I am interested in buying a new personal computer. My first thought was the iMac 27" of 2012 with 3.2GHz, 1TB, Geforce gt 675m with 1GB, 12gb ram which will cost 2000 (2300USD) euro. On the other hand, i can't stop thinking that with the same money a can build a pc much better, that will also be upgratable in the future, with a great LED monitor. Please help.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac 27" 2012 vs Building a PC
- Thread starter nicolastzi
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You already answered your own question. You said you could build yourself a PC for the same money that's much better than the iMac with a monitor. Do it.
That's true, but i can not ignore the os x mountain lion, the design and the fact that the imac also has a good resale price in case I want to change it. What do you think about those things?
It's a totally personal decision.
You'll get more horsepower with the PC, personally I got tired of building my own PCs a while back and don't have the urge to upgrade all the time anymore. Raw power of a machine is rarely keeping me from getting anything done, the aesthetics and OS are worth the extra Mac cost to me.
You'll get more horsepower with the PC, personally I got tired of building my own PCs a while back and don't have the urge to upgrade all the time anymore. Raw power of a machine is rarely keeping me from getting anything done, the aesthetics and OS are worth the extra Mac cost to me.
Thank you very much for replying so fast. What is your opinion about gaming and the specific version of imac?
Glad to help. And I've got a Mini right now so I haven't used the new iMac much, don't know specifics on performance.
If you're looking to play a lot of games a home built PC will give you better overall performance. You can do some searching around this forum to get some feedback on how certain games run on the iMac, but being able to choose your video card and other components is going to get better overall gaming performance on a Windows box.
If you're looking to play a lot of games a home built PC will give you better overall performance. You can do some searching around this forum to get some feedback on how certain games run on the iMac, but being able to choose your video card and other components is going to get better overall gaming performance on a Windows box.
I am not interested in serious gaming. I am intending to do a partition using boot camp and play games such as Need for Speed, Call of Duty etc.. No online games for hours every day!
Do you want to use OS X or Windows as your primary operating system?
The former favors an iMac, the latter favors a PC.
I am interested in trying the os x as the only apple products i have used are an iphone and an ipad. I am thinking of using windows only for gaming..
You can run Windows on an iMac, either natively via Boot Camp or in virtualization under OS X using programs like Parallels and VMWare.
Thank you.. I am aware of those solutions. My main point is if imac s worth the money for an everyday use and some games from time to time..?
Speaking only for myself, I moved from Windows to OS X via an 24" iMac in 2007 and have never looked back (I am preparing to buy my fourth plus I've owned a number of MacBook Pros).
A few years ago I would 100% agree with you. HOWEVER, when push came to call I couldn't find myself willing to spend 400 $ to upgrade a video card on an already outdated system after 2 years. A DIY PC is fast and can easily be upgraded. A Mac is an integrated system and keeps its value.
Here in Holland I sold my first iMac after a few years and got 70% of the value back. Same happened for every mac i owned since then. My old PC's were more or less worthless after 2 - 3 years.
Now I have the i7 - 32 GB - 256 GB SSD - GeForce M 680 MX - iMac 2012 which is very fast. Yes, for the same or less money I could have built my own PC system knowing it would be worthless after 3 years and knowing I could upgrade it after 2 years and still have a worthless systems. IMO Macs just work and can offer great specs in combination with a very stable OS and sleek design.
But then again, it's just my opinion
Thank you very much for your time. This is another thing i thought too.. The resale value! Do you play any games?
I'm also an iMac buyer. I do play games through Boot Camp on an 2011 i5 with the 512MB 6770M Radeon. Skyrim, Xcom, Civ V, Sim City and Guild Wars 2 all run smoothly on it, if not at maximum graphic settings.
If you can, consider buying refurbished. You'll get surprisingly close.
The 27" iMac with the i7, 680MX and Fusion Drive is $2599.
Refurbished, the same model is $2199
My attempt to build a PC that matched the specs (660TI graphics card, Samsung 128GB SSD + 1TB drive) came out to $2027.
(All prices in Canadian, pricing through NewEgg.)
If you can, consider buying refurbished. You'll get surprisingly close.
The 27" iMac with the i7, 680MX and Fusion Drive is $2599.
Refurbished, the same model is $2199
My attempt to build a PC that matched the specs (660TI graphics card, Samsung 128GB SSD + 1TB drive) came out to $2027.
(All prices in Canadian, pricing through NewEgg.)
