Making the Switch

[JHBrown]

Hey friends,

Recently finished grad school at good ole UCLA. 34 years old now but I finished. I am no longer a Hard core gamer like I was back in the early 2000's. The only game I play now is the Sims 3, yes Sims 3. I am thinking about selling off my current PC that I built last November and buying the top of the line 27inch iMac. My current rig is built inside of a Silverstone SG09 and it contains the following:

I7 3770k
Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3
16GB Corsair Ram
EVGA GTX 680 Classified 4GB
2 Intel 520 240GB SSD(not in Raid, one is dedicated for Linux Mint)
Asus 27inch PB278Q PLS Monitor
Windows 7 Professional

Since building this little beast, the only game I've played is the Sims 3 and a whole bunch of typing in Word while in grad school. The question for those who have switched from a high end Windows system to a Mac, were you satisfied? Will the 27inch iMac fill my needs for light gaming, Word documents, and web surfing? Should I just keep my computer, be happy, and not lose the $2700-$3000 I put into it? If I sell all the parts on eBay I know I will loose a lot of money. My days of spending 8 hours playing a game are over and I would like that clean professional look if you know what I mean. Thanks folks for your time.

 

[TType85]

Hey friends,

Recently finished grad school at good ole UCLA. 34 years old now but I finished. I am no longer a Hard core gamer like I was back in the early 2000's. The only game I play now is the Sims 3, yes Sims 3. I am thinking about selling off my current PC that I built last November and buying the top of the line 27inch iMac. My current rig is built inside of a Silverstone SG09 and it contains the following:

I7 3770k
Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3
16GB Corsair Ram
EVGA GTX 680 Classified 4GB
2 Intel 520 240GB SSD(not in Raid, one is dedicated for Linux Mint)
Asus 27inch PB278Q PLS Monitor
Windows 7 Professional

Since building this little beast, the only game I've played is the Sims 3 and a whole bunch of typing in Word while in grad school. The question for those who have switched from a high end Windows system to a Mac, were you satisfied? Will the 27inch iMac fill my needs for light gaming, Word documents, and web surfing? Should I just keep my computer, be happy, and not lose the $2700-$3000 I put into it? If I sell all the parts on eBay I know I will loose a lot of money. My days of spending 8 hours playing a game are over and I would like that clean professional look if you know what I mean. Thanks folks for your time.

You will probably see less than 50% of what you put in it. I recently made the switch from a similar windows machine.

I to am no longer a big gamer, my wife and I play WoW a few times a week and SWTOR occasionally and that is about the extent of my gaming.

I am really happy with the top end 27" iMac. I was able to get a top end (680mx, i7, 1tb fusion) machine for $2199 refurbished from apple. The 680mx can push both of my games at native resolution with good frame rates.

I have it set up to bootcamp to windows to play the games since the windows clients run better. I put parallels on for a separate VM for my Visual Studio development and my VPN in to my office. It handles everything I throw at it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

i think you should consider if you're going to be portable or not.

If portable consider the new 13" MBP Retina or the 15".

The 27" iMac will more than keep you satisfied for a few years going forward. Should you ever get back into gaming then consider the XBox One or PS4.

Cheers.

 

[forty2j]

For what you're doing, your current rig and the top-end 27" iMac are both too much computer. If you're looking for a sexy desktop ornament or wanting to join the world of OS X, you can certainly make the move (and probably get the base 27"), but there's no way you can do this and not be out a ton of cash.

There is a middle option where you get the top end Mac Mini and hook it up to your existing monitor. It can run The Sims just fine.. and you can probably get enough from selling your parts to buy a Mini, getting you into the world of OS X without additional cash outlay (but also, without a sexy desktop ornament).

 

[sick z33]

That's a nice rig you have there!

 

[jtrainor56]

After 25+ years of using PC's for work and home, I switched to my 27" iMac back in December and have no regrets. Although I am 20+ years older then you, I have found that the few games I play on Steam work great. I also play WOW and X-Plane and have yet to experience any problems.

