On the conversation of being a "sucker" for buying this machine, while in the grand timeline of new processors and GPUs on the horizon, it may be questionable, this is a good machine, especially in my context: A longtime mac lover who needs windows to game. I got the base top end i7 and spec'd up to 5700XT 16GB and 1TB SSD, plus $75 worth of OWC RAM to bring the machine up to 24GB of RAM.
In all I'll be spending just over $3200, but in the process I get a one of a kind 5K display, found elsewhere in a less desirable package for $1200 when available (it's not right now), a custom ~$600 GPU PC users couldn't get if they wanted to (I know of the slight down clocking but overall the RAM increase will be helpful) a $400+ 8 core i7 CPU I didn't really need but am happy to have, Free Airpods, a generous (~300) student discount with no verification process (I qualify, maybe past purchases preverify) and the assembly, power supply, keyboard, peripherals, Apple Care+, so this machine is no one else's problem but Apple's if the machine bites it in the next 3 years.
On sound, the loudest this machine will get will be quieter than any windows machine with AMD or Intel, my house mate has a 2070S, i7 9th gen, high end motherboard, a bunch-o-fans, and has been encouraging me to go the PC route but I hate the prospect of a bunch of space being taken up for a heat locker that I am solely responsible for managing, and if something goes wrong, lets check the Rolodex of the 13 companies that make up the parts of this machine and see if the warranty is still valid. Not a fun prospect.
I mean, I priced this out and If I wanted a comparable windows machine it wouldn't be much less in cost, wouldn't really look like $3000 and take hours of my time to assemble and troubleshoot. Not mention no company has a comparable warranty, $135-160 for this iMac for 3 years of all around walk in service. HP, Dell, etc charge 4x that with some earn back rebate crap. This is a no brainier for me after months engrossed in the cesspool of PC parts/prebuilds windows shopping, despite the aging design this is a great release on the high end in my opinion, certainly blows the iMac Pro out of the water unless they update it with RDNA2 in a few months and make me commit seppuku. Luckily unlike the PC I'll be able to sell this puppy with ease for a good portion of its initial worth if I choose do so. Happy for this all around despite no RDNA 2 or redesign, AS is just around the corner and game streaming is taking baby steps so I'm happy to have this last intel/AMD holdover on my way into the future.
