and resale value.. try selling a 3 year old pc for anything.. yo probably have to pay for someone to take it..
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New iMac vs. new PC
- Thread starter Logos327
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Yep, I would rarely, if ever, get a virus. I still had to run antivirus software which hogged memory. But malware was a constant battle, and I was careful with my Internet usage.
No matter how careful you are, go a few weeks and run Ad-aware or Spybot and I will bet you it will find something.
To the PC guy saying he never has issues of any kind - run one of those malware programs and screenshot the results (without cheating and running it twice). I'll bet he has dozens of things slowing down his machine that he was oblivious to.
A mother board that will cost me at the most about 300 bucks. I wont debate with you, I love both Mac and PC, but PC is cheaper . . .that is a fact. They are easier to upgrade. That is also a fact. Imac looks a lot nicer . . .I would agree.
Unless you actually pefer Win 7 over Mac OSx, which I happen to do
Win 7 is running more stable and faster than OSx these days.
I haven't seen a blue screen in a blue moon in Win 7 - it has NEVER crashed on me on 3 machines since I installed it in 2008
OK - I also happen to be running Vista for 2 years without a blue screen either, and I'm a PC selfbuilder and build very powerfull PC's for fun with 3-4 SSD drives in RAID and lots of RAM
At the current state, if you are capable of building your own PC, then a PC with windows is NOT any worse than a Mac with OSX. As people have mentioned above, both windows 7 and vista(with service pack) are much more stable than the any previous windows OS's. And virus is almost a non issue these days as long as you are not a complete idiot who click on everything you see when browsing the web.
I love my apple things, i own a mbp, mba, ipad and iphone, and is currently planning to get a imac. I appreciate the industrial design of apple products and the ease of use of iOS. I also find OSX makes my overall workflow more efficient. But seriously, stop bashing PC and windows so blindly. The current pc i have was built 2 years ago and I honestly can't remember the last time it crashed or had any problems.
I love my apple things, i own a mbp, mba, ipad and iphone, and is currently planning to get a imac. I appreciate the industrial design of apple products and the ease of use of iOS. I also find OSX makes my overall workflow more efficient. But seriously, stop bashing PC and windows so blindly. The current pc i have was built 2 years ago and I honestly can't remember the last time it crashed or had any problems.
Quoted for truth !!!!!
Like you I also enjoy the smooth industrial design of Mac products and without that feature I would never have even looked at anything Apple. My selfbuild PC's have been running too smooth and stable to look elsewhere if I wasn't a design freak
People who complain about virus and windows chrashes probably either don't know what they are talking about (Apple fanboys) or haven't used a PC since win 98 or Vista release 1 rev 1
Once my systems are build and drivers are setup - my windows machines run as stable as anything. No blue screen and no instability.
I enjoy the design of OSx but it needs an update now - Lion has to hurry
Win 7 runs a lot of my Adobe programs faster and also office better. It never fails or freezes - so I expect big things from both Lion but certainly also Win 8 !!
Will probably keep on buying Apple but they need to address the screen issues with their iMacs before they have my respect !!!
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Hi Logos,
if you plan on gaming on your iMac, then you need the Hyper-Threading CPU.
Don't believe those so called 'experts' here who tell you that "games & most programs can't use more than 2-cores".
Here are 2 shots of my gaming PC - 1st is idle & 2nd is showing playing a game.
Please notice the cores being used (6-cores here...),
memory being used (over 1GIG)
and the video memory used (500MEGs).
This is just start of the game - the memory climbs to 3 ~ 4.5 Gigs being used with-in 15minutes and vid. memory to 1 ~ 1.4Gigs:
if you plan on gaming on your iMac, then you need the Hyper-Threading CPU.
Don't believe those so called 'experts' here who tell you that "games & most programs can't use more than 2-cores".
Here are 2 shots of my gaming PC - 1st is idle & 2nd is showing playing a game.
Please notice the cores being used (6-cores here...),
memory being used (over 1GIG)
and the video memory used (500MEGs).
This is just start of the game - the memory climbs to 3 ~ 4.5 Gigs being used with-in 15minutes and vid. memory to 1 ~ 1.4Gigs:
Attachments
No, you don't. HT adds nothing because the truth is, games cannot take advantage of more cores. Your CPU usage stats are useless because benchmarks show that there is very little to no difference between i5-2500K and i7-2600K. In fact, the i5-2500K actually wins in some tests and it has been shown before that HT can actually decrease gaming performance.
Hi Hell,
I'm sorry, but in this case you are wrong - unless you have a hexa-core PC & are gaming on it, your 'tests' are not good to anyone...