I recently installed VM Fusion to run Windows 7 and except for haing to run updates for windows, it runs flawlessly. I have been using Quicken for over 15 years and after spending the last 4 months evaluating other personal finance apps, nothing compares to Quicken for Windows.

My work entails supporting our three data centers and international clients on a 24/7 rotation every 5 weeks and have no problems accessing our servers using Citrix or VPN from my iMac, although I do take my work laptop home just in case I want to go out and can connect with an air card.

So if you are wondering what can be done on an iMac, this should ease your mind a bit. As for switching, personally I would save my money and keep what I have. Spending 2k-3k for something that is not going to buy you much except pretty is not a good investment. Just my opinion, but whatever you decide just make sure you are going to happy with that decision....
~Joe

 

[MeatRocket]

I'm a Windows/Cisco engineer & I'm making the switch too. I've built plenty a PC in my day but I'm tired of tinkering. I only want to run VMs for servers & such but have a nice, stable & easy maintainable all-in-one to run the VMs from. The iMac 27 is my answer.

I'm in a slightly different place than you are though. I have a Sandy Bridge i5 with 16GB RAM, a Radeon 4850 (yes, 48500) & a 6yo 22" Samsung monitor. In other words - I'm at the middle/end of a PC lifecycle. I'm at a point where it makes sense to choose whether to upgrade my PC or make the switch to Mac.
If I was at the very beginning of the lifecycle like you, there's no way I'd switch & throw away all that $$ unless I just wanted to play with something new.

 

[JHBrown]

Thank you for all of the wonderful advice. I am headed to the Apple Store at 3:30 to get a more hands on experience. A friend of mine told me not to buy Office 365, instead get iWorks? Does iWorks support MLA, APA, headers, ECT. Basically can I still type a thesis or essays with Pages?

 

[forty2j]

Thank you for all of the wonderful advice. I am headed to the Apple Store at 3:30 to get a more hands on experience. A friend of mine told me not to buy Office 365, instead get iWorks? Does iWorks support MLA, APA, headers, ECT. Basically can I still type a thesis or essays with Pages?

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are a full-featured set of Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and Presentation (respectively). You'll be able to do anything you need to with them.

Of those, I've used Pages the most. The problems it suffer from stem from the fact that we're still in a Microsoft world:
- The UI is a bit jarring. When you're coming from Office's ribbons & contextual menus, Pages is very hard to get used to. Most tasks are in the "Inspector", which (once you open it up) is a little control window that sits off to the side. Some items well be hard to find initially, because Pages handles the concept differently than you're accustomed so it won't be named the same thing and/or act the same way.
- File compatibility is a problem. These applications have no problem opening files created in MS Office, or exporting files to MS Office, to preserve the content. But the formatting doesn't always stick. This is a particular problem when, say, you need to send a recruiter a resume in Word format. My beautiful Pages resume exported to Word and looked like hell. I had to open it in Word on PC and reformat the whole thing.

It's probably worth it for you to just get Office if you're using these tools regularly and professionally.

 

[JHBrown]

Thanks 42! Apple sells Office 365 University for $80. It's for 2 Macs or PC's and comes with a 4 year subscription. I believe I'll go with that deal.

 

[MeatRocket]

Thank you for all of the wonderful advice. I am headed to the Apple Store at 3:30 to get a more hands on experience. A friend of mine told me not to buy Office 365, instead get iWorks? Does iWorks support MLA, APA, headers, ECT. Basically can I still type a thesis or essays with Pages?

You sound like a student. Not sure if you know it or not, but you could do like I did and get the Office 365 University edition. It's $79 and allows you to install Office 365 AND Office for Mac 2011 on up to 2 computers. It's also a 4-year subscription price. That's $79 to run Office on 2 computers of your choice, Mac or PC and have ALL updates for FOUR years. It's an incredible deal. And I hate to say it - you KNOW Office is going to be supported no matter where you send your documents to.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-office-365-university-2013-FX102918415.aspx

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Thanks 42! Apple sells Office 365 University for $80. It's for 2 Macs or PC's and comes with a 4 year subscription. I believe I'll go with that deal.

