ADVICE: iMac Core 2 Duo 17"

[Chris14]

Hello All,

I am taking the plunge and will be purchasing a new iMac 17" model sometime around christmas (december-january). I have a couple of questions that I would like answered before buying:

1. When is an update to the iMac line expected.
I know they were updated recently, but do you think another is coming before january 2007?

2. I intend on getting an iMac setup like this:

iMac 17" Core 2 Duo
2.0gHZ
1GB RAM
128MB X1600
160 GB hard drive


Will 1gb of ram be enough for good performance? (I don't usually have more than 2 apps open at once).

Will gaming performance of older games be ok? Eg. Quake 3 Ghost Recon (not sure about that one) and Civilization 3.

Will a 160GB hard drive be enough for me?
I have a small iTunes library (2GB) and don't intend on much apart from games and DVD possibly backed up. Photo library about 900MB.

Is there much of a performance gain in ordering a 2.16gHz processor instead?


Thanks very much guys,
you help will be very much appreciated!
It is hard to get advice down here in New Zealand from people who really know what they are talking about!!!

 

[extraextra]

Hello All,

1. When is an update to the iMac line expected.
I know they were updated recently, but do you think another is coming before january 2007?

Probably not.

2. I intend on getting an iMac setup like this:

iMac 17" Core 2 Duo
2.0gHZ
1GB RAM
128MB X1600
160 GB hard drive


Will 1gb of ram be enough for good performance? (I don't usually have more than 2 apps open at once).

Yeah, it most likely will be enough. I'm not sure if adding more RAM is something a user can do on an iMac though. So you might want to look at 2GB.

Will gaming performance of older games be ok? Eg. Quake 3 Ghost Recon (not sure about that one) and Civilization 3.

Don't know for sure, but they should be fine.

Will a 160GB hard drive be enough for me?
I have a small iTunes library (2GB) and don't intend on much apart from games and DVD possibly backed up. Photo library about 900MB.

I think the 160GB would be fine. If you ever run out, you can get an external HD.

Is there much of a performance gain in ordering a 2.16gHz processor instead?

Not really.

Have fun with your new iMac.

 

[Chris14]

Thanks!

Hey, thanks extraextra!

Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Finnxeon]

i just bought that exact model...peeeeeeeerrrrrrrrffffffeeeccccct!!!!

no it should definately be fast enough for your needs and just to correct an above statement....iMac ram is extremely user replacable...the little door is located in the bottom of the imac......so your better off buying third party ram

 

[Chris14]

Thanks again!

Thanks Finnxeon!

I now look foward eagerly to my new iMac!!!

So the 160GB HD is plenty for you too?
I'm still anxious about how that will stand up with the increasing size of applications over the last year or so...

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Thanks Finnxeon!

I now look foward eagerly to my new iMac!!!

So the 160GB HD is plenty for you too?
I'm still anxious about how that will stand up with the increasing size of applications over the last year or so...

The only reason why you'd need more than 160 GB is if you plan on diving into digital video...

I have full seasons of Office, Daily Show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Lost, and Comedy Central Standup, 12000 pictures in iPhoto, and thousands of songs...and I'm on my MBP (with an 80 GB Hardrive)

...although my hard drive is finally starting to get very near full, 160 GB will be fine

 

[dmw007]

Hello All,
1. When is an update to the iMac line expected.
I know they were updated recently, but do you think another is coming before january 2007?

I doubt that we will see an update to the iMac line before January of this coming year.

Will 1gb of ram be enough for good performance? (I don't usually have more than 2 apps open at once).

1GB of RAM will be "enough", but I would reccomend on going straight to 2GB. Mac OS X 10.4 loves loooots of RAM.

Will gaming performance of older games be ok? Eg. Quake 3 Ghost Recon (not sure about that one) and Civilization 3.

Those games should run just fine on the 17" iMac in question.

