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No iMac - Here's my new PC specs

forty2j said:
And how much does a 2009 Dell sell for?

Note that the $500 price is for a no-hassle online company that's guaranteed to buy your goods. You can do much better on eBay/Craigslist. I can get more than $500 for my 2007 on the open market.
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The Dell probably depreciated $600 from around an $800 purchase price. So $200. Unlike a 2009 iMac that originally cost $1500 and now costs $750 (per my local craigslist). Oh, actually it looks like that iMac lost more vaule than the dell. Strange, isn't it?

Just because something can sell for more, doesn't mean it retained its value any better.

And FYI, a 2007 MacBook Pro wouldn't fetch over $500 these days. Don't kid yourself on the worth of your mac.
 
Johnf1285 said:
Just wanted to chime in. I am doing the opposite of the OP. Figured I'd share my story for the heck of it.

I am recently selling all of my computer components on eBay in preparation for a 2012 iMac. I had a nice gaming rig, but it turned out I only played Blizzard Games, or indie games off Steam that weren't graphically demanding.

For me, I am switching back to Mac. I have been a huge Mac fan since 2001 and have been on board from 2001 to 2009 when I got bit by the "pc building" bug (thanks to Wow and it running better in Boot Camp - guess it opened my eyes to the PC gaming world).

I switched and sold my 24" 8800gs iMac (just as well, reading all these defect stories make me cringe and wonder what happened to my former iMac).

Then after tooling around with Windows 7 and typical PC hardware for a year. I switched back to a 27" iMac mid 2010. I plopped an SSD inside, and it was great. But I missed the raw power of a PC. So I switched back - AGAIN. And now, a year later, upgrading hardware on and off, I am switching back once again. This time permanently - or else my wife will kill me.

I miss OSX and the elegant simplicity of the iMac. I know I will miss upgradablility on a PC and gaming in Windows (even Bliz games get an advantage with Windows in situations where hardware is equal and the OS is the determining factor). I guess for me, I am getting to the point in my life where work and family are cutting into my PC gaming time and tinkering time. I'd rather just have something that is limited in a sense, so I don't waste any more time and money on upgrades.

My wife still has her little ITX AMD A8-3870k "gaming" PC, that should be enough to tinker with for now. Until I turn her over to the 2012 Mini... lol.

So in my experience, I've switched a few times. However, my heart was always with OS X and Apple.
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awe the heart wants what the heart wants :D
 
Johnf1285 said:
Just wanted to chime in. I am doing the opposite of the OP. Figured I'd share my story for the heck of it.

I am recently selling all of my computer components on eBay in preparation for a 2012 iMac. I had a nice gaming rig, but it turned out I only played Blizzard Games, or indie games off Steam that weren't graphically demanding.

For me, I am switching back to Mac. I have been a huge Mac fan since 2001 and have been on board from 2001 to 2009 when I got bit by the "pc building" bug (thanks to Wow and it running better in Boot Camp - guess it opened my eyes to the PC gaming world).

I switched and sold my 24" 8800gs iMac (just as well, reading all these defect stories make me cringe and wonder what happened to my former iMac).

Then after tooling around with Windows 7 and typical PC hardware for a year. I switched back to a 27" iMac mid 2010. I plopped an SSD inside, and it was great. But I missed the raw power of a PC. So I switched back - AGAIN. And now, a year later, upgrading hardware on and off, I am switching back once again. This time permanently - or else my wife will kill me.

I miss OSX and the elegant simplicity of the iMac. I know I will miss upgradablility on a PC and gaming in Windows (even Bliz games get an advantage with Windows in situations where hardware is equal and the OS is the determining factor). I guess for me, I am getting to the point in my life where work and family are cutting into my PC gaming time and tinkering time. I'd rather just have something that is limited in a sense, so I don't waste any more time and money on upgrades.

My wife still has her little ITX AMD A8-3870k "gaming" PC, that should be enough to tinker with for now. Until I turn her over to the 2012 Mini... lol.

So in my experience, I've switched a few times. However, my heart was always with OS X and Apple.
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Why not a Hackintosh then? Best of both worlds... tinkering and upgrades and OS X.
 
forty2j said:
One of the primary benefits of OS X is you don't need to fuss with it to get it to work. You lose that on a hackintosh.
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I agree. I was going to do the Hackintosh route, but I would not be able to use my HD 6970. I didn't want to downgrade (or upgrade to GTX 6xx) to just run a Hackintosh. So I threw in the towel at that point. This was last month.
 
27" 1080p quality would be horrible. my 24" is already horrible. go with 1440p, or <22" 1080p for the sake of aesthetic
 
Scythe5 said:
I'm not sure what anyone else is going to do, but here's what I am putting in my hip pocket if we don't see an new iMac in July.


