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Looking to upgrade from white iMac/7600GT to new 8800GS version

S

Shivetya

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
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and the questions I had were.

Anyone else made this change? I am not so much concerned with the processor speed jump as the video card; yes I game on this machine - usually just WOW under OS X or on the odd occasion some older windows only games on the flip side.

What I am curious about is, is the performance jump big enough to justify the jump? How long did it take you to adjust to the glossy screen over the matte screen? I am hoping for barefeats to test the two versus each other in the future.

Also, do the aluminum versions give off a lot of heat?
 
If WoW is your only concern I don't really see how you would benefit from it...

Seems like you could just wait another upgrade cycle and save the money, since your needs are not really demanding another computer?
 
Jiddick ExRex said:
If WoW is your only concern I don't really see how you would benefit from it...

Seems like you could just wait another upgrade cycle and save the money, since your needs are not really demanding another computer?
Click to expand...

Well I tend to run two to three copies at once :)

Besides I would like to move all my PC gaming to one machine, meaning being able to play Half Life 2 and similar intensive FPS games. Right now I am maintaining a windows machine mainly as my music is there and it is for games that run dog slow on my iMac
 
I think it depends what your priorities are, and how much you can get for the resale of your white 7600 GT model.

I did exactly what you're suggesting, or at least the first half so far. I sold my 24" 2.16 w/ 7600 GT to upgrade. I've been holding off on pulling the trigger a) because of the screen issues, which I've seen first hand, and b) to hopefully take advantage of the back-to-school iPod rebate next month.

In your position, I would upgrade if a) you won't be dissapointed with an inferior screen, or at least you would be willing to trade off an inferior screen for improved graphical performance, and b) if you can sell your White 24" for good money.

Assuming you've upgraded to 4 GB of ram and that yours is a 2.33 model in good condition with all original packaging you could probably upgrade for a few hundred dollars.

As to whether you will notice a difference running multiple copies of World of Warcraft at the same time, there is absolutely no doubt you would benefit greatly upgrading to the 8800.
 
I'm actually more curious if an 8800 card will work in the white iMac :)
Thats how I read your title at least.

In THEORY .. it could work.. Video card replacement is cake in these things, there just needs to be a "pin compatible" card.
 
2-3 times faster? I seriously doubt it. Maybe if you are running at native resolution with everything maxed. Maybe. At lower settings the difference is going to be far less, and given how good the 7600 was (still is, really) probably not noticeable (I mean, you'll get more fps, but I would imagine the 7600 already gives you enough fps that the eye couldn't perceive more).
 
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Picture 4.png
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So 2-3 times, at least as far as modern 3Dmark scores. Game wise YMMV.
 
flopticalcube said:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

View attachment 115113
View attachment 115114
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So 2-3 times, at least as far as modern 3Dmark scores. Game wise YMMV.
Click to expand...

Interesting stats, I still may wait for barefeats to do their testing.


Why do so many people say that the current 24" panels are worse than the older ones?

FWIW, my machine is one of the 2.13 C2D, 3gb ram (thats the max), 250gb hdd, and 7600Gt. It works well for simple games (read:wow) but I unloaded windows off of it after seeing that HL:2 and similar just about balked
 
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