Then get the iMac. I use the machines in my sig for graphic design and illustration and they are more than fast enough for these tasks. 500 mb .psd files open almost instantly. It won't matter if your project files open in 3 seconds or 2 seconds.
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New iMac or a i7 920 Quad Core System??
- Thread starter Yamcha
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Then get the iMac. I use the machines in my sig for graphic design and illustration and they are more than fast enough for these tasks. 500 mb .psd files open almost instantly. It won't matter if your project files open in 3 seconds or 2 seconds.
http://www.ncix.com, if your in the US make sure you click the US button.. Well I was going to build it myself.. but they build for you too but they charge..
lol and I hope that some of the Mac community can really see how affordable pc's are
Its very simple. Do you rely on the Mac OS? If not, then u pick the i7. From what i've read, this is one hell of a processor. A recent issue of PC Gamer raved about it, saying this actually is an upgrade.
Looking at the other hardware, its no contest. The i7 system is a great choice.
Thats why I have a gaming PC and a MBP lol. My wallet is bleeding !!
Oh, didnt realize u had a PC already. If your in no rush, wait for the i7 systems to come down in price. What does your current PC have in it?
Looking at the other hardware, its no contest. The i7 system is a great choice.
Thats why I have a gaming PC and a MBP lol. My wallet is bleeding !!
Oh, didnt realize u had a PC already. If your in no rush, wait for the i7 systems to come down in price. What does your current PC have in it?
I wouldn't be surprised, because the Core i7 has a newer microarchitecture and double the cores.
The upcoming iMacs might have quad-cores, albeit Penryn ones.
The Core i7 920 is an easy, easy 3.6-3.8GHz with overclocking.
And to whoever said that the iMac is comparable to the proposed i7 setup is not very well informed. I said that as nicely as possible
Also, to those saying that the i7 920 is overprice....I bought my i7 at a B&M retailer for $229. I bought my Q9450 (Yorkfield i.e. older generation quad) six months ago from the same retailer for $275. It would be silly not to buy an i7 setup if you are building a PC from scratch right now.
Has anyone mentioned yet that the i7s support 8 threads!?!
And to whoever said that the iMac is comparable to the proposed i7 setup is not very well informed. I said that as nicely as possible
Also, to those saying that the i7 920 is overprice....I bought my i7 at a B&M retailer for $229. I bought my Q9450 (Yorkfield i.e. older generation quad) six months ago from the same retailer for $275. It would be silly not to buy an i7 setup if you are building a PC from scratch right now.
Has anyone mentioned yet that the i7s support 8 threads!?!
IMO it comes down to what you NEED to do your work. I pretty much NEED OSX for the software that is exclusive to it (iPhone development, Logic Studio). These cannot be replicated on windows. If all I needed was Windows based software, I would be buying a Core i7 in a heartbeat. Vista 64, despite what so many like to say, is a fantastic OS and for me faster than OSX by a good margin. Never had it crash either. I run both systems out of necessity. If you need OSX to work, get whatever mac you wish. If you don't go with a Windows machine and save yourself a ton of cash and get far better performance.
i7 for me....
Well....I just went through this exercise: iMac and/or PS3 versus cheapo i7 clone.
I ended up getting a low-end Gateway (don't laugh too hard) FX. $1200 got me 3GB ram, i7 920 in an SLI motherboard, 750GB disk, and a really good ATi 4850 video card. I still have my MBP for mac goodness. The i7 is used almost exclusively for gaming. It does seem to run Linux well. It is a wicked fast gaming system compared to my MBP.
I cannot tell you how much I dislike Vista.
Well....I just went through this exercise: iMac and/or PS3 versus cheapo i7 clone.
I ended up getting a low-end Gateway (don't laugh too hard) FX. $1200 got me 3GB ram, i7 920 in an SLI motherboard, 750GB disk, and a really good ATi 4850 video card. I still have my MBP for mac goodness. The i7 is used almost exclusively for gaming. It does seem to run Linux well. It is a wicked fast gaming system compared to my MBP.
I cannot tell you how much I dislike Vista.
Well wait for windows to slow down the pc in a few months.
For web graphic design a mac is better.
I thought i7 processors won't fit in current MOBO and requires new MOBO? New computer faster than older computer? What a concept!!!
For web graphic design a mac is better.
I replaced the Core 2 Duo in my WINDOWS
I thought i7 processors won't fit in current MOBO and requires new MOBO? New computer faster than older computer? What a concept!!!
I am surprised that the poll shows the i7 over imac. It all depends on what you want to do with your system. Hardware only takes you so far. What you do with your hardware, driver support, interoperability are big issues that plague such systems...thats where the iMAcs shine...not raw hardware specs....with iMac u wont have any driver issues..no interop issues. A beautiful machine thats a beauty to look at
If you want to run Linux, then a PC platform is the most viable option...but for windows, or OSX...Apple machines (iMac still give the best value for the money).
If you want to run Linux, then a PC platform is the most viable option...but for windows, or OSX...Apple machines (iMac still give the best value for the money).
