3 Q's before buying an imac

[jsklar]

so i am obviously waiting anxiously to see what announcements are mde today regarding core2 macs, however time is ticking away as i sold my thinkpad in june and need to buy my imac before school starts.

i've had my eye on a refurb 20" intel imac. its a pretty sweet deal. plus i have a friend working at apple who can get a discount on the already discounted price, but he is only there till next week.

so here are the questions:


1. are the refurbs reliable? i'd probably get applecare with it. the thing is, because my friend is leaving apple next week, as soon as i see one on the apple store i'll probabl snatch it up before its gone.

so that means i can't really wait around for core2 unless its announced today and i can order it this week. the only reason i would think core2 is such a big deal is leopard.

2. will a 2.0ghz yonah have trouble with leopard because its not so 64 bit?

now the other thing is about memory. i don't know if i have the cash to buy two sticks of 1gb ddr2 to upgrade to 2gb dual channel ram.

3. will the imac run okay in single channel mode if i just add a stick of 1gb ddr2 from crucial?

*thanks for any help! can't wait to get my imac!*

j

 

[Shadow]

so i am obviously waiting anxiously to see what announcements are mde today regarding core2 macs, however time is ticking away as i sold my thinkpad in june and need to buy my imac before school starts.

i've had my eye on a refurb 20" intel imac. its a pretty sweet deal. plus i have a friend working at apple who can get a discount on the already discounted price, but he is only there till next week.

so here are the questions:


1. are the refurbs reliable? i'd probably get applecare with it. the thing is, because my friend is leaving apple next week, as soon as i see one on the apple store i'll probabl snatch it up before its gone.

so that means i can't really wait around for core2 unless its announced today and i can order it this week. the only reason i would think core2 is such a big deal is leopard.

2. will a 2.0ghz yonah have trouble with leopard because its not so 64 bit?

now the other thing is about memory. i don't know if i have the cash to buy two sticks of 1gb ddr2 to upgrade to 2gb dual channel ram.

3. will the imac run okay in single channel mode if i just add a stick of 1gb ddr2 from crucial?

*thanks for any help! can't wait to get my imac!*

j

1) YES refurbs are good.
2) NO.
3) YES (but a tad slower).

BUT wait 3 hours until WWDC Keynote is over .

 

[Chundles]

so i am obviously waiting anxiously to see what announcements are mde today regarding core2 macs, however time is ticking away as i sold my thinkpad in june and need to buy my imac before school starts.

i've had my eye on a refurb 20" intel imac. its a pretty sweet deal. plus i have a friend working at apple who can get a discount on the already discounted price, but he is only there till next week.

so here are the questions:


1. are the refurbs reliable? i'd probably get applecare with it. the thing is, because my friend is leaving apple next week, as soon as i see one on the apple store i'll probabl snatch it up before its gone.

so that means i can't really wait around for core2 unless its announced today and i can order it this week. the only reason i would think core2 is such a big deal is leopard.

2. will a 2.0ghz yonah have trouble with leopard because its not so 64 bit?

now the other thing is about memory. i don't know if i have the cash to buy two sticks of 1gb ddr2 to upgrade to 2gb dual channel ram.

3. will the imac run okay in single channel mode if i just add a stick of 1gb ddr2 from crucial?

*thanks for any help! can't wait to get my imac!*

j

1. Yes, they are reliable.

2. No, it will be just fine. 10.5 will run like lightning on it.

3. iMac has a dedicated graphics card so dual-channel RAM makes very little difference (if any) you would be wise to use just one stick of RAM as it gives you upgrade options in the future.

 

[jsklar]

you would be wise to use just one stick of RAM as it gives you upgrade options in the future.

so you're saying if i can afford only to buy one stick of 1gb, i'd be better off replacing the 512mb stick with the 1gb? as opposed to having 1.5gb total?


thanks for the replies on the other q's! now i just need to hope that a 20" intel imac shows up on the refurb page in the next few days - i wish there was some way to get a notice email from apple...

 

[Chundles]

so you're saying if i can afford only to buy one stick of 1gb, i'd be better off replacing the 512mb stick with the 1gb? as opposed to having 1.5gb total?


thanks for the replies on the other q's! now i just need to hope that a 20" intel imac shows up on the refurb page in the next few days - i wish there was some way to get a notice email from apple...

I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you were getting 1GB total as an option on your order. If you were only getting 1GB then it's best to go for just one stick of RAM but seeing as you are purchasing extra RAM then it's a different story.

If you are buying a 1GB stick to go along with the 512MB that comes from Apple then yes, by all means go for 1.5GB - the more the merrier.

 

[baby duck monge]

I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you were getting 1GB total as an option on your order. If you were only getting 1GB then it's best to go for just one stick of RAM but seeing as you are purchasing extra RAM then it's a different story.

If you are buying a 1GB stick to go along with the 512MB that comes from Apple then yes, by all means go for 1.5GB - the more the merrier.

The benefit you see from the extra RAM will outweigh the slowdown experienced by not having the RAM work as dual-channel. By a lot.

 

[Chundles]

The benefit you see from the extra RAM will outweigh the slowdown experienced by not having the RAM work as dual-channel. By a lot.

That's what I said. Why did you quote me?

 

[jsklar]

ok cool, thanks!

so, now with the memory, am i really that much better off getting from crucial, or will this kingston stuff do?

 

[slackersonly]

My iMac was an employee discounted refurb. I saved a bunch. It is runs and looks perfect. Do it as soon as you know if an iMac upgrade happens or not today.

My iMac runs on 1.5gb ram with 128mb vram. I run numerous apps at once (usually 4-5) without slowdown. Quake 4 demo at max video options ran smoothly.

I would however price around for the ram as crucial doesnt always have the best prices.

 

[jsklar]

I would however price around for the ram as crucial doesnt always have the best prices.

do you mean crucial doesn't always have the best prices for crucial memory?

or do you think i'd be okay going with that stick of kingston i linked to earlier?

 

[slackersonly]

do a quick search for ram and you will find 4-5 vendors mentioned over and over.
i purchased my ram from datamem as their prices were a good bit cheaper than crucial and the reviews here and other places were very positive.

 

[thestaton]

I'd go with the stock config from apple & then buy 2 gigs of ram from ramjet. its only $200 dollars. I have 2 gigs of ramjet in my 20" duo iMac and the thing literally is lightning. from my understanding 64bit is not really that big of a concern for a casual users. don't pass up on this offer you wont be disappointed. there are not many worldly things I'd fight someone for however if someone tried to steal my iMac they'd be leaving on a stretcher.

 

[jsklar]

2 gigs of ram from ramjet. its only $200 dollars.

where did you see 2gigs for $200? on ramjets site im only seeing 2gigs for $259 for the intel imac..

 

[thestaton]

I guess the cost has risen a tad since january I figured it would of went down by now. but I remember paying $200 shipped ;P

 

[baby duck monge]

That's what I said. Why did you quote me?

Sorry. I was just putting the reasoning behind your post since it seemed the OP was fairly preoccupied with dual-channel RAM. You were right, I just wanted to explain why. I didn't mean to offend or anything.