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Compare pervious Mac to New?

N

nobodyhome

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 2, 2008
126
3
My local Apple Store totally screwed up my old iMac when I brought in in for a simple repair and after a long battle they convinced me to walk out with a new iMac, but only one that they had in-store.

My only concern is I maxed out my old iMac online when I bought it since I do a lot of graphics/video heavy work. I literally need this thing to feed myself.

I'm hoping those who are more Mac savvy than I (I don't trust my store anymore) might be able to tell me how my old Mac's basic specs compare to the new on.

Previous iMac 27" Mid-2011
Processor: 2.93 GHz i7
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MB
Ram: 16 GB


New iMac 27" Late-2013
Processor: 3.5 GHz i7
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780m
Ram: 8 GB*
*I know the ram is less, but they told me that was the highest they had in-store and I didn't have any other options.


I'd just like to know if I do my video and graphics heavy work is the new one going to be less/slower than the previous one.

Can anybody help confirm?
 
nobodyhome said:
...
*I know the ram is less, but they told me that was the highest they had in-store and I didn't have any other options.

I'd just like to know if I do my video and graphics heavy work is the new one going to be less/slower than the previous one.

Can anybody help confirm?
Click to expand...
The new iMac in general will be faster. You may need to add memory, but it's not that expensive and you got a decent upgrade from the deal. Adding 8GB will cost you under $90 and adding 16GB will be under $165.
 
Bear said:
The new iMac in general will be faster. You may need to add memory, but it's not that expensive and you got a decent upgrade from the deal. Adding 8GB will cost you under $90 and adding 16GB will be under $165.
Click to expand...

Will the graphics card be slower when I doing my video and designing work?
 
nobodyhome said:
Will the graphics card be slower when I doing my video and designing work?
Click to expand...
The 780M is a much faster card. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Apple may have messed up your old computer, but they gave you a rather good replacement and I bet it also has a Fusion Drive in it for added benefit.
 
nobodyhome said:
Will the graphics card be slower when I doing my video and designing work?
Click to expand...

The 780M will brutalise the card you had previously.

You just traded a potato for a brick of gold.

Chuck another 8 GB of RAM in there from Crucial and you're golden.
 
Bear said:
The 780M is a much faster card. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Apple may have messed up your old computer, but they gave you a rather good replacement and I bet it also has a Fusion Drive in it for added benefit.
Click to expand...

Not sure what the Fusion Drive's all about, but that's what google's for, right? XP

Thanks for settling a lot of my concerns. After everything the local Apple Store (stores in FL are hit or miss) did to my Mac (they Frankenstein-ed it) and all the trouble that resulted I just wanted to make sure everything was straight. They seriously need to crack a whip on their repair guys in the back... My Mac was a mess...

Thanks again.

----------
joe-h2o said:
The 780M will brutalise the card you had previously.

You just traded a potato for a brick of gold.

Chuck another 8 GB of RAM in there from Crucial and you're golden.
Click to expand...

Haha! I like that. I'm surprised they let me walk away with it. Tho they messed up big time on their end, so...

After reading everything I'm feeling better about all this.

EDIT: "Crucial" is a brand of memory? Is that a really good brand?
 
nobodyhome said:
Before I noticed your reply I found this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148607

It looks like the same brand...? I noticed the "Cas Latency" is different tho. 9 vs 11? How does that factor in?

Thank you for all the help. I'm more of a software person and hardware confuses the heck outta me for some strange reason.
Click to expand...
That is 1333 memory as well, you want everything to match.. 1600 and CAS 11. Slower memory may or may not work, but if it does, it will slow down the computer, but with the CAS being different, you will have issues.

To be clear you want "DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V" which is what the direct link above shows.
 
Last edited:
Bear said:
The new iMac in general will be faster. You may need to add memory, but it's not that expensive and you got a decent upgrade from the deal. Adding 8GB will cost you under $90 and adding 16GB will be under $165.
Click to expand...
Look around a bit more those prices sound high, I paid $96 for 16GB. 2x8GB.
 
nobodyhome said:
My local Apple Store totally screwed up my old iMac when I brought in in for a simple repair and after a long battle they convinced me to walk out with a new iMac, but only one that they had in-store.

My only concern is I maxed out my old iMac online when I bought it since I do a lot of graphics/video heavy work. I literally need this thing to feed myself.

I'm hoping those who are more Mac savvy than I (I don't trust my store anymore) might be able to tell me how my old Mac's basic specs compare to the new on.

Previous iMac 27" Mid-2011
Processor: 2.93 GHz i7
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MB
Ram: 16 GB


New iMac 27" Late-2013
Processor: 3.5 GHz i7
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780m
Ram: 8 GB*
*I know the ram is less, but they told me that was the highest they had in-store and I didn't have any other options.


I'd just like to know if I do my video and graphics heavy work is the new one going to be less/slower than the previous one.