CPU Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge): 3.5 - 3.9 GHz $350
GFX Asus GTX680-DC2T-2GD5: GeForce GTX 680 (Factory O/C) $540
Mobo ASRock Z77 Extreme6: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 Express $175
RAM G.Skill F3-1600C8D-8GAB: DDR3-1600 C8, 4 GB x 2 (8 GB) $58
SSD Mushkin MKNSSDCR120GB-MX: 120 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD $120
HDD Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003: 2 TB, 5900 RPM $120
Optical Lite-On iHAS124-04: 24x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R DL $18
Case Antec w/USB 3.0 $100
Power Seasonic X750 Gold SS-750KM: ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS Gold $160
Cooler Zalman CNPS12X $100
Monitor (Still searching, but will be 27")* <$400
Keyboard Logitech K800 illuminated RF keyboard $85
Total Cost $2,226

I am considering the ASUS VE278Q monitor, which is $319, so going that route takes total price down to $2,145 which is still below the $2500 cap I put aside for an iMac.

The only downside would be I'd be on Win7 and Linux, but I can do everything I need to do in those two OS's.

*Edit: Posted for those looking at doing the same thing in the near future.
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If I were you I'd install Mac OSX Lion on your PC, it can be done since you have supported hardware.. However If i had $2500 to spend I'd get an 27" iMac, the IPS LED Display looks amazing, not to mention It's glossy, which means no grainy or sparkle effect..
 
Johnf1285 said:
I agree. I was going to do the Hackintosh route, but I would not be able to use my HD 6970. I didn't want to downgrade (or upgrade to GTX 6xx) to just run a Hackintosh. So I threw in the towel at that point. This was last month.
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Ahh, yup that makes sense. Id do the same in your position then.
 
dearlaserworks said:
Is a Windows 7 license free?
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Is OS X free?

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forty2j said:
One of the primary benefits of OS X is you don't need to fuss with it to get it to work. You lose that on a hackintosh.
Click to expand...

To be honest, if "not fussing with it to get it to work" was your primary benefit, you'd be just as well off with a Windows 7 PC.

Contrary to much of the misinformation from fan boys on here, Windows on a modern PC does work just fine. No messing about, just load it up and go.

It's more about which you prefer these days to be honest. Some things I like better about OS X, some things Windows. Overall, I prefer OS X, but I don't prefer the restrictive hardware choices and (in some cases) rip off prices.
 
Chippy99 said:
Is OS X free?

----------



To be honest, if "not fussing with it to get it to work" was your primary benefit, you'd be just as well off with a Windows 7 PC.

Contrary to much of the misinformation from fan boys on here, Windows on a modern PC does work just fine. No messing about, just load it up and go.

It's more about which you prefer these days to be honest. Some things I like better about OS X, some things Windows. Overall, I prefer OS X, but I don't prefer the restrictive hardware choices and (in some cases) rip off prices.
Click to expand...

I agree on your hardware choice opinion... Thats been a thorn in my side for the past few years.
 
Chippy99 said:
To be honest, if "not fussing with it to get it to work" was your primary benefit, you'd be just as well off with a Windows 7 PC.
Click to expand...

My wife has a Windows 7 PC. It requires lots of fussing. Lately it doesn't have any sound when it wakes from sleep, or when we change the input of the TV it's connected to and change it back. Sound comes back after reboot. So it gets rebooted a ton.
 
Scythe5 said:
The only downside would be I'd be on Win7 and Linux
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eh, no. win 7 is actually pretty good. linux - what a joke. linux on the desktop is still way behind microsoft and apple ... ten years ago.

the main downside of a box like that compared to an iMac is the lack of hardware design. you will have to endure cable spaghetti, more noise, less portability...
 
Don't feel like making a whole thread on this but does anyone have any experiejces with sony vaio's aio L series? and how does it compare to a high end imac 27'
 
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helgea said:
eh, no. win 7 is actually pretty good. linux - what a joke. linux on the desktop is still way behind microsoft and apple ... ten years ago.
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Actually, I switched from Windows to Linux three years ago, which eventually brought me to the mac. Linux is very stable, as is the mac. Windows Vista was too slow and buggy, I tried Windows 7 when it came out, but I didn't see any reason to switch back. Less so when I tried the Windows 8 beta.
 
forty2j said:
My wife has a Windows 7 PC. It requires lots of fussing. Lately it doesn't have any sound when it wakes from sleep, or when we change the input of the TV it's connected to and change it back. Sound comes back after reboot. So it gets rebooted a ton.
Click to expand...

Get one that isn't broken then. That's ridiculous. I've had Windows PC's for 20 years and never had a problem like that. Is it possible to break them by doing stupid thing? Yes. Do they just break on their own all the time? No. Is it also possible to break a Mac by doing stupid things? Yes.

There's nothing magical about Macs. They are perhaps marginally more intuitive and easy to use. Perhaps. Marginally.

Try changing the font smoothing in Windows. Now try changing it in OS X.
 
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Chippy99 said:
Get one that isn't broken then. That's ridiculous. I've had Windows PC's for 20 years and never had a problem like that. Is it possible to break them by doing stupid thing? Yes. Do they just break on their own all the time? No. Is it also possible to break a Mac by doing stupid things? Yes.
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It's pretty new (1 yr old this month), a heavily customized PC with an Asus base. Research shows that's an HDMI driver bug, nothing to be done about it.

