it can run faster than 2.8 (by more than 400mhz) and since you can't overclock it yourself (can you overclock any Mac in OS X?).

 

[rds]

You 2.8 consumers are getting suckered.

What an utterly pointless post. If you are going to spout such nonsense, you should at least justify as to why people are "getting suckered."

 

[ascender]

If you can afford it, why not max out the processor? Especially in a system where you can't upgrade it at a later date. Obviously if money is tight, there's other components to look at first, but if you have the money, then why not future proof yourself a little bit more by getting the fastest CPU available?

 

[bousozoku]

The mobile platform's pin config doesn't change that often physically (or at least it hasn't since the Pentium M was introduced AFAIK). Electrically I think it changes more often, but there is very little rhyme or reason sometimes (see Pentium M socket compatibility with Core Duo and even some Core 2 Duo chips).

I just find using the Extreme processor as overkill (price wise) especially since it can run faster than 2.8 (by more than 400mhz) and since you can't overclock it yourself (can you overclock any Mac in OS X?).

Of course, any "ultimate" processor upgrade is going to be overly pricey without being as much as you expected because of the iMac's shape and heat constraints.

I'm sure that you could overclock the thing, if there is source code available on another system but would you dare at the processor cost?