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Buy now or keep waiting???

Dirtyharry50

Dirtyharry50

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 17, 2012
1,769
183
I am finally able to get my first iMac and am very excited about it. I've been reading the threads here for a while about an upcoming refresh and the waiting has been driving me nuts. I had my heart set on the 27" iMac with Radeon 6970 GPU, 4 gigs ram, 1 TB hard disc, core i5 3.1 CPU. I really like that this system includes a DVD drive which I would have use for. I also like the way it looks just fine. The system performance overall will blow away the PC I am used to using which is a dual core AMD CPU with a Radeon 5670 card. As far as the video goes, I know the 6970 has to push more pixels but for gaming I think I'd be okay with less than highest settings and running at 1080p when needed.

I am planning to use bootcamp to play some Windows games, particularly EverQuest 2 but I also like shooters, RPGs (Skyrim, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.) and other games. While I do love gaming on the computer it isn't the only thing I want and use one for. I understand I could get a very powerful gaming rig from say Alienware for what this iMac will run me but it would not be a Mac and it wouldn't offer me the same user experience and software. So I am cool with games not being cranked to the max. Hell, I am currently still living with the old system I mention and a 1280 x 1024 screen.

Thanks to Steamplay, it turns out I have quite a number of good games native for the Mac already which is great. I'm also a World of Warcraft fan and that is available for Mac along with the new Diablo III and Starcraft 2. I expect these games would run great on the 2011 27" iMac. I'm a big fan of Blizzard games. I'm glad they support the Mac.

Anyway, part of going on about all that leads to the key thing I am worried about with the upcoming refresh (assuming there really is one soon) and that is I would expect they will upgrade the GPU. The possibility of a 7970 is a huge upgrade for gaming purposes, the ivy bridge processor wouldn't impact anything for me really other than the minor speed boost. So I am torn about waiting further or just saying the hell with it and finally getting the computer of my dreams now without further delay. The other thing is, reading about possible retina displays I wonder if that would tend to minimize the impact of the 7970 GPU performance improvement pushing so many pixels or alternatively going 1080p but I have no idea if that would look and run well.

Sorry to go on so long and thanks for reading if you got this far. I am going just crazy trying to make up my mind here. I don't want to wait anymore. I want to start having fun with Garageband and learning to play piano! I'm getting a midi keyboard to go with my new toy for this purpose! I am disabled and on a limited income so I need to spend wisely and that is another reason I worry about this. In a way, I like the iMac currently as it is and have no idea if I will like a newer one as much or less, other than a GPU upgrade would be very appealing.

You can wait forever for the next best thing and meantime not be using anything good, you know? And when it comes to computers you no sooner buy something then in a short time it is no longer the newest, shiniest anymore anyway. Isn't it about a year from now a major improvement in processor power is coming for example?

I'd be interested in your thoughts and opinions on buy now or keep waiting given what I've said above and thank you for any advice you have to share.
 
Well thw worst thing about computers is that they are always updating and updating and whenever we buy it sooner or later ia going to be old... But like i am doing you should wait the refresh is coming and our new super mac 27'' is arriving :)
 
Great things come to those who wait. And if you don't like the "new" 2012 models (because they lack a DVD drive or ???), then buy a 2011 previous model stock or 2011 refurbished model. For me, I would wait - then decide…
 
Seriously, you're looking at anywhere between 4 days and 4 weeks, no more, before you know what's going on with the 2012. At that point you can make the determination to get a 2012 or get the 2011 you wanted for cheaper.
 
Do Not Buy Now

I would urge you to wait at best four weeks from today.

Depending on upgrade - which in my opinion will just be a refresh of the existing model - you can either invest in the new revised top-end i5 which hopefully will have the AMD Radeon HD 7970M with 2G VRAM as standard, or purchase the 2011 i7 with an SSD option as a refurbished model at the same price point - it just means waiting four more weeks.