I went through the same dilemma earlier in the year...I had the 27" for a bit, but decided to return it. Still have my home built PC from '07, even had to replace the old 8800gts recently with the same EVGA card bought off ebay for $25 that cost me around $350ish new.
But now I've gotten into some photography and miss having that beautiful 27" screen. It's really nice and now I'm thinking of waiting until it's updated this fall. I'm in the Apple world with my Apple TV, iPad, Touch and work computer 13" Air, so I'm back to debating a retina macbook or the 27" again.
Yes I could build a decent PC cheaper, but once you add a good 27" monitor, it pretty much evens out and you're stuck w/ Windows. If you want a 23" monitor, PC is a pretty good deal.
But now I've gotten into some photography and miss having that beautiful 27" screen. It's really nice and now I'm thinking of waiting until it's updated this fall. I'm in the Apple world with my Apple TV, iPad, Touch and work computer 13" Air, so I'm back to debating a retina macbook or the 27" again.
Yes I could build a decent PC cheaper, but once you add a good 27" monitor, it pretty much evens out and you're stuck w/ Windows. If you want a 23" monitor, PC is a pretty good deal.
Do not forget about tax. Outside America, most of Apple products are crazily expensive because of tax.
You might wanna get a $2000 iMac with 27" display, 3.2GHz i5 and 675MX, right? Well you may end up about $3000 at least. If you push it to your budget, you might only get the base 27" iMac. Yeah, reality sucks
So in contrary to some member here, you might wanna build yourself a PC instead, don't forget to get the 1440p display to make the most enjoyment of an iMac.
Add a GTX 780, SSD, i7 and you get yourself a machine faster than any iMac and closer to $2000.
You might wanna get a $2000 iMac with 27" display, 3.2GHz i5 and 675MX, right? Well you may end up about $3000 at least. If you push it to your budget, you might only get the base 27" iMac. Yeah, reality sucks
So in contrary to some member here, you might wanna build yourself a PC instead, don't forget to get the 1440p display to make the most enjoyment of an iMac.
Add a GTX 780, SSD, i7 and you get yourself a machine faster than any iMac and closer to $2000.
I'd upgrade to the 680 MX just for futureproof purposes with your gaming, but the config you mentioned above will last you quite a while. The games you mentioned aren't too taxing and newer versions may not run on Ultra in a few years, but they will play and play well. I have a 2007 base model iMac in my closet and can still play World of Warcraft on it if I choose, and that's no amazing system by any stretch of the imagination.
As an IT who works with Windows and Mac systems on a daily basis and has switched to OS X for the better part of the last decade (while using Win Vista / 7 / 8 at work and on the side) I can 100% recommend the switch to an iMac to you. As others have mentioned before, the resale value of the iMac will end up losing you less money in the long run if you choose to take the that route. I suggest that route, or you could foolishly hold onto it for sentimental value like me.
As an IT who works with Windows and Mac systems on a daily basis and has switched to OS X for the better part of the last decade (while using Win Vista / 7 / 8 at work and on the side) I can 100% recommend the switch to an iMac to you. As others have mentioned before, the resale value of the iMac will end up losing you less money in the long run if you choose to take the that route. I suggest that route, or you could foolishly hold onto it for sentimental value like me.
This.
I game semi-regularly on my iMac (i7/12GB/6970M) and it's fine: Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3, Battlefield 3, etc. all run well at medium settings and native resolution. I'm due to upgrade soon and will move to a 680MX (or whatever replaces it), given that the upgrade cost over the 675M is minimal and the benefits are noticeable.
Outside of gaming, I do a ton of development work on my iMac and it's hard to go past all of the (great) tools ported over from Linux/GNU-land/BSD.
I built a machine which was intended to be a hackintosh. I ended up installing Windows 8.1 preview and haven't looked back. I will say that I basically live in Excel, and Excel for Mac will NEVER compare to the Windows version. Also, the good trading platforms are Windows only. I also have a mid-2011 MBA, but my next laptop will probably be a Thinkpad. I've been using OS X for about 10 years now since I got my 12" PB G4, but my needs have changed I guess.
Its all about OSX for me, if i could easily run OSX on PC hardware (Hackintosh is a pita) i would build my own machine. Instead i choose a 2012 27" iMac and love it.
Have you ever tried? It's actually not very difficult, assuming you're into that kind of stuff.
If you buy that refurbished one and it disappears by the time I want to buy it. I will hunt you down and pout right in front of you with my arms stiffly folded across my chest. I may sniffle a bit, too!