Can anybody help confirm?
Click to expand...

FYI...you just walked out with the top of the line processor and GPU available in an iMac today. Can you verify what drive you have in there? I don't know if I'd say your old computer was a potato (I just upgraded a late 2006 iMac to a 2013 - that was the potato), but but you've gone from lead to gold, at least. That's some pretty good alchemy. Hopefully in 2 years, my local Apple store messes up my computer in the same way. :D

----------
Bear said:
Crucial is a reputable brand and they stand behind their product. Direct link to memory for the late 2013 iMac.
Click to expand...

FYI...exact same RAM (from Crucial), but cheaper:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-1...=1381004430&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+apple+ram

I just dropped this into my new iMac, it works beautifully.
 
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RedReplicant said:
Look around a bit more those prices sound high, I paid $96 for 16GB. 2x8GB.
Click to expand...

Any suggestions on where to look or what brands to stick to? I'd love to save a few since I'm still paying off various things. I could really use the new one up to speed so I can get back to work. XP

----------
Bear said:
That is 1333 memory as well, you want everything to match.. 1600 and CAS 11. Slower memory may or may not work, but if it does, it will slow down the computer, but with the CAS being different, you will have issues.

To be clear you want "DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V" which is what the direct link above shows.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. So what's in it now is what you linked to. If I bought the one I linked to then I'd need to replace all the memory, but your link I would just be adding to what's already there. I think I got it. Thank you.
 
is there a website that can show you benchmarks comparing your older Mac and new Mac?

Previous 27" iMac
2.7 GHz i5
16 GB 1333Mhz RAM
1 TB 7200rpm
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
10.7

New 27"
3.5 GHz i7
16 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
1 TB Fusion
GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB
(soon) 10.9 w/ all those performance enhancements (Timer Coalescing, App Nap, Compressed Memory)
 
bluescale said:
FYI...you just walked out with the top of the line processor and GPU available in an iMac today. Can you verify what drive you have in there? I don't know if I'd say your old computer was a potato (I just upgraded a late 2006 iMac to a 2013 - that was the potato), but but you've gone from lead to gold, at least. That's some pretty good alchemy. Hopefully in 2 years, my local Apple store messes up my computer in the same way. :D

----------



FYI...exact same RAM (from Crucial), but cheaper:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-1...=1381004430&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+apple+ram

I just dropped this into my new iMac, it works beautifully.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link to the ram. Amazon has everything these days. XP

The drive? I believe it's a 3 TB Fusion drive. The box says 1 TB, but the system summary said 3 TB.

If you live in Central Florida you just might get the mess up you're looking for. People don't know how to fix things down here. Plumber didn't fix my sink so the back corner of our house flooded, car dealership didn't replace my shocks (just cleaned them and lied) so I had to buy new ones, Apple screwed up my old Mac, air conditioner guy did a patch job so now out a/c is broken, cable guys can't keep our internet on... that's just the past several months, mind you. Live in Florida if you want bad workmanship. >X(

----------
Gherkin said:
is there a website that can show you benchmarks comparing your older Mac and new Mac?

Previous 27" iMac
2.7 GHz i5
16 GB 1333Mhz RAM
1 TB 7200rpm
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
10.7

New 27"
3.5 GHz i7
16 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
1 TB Fusion
GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB
(soon) 10.9 w/ all those performance enhancements (Timer Coalescing, App Nap, Compressed Memory)
Click to expand...

I tried finding some reviews where they compared iMacs that might be similar to the previous Mac, but had a hard time. I might be looking in the wrong places(?).
 
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DIY Upgrade of 21inch current iMac

I looked on OWC site and it seems that DYI upgrade for the current iMacs are only for the 27inch ones and not the 21inch.
—I do remember a while back before this current release that the 21inch is now much harder to DYI than previously.
Is that still the case? Can an average user like moa who does quite a bit of Graphic Design stuff using CS6 and such be able to DIY such as upgrading RAM and HD on the 21inch? Or do I have to fork over the mula for the 27inch?
—I currently have a 2011 or 12 27inch and a 2011 MBP 15MBP, I think. I’m thinking ahead in the future here. Because it seems like Apple is making it harder and harder for DYI that can't really afford to upgrade through Apples Monopoly/Gouging style of Upgrades thru their Upgrade Options.
Thanks.
 
3lutz3toe said:
I looked on OWC site and it seems that DYI upgrade for the current iMacs are only for the 27inch ones and not the 21inch.
....
Click to expand...
That is correct, the same as the late 2012 models.

As for whether or not you can upgrade it yourself, check the guide at ifixit.com Note that if you order a 21" going from 8GB to 16GB at time of purchase is not that much more than buying the 16GB memory kit from a third party. Also, remember that replacing the memory yourself in the current 21.5" voids the warranty.

I suspect the 27" will have user upgradeable memory for the foreseeable future.
 
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