Mac or Windows PC?

yes, if you can wait for the next imac upgrade.. they will put 1GB vRam in 21.5" too. But what are your daily tasks? what are you doing in your old pc now?

yes go to the iMac, but wait for the upgrade...i have the 21.5" imac 2.9Ghz, with 650M and 1T fusion. But i think it is worth to wait for the future of wifi ac, better ssd, even if you opt for the fusion drive i think that 128/256 ssd will be PCIe, better graphic cards with 1Gb vRam, revies of 760M are very positive.

1 because will be late 2013 year...
2 and the most important thing..they will not let 640M or 650M still in the new refresh but will put the new 7xx series that 760M for example only start from 1GB vRAM up to 2GB, so Geforce in 7xxM series does not have 512 vRAM

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760M from 1 to 2 vRAM
770M from 1 to 3 vRAM
780M from 1 to 4 vRam

yes probably for 740M if they put, but for high end will be at least the 750M that feature 1 Gb vRam up to 2 with 967 MHz core speed

Yes they will..i think from 1Gb vRam from base models up to 3Gb vRam for top model 27"

Since you have trouble deciding. I would recommend waiting a few months to see if there is a iMac refresh. If so, then you could make a fair, side by side comparison of the actual specs instead of comparing true specs with speculated specs.

Geekazoid said:

Mmm I think I'll stick with my custom PC. One of the many advantages of a Windows PC is if the Display dies you can easily replace it or any component for that matter. Plus I think it's better bang for the buck.

Don't get me wrong, I love OS X but I think a Windows 8 PC is what I need.

Sorry to waste everyones time but I've just been having a good think about it and the PC seems the best logical option.

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Good call..

Do you run games?


If the answer is no... don't get bogged down in the hardware spec, and get a mac. Just fill it up with RAM.

I used to build my own PCs for 18 years.

I'm not going back.


Comparing spec between windows and mac with regards to price is pretty pointless, as on the mac you get a legit copy of OS X and drivers that seriously "just work".

The user experience is worth the extra you pay for the same hardware spec, and the hardware spec is plenty (just make sure you get plenty of RAM - OS X loves RAM) unless you're a hard core gamer.

i play some games too,so even so a mac it is good enough. But if he wants a PC...we cannot stop him, but if you use a mac for a month you don't get back to windows

Geekazoid said:

So you built yournown PC for 18 years and then decided to switch to mac. That must've been quite a change for you. And you're happy with your decision, no regrets?

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No, no regrets.

Sometimes I do wish I had a faster GPU for gaming, but this is my own fault for buying a single (portable!) machine to do everything (my MBP 15 has the higher end video to do double duty as desktop replacement as well as portable machine).

I'll be buying another one, it's actually my second mac, the first was a Mini to see if i could live with OS X, after I'd been extremely impressed with my first apple product, an airport express - it just worked way better than previous WIFI gear I'd dealt with.

Happy to report i much prefer it to Windows, though i've been a unix guy for ages as well as Windows (Linux, FreeBSD).

The big thing has been that once I adjusted to OS X (forget the windows way, just accept that some things are different - it took me a week or so), i've had very few problems.

I don't need any warez to get things done. Most software is either built in (PDF), supplied (iLife) or free software, or cheap on the app store.


Just know that there WILL be an adjustment period while you'll flounder about lost for a bit - stick with it though, it's worth it.


As far as hardware spec goes - for the past 5 years or so, hardware spec has become less important. Most half decent kit is "good enough", we aren't back in the 90s or early 2000s where you had to ensure you got a 3d accelerator or sound card to be able to play games at all - and if you didn't too bad! Onboard sound is good enough, and most games can be played on most cards now just might need to reduce detail slightly.

Rather than spend up big on high end hardware you don't need today to try and future proof (in terms of CPU/GPU) just upgrade more often and get a faster machine for less money by the time you need it. Just get plenty of RAM. It's cheap.

Geekazoid said:

So you built your own PCs for 18 years and then decided to switch to mac. That must've been quite a change for you. And you're happy with your decision, no regrets?

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I too have been building my PCs, but not quite as long. 5 years. While the PCs were definitely a bigger bang for the buck, it was filled with as many problems as the savings. Ive been plagued with the BSOD so many times, and have yet to figure out why. The error had something to do with ram, i run memtest, it fails, so i replaced the ram. Still getting the BSOD, so i assume its the mobo's RAM slots, but if i get a new mobo i need to get new ram (since im currently using DDR2 and would need DDR3) but if im doing that may as well go from intel core2quad to the intel i7 series right? eventually it would total more than a mac. So i just went ahead and bought one!

PCs are definitely more future proof, since its internals can be easily replaced. But as an engineer i do know for a fact that the more interchangeable parts it has, the higher the chances of failure.

The OS on the mac is just flawless + the external design of the computer itself is incomperable with anything else in the world. Ive loved the switch, and I cant say if Id ever go back to windows, but if i do, it would be on a mac computer.

Geekazoid said:

I've actually been using a Macbook Air for many months now, probably close to a year and I like it a fair bit.

So yeah I wont be close minded on getting an iMac as long as I can have a 1GB graphics card so I'm not downgrading from 1GB of vRAM to 512MB of vRAM.

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Well just out of interest, how satisfied are you all with your macs (more so your iMacs if any of you have one?

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I also used to build PCs (for very very quiet operation). There used to be 3 operating here, now there's only 1 (headless) as a "compute" server for old PC S/W. The other 2 have been replaced by an MBA and a Mini.

S/W is the main reason I would never go back to Win (apart from the enjoyment of using the MBA). The next purchase is going to be either an rMBP or the new Pro.

Geekazoid said:

Anyway guys it'd be great to hear all of your unbias opinions on my situation.

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You're not going to get unbias opinions here. Its a Mac forum. Most of the users here are Mac users and will recommend a Mac even if it isn't suitable for you.

If you don't mind the higher price for slightly less powerful machine, that a Mac is an option. It all depends on what software you're wanting to use. If your desired software doesn't run on OSX then obviously it isn't the right choice. But if its the other way round and you want the benefits OSX has over Windows then go for it.

Also keep in mind that Apple don't support their Operating Systems as long as Microsoft do, so if long term support is a factor, you may be better with a Windows PC.

Been a PC user myself since I was 13 (I'm 21 now). I have always doubted macs but I made the switch last April (27 inch imac, upgraded the ram myself). I'm more than satisfied!

You seem to be getting pretty hung up about getting a 1gig video card because you don't want to downgrade from the one in your 6 year old PC. Given your usage profile and the general upgrade you'd be getting, do you think you'd notice you had 512mb less ram on your video?

i have an imac 21.5" like i said 2.9ghz with 650M 512vRAM and 1T fusion drive.

It is an perfect all in one machine