Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sandy bridge impact on iMac - can anyone explan?

D

David79

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 2, 2010
2
0
I am about to spend a lot of money on a new iMac 27".

Just read the news on sandy bridge processors.
Can anyone explain what benefits the adoption of sandy bridge processors would mean?

I am primarily concerned with effects regarding performance of graphic.

CPU performance is not usually a bottleneck for me, so is sandy bridge a big deal for me or should I just go ahead and buy the present 27" iMac?
 
I don't expect that you'll see a huge difference in graphics with the new SB architecture over the current CPU's. I'm in the same boat as you, about to buy a new 27" i7 iMac. After reading the 100+ posts in the the other thread, I think I will do just fine with the current CPU's.
 
No regrets

I "pulled the rigger" a day or two ago for a iMac 27" i7 - and even with this news I am more than happy with my choice to buy now and not wait 'till later.

There is always something new just around the corner, and most times they don't change the playing field overnight, so when do you put upgrading off till?

Yes, I like new technology, I like the overall benefits that one gets in the long-run, but I'm not one to be right at the "cutting edge" - I like to be more "leading, but not bleeding".

So, I'd say go for what you want now. And I may have got this wrong, but reading the article, they seem to be saying this is all great news for a laptop/notebook - faster and better battery life, almost makes it as good as a desk top....

J.
 
read some benchmarks and reviews - you definitely want to wait!!

On the paper (OK, Ok for now its on the paper) SB looks creazy!
 
brachson said:
read some benchmarks and reviews - you definitely want to wait!!

On the paper (OK, Ok for now its on the paper) SB looks creazy!
Click to expand...


Wait until when? I get a kick out of people always making a blanket statement like the one you made.

If you need an IMac now, then buy one. If you don't really have the need for one, then wait. Plain and simple.

Everyones situation is different. Over the years I have always found that any computer I purchased was considered out of date shortly after I purchased it because there was always something new and improved just hitting the market. But the funny thing is.....the computer I purchased always seemed to work just fine, imagine that! The software out there never seems to be able to utilize the latest and greatest new processor availably, so why sweat not having the newest thing out there, unless bragging rights means something to you.
It is not about bragging rights for me....it is about having a computer that does what I need, not having a computer that does far more than I ever will need.
 
Yeah, I had been somewhat wondering the same thing but decided this weekend that my desktop use is quite limited.

We have 2 kids in the house (one senior, one in 6th grade)--they do basic tasks, and I like to always have a computer on ready to go when I need something really quick--hence the desktop. We can watch what they are doing and have easy access to a computer. But our tasks are so menial that this generation of iMacs is more than enough---and getting it now will push the senior to get her applications, essays and such done before the year is over. Plus, I bet this computer will last us a while with the 6th grader using it for homework, projects, etc.

I'm pumped about our new iMac and we will have the money in about 20 days...so yay!
 
Mobile users, such as would-be owners of mac minis and the apple laptops should be rejoicing over the release of sandybridge, as it finally means that apple potentilaly won't use core2duos in their smaller form factor computers anymore due to pathetic integrated graphics performance.

However, the better performance of the integrated graphics means absolutely nothing for iMac users. As of current, the lowest spec'd gpu in the iMac lineup is the mobility 4670, which is still 2x stronger than the 320m-- which is what the integrated graphics performance of the new sandybridge cpus are comparable with.

Aside from small incremental increases going from nehalem to sandybridge, the biggest news for potential iMac owners would be the possible use of quad cores in 21.5 inch iMacs, because there is a spec'd sandybridge cpu with same tdp as current dual cores in the 21.5 inch iMac, but they have 4 cores instead of 2.
 
Cool--thanks for the info.


Yeah, I'm getting the base i3 iMac, so there isn't much needed for more cores really.

It's gonna be an internet, ms office machine mostly but I do want it to last a while.

I was planning on buying myself a new mbp with sb but the kid's desktop took a squat so they need one. Instead, I'll buy the iMac, and await the next mbp or mba refresh...and get a lower end one as opposed to a maxed 13".

Hey TMRaven...are you a Ravens fan?
 
yankintx said:
You missed my point. Of course I know about sandy bridge...
Click to expand...

Of course I got your point and to be honest I am with you, but...

SB looks on the paper very good - when you can get more power for less $ and it seems its gonna be the case then you do it.

Do you really think people who use computer for living have time to ask questions like "what do you think?" or "should I wait?" of course not - they just buy it - time is money!

All threads like this one is about convincing authors that they should wait or they did good deal buying old revision iMac.
 
I'm looking to upgrade from a macbook pro c2duo. I'm going to get the i7 imac, and stick 16gb of ram with an SSD.

Sandy Bridge doesn't excite me after I read the release...no big deal.

I'm going to wait for a refurbished baby to show up and save some money for my business.

