Refurb. iMac 24" 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo vs. Refurb. iMac 24" 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme

[WndrWmn78]

Okay, I thought I had my mind made up on the 2.8 refurb...and then today this Core 2 Extreme popped up in the Refurb Store...

Same specs, except for the "Extreme" card and a 500gb hard drive, vs. the 320gb hard drive.

The regular Core 2 Duo is $1199; the Extreme is $1299.

What do you think? Can you tell me what the difference in the processors is?

Thanks!

 

[Mike in Kansas]

Okay, I thought I had my mind made up on the 2.8 refurb...and then today this Core 2 Extreme popped up in the Refurb Store...

Same specs, except for the "Extreme" card and a 500gb hard drive, vs. the 320gb hard drive.

The regular Core 2 Duo is $1199; the Extreme is $1299.

What do you think? Can you tell me what the difference in the processors is?

Thanks!

That machine is actually from 2007. It has the slower front side bus (800 MHz versus 1067MHz for both the 2008 and 2009 iMacs) and also has slower DDR2 memory (667MHz versus 800MHz for the mosr recent 24"/2.8 refurb). It's an older processor and has slower architecture; it really isn't better than the 24"/2.8 early 2008 models.

 

[WndrWmn78]

Reading further, does the Extreme processor make it a 2007 model?

 

[WndrWmn78]

I wasn't fast enough...thanks Mike!

 

[Santabean2000]

Reading further, does the Extreme processor make it a 2007 model?

I have that model, yes it is from 2007.

The 'Extreme' part just means that it has been overclocked from the standard at the time.

Apart from running a little hot, 'real world' performance is not that different from the most recent 2.8GHz model, or even the top of the range one. Yes they have better graphics, but only really in the gaming world, (which I don't give two hoots for).

However for your purchase, get the later model - extra HDD space in the 'Extreme' should not be an issue (think external FW800 to make up any difference later as required).