24" Imac - 2.16 or 2.33GHz?

[cervaro]

I'm looking to buy my first Imac soon, and was wondering if I'd notice enough of a difference if I upgraded the processor to 2.33GHz from 2.16GHz? £170 cost differential in the UK between the two. Pay for most of a new 80Gb Ipod at least if I chose the slower chip.

All advice appreciated from a soon to be novice Mac user.

 

[aswitcher]

Get the iPod. The speed bump will be only slight. You dont sound like a pro so you wont need the extra few % of speed.

If your a gamer you would be better upgrading the graphics card.

 

[j26]

That £170 is almost the full price of the 30Gig iPod (£189). Go for that. A marginally faster processor won't make a massive difference to your usage. the speed jump is only in the order of 7%.

Or spend the money on ram - it's far more important in OSX to have plenty of ram than to have the fastest processor.

 

[Flyinace2000]

That £170 is almost the full price of the 30Gig iPod (£189). Go for that. A marginally faster processor won't make a massive difference to your usage. the speed jump is only in the order of 7%.

Or spend the money on ram - it's far more important in OSX to have plenty of ram than to have the fastest processor.

I ordered the following
2.13Ghz
2gb Ram
7600GT

the ram and the graphics card will give me a much more power than the 2.33ghz processor. And i can always upgrade it in 2 or 3 years when the Core2Duo chips are in the bargain bin.

 

[cervaro]

Thanks for all the input thus far. Still debating the value of Applecare versus the free 2 year extension to the standard warranty from Computer Warehouse here in the UK (doesn't cover parts though). May err on the side of caution.

 

[macboy62]

Thanks for all the input thus far. Still debating the value of Applecare versus the free 2 year extension to the standard warranty from Computer Warehouse here in the UK (doesn't cover parts though). May err on the side of caution.

I bought an iMac 4 years ago and didn't get Apple care. Everything has been wonderful since I switched. I can do many things on my Mac that I found difficult on a PC plus I don't spend all my time "fixing" it so I got my life back too.

Everything that is bar one thing. At about 18 months the DVD stopped reading my newer DVDs. Many people had the same problem and those with Apple care got some help from Apple, some I think got replacements to the DVD drive. (I checked the discussions on the Apple site) Now at 4 years the drive has finally said no to reading and writing DVDs. Maybe it still would have broke but maybe I would have got 1 or 2 more years out of it if I had taken out the Apple care.

All types of insurance or a win some, lose some thing but when you cannot just open up the computer to change something as with the iMacs...
I think I will be getting Apple care with my next iMac.

BTW Welcome to the wonderful world of Mac.

 

[FFTT]

Apple Care for the iMacs is CHEAP and well worth it when buying an AOI design or a notebook.

One Optical drive failure or something of that nature and you've more than covered
the initial cost.

you don't need to buy it NOW, but remember your purchase date and buy AppleCare before you machine's first birthday.

 

[miles01110]

I've never had a problem with numerous Apple desktops, but like FFTT said- Applecare for the iMacs is pretty cheap. It's worth buying.

 

[Apple2Mac]

I usually buy what ever machine gives you the most bang for the buck, you calculate that by doing this
24-inch iMac 2.33GHz = SpeedMark Score 259 = $2249.00
2249 / 259 = $8.68 per SpeedMark

24-inch iMac 2.16GHz = SpeedMark Score 245 = $1999.00
1999 / 245 = $8.15 per SpeedMark

So you get more bang for you buck if you buy the 24-inch iMac 2.16GHz

 

[orangezorki]

I got the 2.33, even though I know it's really too much to pay for the extra speed. But I did it because I really won't have a chance to upgrade it for three years without losing Applecare.

Having said that, only consider it after getting the Video card, the HD, Applecare, and possibly the RAM, though you can do that yourself. They are all much better value than the CPU bump.

David

 

[yoak]

I usually buy what ever machine gives you the most bang for the buck, you calculate that by doing this
24-inch iMac 2.33GHz = SpeedMark Score 259 = $2249.00
2249 / 259 = $8.68 per SpeedMark

24-inch iMac 2.16GHz = SpeedMark Score 245 = $1999.00
1999 / 245 = $8.15 per SpeedMark

So you get more bang for you buck if you buy the 24-inch iMac 2.16GHz

Intersting calculation, I was going for the 2.16 anyhow, upping the RAM.