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New iMac's are here! Which build specs are you going to get?
- Thread starter astigtigas
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The i5 680 over the i3 550 is looking like a waste of money.
In these tests the i5 660 is not much faster than the i3 550. Less than %10 percent in just about every test. Judging by the bench marks the i5 660 is around %7 faster judging by the benchmarks alone. Maybe even lower.
The i5 680 is around %3 percent or less faster than the i5 660 so we can estimate that the Core i5 680 is about %10 percent faster than the Core i3 550.
Here are some more tests. The Core i5 661 vs the Core i3 540. The results should be similar between the Core i5 680 and the Core i3 550 as the difference between clock speeds are about the same between all four pair of processors.
The consensus is that the Core i3 is the best value overall.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901
"Unlike the entry-level Lynnfield, you don't give up Hyper Threading with the Core i3 540 and 530. All you lose is Turbo. And since these are dual-core CPUs, Intel's Turbo Boost doesn't buy you all that much extra performance (+133MHz or +266MHz at most)."
And this pretty much sums it up:
"There isn't a single Core i5 I'd recommend, but the i3s are spot-on. "
Final comments.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/16
The performance difference between the two looks like even less than the E7600 3.06 and the E8600 3.33 C2D's from last year. The E8600 was a good %15 percent faster than the E7600.
In these tests the i5 660 is not much faster than the i3 550. Less than %10 percent in just about every test. Judging by the bench marks the i5 660 is around %7 faster judging by the benchmarks alone. Maybe even lower.
The i5 680 is around %3 percent or less faster than the i5 660 so we can estimate that the Core i5 680 is about %10 percent faster than the Core i3 550.
Here are some more tests. The Core i5 661 vs the Core i3 540. The results should be similar between the Core i5 680 and the Core i3 550 as the difference between clock speeds are about the same between all four pair of processors.
The consensus is that the Core i3 is the best value overall.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901
"Unlike the entry-level Lynnfield, you don't give up Hyper Threading with the Core i3 540 and 530. All you lose is Turbo. And since these are dual-core CPUs, Intel's Turbo Boost doesn't buy you all that much extra performance (+133MHz or +266MHz at most)."
And this pretty much sums it up:
"There isn't a single Core i5 I'd recommend, but the i3s are spot-on. "
Final comments.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/16
The performance difference between the two looks like even less than the E7600 3.06 and the E8600 3.33 C2D's from last year. The E8600 was a good %15 percent faster than the E7600.
Custom configuration
2.93GHZ QUAD-CORE INTELCORE I7
8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
2TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE+256GB SSD
ATI RADEON HD 5750 1GB GDDR5
8X DOUBLE-LAYER SUPERDRIVE
MAGIC MOUSE+MAGIC TRACKPAD
APPLE REMOTE
WL KB & USER'S GUIDE
COUNTRY KIT,IMAC 27-INCH
2.93GHZ QUAD-CORE INTELCORE I7
8GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
2TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE+256GB SSD
ATI RADEON HD 5750 1GB GDDR5
8X DOUBLE-LAYER SUPERDRIVE
MAGIC MOUSE+MAGIC TRACKPAD
APPLE REMOTE
WL KB & USER'S GUIDE
COUNTRY KIT,IMAC 27-INCH
Helllllllllp!
Dudeman, Hellhammer... I am totally confused. I read the articles referenced in your post above, Dudeman, but I wasn't sure if they were talking about ALL i5's. The 27" i3 is a lot more affordable for me, but I hate to get a dual core for "future" purposes; so I was thinking of going for the 27" Quad core i5. That is my top-end, moneywise, so I can't go for the i7 and frankly, I know I don't need it at this point.
I intend to use the imac for general purposes, obviously, but I have done and plan to do a fair amount of editing. When I last had the time to edit video at all, I was using FCP 3; didn't like it, so I've decided to downgrade myself and bought FCP Express. So that's what I'll be using. My last Apple desktop was a dual 1.25 ghz G4 Mirrored Door, with the old cinema display. I sold it in order to buy this imac. My editing will probably be HD, although I don't have the camera yet. (Still using a 10+ year old Sony DV 900 (?) great camera, 3ccd chip. Expensive back then!) However, I will not be getting into blue screen work or 3D, most likely.
Would you be so kind as to give me some advice? I'd like to make a decision tomorrow, and my local Best Buy actually has some i3's in stock... thanks for any advice you have or anyone, please, I'd love some input.
Dudeman, Hellhammer... I am totally confused. I read the articles referenced in your post above, Dudeman, but I wasn't sure if they were talking about ALL i5's. The 27" i3 is a lot more affordable for me, but I hate to get a dual core for "future" purposes; so I was thinking of going for the 27" Quad core i5. That is my top-end, moneywise, so I can't go for the i7 and frankly, I know I don't need it at this point.
I intend to use the imac for general purposes, obviously, but I have done and plan to do a fair amount of editing. When I last had the time to edit video at all, I was using FCP 3; didn't like it, so I've decided to downgrade myself and bought FCP Express. So that's what I'll be using. My last Apple desktop was a dual 1.25 ghz G4 Mirrored Door, with the old cinema display. I sold it in order to buy this imac. My editing will probably be HD, although I don't have the camera yet. (Still using a 10+ year old Sony DV 900 (?) great camera, 3ccd chip. Expensive back then!) However, I will not be getting into blue screen work or 3D, most likely.
