A couple quick questions about a potential purchase

[ndriver182]

I was going to go for a refurb 3.06ghz iMac with the 8800GS video card in it for $1900, but somebody snagged it before I could. I noticed on another forum that apparently you can buy the Mac Pro and "downgrade" it to the quad 2.8 for around $2200. Since the 3.06 refurb is gone I'd be spending that kind of money anyway or getting the 2.8 iMac with 8800GS for about the same price anyway. So, it pretty much seems like a no-brainer to go with since I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and even an extra 130gb raptor drive that's not being used.

So now for my questions....

1. I'd like the 8800GT card, but that's an extra $150 to buy custom. Is it possible to buy the 8800GT from Apple later and install it if I want/need it?

2. Down the road would it be possible to upgrade from quad core to the 8-core CPU? Not that I could imagine needing that kind of power, but just so I know.

Thanks!

 

[Umbongo]

You can buy the 8800GT but Apple charge $279. OWC sell the ATI 3870 for $218 which is a similar card (better for some applications).

Adding a processor at a later date is possible but not financially sound. Currently you are looking at close to $950 for the processor and a heatsink.

You can get refurb single quad core Mac Pros for $1,999 by the way, but I don't know how often the store gets updated. Last week every processor model was on there.

 

[nanofrog]

I'd go for the 2.8GHz model, with both CPU's. Far cheaper to get it now, rather than try to add it later yourself. Basically $500 vs. $1000.

Apple sells the 8800 separately last I looked, but I'm not sure for how much longer.

 

[ndriver182]

Well, it's done. My fate is sealed. I've gone with the dual quad 2.8's from the refurb store (they updated tonight) for $2500. I think I should be set to not need an upgraded mac for quite a while.