3 (Possibly Related) iMac Questions

[rrawat02]

I'm considering buying an iMac and have questions. Context-- I'm basically going to use my machine for browsing. I don't play computer games, but I do enjoy watching YouTube videos. 4 questions--

1: Will AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB or AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB cards play a role when watching YouTube videos?

2: When I watch YouTube videos the fans on my 2.4 GHZ MacBook (2008) go crazy (I assume flash is the cause). Will moving up to 21.5-inch 2.5GHz or 2.7GHz models make a difference?

3: I believe the new Quad-Core Intel Core i5 chips are 'cooler'. Does this mean I'll hear the fan kick in less frequently than my current 2.4 GHZ MacBook (2008)?

4: Did any of you move up from 2.4 GHZ MacBook (2008) to 21.5-inch 2.5GHz? Is the experience pleasurable?

Thanks a lot!

 

[talmy]

1,2,3 - I had a MacBook of that vintage. Any of the recent iMacs (the aluminum ones) are much quieter. Even the base model will have enough power for what you are doing.

I can't directly address (4), but will say that if you are at a desk, the iMacs are much more pleasurable to use than any notebook because of better ergonomics and the superior display.

 

[joe-h2o]

The cooling setup in the iMac is different to that used in Apple's laptops. The bigger computer allows more space for large heat sinks and bigger, slower spinning fans. As such, I doubt you'll ever hear your iMac unless you use an app to make the fans spin at full speed or it kernel panics and ramps them up to full. During normal use an iMac is almost silent. With no music or any other noise in the room you can hear the fans but they are almost imperceptible during normal use.

If you're not going to game then a 6750M with 512MB is more than adequate for any other task you want to do - browsing, youtube, HD video, etc. It's also ok for gaming, but not cutting edge. It will help playing back H.264 video (like those on youtube and other sites) since it has hardware decoding ability for that, so the CPU will barely have to do anything. If you're not going to game with it or do much heavy lifting (like editing video, heavy photoshop/photography work, music recording etc) then the base i5 CPU will be more than powerful enough for anything you throw at it.

The i5 is not necessarily cooler than your laptop's Core 2 Duo - the i5 used in the iMac is a desktop chip, so probably has a higher thermal output, but as I said before it is cooled more effectively by a large heat sink and fan, so it's quieter even when under heavy load. For a laptop there's no choice but to fit a small heatsink and tiny fan so it has to spin up like a hairdrier to push enough airflow through to keep it cool. This makes a lot of noise.

 

[rrawat02]

talmy and joe-h2o you guys just blew my mind. Thank you very much for your expert opinion. You just made Apple another $1,299 (I'll buy extra RAM) + tax.