New to Mac

[80xer5antar05]

Hey Guys
New here so first of HELLO!

Now I am looking at buying a iMac but what spec to get is the big question.

I really want the 27" version.

I will be using it for the following -

Downloading movies etc
Surfing the interweb
Gaming
Streaming HD Movies
Emails etc
Running MYOB for Business via Bootcamp Win8

I was looking at going the following -

3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2X4GB
1TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

But a mate of mine told me to ask on here just to make sure im not wasting my $$

Hope someone can help me out

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

if you want to do gaming, get the best GPU that you can afford.

I wouldn't worry about upgrading the processor, the base one is just fine for your needs, you would be wasting money trying to get the high end i7.

Don't upgrade RAM through apple, buy it from amazon and save a ton of money.

Fusion drive is a good option if you need more storage and want SSD speed. You can also consider getting a 256gb SSD and then just using an external HDD for additional storage.

 

[80xer5antar05]

So you would recommend the i5 3.4ghz?

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

yes, no need to get the i7, it would just be a waste of $200 which you could better spend elsewhere like aftermarket RAM or a larger SSD.

 

[josh.b]

isn't there only one game that takes advantage of the 4GB option available to the new iMacs?

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

any game would be able to use the GPU, why would it be limited to one app?

 

[josh.b]

any game would be able to use the GPU, why would it be limited to one app?

no I mean, I have only heard of one game (can't recall name but it is a flying sim) that requires more than 3GB of VRAM

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/

I think it is a common misconception where people think more VRAM equals higher fps. More about clock speed than VRAM.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

just because a game has minimum requirements doesn't mean that it can't take advantage of better spec'd hardware.

either way, the 780m has a faster core and memory speed anyways.