2010 21.5" iMac Intel Core i5 3.6GHz or 2011 21.5" iMac Quad-Core Intel Core i5 2.5GH

[jammingator]

Macmall has both:

2010 is $1099
3.6GHz Intel Core i5
4GB DDR3 SDRAM | 1TB hard drive
ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics

2011 is $1132
2.5GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB DDR3 SDRAM | 500GB hard drive
AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics

Any opinions here for basically the same money.

Use will be pretty light duty compared to many here -- web, mail, music, video streaming, home pics and video -- that's about it.

Thank you in advance.

 

[c613m]

I would go for the 2011 model. I have it and it's more than enough for everything you list. However, neither machine is a bad choice for your needs. So I would go for the 2011 model

 

[iSayuSay]

For that small $$$ difference, I'd go for 2011 model anytime

 

[jammingator]

Thanks for the input.

My knowledge is limited but I'm looking at these numbers wondering about the value difference between the processors:

i5 3.6 GHz vs. i5 2.5 GHz

 

[b.a.newbie]

Thanks for the input.

My knowledge is limited but I'm looking at these numbers wondering about the value difference between the processors:

i5 3.6 GHz vs. i5 2.5 GHz

Well you can just look at clock speed or you can look at the fact that the newer Macs use Sandy Bridge processors. Much faster chip and better at threading.

Also, the newer Macs have Thunderbolt.

If you have the coin, I would highly recommend getting an SSD in there as Lion, Sandy Bridge and the X68 chipset would all make efficient use of it.

 

[iSayuSay]

As far as I'm remember.. iMac 2010 don't have 3.6GHz i5 ... even the CPU wasn't exist. Maybe you mistaken it by i3 3.06GHz?

Quad core 2010 iMac only consist of 2.8GHz i5 or 2.93GHz i7 as BTO

 

[The-Pro]

As far as I'm remember.. iMac 2010 don't have 3.6GHz i5 ... even the CPU wasn't exist. Maybe you mistaken it by i3 3.06GHz?

Quad core 2010 iMac only consist of 2.8GHz i5 or 2.93GHz i7 as BTO

3.6 GHz dual core i5 was a BTO. hes not mistaking it.

 

[iSayuSay]

3.6 GHz dual core i5 was a BTO. hes not mistaking it.

Oh okay .. thanks for correction, I didn't remember it was being dual core i5. Maybe due to 2011 iMac being all quad core so I thought about 2010 quad core too

 

[Kerel]

a bit of a no brainer! 2011 model gets you a quad core instead of dual + better graphics + thunderbold.

 

[Sixsation]

a bit of a no brainer! 2011 model gets you a quad core instead of dual + better graphics + thunderbold.

I have done a lot of reasearch into the difference between these two models lately. And these statements about choosing the new model over the 2010 BTO one are not quite right.

If you check out some of the latest benchmarks CPU-wise you will find that the i5 2.5 GHz is around 7% faster that the 3.6 Ghz (2010-model).

BUT if you check out the benchmarks for the graphicscards the 5670 is faster than the 6750M even though its older.

Passmark Benchmark:
6750M score: 1132
5670 score: 1234 (9% faster)

All in all I dont think you can say its a no-brainer, taking the cost into consideration as well. Since I like to play 3D games I quess I would choose the old version and save me some money.

 

[Charcoalwerks]

You can get the 2011 refurb for the same price as the 2010 on the Apple website. I bought it and love it so far. Recently upgraded to 12 Gb RAM too. Thing is a beast!

 

[dylin]

Easily the 2011 model. You can go wrong with a true quadcore and a much better graphics card over the 2010 model. The prices arent too far apart and you will be getting a much more powerful machine overall