Wait for Nehalem?

[evanwolves999]

Well, I do not yet own a mac...although I know pretty pretty much all the ins and outs of a mac since I use everyone elses. Anyway, I want to finally purchase my first mac but I am curious to hear how everyone feels about the Nehalem processors that are supposed to be coming up early 2009. I have been doing a lot of research lately to see what iMac I should get and at the moment it seems like the 2.8 is the best deal....but at the same time these next processors are supposed to be amazing.

I would assume apple would jack the price on these processors when they come out, but I just want to hear from people that know more than me and see if I should buy an iMac now or wait. As far as my needs are concerned, I dont HAVE to have a mac right now, but since I don't have a mac at all it would be nice to get one at some point instead of just saying I'll wait until next year.

Also I had a question with buying ram. On the apple store they give you two sticks of 1G for the 24'....so the question is, is it cheaper to buy the extra two gigs from them or just get rid of the two 1 gig sticks and buy two extra two gig sticks.

I thank everyone in advance for my mission on getting a new mac. I am just thinking that for the money it might not be a bad time to buy since the new update lowered the price a little bit and by the time the new processors come around it may be quite expensive. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm open to speculation.

This also doesn't have to be about me and my quest for a mac either. I really don't know much about the Nehalem processor so I am also interested in hearing about that. Thanks!

 

[nuckinfutz]

That's a tough choice. On one hand Nehalem is a kick ass architecture that is very extensible. However people need to realize that some of its strengths will not directly benefit them.

I would say that if you are happy with your current hardware and you can easily last another 6-8 months then waiting is fine. However if you've got work to do and your current computer isn't cutting it. Grab the next refresh which may come during summer.

Nehalem will be a huge advance for Intel. They have a chip that architecturally scales from the laptop to the multi socket server.

We're going to see configs with pretty wide variance of features and even then it may take software some time to catch up.

It's a personal decision.

 

[CWallace]

Assuming Apple stays with mobile parts for the iMac, a Nehalem model would probably arrive around this time next year based on Intel's roadmap. If you want to wait, feel free. However, the latest iMac update is very good.

 

[Goldenbear]

The iMacs use the mobile versions of Intel processors. So, after Nehalem ships, you'll have to wait for the mobile version to ship, after which you'll have to wait for Apple to actually use them.

By that time, there will be some other feature "coming soon" that everyone will be saying you should wait for. It never ends.

Personally, I doubt Nehalem is going to mean squat for most people. It's just going to be yet another newer, faster processor. Big deal. Sure, the geeks are ranting and raving about this or that feature. Well, they were raving about multi-core processors just a few short years ago. Has it really changed people's lives? No. From the average consumer's point of view, everything runs faster, but that's about it. Most software doesn't even take full advantage of a dual-core, let alone a quad-core processor.

Anyway, the current iMacs look pretty good, if you don't care about being stuck with a decent, but not great LCD. If you want one, buy it and enjoy. A year from now (or whenever Nehalem-based iMacs ship), you can sell your iMac and buy the new one.

As for RAM, OWC will buy back your old RAM. You could probably get a little more selling it on eBay, if you want to deal with the hassle factor. I've purchased RAM from both OWC and DMS (I've been using DMS since 1990). I highly recommend both.