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Is it worth the upgrade for me

B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
I currently have a 21.5-inch, Mid 2010 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3, 8 GB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB machine


I'm thinking of buying the new highend 21.5" with 16GB ram and fusion drive.

Will this be a good upgrade?

I really DONT want the 27" as I find it to big. I'm hoping the extra memory, upgrade to i5, fusion drive and 650 graphics card will make all the difference all round for me.

I use my iMac for light gaming, mostly OSX, few windows based games in bootcamp win7. A few VM machine from time to time, browsing and basic video encoding onto the PS3


Thanks
 
MisterKeeks

MisterKeeks

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2012
1,833
28
No.
I think that your current machine is just fine, and I don't think that there would be anywhere enough of a performance difference to justify buying a new computer.
 
B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
MisterKeeks said:
No.
I think that your current machine is just fine, and I don't think that there would be anywhere enough of a performance difference to justify buying a new computer.
Click to expand...
I know my machine is fine but what will the difference be.

Overall ?
 
B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
What about this spec, surely better than my current i3

3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM-2X8GB
1TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIAGeFrc GT 650M 512M GDDR5
 
S

Scrapula

macrumors 6502
May 1, 2012
305
14
Seattle, WA
beerglass007 said:
What about this spec, surely better than my current i3

3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM-2X8GB
1TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIAGeFrc GT 650M 512M GDDR5
Click to expand...

What problems, if any, are you having with your current iMac? Where do you think it needs improvement. I'm replacing a Core 2 Duo and I don't have any speed problems, just need a graphics upgrade.
 
B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
Scrapula said:
What problems, if any, are you having with your current iMac? Where do you think it needs improvement. I'm replacing a Core 2 Duo and I don't have any speed problems, just need a graphics upgrade.
Click to expand...

I hear the HDD going all the time and wanted a better graphics card for gaming.
I'm looking to purchase the new simcity when released
 
B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
My current video card is an ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB.

How much different in performance is the new highend 21.5' video card GT650?

Both have the same memory which could be a major bottle neck
 
J

Johnf1285

macrumors 6502a
Dec 25, 2010
965
61
beerglass007 said:
I currently have a 21.5-inch, Mid 2010 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3, 8 GB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB machine


I'm thinking of buying the new highend 21.5" with 16GB ram and fusion drive.

Will this be a good upgrade?

I really DONT want the 27" as I find it to big. I'm hoping the extra memory, upgrade to i5, fusion drive and 650 graphics card will make all the difference all round for me.

I use my iMac for light gaming, mostly OSX, few windows based games in bootcamp win7. A few VM machine from time to time, browsing and basic video encoding onto the PS3


Thanks
Click to expand...

I think you'll definitely notice a speed increase on all fronts. Faster CPU with two extra cores, the 128gb flash from the Fusion Drive will boost read and write performance, the GT 650m will offer better gaming performance than the HD 5670, and even the screen will be better.

The real question is whether or not the price difference makes these upgrades worth it. Both machines will do whatever it is you need them to do - one will just do it a little faster and allow for some higher settings in games.

The other option is to wait until the iMac gets a spec bump, or for the 2013 model. I know I sound crazy suggesting this since the "latest and greatest" just came out.

Do you plan on selling your current machine? You can check eBay to see what past auctions sold for to give you an idea (if you plan to sell through eBay). Maybe finding out what your 2010 is worth might help the decision along?

Good luck!
 
B

beerglass007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2008
547
94
Johnf1285 said:
I think you'll definitely notice a speed increase on all fronts. Faster CPU with two extra cores, the 128gb flash from the Fusion Drive will boost read and write performance, the GT 650m will offer better gaming performance than the HD 5670, and even the screen will be better.

The real question is whether or not the price difference makes these upgrades worth it. Both machines will do whatever it is you need them to do - one will just do it a little faster and allow for some higher settings in games.

The other option is to wait until the iMac gets a spec bump, or for the 2013 model. I know I sound crazy suggesting this since the "latest and greatest" just came out.

Do you plan on selling your current machine? You can check eBay to see what past auctions sold for to give you an idea (if you plan to sell through eBay). Maybe finding out what your 2010 is worth might help the decision along?

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Yeah Ebay was my thinking. I think I might still get a good price for the 2010 as its still got APP and high-spec. 1TB HDD etc etc

So will pay for 50% of my new 2012 iMac. I wanted to see a performance increase and not just have the latest and greatest

I did see the new 21.5" in the flesh today at the apple store and wasn't all that WOWed about it.

Once sat in-front of the screen it looks just like the last gen and the screen reflection was the only thing i noticed when moving my head around and side to side.

The flat screen doesn't seem to fit the chassis that well and looked cheaper than the last gen
 
J

Johnf1285

macrumors 6502a
Dec 25, 2010
965
61
beerglass007 said:
Yeah Ebay was my thinking. I think I might still get a good price for the 2010 as its still got APP and high-spec. 1TB HDD etc etc

So will pay for 50% of my new 2012 iMac. I wanted to see a performance increase and not just have the latest and greatest

I did see the new 21.5" in the flesh today at the apple store and wasn't all that WOWed about it.

Once sat in-front of the screen it looks just like the last gen and the screen reflection was the only thing i noticed when moving my head around and side to side.

The flat screen doesn't seem to fit the chassis that well and looked cheaper than the last gen
Click to expand...

Maybe wait for some benchmarks from tasks that you normally perform and see if it is worth the upgrade?
 
A

AppleFan360

macrumors 68020
Jan 26, 2008
2,213
720
I say go for it. You will see a pretty darn good speed increase and selling your 2010 iMac will keep the price low. Might as well enjoy the latest and greatest for a change.
 
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