27" iMac Upgrade Advice

[Soccer5se]

I am looking to buy an iMac 27 but I am unsure about which upgrades to make. I know that 8GB of ram will be fine for now and that I can update it later. However, I am on the fence with the 1GB vs 2GB graphics cards and the Fusions drives. I am not a huge gamer but I would like to be able to play the new COD and Battlefield 4 this fall (bootcamp).

Any ideas?

 

[Dwinguel]

The GTX 680MX is a good choice for gaming, it should give you a nice performance boost compared to the 675MX.

Concerning the drives, I am not sure what your question is. I'm guessing your are not sure whether you should stick to the standard offering or select a fusion drive or SSD.

I would advise to go for the fusion drive since you will get a significant performance boost in terms of data transfers compared to a hard drive. An SSD is even better. You can then use an external drive for data that you don't need to access all the time. But then you need to be comfortable with 256GB since a bigger storage is pretty expensive.

You can upgrade the SSD afterwards, but it's a pretty daunting process since you need to take your whole computer apart, which could damage your machine. So I would advise against it unless you are comfortable with the procedure. Have a look here to see what is involved: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634/1

 

[Soccer5se]

Thanks for the advice! I was actually debating on updating the graphics card or the hard disk. I guess the graphics card makes more sense if I want to be able to stay somewhat up to date on games.

Now, should I wait for the update this summer or pick one up asap?

 

[Dwinguel]

Thanks for the advice! I was actually debating on updating the graphics card or the hard disk. I guess the graphics card makes more sense if I want to be able to stay somewhat up to date on games.

Now, should I wait for the update this summer or pick one up asap?

Of course I don't know when Apple will upgrade the iMac, but it looks unlikely that it will happen this summer so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you and if you can't wait 3-4 months, buy it now. The last update was in November and according to Apple's past updates schedule it's unlikely to happen before the autumn, or even later.

Once again, I don't know Apple's schedule so take my advice with caution.

 

[Soccer5se]

Of course I don't know when Apple will upgrade the iMac, but it looks unlikely that it will happen this summer so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you and if you can't wait 3-4 months, buy it now. The last update was in November and according to Apple's past updates schedule it's unlikely to happen before the autumn, or even later.

Once again, I don't know Apple's schedule so take my advice with caution.

Thanks again!

My wife and I are becoming increasing frustrated with our Windows PC! She has finally realized that the world becomes a whole lot simpler with a Mac. I have a rMBP and it's been spot on since the get go, so she's finally admitted that we should make the change to an iMac for our home computer.

Now all I have to do is to not let the Apple store guys mess up my upgrade like they did with my iPad. I pre-ordered the iPad 2 64GB before it arrived in Korea, however, when my wife asked the Apple store guy if we needed that much storage the knucklehead said 32GB would be more than enough. This time I will prep the guy before my wife asks him any questions

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Dwinguel]

No problem, glad I could help.

 

[Serban]

please..if you already have a mac(macbook) wait for the next iMac...i guess they will implement retina, or if not..there will be sure the wifi ac, the top end 780M or even MX if will be available, and power consumption toghether with mavericks the imac will consume almost 0 energy just kidding some how

 

[macman312]

Thanks again!

I pre-ordered the iPad 2 64GB before it arrived in Korea, however, when my wife asked the Apple store guy if we needed that much storage the knucklehead said 32GB would be more than enough. This time I will prep the guy before my wife asks him any questions

Thanks again for the help!

What a complete idiot haha, At some point the iMac will be updated with intel haswell and wifi ac, if you're going to customise it just order it online!

 

[Soccer5se]

I normally would order it online, but my wife gets free stuff (Not free Apple stuff) when we buy from the Apple store in the local department store. Otherwise I would have ordered all my Apples online.

 

[eRondeau]

Get the Fusion Drive!

You will take advantage of the graphics card upgrade only occasionally, but you will notice the Fusion Drive constantly. Constantly! I've got one and it is incredibly fast doing everything. It will amaze you 24/7.

 

[Soccer5se]

Yeah I considered that too. My rMBP is super fast. But most of the games I will be running on the iMac will be in bootcamp so the fusion drive doesn't make much sense I guess. Ideally I would love the 3TB fusion with the 680mx but the extra cost is a little hard to justify.

Thanks

 

[Serban]

wait for the new update. You will get wifi ac, probably for the fusion drive will opt now for 256ssd+1 T hdd combo, probably new geforce 7xxM cards, the new low power consumption haswell processors, if you look one by one seems nothing big, but if you see it overall it will be a nice upgrade for the same money