I have a quad-core PC, too & can (and did) compare the results.
You're talking about something you read somewhere...
I'm sorry, but in this case you are wrong - unless you have a hexa-core PC & are gaming on it, your 'tests' are not good to anyone...
I have a quad-core PC, too & can (and did) compare the results.
You're talking about something you read somewhere...
I haven't done any testing but plenty of sites have. Which should I and everyone else believe? A stranger (you) in the Internet with absolutely no proofs or a reputable site such as AnandTech?
4 cores is enough for any game, HT is just icing on the cake.
Before this thread is derailed into a gaming specs argument I'd like to give my message to the OP:
If money is the main issue buy a PC.
If upgradability is the issue buy a PC.
If Mac OS X is the main issue buy an iMac. Win 7 is close in reliability and looks but I don't think anyone like an OS that second guesses every bloody thing you ask it to do and make you click 3 times as many boxes to get the same results. (Yes, I do use it when I have to, but not on my own machines!)
If you don't mind flogging the iMac in 4 years time and saving up the difference between what you got for it and a new one, then that is the "upgrade" path.
I'd buy neither, save up and get the next gen Mac Pro for the sake of a proper long term Mac with upgrade options and a matt screen.
A mid spec MP is still a thing of power and grace 5 years later provided you keep it updated in hardware.
I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade a 4 year old PC, I'd pass it on to a needy family member and start again with new components from the ground up. Life is too short to spend it polishing a turd.
Before this thread is derailed into a gaming specs argument I'd like to give my message to the OP:
If money is the main issue buy a PC.
If upgradability is the issue buy a PC.
If Mac OS X is the main issue buy an iMac. Win 7 is close in reliability and looks but I don't think anyone like an OS that second guesses every bloody thing you ask it to do and make you click 3 times as many boxes to get the same results. (Yes, I do use it when I have to, but not on my own machines!)
If you don't mind flogging the iMac in 4 years time and saving up the difference between what you got for it and a new one, then that is the "upgrade" path.
I'd buy neither, save up and get the next gen Mac Pro for the sake of a proper long term Mac with upgrade options and a matt screen.
A mid spec MP is still a thing of power and grace 5 years later provided you keep it updated in hardware.
I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade a 4 year old PC, I'd pass it on to a needy family member and start again with new components from the ground up. Life is too short to spend it polishing a turd.
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If I'm honest i am contemplating returning my iMac. My 14 days are up this Friday so I have a few days before I pick up the phone. I do like OSX and the way everything is just very easy. Plus the machine looks awesome.
My number 1 main fear though that i cant get past at the moment is that the thing costs £2,000, and if it fails i am powerless to fix it. I have Apple care, but i still have to take the whole machine to be repaired by a technician. Then when the 3 years is up, what then if something goes wrong? With all my previous PC's i could remove the failed part and fix it myself. I had that confidence and peace of mind. Plus things can be upgraded.
The problem is a PC will be less desirable looking, hold onto less of its resale value (if any), i am now use to a 27" high res screen and not sure how much the equivalent PC display would cost, a PC will be noisy and power hungry, and i do get really annoyed with Windows sometimes, BUT what ever goes wrong with it, i know i could fix it.
It's not so much about price, because if i build a PC it would be close to £1,800 - £2,000 i think as i would go all out on the spec. It more about my main fear detailed above.
Still deciding what to do :-( ... Any comments to help me would be appreciated.
My number 1 main fear though that i cant get past at the moment is that the thing costs £2,000, and if it fails i am powerless to fix it. I have Apple care, but i still have to take the whole machine to be repaired by a technician. Then when the 3 years is up, what then if something goes wrong? With all my previous PC's i could remove the failed part and fix it myself. I had that confidence and peace of mind. Plus things can be upgraded.
The problem is a PC will be less desirable looking, hold onto less of its resale value (if any), i am now use to a 27" high res screen and not sure how much the equivalent PC display would cost, a PC will be noisy and power hungry, and i do get really annoyed with Windows sometimes, BUT what ever goes wrong with it, i know i could fix it.
It's not so much about price, because if i build a PC it would be close to £1,800 - £2,000 i think as i would go all out on the spec. It more about my main fear detailed above.
Still deciding what to do :-( ... Any comments to help me would be appreciated.
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I agree that HT is arguably moot for gaming. And that's also why we have benchmarks to begin with.