Get the i7 if you're doing CPU related tasks. It's currently stomping the Core 2 desktop CPUs so you can only imagine what it would do to an iMac. And that's not counting the 3GB DDR3 you'll be using. But it also comes down to what software you are using and whether using Mac OS X is a necessity
Is your budget restricted to 1550 CAD? If not, then I would really consider going for a better GPU. That 9800GT will severely bottleneck your system and it's basicly pointless (from a gaming point-of-view) to go for such a beefy cpu when the graphics card won't be able to keep up.
You pretty much have three options:
1. Increasing the budget and getting a better graphics card. At least an AMD 4850/4870 or Geforce GTX 260/280.
2. Same budget, but focusing more on the graphics card. Go for a Core 2 Quad system (with the price drops that were just announced) and couple it with a beefy Graphics card, such as the AMD 4870x2 or Geforce GTX 295.
3. Buy an iMac.
But under no circumstance should you keep the 9800GT with the i7 920 cpu, that would be a waste of money and would only get you an unbalanced system.
What don't you like about Vista? Next time you are thinking about buying a PC you should consider building it youself. It is significantly cheaper and you don't have to deal with the OEMs restricted BIOS.
Josh
I agree with Jollytime. If you're to go for games, you'll need a better GPU. The 9800GT is aging and is only a hair better than the older 8800GT. You still want the GPU to be the limiting factor in your gaming - but not that much of limit.
What games will you be playing? A radeon 4850/geforce 9800GTX+ is a good/better match for 1680x1050.
In terms of processing power, the i7 will crush everything on apple's (and almost every other common retailer, for that matter) lineup, maybe save for the pro desktop.
For gaming, the power is needed - for graphics design (depending on what you do and how intense it is) not so much and for web design almost not at all. Web design is more a matter of compatibility and your software package - whatever you code in. You'll want IE for testing out pages, which means Windows (not a problem for the i7, problem for the iMac). You'll find Vista an excellent OS, though, if you choose it. x64, only.
Oh, and if you can get a corsair power supply for the same price - do it. Antecs are generally pretty good, but corsairs are rocks.
What games will you be playing? A radeon 4850/geforce 9800GTX+ is a good/better match for 1680x1050.
In terms of processing power, the i7 will crush everything on apple's (and almost every other common retailer, for that matter) lineup, maybe save for the pro desktop.
For gaming, the power is needed - for graphics design (depending on what you do and how intense it is) not so much and for web design almost not at all. Web design is more a matter of compatibility and your software package - whatever you code in. You'll want IE for testing out pages, which means Windows (not a problem for the i7, problem for the iMac). You'll find Vista an excellent OS, though, if you choose it. x64, only.
Oh, and if you can get a corsair power supply for the same price - do it. Antecs are generally pretty good, but corsairs are rocks.
Ah the age old issue
I'll agree on the beauty of the iMac (I own one so I can say so nya!) but I also dual boot vista and after sp1 I have no issues with windows drivers/compatibility. It's an old urban legend about windows (I use both so call me a dual traitor) issues. Pre-SP1 yes, now, not at all.
Plus to go back to the OP have a buddy build you an i7 system! I priced out parts on a eggy site and core i7 2.66/2x 500GB SATA/ATI 4850/Case etc would cost about $1,400 shipped. Compared to the iMac it's not even a race sorry to say.
It's hard because quad core i7 isn't coming to mobile parts (see Macbook/MBP/iMac) until the end of 2009/early 2010 and that is a LOOOONG time to wait to catch up with competitors desktop offerings because Apple only uses non-mobile parts in the MacPro and unless you are converting massive amounts of HD content/3D rendering it's total overkill.
That is because since the intel switch it's now transparent apples to apples (no pun intended) on hardware (you can't do the G5 magic vs Pentium marketing shtick anymore) and the core i7 systems destroy the current iMac lineup with price/performance. (as others have shown the same clock speed on i7 is up to 25% faster)
I'll agree on the beauty of the iMac (I own one so I can say so nya!) but I also dual boot vista and after sp1 I have no issues with windows drivers/compatibility. It's an old urban legend about windows (I use both so call me a dual traitor) issues. Pre-SP1 yes, now, not at all.
Plus to go back to the OP have a buddy build you an i7 system! I priced out parts on a eggy site and core i7 2.66/2x 500GB SATA/ATI 4850/Case etc would cost about $1,400 shipped. Compared to the iMac it's not even a race sorry to say.
It's hard because quad core i7 isn't coming to mobile parts (see Macbook/MBP/iMac) until the end of 2009/early 2010 and that is a LOOOONG time to wait to catch up with competitors desktop offerings because Apple only uses non-mobile parts in the MacPro and unless you are converting massive amounts of HD content/3D rendering it's total overkill.
Sorry I didn't see you basically said what I wanted to already!
I agree this OS rage-fest is getting out of control. Is Vista terrible? No. Do I still like OS X better? Yes. Is that why I bought an iMac for more than I could have built a PC? Sadly, yes again.
Am I an idiot for it? Only time will tell!