Is this a powerful Imac?

[cootersgarage6]

Here are the SPECS
3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading
16GB of ram (I will be doing this, it comes with 4-8 GB's)
500GB or 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA hard drive

SCREEN/GRAPHICS

Built-in 21.5-inch (viewable) LED-backlit glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix liquid crystal display with IPS technology
Resolution: 1920 by 1080 pixels
Typical brightness: 330 cd/m2
One FireWire 800 port; 7 watts
Four USB 2.0 ports
SDXC card slot
Millions of colors at all resolutions
Typical viewing angle: 178° horizontal; 178° vertical
16:9 aspect ratio



CONNECTIONS AND EXPANSIONS
Connections and expansion

One FireWire 800 port; 7 watts
Four USB 2.0 ports
SDXC card slot 64GB

COMMUNICATIONS
Communications
AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking;2 IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

GRAPHICS AND VIDEO SUPPORT:
ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory

OPTICAL DRIVE
Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Writes DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs at up to 4x speed
Writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 8x speed
Writes DVD-RW discs at up to 6x speed and DVD+RW discs at up to 8x speed
Reads DVDs at up to 8x speed
Writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed
Writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed
Reads CDs at up to 24x speed

 

[TwinCities Dan]

Yes?

 

[Earendil]

It's powerful when doing word processing.
It's not powerful when rendering trillions of vertices for a single frame in a 60fps HD Film.

What do you intend to use it for?

Or, What are you comparing it to?

 

[cootersgarage6]

It's powerful when doing word processing.
It's not powerful when rendering trillions of vertices for a single frame in a 60fps HD Film.

What do you intend to use it for?

Or, What are you comparing it to?

Look, Lol. I am not wanting it to launch NASA rockets, I need it for Imovie, sometimes a little Photoshop, and a crap load of syncing to Ipads, Iphones, and Ipods, and downloading Itunes music fast, and downloads fast. I am comparing it to the mid range computers on the market. I'm saying, it's at least one step in head of the MINIMAL requirements for the latest software right? (Photoshop, adobe CS5, Ilife, Iwork).... because at my high school we only trust macs, but we do have PC's that havent been replaced. the are 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chips,and they are running CS5, CS3, and the newest photoshop fine.

I just want it for like I said, exporting screenflow videos (which takes FOREVER on my 2.0GHz intel core duo 2GB RAM macbook from '06), and web browsing at the same time, that's about it.


I am really only concerned with the intel chip speed, that's the only thing that bothers me when it comes to computers, lol always worried....

Thanks!

 

[Earendil]

Without doing much research myself, I would suggest you try and find your current computer and the iMac in question on http://barefeats.com/
They generally do CPU and Video tests. This should give you an idea how much faster the iMac is.

FYI: The iMac has the next generation CPU architecture in it. Outside of the ghz bump, it also has that going for it. It'll be more than 50% faster than your macbook at crunching raw data. Whether you will see more than a 50% increase in work produced on the machine is something different

Perhaps someone else can be more help than me

 

[cootersgarage6]

Without doing much research myself, I would suggest you try and find your current computer and the iMac in question on http://barefeats.com/
They generally do CPU and Video tests. This should give you an idea how much faster the iMac is.

FYI: The iMac has the next generation CPU architecture in it. Outside of the ghz bump, it also has that going for it. It'll be more than 50% faster than your macbook at crunching raw data. Whether you will see more than a 50% increase in work produced on the machine is something different

Perhaps someone else can be more help than me

Thank you! You have been a lot of help, I was just wondering another thing: so compared to other CONSUMER desktops this computer has some "next generation" things in it right?

I just want to be like one step in head, even if it's the screen quality. Lol.... at least for a couple months I want to have a computer that a lot can envy.

 

[RRmalvado]

Thank you! You have been a lot of help, I was just wondering another thing: so compared to other CONSUMER desktops this computer has some "next generation" things in it right?

I just want to be like one step in head, even if it's the screen quality. Lol.... at least for a couple months I want to have a computer that a lot can envy.

The bolded here is a terrible (being nice) reason but I guess to each his own.

You'll be fine with this particular iMac in regards to what you want to do with it.

 

[Earendil]

I just want to be like one step in head, even if it's the screen quality. Lol.... at least for a couple months I want to have a computer that a lot can envy.

See, here's the thing with technology like this. The people that you will have a better computer than will not know enough to envy you, and the people that know enough to envy you, will always have a better computer

And yes, the Core i3 (and i5/i7) Are the latest chip architecture from Intel in the consumer market. They are faster than Core2 Duo's htz for htz. You can rest assured that it is far from being a slow computer, and will crunch video faster than your macbook.