For your info, I've just sold my 2011 i7 for the price of a new i5 from Apple and will utilise the funds to purchase the new top end i7 - my only concern is Apple may utilise DDR3 1600 RAM instead of present DDR3 1333, hence making it expensive to upgrade RAM beyond 12G, i.e., 1600 RAM is 100% more expensive than 1333 RAM presently for sale, but same price point as it was last year.
 
shinobi-81 said:
Do you need it now or not? If not, keep waiting.
Click to expand...

Well it really is a want not a need but I want it so badly! I have been wishing for a Mac for years. This waiting is driving me crazy!

I notice a lot of people seem to go with more than the stock 4 gigs of ram. Is that really necessary for my purposes? I don't plan to have multiple large apps running at a time. The most demanding software I'd be running would be games probably when I play them. I have no idea how memory intensive just running OS X is though before anything else starts up.
 
Dirtyharry50 said:
Well it really is a want not a need but I want it so badly! I have been wishing for a Mac for years. This waiting is driving me crazy!

I notice a lot of people seem to go with more than the stock 4 gigs of ram. Is that really necessary for my purposes? I don't plan to have multiple large apps running at a time. The most demanding software I'd be running would be games probably when I play them. I have no idea how memory intensive just running OS X is though before anything else starts up.
Click to expand...

8 GB is a good idea now for games. But, by all means, don't pay Apple's upgrade prices for it; buy it from Crucial and use your screwdriver to remove the 1 screw needed to install RAM.
 
"Buy now or keep waiting???"

I suggest you keep waiting, a little longer.

Otherwise, you may be SEVERELY disappointed in your purchase....
 
Waiting sucks, especially when you have money in your pocket that you've saved for just this purpose. It sounds like you know, and can get, exactly what you want, but I agree with everyone else - hold out a little longer. There's nothing worse than waiting except for buying and then having it upgraded days or weeks later.

Like others have suggested, buy with as little memory as possible, then upgrade through Crucial, OWC, or one of the other suppliers. You'll save a ton. I don't do a lot of gaming, but I'd recommend at last 8gb. The Mac OS likes RAM and, while it may run fine with 4gb, 8gb will be better. :)

Good luck...

Rob
 
Yeah, I'm in the same boat. My iMac still functions, but I'm tired of trying to play Diablo III at lowest settings and 8fps. I can model in blender 3d, but texturing, rendering, animation and physics are all painfully slow. I'm also incredibly tired of seeing all those vertical lines on my dying screen.

Worse, I can't even budget my next purchase or take advantage of sales until the specs are released. I know I'll need a display adapter from Monoprice, but will I need a Firewire 9-pin to 6-pin cable? If Apple drops Firewire from this model, It's a wasted cable. If Apple keeps firewire, that's another order and another shipping fee. Same with USB 3.0 vs. Firewire for the backup drive, whether or not I'll need an external optical drive, and whether Apple includes/offers an affordable SATA-3 SSD.

So I hunt here obsessively. (At least 9to5 Mac is suggesting Apple is moving to the Samsung 830 for their new Macs. Huzzah!)
 
Some may frown on this but if u have a Best Buy local go buy it now. If they release a new model in the next 30 days u can take it back and either exchange it or get ur money back. If u shop there often then u get 45 days.
 
My case

My suggestion is ... WAIT !!! DEFINITELY ... here's my case : I wanted to buy my first iMac in september 2011, but unfortunately I've had extra expenses to face (a small car accident that costed me not so much, but enough to make me change my mind) and had to postpone the buying date ! When I came to the conclusion I could afford it again, I thought it would be better to get the new one ... I know it could sound dumb, but now I'm very happy for the decision I took and that in a few weeks I will get the latest iMac instead of having the old one ...
 
A few more things for you to consider . . .

Everyone bashes against the Mac as a gaming machine, but I assure you, it rocks. I have a fairly low-powered iMac (2009 21.5" Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz, ATI 4790HD GPU), and two years later, I'm still LOVING it. In fact, the main reason I'm looking to upgrade is to get more screen real estate for designing iOS apps on a 27" beast. You're looking at two generations of improvements on the CPU and GPU over mine.

