Apple Releases New Sandy Bridge Quad-Core iMacs with Thunderbolt

[DeaconGraves]

You'd have to be a fool to order that from Apple. Their upgrade prices on SSD's are a joke! It'd probably be cheaper to wait it out a couple of months and get an external thunderbolt one - it'll be just as fast if not faster!

Or I don't have the time to do it myself. And have no experience taking apart computers so I'd rather not risk removing the glass and doing serious damage. I will gladly upgrade RAM on my own, but not the hard drives.

The SSD + HD combo (with OS X pre-installed on the SSD drive) is a great combo for me and worthe the price. It's the wait that's going to be torture.

 

[linux2mac]

holy lord, apple went all out with this update. impressed! oh, man, macbook pro or new imac???

My 2005 imac is near death!

Both.

 

[Žalgiris]

Buy the SSD for far cheaper elsewhere! You would have to be a complete idiot to pay the Apple price for the SSD.

Apple puts it while it's inside factory, so no dust and no time waste for me. Even Apple SSD is fast enough. I guess i'm an idiot then.

 

[ArchaicRevival]

Aw no BlueRay? I'M NOT BUYING APPLE!









Just kidding lol...

 

[rcp27]

Oh hey... question! Can I buy a "built to order" iMac from the store? Well I'd like that stock model, but I'd also like that touch panel thing and not the mouse (already got a Razer mouse). Just I get a discount from my local Apple Store that'll save me quite a bit!

While not an actual BTO, when I bought my iMac from the local Apple store, I asked if I could swap the keyboard for a different model (exchange the Swiss layout Keyboard for an English one). Once the guy established they had the English one in stock, and realised how much of a pain it would be to acutally switch them, he just gave me the English keyboard free. Of course that was dependent on getting lucky with the guy in the store, but it's worth a try.

 

[gorcman]

hmm. anyone know how the amd 6750m compares to the 6770m? wondering which configuration to get.

 

[AidenShaw]

Come on only Hyper-threading with the i7 -.-

Hyper-Threading (Intel Core i7 only) — a technology that allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core.

I was looking to verify that . . . it blows now that I know. I didn't want to have to spend the extra $200 for HT.

I was going to comment on the lack of value of hyper-threading for most users, but the following post is good:

Hyperthreading hardly matters. It's already a quad core designed to shut off two of the cores for better performance. The minor boost to the i7 is almost always going to be attributed to the higher clockrate and the 2MB additional L3 cache.

There are some very specific scenarios and synthetic benchmarks that will use 8 threads effectively, but very few real world users will notice any benefit from Hyperthreading. Most everyone will notice a higher clock rate and more L3 cache. It's probably more fruitful for people to decide if $200 is worth 300more Mhz and 2MB additional L3, I would say those factors alone is worth around 11 - 13% performance boost, and constitutes a 10% higher cost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_processors

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-16.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-15.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-18.html

HyperThreading can actually hurt performance, due to scheduling and cache issues.

I always disable HyperThreading on my Core i7 systems (it's an option in the BIOS) unless I'm running workloads that keep more than 4 cores busy for extended periods.

If you can't keep 5 cores busy, disable it.

 

[toddybody]

Lian Li has brushed metal across its line up. You are going to pay for it though.

Lian Li is the best IMHO, and you can actually find them for decent prices (especially their mATX offerings). I like your case btw...I currently have an ANTEC as well. I love this mATX too...

139 on New Egg, not bad

 

[Thomas2006]

Looks like a solid update, shouldn't be long before a Mac Mini and Mac Pro update to complete the lineup.

Still no matte screen, not even as an option, and there is only one Thunderbolt port on the 21" iMac, but otherwise, it is a nice update.

I am hoping the Mac mini gets the 2.0GHz quad-core that comes with the 15" MacBook Pro and not the dual-core processors that are in the 13" MacBook Pro. Since Apple discontinued the Xserve and now offers a "server" model, I am wondering if the rumors of a redesigned Mac Pro will come true.

 

[devilstrider]

Apple puts it while it's inside factory, so no dust and no time waste for me. Even Apple SSD is fast enough. I guess i'm an idiot then.

lol Man there is no way I'd spend that much money for that convenience. Hell it will be dust in that iMac in less that a month after you get it. Might as well save a lot of money and do it yourself.

 

[J-Rock]

Does it still support video input?

Hello all. This is my first post, despite watching the forums for some time now. I hope this hasn't been discussed yet, but I can't keep up with the rate of posts in this forum this morning.

I've been watching every day for this update, and will be ordering a configure-to-order 27" this evening. I'm looking at upgrading everything but the ram, and ordering that separately. The previous generation specifically stated in the tech specs that it could be used as a monitor for a mini-displayport source. I'm hoping to use this as an XBOX 360 display (paired with the $150 HDMI to mini-DP converter). Does anyone know if this option will be supported by the new 2GB nVidia card?