Will a 160GB hard drive be enough for me?
I have a small iTunes library (2GB) and don't intend on much apart from games and DVD possibly backed up. Photo library about 900MB.

Sounds like 160GB should be enough storage space for you.

Is there much of a performance gain in ordering a 2.16gHz processor instead?

Not much of a performance difference, but I would still opt for the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo processor just because it is a rather cheap upgrade in my opinion.

 

[leekohler]

I too would say go for 2 gigs of RAM. I have 3.5 in my dual-core PM G5 and I would love to have even more- OS X loves RAM. Your iMac should last you a good long while. Enjoy it!

 

[x704]

Hi, I just recently got a stock 17" iMac (Core 2 Duo 2.0 Gz, 1gig RAM, exect... ) too. runs absoulty great! I love the performance of it. I bought Call of Duty 2 for it and runs great. I plan on buying Civ 4 for it as well, I think it will run fine.

 

[Chris14]

Awesome feedback guys!

Hey, thanks to all of you guys.
I think I will buy with stock 1GB RAM and then decide on upping to 2GB later.
Ram prices seem amazingly high at the moment...

I will stick with the 160GB and decide on the 2.0gHz vs. 2.16gHz debate sooner to purchase time. Fingers crossed for around Christmas, finance allowing

Thanks again to all you guys for your help.

 

[jessep28]

Just remember that your iMac with 1GB of RAM consists of 2 x 512MB chips vs. a 1GB chip. You will need to get two new units in order to upgrade to 2GB.

The prices I found on the store are actually reasonable comapred to current market prices. However, that was in the US stores/online.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

I have the exact same spec computer, it's fine for everything you've listed. It can run games like GTR2 fine, so I can imagine it will have no problems with Q3.

As for hard drives, stick with the 160. if you find it's getting cramped, buy an external hard drive (I have a 250)

If you ever want to upgrade the RAM, don't get it through Apple, waaaay too expensive.

 

[wchong]

do you think it can run hl2 and cs:s?

 

[SpookTheHamster]

It'll definitely be able to run HL2, but I can't say at what graphics levels.

 

[FFTT]

I must agree with the others.

It's really much better to get a MATCHED PAIR of 2 X 1GB DIMMS.

Apple's price is really not that far off of street price for the upgrade at the moment.

Otherwise, you'll be pulling your stock 2 X 512 DIMMs keeping them just in case your machine needs to go to the shop.

 

[Chris14]

Thanks for the input guys!

Thanks for all the advice guys.
From what I've heard I think I will go with the matched 2GB RAM
and the 160GB HD should be fine.

Can anyone vouch for a performance increase between 2.0gHz and 2.16gHz?

 

[Sun Baked]

Can anyone vouch for a performance increase between 2.0gHz and 2.16gHz?

Shouldn't really be any real performance increase.

There should be a much larger one on the 1.83 to 2.0GHz iMac due to the increase in cache and the switch from integrated GPU to a GPU chip.

 

[jessep28]

Your getting an 8% clock increase (.16/2) but I don't think that's going to really matter considering you have a good amt of RAM.

But it's only $100 to upgrade vs. the $230 or so I would have had to pay to upgrade my 20" core 2 duo to a 2.33 from 2.16.

 

[Chris14]

Bootcamp

I am also wondering just how safe and secure running Windows through Bootcamp is. I would be very hesitant to run Windows on an iMac just because of the viruses and spyware/adware. I presume I would need anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, unless I stayed completely off the internet.

What are your views on running Windows on a Mac?

 

[FFTT]

If you are using your Windows partition as a dedicated workstion, you don't need to connect to the inernet. You can use your Mac OS X partiton for all that stuff.

Now if you're playing online Windows only games or must connect to an unsecure server, then yes, you still need A/V malware protection on your Windows partition.

You must also keep in mind that while BootCamp does allow you to run XPSP2,
it it still a beta program.

Any work you do on your Windows partition must be backed up.