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iMac - Base vs. High end

A

Agurken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 14, 2011
10
0
Denmark
Hey guys

I've been wondering if the 21,5" High end is worth the extra compared to the Base.

The price difference is about 380 dollars converted to my currency.

So is it really worth the cost?

P.S: I don't want suggetions about buying the 27" model, just don't have the space for it :)
 
A slightly faster CPU, a slightly higher-performing video adapter, and double the hard disk space. Consider that none of these are (easily) upgradeable down the road - if you plan on keeping the machine more than about two years, I'd say get the upgraded model.
 
Tomorrow said:
A slightly faster CPU, a slightly higher-performing video adapter, and double the hard disk space. Consider that none of these are (easily) upgradeable down the road - if you plan on keeping the machine more than about two years, I'd say get the upgraded model.
Click to expand...

you get a .02ghz better ghz, 500gb more, and a video card with same specs that is only 125mhz faster than base

for 380 dollar?
umm 0.2ghz makes no noticeable difference so this upgrade price is not justifiable

500gb more?
you can get a portable 1tb for around $100 so not worth it

better gpu?
it just performs faster

if you want i suggest using that money for an ssd like i did

get the fastest possible corsair force gt whatever gb you want (i got 120gb)
this makes your computer super fast as processor performs faster (as apposed to wasting time waiting while the hdd spins) and boots and loads files wayyy faster
ssd best upgrade i ever made
and wen i bought my iMac :apple: installed my ssd free:D
 
Buying hi-end 27" iMac is like getting an iMac + decent gaming PC in one package. It's like you get a $1500 Mac + $500 gaming PC for the money.

You get a nice Mac with huge display, you get a great GPU (Radeon 6970M) .. not the best out there for sure, but great nonetheless. You can game with most graphic settings maxed out and keep the native resolution (2560 x 1440) which beyond most of consumer display out there.

If you want to have all the best, you have to spend more than only getting hi-end iMac.

$1500 iMac (base 27") + $1000 gaming PC (with dual GPU and all) will get you best of both worlds and better performance, but see? It cost more, consume more electricity (you know how gaming PC is) .. more footprint, and more hassle to maintain 2 computers at a time.

I wish I don't like games, that's an expensive hobby, which hardly earn me anything but fun and joy time. Be thankful if you hate games, since you likely spend less money with computer (Professional using expensive workstation too and many of them don't do game, but then again they make money out of it)

Oh, well .. :(
 
Agurken said:
But I'm considering the 21,5" model :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Okay .. sorry I forgot you only wanna talk about 21.5" .. my bad .. well for me the difference is worth the money. I'd go with hi-end 21.5" .. if you measure the price, sure .. $380 difference don't justify the cost of actual difference between 21.5" base and hi-end.

But then again, going iMac means you have limited options, you can't upgrade HDD, CPU and GPU easily. If you insist to do so, in the end you have to pay more than you need to if you go with hi-end.

So .. for me, hi-end is worth it. But i7 or not .. for me I'd go with standard i5 since difference between them is negligible for daily tasking
 
Instead of wondering whether the "base" version of the 21" is lacking vis-a-vis the "high-end" model (again, of the 21"), I'd suggest you take the extra money and buy the 27" version instead.

The extra screen space is the biggest "upgrade" buy for the money.
 
Always get the best that you can afford. I've had numerous Macs over the years (Powerbook, Macbook, 2 iMacs). They were all the lowest models and I always regretted not spending a bit more.
So this time I bought a stock, high-end 27" iMac and I haven't found a fault with it yet :).

There will be a noticeable performance jump on the better graphics card. And you can't change the HDD's in these so easily, so I'd urge you to get the bigger HDD and keep it all internal.

One of the problems I had with cheaper Macs was having to use external drives.
 
after looking at the 21.5" models, honestly there's going to be like a 5-10% difference in power. Imacs use laptop gpus, which are pretty weak. a laptop 6750m is a little weaker than a desktop radeon hd 5770, which is already showing its age. Unless you do hardcore gaming and you need that extra 5-10% power, there's no point in paying 300 more dollars just to get slightly better hardware.
 
If you're interested in benchmarks, the base 21.5 has a geekbench of ~8000, and the 21.5 i7 has a geekbench of ~10700. That's a 33% increase. And this isn't just reflected in geekbench scores, you can see it on other tasks like handbrake and rendering 3D.

In fact, if you take in some small extra costs like $160 for a UPS and surge protector, the 21.5" i7 gives you the most bang for your buck out of all iMacs according to some benchmarks and apps.

I've gone through the same decision as you, and I'm pretty set on getting the i7. I figure paying that bit extra will add a whole lot more useful life to it. Not to mention, it's great having seriously powerful computer!

Ultimately it depends if you're doing intensive tasks or not. I'll be doing FCP X video editing, and I've read that FCP X will benefit from every single increase in specs, and I'll also be doing a little bit of gaming. And the occasional miscellaneous bulk calc task. So I think it will be useful.
 
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