imac question

[coolweirdo]

Considering buying a imac this week, just had a quick question what if i bought a base model 21.5" or 27" what could i add on my own to make it the best imac it can be without voiding the warranty?


prices and suggestion please

 

[simsaladimbamba]

RAM is the only upgradeable part.
Newegg and Amazon and OWC and Crucial and Corsair are good places to get 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM modules. You can upgrade to 16 GB RAM for less than 100 USD, to 32 GB for 200 to 300 USD.

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[coolweirdo]

so if i add anything else it voids the warranty? could i add warranty thru any 3rd party company??

 

[simsaladimbamba]

so if i add anything else it voids the warranty? could i add warranty thru any 3rd party company??

OWC / MacSales offers HDD/SSD upgrades, but I don't know, if that doesn't void the warranty, as the HDD is not a user replaceable part, and it takes some time to get to it.
I changed the HDD in my 2007 Aluminium iMac to a bigger HDD and again to an SSD, both times it took me an hour to do so.

 

[Macman45]

OP, your best bet is to spec up everything you want at purchase time. You can upgrade to 2 GB graphics, a faster CPU etc. Just leave the memory to do on your own, it's simple to do, and as pointed out above it won't void your warranty.

For what it's worth I bought my 27" with the top CPU, 2GB graphics and 8gb of ram.

I then bought the extra RAM to take it up to 16GB from Crucial and installed it myself....Apple even post step by step instructions on Thier web site.

 

[derbothaus]

I don't know if I would bother with the 2GB GPU upgrade unless you are running multiple 27-30" display's. It isn't really any faster for intensive work with shaders. It actually runs a couple frames slower. Just FYI.
http://www.barefeats.com/imac11c.html

 

[robgendreau]

The newest iMacs are very difficult to DIY mod; about all you can do is add RAM.

There are arguments about whether adding an SSD or new drive voids warranty, and in the past I would have argued that perhaps it didn't. But with the new iMacs you can introduce changes that affect fan use, heat, etc. that would put Apple on pretty firm ground in denying a warranty claim, if it came to that. And it's easier to break these.

But macsales, for example, will do an upgrade on your machine and warranty it. But even they only do SSDs and drives and an eSATA port, and you can do some of that by ordering your own from Apple.

Rob

 

[David085]

If you want to add different stuff I suggest getting a Mac Pro instead probably wait to see if the rumors are true that they coming out with a newer Mac Pro

 

[btbrossard]

Adding anything but ram is not for the faint of heart since you have to remove the screen to get to it.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch-Teardown/1236/1