Then get an ipad 2 when it comes out.
 
I'm more interested in the addition of USB 3.0 than in Sandy Bridge. If Sandy Bridge was out, I'd be happy to have it, but if not, I'd be happy with an i7 2.9GHz now too.
However, I'm not happy with the speed of USB 2.0. My iPhone, iPod, iPad all takes too long to sync. Backup drive, flash drive, takes too long to copy. There will always be a little faster processor every year. But USB takes many years to change. I built a PC with USB 3.0 last April. So I hope to expect it in the next iMac this year (and in iPhone 5, iPad2, etc.). I would be happy with the current i7 CPU for the next 3-5 years, but as for USB 2.0, I already need more now. That's keeping me from pulling the trigger yet on a newer Mac for work, so that I'm not stuck with USB 2.0 for the next 3-5 years..
 
it doesnt matter

There have not been any earth shattering performance boosts from any recent Intel release, and there arent likely to be any time soon.

Remember, they hit the heat wall? Nothing is going to get faster. It only gets more cores and lower power. And as for Intel and graphics, they have been trying to get cred in graphics for decades. boring.

Just buy a computer already.
 
At the moment, a refurbished high end config iMac with a decent SSD maybe a better investment then waiting for the next magical processor upgrade.
 
fixmdude said:
I'm more interested in the addition of USB 3.0 than in Sandy Bridge. If Sandy Bridge was out, I'd be happy to have it, but if not, I'd be happy with an i7 2.9GHz now too.
However, I'm not happy with the speed of USB 2.0. My iPhone, iPod, iPad all takes too long to sync. Backup drive, flash drive, takes too long to copy. There will always be a little faster processor every year. But USB takes many years to change. I built a PC with USB 3.0 last April. So I hope to expect it in the next iMac this year (and in iPhone 5, iPad2, etc.). I would be happy with the current i7 CPU for the next 3-5 years, but as for USB 2.0, I already need more now. That's keeping me from pulling the trigger yet on a newer Mac for work, so that I'm not stuck with USB 2.0 for the next 3-5 years..
Click to expand...

+1,,, and one of the top two reasons as to why I'm closely considering a MacPro, if can afford the cost. [other main reason being related: expandability].
 
Buy one now, unless you wish bragging about it.

Yeap, there always the people who must have the latest and greatest. The average user will not see any thing better than the old one. Just like the Ipad people standing in line for hours or paying big money on ebay, I saved a hundred bucks and got the 16GB and I have a good digital Camera that fits in my pocket, Who needs this oversized camera function. Sad but generally these people have not much of a life but they got the latest and greatest and will brag about it. We use the internet and MS office so big deal, I really hope that the prices on the new ones reflect the higher cost of chips in Japan. I like this big monster that I have 27 i3 with a 1TB and 512 graphics. Heck I still use Vista 4 hours a day and people tell me that Windows 7 fixes Vista problems, Three years now and I am still waiting to see whats wrong with it to. Mines faster than yours or mines bigger than yours. I just want to use my Imac when I want and its no speed deal. Its fast and boot right up. I still type letters and surf the internet fine, Now in three more years I will decide on a new Windows or Imac again. I use both of them everyday and I could care less about the new ones for now. I purchased the Imac three weeks ago and could care less about the sandy bridge or thunderbolt, sounds like where we ride our ATV's at and the mufflers thunderbolt, now thats fun.
 
rew4946 said:
Yeap, there always the people who must have the latest and greatest. The average user will not see any thing better than the old one. Just like the Ipad people standing in line for hours or paying big money on ebay, I saved a hundred bucks and got the 16GB and I have a good digital Camera that fits in my pocket, Who needs this oversized camera function. Sad but generally these people have not much of a life but they got the latest and greatest and will brag about it. We use the internet and MS office so big deal, I really hope that the prices on the new ones reflect the higher cost of chips in Japan. I like this big monster that I have 27 i3 with a 1TB and 512 graphics. Heck I still use Vista 4 hours a day and people tell me that Windows 7 fixes Vista problems, Three years now and I am still waiting to see whats wrong with it to. Mines faster than yours or mines bigger than yours. I just want to use my Imac when I want and its no speed deal. Its fast and boot right up. I still type letters and surf the internet fine, Now in three more years I will decide on a new Windows or Imac again. I use both of them everyday and I could care less about the new ones for now. I purchased the Imac three weeks ago and could care less about the sandy bridge or thunderbolt, sounds like where we ride our ATV's at and the mufflers thunderbolt, now thats fun.
Click to expand...