Would you be so kind as to give me some advice? I'd like to make a decision tomorrow, and my local Best Buy actually has some i3's in stock... thanks for any advice you have or anyone, please, I'd love some input.
Just a couple of quick questions for all the iMac heads out there:
- Will the SSD be used as the main drive or the secondary drive for OS X? I would like to have OS X installed there while using the HDD for documents/media
- How much of a difference is there between the single core i5 and the quadcore i5, performance-wise?
- Will the SSD be used as the main drive or the secondary drive for OS X? I would like to have OS X installed there while using the HDD for documents/media
- How much of a difference is there between the single core i5 and the quadcore i5, performance-wise?
Just bought the
i7 2.93 ghz
8gb ram
ati raden 5750
1GB HDD
magic mouse and keyboard
magic trackpad
battery charger
Hopefully there will be a solution for aftermarket SSD's in the future. I really want a intel SSD.
Just me counting days until it arrives, its going to be a loooooong summer
i7 2.93 ghz
8gb ram
ati raden 5750
1GB HDD
magic mouse and keyboard
magic trackpad
battery charger
Hopefully there will be a solution for aftermarket SSD's in the future. I really want a intel SSD.
Just me counting days until it arrives, its going to be a loooooong summer
I am seriously looking at a refurbished 2009 i7. The prices just came down on the refurb site.
So in comparing an i7 refurb to a 2010 i5 Quad core, I would be saving $300. Now I would not get the new GPU with 1GB memory, nor would I have the benefit of the 1333 bus. But just from a value point of view, this seems to be the best bang for the buck right now. I think the old i7 is more powerful than the new i5, and there is not a big difference in GPU. Even the difference between a 2.8 and 2.93 i7 processor should not be that great.
Thoughts?
So in comparing an i7 refurb to a 2010 i5 Quad core, I would be saving $300. Now I would not get the new GPU with 1GB memory, nor would I have the benefit of the 1333 bus. But just from a value point of view, this seems to be the best bang for the buck right now. I think the old i7 is more powerful than the new i5, and there is not a big difference in GPU. Even the difference between a 2.8 and 2.93 i7 processor should not be that great.
Thoughts?
On the morning of the release I ordered the:
21.5 in.
i5 3.6ghz
8 gigs of ram
Radeon 5670
1 TB HD
I basically tried to soup this one up as much as I could justify in hopes that it will last me a long while.
To top it off it should be coming in the mail, TODAY.
21.5 in.
i5 3.6ghz
8 gigs of ram
Radeon 5670
1 TB HD
I basically tried to soup this one up as much as I could justify in hopes that it will last me a long while.
To top it off it should be coming in the mail, TODAY.
Congrats all who ordered 
,
How long is your shipping est. ? is showing for delivery ?
mine is 2nd.
, How long is your shipping est. ? is showing for delivery ?
mine is 2nd.
Congrats all who ordered
How long is your shipping est. ? is showing for delivery ?
mine is 2nd.
2-4 business days estimated delivery 8/2 - 8/6
So you chose the i5 in the end?
I'm also hesitating between three options:
1. New 27 inch i5
2. New 27 inch i7
3. Refurbished 27 inch i7 (late 2009)
I use my current computer for:
Surfing, work/administration, media centre, photo editing, some occasional video editing, quite a lot of video converting and DVD ripping for my media centre (this is where I'm excited about Handbrake performance with multiple cores) and gaming.
I want a computer that will last me at least 4 years. So I'm wondering if Hyperthreading is really worth it in order to have 4 extra virtual cores.
my config would in any case be:
1TB HD
4GB RAM (will upgrade later getting RAM cheaper at 3rd party retailer)
Wired keyboard (need to keypad)
Magic Mouse
My question is: what are the core differences between Radeon 4850 and 5750?
I hear 5750 is slightly faster and may take advantage of future OpenGL drivers and DX11. Anyone know what exactly?
As I just posted, am also hesitating here... my real only concern is build quality, after reading some horror stories on having to return late 2009s multiple times (even refurbs)..
I also wonder whether the radeon 4850 graphics card really is starting to be obsolete and if the 5750 really is better or not in the long run.
If you plan to keep your iMac for 4 years you should probably go for the new i7. The i7 with HT is a real treat when it comes to video encoding and in the future more and more applications will utilize the extra cores/HT.
Edit:
Also we'll probably see more and more OpenCL accelerated applications (the grapichs card offloads the CPU). The newer GPU (HD5750) have much better OpenCL support than HD4850. AMD/ATi has even admitted that the 4000 series is quite bad when it comes to OpenCL.
http://en.expreview.com/2009/12/24/amd-admits-opencl-performance-on-radeon-hd-4000-series/6205.html
Thanks for that, although I'm just as stuck as before
I was leaning towards refurb i7, as I think the value for money is really good. I don't game that much on my computer anymore so I'm not sure if the updated graphics card is really worth it. Of course, taking advantage of OpenCL might be good, but am wondering if a lot of future software will be taking advantage of this feature. Interesting article in any case.
Guess I'll wait for benchmark comparison before I take the plunge!