Thanks!

 

[Eidorian]

Lian Li is the best IMHO, and you can actually find them for decent prices (especially their mATX offerings). I like your case btw...I currently have an ANTEC as well. I love this mATX too...

Image


139 on New Egg, not bad

It is a fight between Lian Li and Silverstone for me. It just depends on the form factor and exoticness you are looking for.

 

[Eduardo1971]

Not really sure why Apple can't bring themselves to put an i7 by default in a $2,000 machine. That's kind of ridiculous.

Not only that but only 4 GB RAM!

Nontheless I'll be buying one.

 

[BobbyCat]

Thank you Steve

Thanks for hearing my prayer: all 4 iMacs are 50 euros cheaper in Europe.
After all, it was unfair; a base iMac was 1.199 euros, "same" as in the US 1.199 $, but it meant we were paying 1.776 $ at today's rate.
Considering we still have a full crisis across Europe, this is a good move that makes the iMac a little more affordable this side of the Ocean.

 

[Steve121178]

Than go and brag in a damn PC forum and not in MacRumors!

Quit your moaning. PC owners are hardly trolling here.

 

[toddybody]

Hey Folks, heres some benchmarks of the 6970M in action...please note the obvious difference in system variables. Also, these are for 1080p in windows.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6970M.43077.0.html

 

[Digital Skunk]

HyperThreading can actually hurt performance, due to scheduling and cache issues.

I always disable HyperThreading on my Core i7 systems (it's an option in the BIOS) unless I'm running workloads that keep more than 4 cores busy for extended periods.

If you can't keep 5 cores busy, disable it.

Because this is coming from you Aiden, and you've provided the links which I shall read soon, I won't consider HT a plus in my search for a new workstation.

 

[commander.data]

hmm. anyone know how the amd 6750m compares to the 6770m? wondering which configuration to get.

I'd guess they'd actually be pretty similar given that the HD6770M has a 21% core clock increase from 600MHz to 725MHz in the HD6770M, but the same memory bandwidth and the same memory amount.

 

[Žalgiris]

lol Man there is no way I'd spend that much money for that convenience. Hell it will be dust in that iMac in less that a month after you get it. Might as well save a lot of money and do it yourself.

Mine cought dust after 2.5 years which is when i upgraded RAM and HDD. So in my experience it's highly unlikely.

 

[toddybody]

It is a fight between Lian Li and Silverstone for me. It just depends on the form factor and exoticness you are looking for.

I LOVE the way Silverstone's look (especially their HTPC offerings)...Ive just found that they dont offer attractive mATX solutions with enough 120mm fan ports.

 

[Steve121178]

Apple puts it while it's inside factory, so no dust and no time waste for me. Even Apple SSD is fast enough. I guess i'm an idiot then.

If you enjoy being significantly ripped off then that is your business, but it's so simple to install an SSD, why not save some cash?

 

[devilstrider]

Mine cought dust after 2.5 years which is when i upgraded RAM and HDD. So in my experience it's highly unlikely.

You mean major dust. It had dust in it that the human eye could not see. Please don't tell me you have it in a clean room for 2.5 years. lol

 

[Žalgiris]

If you enjoy being significantly ripped off then that is your business, but it's so simple to install an SSD, why not save some cash?

It's a rip off only if you don't understand what you are doing. I just want to buy an iMac, take it out of the box, put it on a desk, move my OS with all the settings and continue using it as if nothing has changed. A good plan if you ask me.

 

[Drag'nGT]

This is insane. Apple still charges $200 for another 4GB ram. Is this ram made out of gold or diamonds? 4 GB ram costs $40 for pc.

I already have a better system since January.

-Sandy Bridge i7 2600k @4.2 GHZ
-12 GB RAM 1600MHZ (faster ram than the new iMacs, cost me only $120 for 12GB)
-Ati 5850 ( faster than those mobile gpus )
-Can install OS X 10.6.7 on it, but I don't need it.

It all cost me $500(when I upgraded)

We all agree that the ram and hdd + ssd drive prices are too much. So we all buy it separately and install it ourselves. At least I know that I plan to and so do most of the other people on this forum.

Additionally, our computers will always work perfectly with new versions of OSX and we have the 27" scree that would add $1000 to your $500 computer. I think in the end it's getting pretty picky to quibble over $500 between the value of a Mac and the value bargain box PC. Although I do see the point.

 

[gotohamish]

If you enjoy being significantly ripped off then that is your business, but it's so simple to install an SSD, why not save some cash?

Good to know. Can you point me to the best instructions to do this? Assuming this revision doesn't have a different internal layout.