Chippy99 said:
Try changing the font smoothing in Windows. Now try changing it in OS X.
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I file that under things that 99% of users won't care about - what I call options for options' sake. Part of what makes OS X more intuitive is that it avoids offering choices that less-informed users wouldn't even be able to begin to guess at. Of course, this same decision is what drives many Windows power users crazy...
 
Fuith said:
Actually, I switched from Windows to Linux three years ago, which eventually brought me to the mac. Linux is very stable, as is the mac. Windows Vista was too slow and buggy, I tried Windows 7 when it came out, but I didn't see any reason to switch back. Less so when I tried the Windows 8 beta.
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Oh man. Windows 8 most recent release is another catalyst for my switch back to Mac. Just jumped on the iPhone wagon this past week and I love it (I think the iPad for breaking me into touch screen keyboards)! A July iMac release we be icing on the cake!
 
if youre building a pc, you should look into making a hackintosh. check out tonymacx86.com for compatible parts
 
Scythe5 said:
I'm not sure what anyone else is going to do, but here's what I am putting in my hip pocket if we don't see an new iMac in July.


CPU Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge): 3.5 - 3.9 GHz $350
GFX Asus GTX680-DC2T-2GD5: GeForce GTX 680 (Factory O/C) $540
Mobo ASRock Z77 Extreme6: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 Express $175
RAM G.Skill F3-1600C8D-8GAB: DDR3-1600 C8, 4 GB x 2 (8 GB) $58
SSD Mushkin MKNSSDCR120GB-MX: 120 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD $120
HDD Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003: 2 TB, 5900 RPM $120
Optical Lite-On iHAS124-04: 24x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R DL $18
Case Antec w/USB 3.0 $100
Power Seasonic X750 Gold SS-750KM: ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS Gold $160
Cooler Zalman CNPS12X $100
Monitor (Still searching, but will be 27")* <$400
Keyboard Logitech K800 illuminated RF keyboard $85
Total Cost $2,226

I am considering the ASUS VE278Q monitor, which is $319, so going that route takes total price down to $2,145 which is still below the $2500 cap I put aside for an iMac.

The only downside would be I'd be on Win7 and Linux, but I can do everything I need to do in those two OS's.

*Edit: Posted for those looking at doing the same thing in the near future.
Click to expand...

Several things I don't like.

The AsRock MB - i used one, and it did not conform to the Intel shared disk topology. They ignored my complaints. I advise against them. Worth spending a bit more IMO.

The SSD - I am conservative, and chose Intel. But, there are others better than you choice IMO. You get what you pay for and complications with disks can absorb a lot of your time.

Not sure about the HD either ... as long as you have a good back plan, I guess it doesn't matter.

I went for a close looped water cooled CPU solution. Its easy, and keeps the air flow clear for the GPU(s) and the power supply.

And get a mechanical keyboard, they are much better IMO.

As for the screen - get an IPS screen. Dell's Adobe certified ones come in 24", 27" and 30". They are more than $400, but a good screen is mandatory. Your better off with an old iMac than a non IPS screen.

For the cost of that, you'd be maybe better of with a MacPro ... and upgrade it to 6 cores for $500.
 
Hakone said:
I think you should just go build it. We're expecting a review too! :p
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Well, I got the last of the parts today. I probably will not have a chance to build it until Sunday when the wife and kids are out of the house.

BTW, I ended up getting a Dell IPS monitor, so I think it will be fast as hell and look good doing it. :)

Still hoping we see a new iMac this month for those of you still waiting.
 
Melbourne Park said:
Several things I don't like.

The AsRock MB - i used one, and it did not conform to the Intel shared disk topology. They ignored my complaints. I advise against them. Worth spending a bit more IMO.

The SSD - I am conservative, and chose Intel. But, there are others better than you choice IMO. You get what you pay for and complications with disks can absorb a lot of your time.

Not sure about the HD either ... as long as you have a good back plan, I guess it doesn't matter.

I went for a close looped water cooled CPU solution. Its easy, and keeps the air flow clear for the GPU(s) and the power supply.

And get a mechanical keyboard, they are much better IMO.

As for the screen - get an IPS screen. Dell's Adobe certified ones come in 24", 27" and 30". They are more than $400, but a good screen is mandatory. Your better off with an old iMac than a non IPS screen.

For the cost of that, you'd be maybe better of with a MacPro ... and upgrade it to 6 cores for $500.
Click to expand...

Those were the initial specs. I actually ended up with something a bit different. :) I guess those above should be called a starting point now. LOL

Different mobo (ASUS), DRAM (Corsair), Case (still Antec), Cooler (Too many concerns the Zalman wouldn't fit), Different HDD (still a seagate), etc. I did end up with a 24" Dell IPS monitor based on others opinions.

I kept the SSD as I've never had issues with Mushkin products - It's not the best SSD, but it's a solid product produced by a company with a solid reputation.

I actually looked seriously at water cooling, but after checking a lot of reviews....they didn't appear to cool any better than air cooling in many cases. I may go that route in the future, but right now I'll stick with air cooling.
 
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