Haha! I posted my last reply before I saw you had posted this. Just wanted to make sure you got the news before you spent the $$!

 

[JHBrown]

Thanks Meat! Last night I stayed up until the wee hours doing a lot of research so that I know what I want when I walked in. I'm actually in the store right now trying to decide if I really need a 680mx or should I just get a base model 27inch. Should have brought my wife because she would have said get the 21.5inch base model. LOL! I am also distracted by ESPN, trying to keep up on the Spurs and Miami game.

 

[MeatRocket]

Thanks Meat! Last night I stayed up until the wee hours doing a lot of research so that I know what I want when I walked in. I'm actually in the store right now trying to decide if I really need a 680mx or should I just get a base model 27inch. Should have brought my wife because she would have said get the 21.5inch base model. LOL! I am also distracted by ESPN, trying to keep up on the Spurs and Miami game.

Hold up! You can order online via the Education site and get at least $200 off. That'll pay for your 680MX!

And don't forget - that GPU is soldered on so once you buy it, it's done.

 

[TType85]

Hold up! You can order online via the Education site and get at least $200 off. That'll pay for your 680MX!

And don't forget - that GPU is soldered on so once you buy it, it's done.

Or you can go refurb and get this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0MS5LL/A/refurbished-imac-34ghz-quad-core-intel-core-i7

It's what I got and it works perfect.

 

[MeatRocket]

Or you can go refurb and get this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0MS5LL/A/refurbished-imac-34ghz-quad-core-intel-core-i7

It's what I got and it works perfect.

I'm glad you posted that! I've actually been looking at that but wasn't sure how it'd compare to new. I'm assuming it's just like new, with the same warranty & everything right?

 

[TType85]

I'm glad you posted that! I've actually been looking at that but wasn't sure how it'd compare to new. I'm assuming it's just like new, with the same warranty & everything right?

Mine was just like new, no issues. The only difference was it was in a white box not the retail one. It has a 1yr warranty like new and you can get apple care I think.

 

[JHBrown]

Quick update:

Left the store last night with a brand new 27inch iMac fully loaded. Bad news is............................I also left the store with a Haswell 13inch MacBook Air. Total damage after student discounts, about $3500. My wife comes home today, she's a NICU Doc 3 hours away so she couldn't stop me last night, and I may need a place to stay tonight. Anyone in SoCal want to rent a room? I'm off to Ikea to find a bigger desk now. I have decided to keep my gaming computer in case the urge to game comes back.

Edit: I'll try to get pics up once I have a desk put together with all machines showing their glory. On another note, I should have consulted with my wife before getting the MacBook Air. I won't call her though when she's stuck in SoCal traffic. That would add gasoline to the fire. This weekend is Father's Day weekend, so I'm hoping for a pass.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I won't call her though when she's stuck in SoCal traffic. That would add gasoline to the fire. This weekend is Father's Day weekend, so I'm hoping for a pass.

You're so dead! I suggest cooking her a lovely evening meal if you don't plan to sleep on the sofa tonight! Congrats on your purchases. Don't forget the pictures when you are all done.

 

[forty2j]

I should have consulted with my wife before getting the MacBook Air. I won't call her though when she's stuck in SoCal traffic. That would add gasoline to the fire. This weekend is Father's Day weekend, so I'm hoping for a pass.

This will go much better for you if the MBA is for her...

 

[torana355]

I have the 2012 iMac i7 3.4ghz with the 3tb fusion drive, 16gb of ram and 680mx and it handles all the games i play at native resolution at reasonable to excellent frame rates depending on the game. It will EASILY handle Sims 3 and will perform well for a number of years to come. Hope you enjoy it and your new MBA PS: I LOVE my 2011 MBA!!!!!