iMac - Video Card - 120 or 130?

[XLR8]

Hi all,

I'm an old mac head from a long time ago. I had a 512, plus, classic, IIFX, SE/30...

Anyway, I haven't had a Mac in a while and I'm having a heck of a time choosing a new iMac. I don't think I need a pro.

My point of indecision is the graphics card. I probably won't do any gaming but I will do photo editing in CS4, Elements, etc. and I will be watching full screen streaming media and DIVX files so I need to drive the big 24 with no flickering or drama.

So the question is, will I appreciate having that extra 256MB in the 130 or would the 256MB 120 be enough? 256MB doesn't seem like enough to drive these big gorgeous screens if I was watching say a show from CBS in full screen or will it be fine?

The other thing I will be doing is setting up bootcamp with Vista so then there are the Aero requirements now and in the future. And what about Snow Leopard when it comes out?

It's a $400 price difference to move up from the middle iMac and get

* more vram
* more HD space
* faster processor
* some future proofing?


Is it worth it?

 

[CubeHacker]

The 256mb of VRAM is more than enough to drive the display at 1920x1200. Unless you plan on playing lots of 3d games, there isn't really a reason to go with the higher end video cards. Nothing you listed makes use of the video card.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

It will work for the screen no problem. My old G4 powered the 23 inch apple display- these babies will certainly handle it.

Do you want serious gaming?

 

[Mintin8]

The 256mb of VRAM is more than enough to drive the display at 1920x1200. Unless you plan on playing lots of 3d games, there isn't really a reason to go with the higher end video cards. Nothing you listed makes use of the video card.

Certain tools in CS4 use the video card, like the 3D things. You don't need to have a decent video card but it helps.

 

[XLR8]

It will work for the screen no problem. My old G4 powered the 23 inch apple display- these babies will certainly handle it.

Do you want serious gaming?

No, I have an XBox for gaming. I just want enough Vram for now and maybe 5 years from now. I tend to keep my computers for a long time. The PC I have now, I built in 2002.

So I was looking at the specs for the 120 and I actually think it may be faster than the 130.