Need help choosing between 2 iMacs

[kylemerosi]

Both are 20 inch and have OSX Lion. The reason the newer iMac has lower specs is because it was an educational model. I'm not sure which to choose, also, does anyone know the value of each? Thanks!

iMac 1
-Early 2008
-2.66 Intel Core 2 Duo
-4GB DDR2 RAM
-ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256MB

iMac 2
-Mid 2009
-2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-4GB DDR3 RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256MB
-Airdrop capable

 

[miles01110]

Since you're looking at C2D models it's likely that performance isn't a big issue for your anyway. Just get whichever one is cheapest.

 

[AppleDApp]

The newer mac will be supported longer. Spec for spec they are pretty close, you won't see much difference in the clock speeds.

 

[kylemerosi]

When I ran geekbench the older one scored 3846, the newer 2995. Any relevance to this?

 

[AppleDApp]

When I ran geekbench the older one scored 3846, the newer 2995. Any relevance to this?

I don't really care for geekbench scores. It's all about real word usage. If you have the chance try both systems and see what works best for you. Also consider your budget and how long the mac is supported. Since Apple is going to a yearly OS cycle I would guess that they will no longer support older macs with the newer software.

 

[kylemerosi]

Yeah that makes sense. See, I already own both macs ha. I'm trying to decide between which to sell and which to keep. The hard decision is if i will actually use Airdrop, and and if the 2 ghz can run my basic games. I just have a hard time justifying keeping the older one even though it seems to perform incrementally better.

 

[forty2j]

Yeah that makes sense. See, I already own both macs ha. I'm trying to decide between which to sell and which to keep. The hard decision is if i will actually use Airdrop, and and if the 2 ghz can run my basic games. I just have a hard time justifying keeping the older one even though it seems to perform incrementally better.

The new one's gain in video card should outshine its loss in CPU speed.

 

[kylemerosi]

The new one's gain in video card should outshine its loss in CPU speed.

Really? I don't know much about video cards. I play on watching HD movies on the iMac, playing a little TF2 and Portal 2, maybe some Diablo 3 if it can handle it.

 

[forty2j]

Really? I don't know much about video cards. I play on watching HD movies on the iMac, playing a little TF2 and Portal 2, maybe some Diablo 3 if it can handle it.

I've played enough D3 on my HD 2600 to say.. try the other one.

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Really? I don't know much about video cards.

Also, since you're into benchmarks, try 3DMark.

 

[kylemerosi]

I've played enough D3 on my HD 2600 to say.. try the other one.

Haha are you saying I don't have a chance with these macs? I'll also be putting either 6 or 8gbs of RAM in whichever I keep.

 

[forty2j]

I've played enough D3 on my HD 2600 to say.. try the other one.

Haha are you saying I don't have a chance with these macs? I'll also be putting either 6 or 8gbs of RAM in whichever I keep.

I'm playing D3 at native 19x12 (because anything else looks fuzzy to me), and otherwise set to low/minimum everything. It just doesn't look that good. And it starts freaking out (lagging etc.) when you're fighting 10 guys at once (which is often).

The Nvidia in the 2009 should do better.

 

[TouchMint.com]

Why not sell both and put a little cash in and get the new imac when it comes out?

 

[stevelam]

I'm playing D3 at native 19x12 (because anything else looks fuzzy to me), and otherwise set to low/minimum everything. It just doesn't look that good. And it starts freaking out (lagging etc.) when you're fighting 10 guys at once (which is often).

The Nvidia in the 2009 should do better.

the 9400 will definitely not do any better. all you see on the diablo mac support forums right now is everyone complaining about the 9400 basically being useless. and lets face it, that card sucked even when it came out in 2008.