And that's fine. You have what fits your needs. Many of us need more power. Our activities differ from yours and each person should decide for themselves what best suits their needs/wants.
 
rew4946 said:
Yeap, there always the people who must have the latest and greatest. The average user will not see any thing better than the old one. Just like the Ipad people standing in line for hours or paying big money on ebay, I saved a hundred bucks and got the 16GB and I have a good digital Camera that fits in my pocket, Who needs this oversized camera function. Sad but generally these people have not much of a life but they got the latest and greatest and will brag about it. We use the internet and MS office so big deal, I really hope that the prices on the new ones reflect the higher cost of chips in Japan. I like this big monster that I have 27 i3 with a 1TB and 512 graphics. Heck I still use Vista 4 hours a day and people tell me that Windows 7 fixes Vista problems, Three years now and I am still waiting to see whats wrong with it to. Mines faster than yours or mines bigger than yours. I just want to use my Imac when I want and its no speed deal. Its fast and boot right up. I still type letters and surf the internet fine, Now in three more years I will decide on a new Windows or Imac again. I use both of them everyday and I could care less about the new ones for now. I purchased the Imac three weeks ago and could care less about the sandy bridge or thunderbolt, sounds like where we ride our ATV's at and the mufflers thunderbolt, now thats fun.
Click to expand...

Good that your iMac has been serving you to meet your needs and you're happy with it but there are many others that use their computers for different/bigger tasks than just word processing or web browsing.
 
rew4946 said:
Yeap, there always the people who must have the latest and greatest. The average user will not see any thing better than the old one. Just like the Ipad people standing in line for hours or paying big money on ebay, I saved a hundred bucks and got the 16GB and I have a good digital Camera that fits in my pocket, Who needs this oversized camera function. Sad but generally these people have not much of a life but they got the latest and greatest and will brag about it. We use the internet and MS office so big deal, I really hope that the prices on the new ones reflect the higher cost of chips in Japan. I like this big monster that I have 27 i3 with a 1TB and 512 graphics. Heck I still use Vista 4 hours a day and people tell me that Windows 7 fixes Vista problems, Three years now and I am still waiting to see whats wrong with it to. Mines faster than yours or mines bigger than yours. I just want to use my Imac when I want and its no speed deal. Its fast and boot right up. I still type letters and surf the internet fine, Now in three more years I will decide on a new Windows or Imac again. I use both of them everyday and I could care less about the new ones for now. I purchased the Imac three weeks ago and could care less about the sandy bridge or thunderbolt, sounds like where we ride our ATV's at and the mufflers thunderbolt, now thats fun.
Click to expand...

Ha. That's some advice. :rolleyes: Given that the post I quoted was made yesterday, you'd be a fool NOT to wait until next week's updates to buy a new iMac...regardless of what you use your computer for.
 
Sandy Bridge should make a huge difference.

It made a huge difference in the 2011 Macbook Pro, and it should make a similar difference in the 2011 iMac!

I was so impressed with the new Macbook Pro that I sold my iMac 2.8 i7 Quad on eBay for $1899 and bought a 1 month old 21.5 on Craigslist for $850 (as a temp solution). It is already pre-sold to a friend, who is waiting 'til I'm ready. When the new SB iMacs are here (tomorrow??), I'll pull the trigger on a new 27" and we'll be good to go!
_________________________________________
apple_logo_grey.gif
Mac Pro: 2008 3ghz 8-core
apple_logo_grey.gif
MacBook Pro: 2011 i7 2.3 4-core wSSD (dual HD)
apple_logo_grey.gif
MacBook Pro: 2008 C2D 2.4 wSSD (dual HD)
apple_logo_grey.gif
iMac: 2010 i3 3ghz
apple_logo_grey.gif
iPad 2
apple_logo_grey.gif
iPhone 4
apple_logo_grey.gif
 
We should get a nice graphics performance boost if and when Apple updates the iMacs:

Hellhammer said:
There aren't any benchmarks for 6950M but there are plenty for 6970M. Since 6950M has just 100MHz (15%) lower clock speed, it's fairly easy to compare them. NotebookCheck's benchmarks show that 6970M is up to more than twice as fast as 4850M, even in gaming benchmarks. I would say performance gains vary between 70% and 110%. Subtract the 15% from that and we get 60% and 94%, so average of 77%.

6950M will sure be a huge upgrade from 4850M.

6970M appears to be around 40-45% (30-60% in various benchmarks) faster than 5850M. Again, subtract 15% and we get ~36%. Note: You must compare 5850M with GDDR5 since there are versions with DDR3 and GDDR3. Those are much slower.
Click to expand...
 
I don't get it why people order their computer 1 day before the update. Their is only one disadvantage, it might have glitches. But apart from that, your pc is faster, better graphics (something you just can NOT upgrade) has more resale value, probably includes thunderbolt (who knows it might become a hit). Especially when no rush forces you to buy a computer (for a company for example) their is no reason.
Don't get me wrong, do whatever you like (with your money) but I find it just very weird.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back