I am new to this forum, let me introduce myself. I am 67 years old and have been using a pc since the Epson CPM era. In the past I have built my own computers, my current one is about 4 years old with a dual core cpu. I like the idea of easy upgrade and using the components of my choice. I am running Vista on it and have never had a crash with it nor a virus. All the malware has been caught and eliminated. I have worked on pc's running Windows 7 and it is great. My opinion of the folks badmouthing Windows is that they probably haven't used it and are just ranting about something they may have read and not have experienced.
After saying all this let me say that I am considering buying an Imac, my son uses a Macbook and I have played with it and enjoyed using it. The Imac is a great looking computer and I think I may go for it. I would need to install Windows on it as I need to run Visual Web Developer, ASP.net, SQL Server Compact and other free web development tools from Microsoft.
I hope to learn from this the folks at this forum after I purchase my Imac, I am waiting for Lion to be available on the Imac. I am aware that I could buy or built a pc for less money but I want to experience an Imac.
After saying all this let me say that I am considering buying an Imac, my son uses a Macbook and I have played with it and enjoyed using it. The Imac is a great looking computer and I think I may go for it. I would need to install Windows on it as I need to run Visual Web Developer, ASP.net, SQL Server Compact and other free web development tools from Microsoft.
I hope to learn from this the folks at this forum after I purchase my Imac, I am waiting for Lion to be available on the Imac. I am aware that I could buy or built a pc for less money but I want to experience an Imac.
Not really 100% true. 2-3 years new technology will be out and new processors. That would make your current motherboard, ram, and cpu useless. You would need to upgrade all three of those items. New processor, or ram, or motherboard won't be compatible with old technology. You can still use your HD's, CD/DVD drives, case and monitors most likely, but the main and most expensive components are those that will still need to be upgraded all at once. So you can't just pop in a processor in there and be done with it.
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Do what I planned to do BEFORE I bought the iMac 27 + the led ACD 27 - build your high powered PC and make sure you build it with a GPU card with display port. Then get the led ACD 27 display, hide the tower under your desk and you're all set
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I really needed a new machine myself after 3 years with my Gaming desktop. I upgraded the processor from a Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz to a Quad Core 2.5 ghz about 2 years ago. It had 4 gigs of ram, SSD, etc. The machine at that time was quick, and ran any game fine with the 9800GX2 video card I had.
As of recently, trying to play the BattleField Bad Comapny 2, and Black Ops the machine was having lag issues. So a Quad Core isn't the end to all issues folks.
I upgraded it slowly. First the video card with a 6970 ATI. That helped a lot. Then I finally got a Crosshair Asus Board, and AMD X6 1100t black edition and OC'd that to 4.1 ghz so far with air cooling. 8 gb of DDR3 ram.
I was seriously wanting a IMAC but due to gaming reasons, I went this route instead and it was well worth it as I only paid around $800~ total to do the upgrades and sold off my older hardware.
As of recently, trying to play the BattleField Bad Comapny 2, and Black Ops the machine was having lag issues. So a Quad Core isn't the end to all issues folks.
I upgraded it slowly. First the video card with a 6970 ATI. That helped a lot. Then I finally got a Crosshair Asus Board, and AMD X6 1100t black edition and OC'd that to 4.1 ghz so far with air cooling. 8 gb of DDR3 ram.
I was seriously wanting a IMAC but due to gaming reasons, I went this route instead and it was well worth it as I only paid around $800~ total to do the upgrades and sold off my older hardware.
There is new technology out every year, especially Intel releases new hardware annually. However, there is no need to upgrade everytime something new comes. For example, if you bought i7-920 when it came in late 2008, you still have one of the fastest CPUs after nearly 3 years. X58 is still the best chipset out there too. Unless you need the latest and greatest CPU, the i7-920 would still be fine for a year or two. Personally, I might hold on till Haswell in 2013. For gaming, you don't need the latest CPU but it's good to have a good GPU, so a Core 2 Duo from 2006-2007 could still be sufficient when bundled with a modern GPU.
DDR3 has also been the standard for several years now. DDR4 may make its debut in 2012 but at least consumer Ivy Bridge CPUs won't support from what I have read.
If you follow the technology, you will know when is a good time to buy. A wise buyer can easily get 5 years out of his core system with a few updates down the road.
That is probably true. However, if your budget is limited, you can squeeze 5 years out of one, provided that especially the GPU is upgraded at some point.
Quoted for truth - everything mentioned in this post is very true !!
I still have an i7 920 16 GB ram DDR3 1333 mhz on an Asus x58 motherboard in one of my selfbuilders from 2009 January and it still runs perfect - photoshop, illustrator, indesign, a few games (have upgraded the GPU) and will soon pass it over to my father, who can run this machine for at least 2 years before he needs to think about upgrading.
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