I love to game, and have been a gamer since the old DOS days. Here are a few things I do on my iMac:

New games, OS X clients
Starcraft II - 40+ FPS on Medium setting, native resolution. Looks great, never lags.
SteamPlay - Portal, Half-Life, etc: All native resolution, maxed settings, smooth and beautiful.

Ported Windows games
Feral Interactive - Bioshock 1, Lego games, Tomb Raider, Borderlands, etc - run great
GameTree - Dragon Age I and II, Red Alert III, Puzzle Quest, etc - awesome

Custom 'Wrappers'
WineSkin - Install windows games directly from CD/DVD/File, runs in a virtual windows environment. I run Oblivion, Fallout - New Vegas, Morrowind, Republic Commando, Battle for Middle Earth II, Sins of a Solar Empire, Homeworld, System Shock II - all run native resolution, max details, beautiful performance

Emulators
OS X has a ton of quality emulators out there. I use:
DOSBox - all of my old DOS games that I haven't been able to play properly on Wintel machines now run perfectly on my Mac. Irony.
ScummVM - all of the old LucasArts and Sierra point 'n click adventures run awesomely
Console Emulators - GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, GameCube, SNES, NES, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis - all good. And yes, I only play ROMS for games I owned on these systems. Yes, I owned all of these systems, what can I say?

And of course the Mac AppStore is good and getting better every day.

My long winded point is that in reading your post, I took you to be an avid gamer like me. When I first went Mac, I thought I was making a sacrifice and would be playing solitaire from then on. Wrong!

Wait for the refresh!!!! :D
 
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Quite frankly if you are asking that question at this stage of the game I'd suggest buying an abacus :)
 
Well it is almost Tuesday so maybe there will be news then. Who knows? I'm still hanging on for now. You guys are right who are advising me to hold on I think. It would kill me to buy the thing and have a new one with a 7970 GPU ship a week later.

I don't know how long I can hold out though!

Oh, and thank you iMacFarlane for all the gaming details. That's all great news! :)
 
Dirtyharry50 said:
Well it really is a want not a need but I want it so badly! I have been wishing for a Mac for years. This waiting is driving me crazy!
Click to expand...
If you have wished for it for years, it won't hurt you to wait a little longer. But of course, I do understand that you want one more and more (especially if you're reading up and down about it here on MR). It "tastes" very good to purchase something you have wanted for a long time, but I'm afraid a part of the joy might turn into buyer's remorse if you don't wait at least until after the upcoming refresh.
 
Yep, wait... its the best advice...

I'm in a similar "wait and see" hell of my own...

I have a wonderful but old MacPro, its a 2x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, has 12 GB of ram & an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB. Its showing its age and from all I've read, its sadly one model beyond what the new upcoming OS X "Mountain Lion" will support so I may not be able to run it.

I had the original iPad and liked it, but it too was showing its age as apps became more processor heavy & so forth. So a few months ago I debated on getting either a "new iPad" or one of those nice Macbook Air's. I decided to get the new iPad & love it....

yet I still wish I also had a Macbook Pro or an Air. Either one would "be fine" but am probably waiting for the new MacBook Pros.

I'm also strugglingly with dilemma of what to do with this MacPro which may very well be at its end of life... I'm tempted to buy a new MacPro & put the guts (hard drives and ram) into the new MacPro. I sure would like the 1 gb video cards they're putting in them but I'm also curious, whats going to happen on June 11th??

So basically, like you, I'm in that waiting hell. I can say, seriously, the worse time to buy a Mac is 30 to 45 days before an expected release. You will no doubt be kicking yourself for not waiting yet another four weeks like the rest of us...

I'm also planning on buying new Mac's (two other machines) for my office, so we're waiting that out too.. Its really exciting but its also frustrating because we really need the machines yesterday... :)

Chris Powers
chris@powersbydesign.com

Michael383 said:
The upcoming refresh will be worth the wait.
Click to expand...
 
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