Replace Gamers PC

[tlacenka]

Hello here ,
i am just new user of this forum, i have MBP late 2010 and a gaming pc.
The specification of pc is C2Quad Q9650@4.0Ghz, 4Gb Ram, ATI HD 5750 + hdd and other things. I want to replace this with 27iMAC but.. iMac is not so cheap and i want to have it for a long time - for work, movies... (Lion) and gaming (windows) - is the imac27 good investment for next 5 years ? Becouse i read a lot of informations, that are saying LCD problems are there
So.. what do you thing.. is it good to buy Imac now ? or You can suggest any alternative from MAC world for me ?
Thanks and sorry for my poor english.)

 

[miles01110]

No computer will be a good investment for the next 5 years if you want to run high-end games on it.

 

[88 King]

Well let us break down the current 27" imac components to see if they will last the next 5 years:

Screen, should be good for the next 5 years, we might see 4K display by then.

CPU, i5 and i7 should be fine for the next 3 years for majority of software. 5 years is possible with basic use and light creative tasks.

Memory, should be fine for the next 5 years as 16GB is quite cheap today, and 32GB should work on the imac.

Hard drive, Thunderbolt hard drive will become more wallet friendly in the next 3 to 5 years, so there is not issue of expansion.

Ports, USB 3.0 will take over USB 2.0 on the current imac over the next few years. I'm sure there will be Thunderbolt to USB hub in the future.

GPU, Here is your problem, the 6970M in the high end imac will run current games around med settings on native res with good fps. It should also play next years games around mid settings on 1080P.

However, by the 3rd year, it will be obsolete and there is no way the 6970M can produce a good gaming experience in 5 years time.
So you will have to get another imac in 2013 to keep the same level of gaming experience on the current imac.


My suggestion is to get a Dell UltraSharp U2711. its the same display as the imac 27" with more video inputs and matte screen around 2/3 of the Apple thunderbolt display price.

A quad core mac mini to runs OSX.

Either upgrade the GPU to minimum GTX 560 or ATI 6950 in your PC and add more RAM, or build a core i5 gaming machine while reusing the case, PSU, keyboard and mouse to save cost.

Hope this helps.

 

[tlacenka]

88 King : thx for answer... but.. another one : there is some kind of "switch" in the Sharp ? or how do i work with it when i want to make on both computers ? i know there can be only one screen from each ..but.. is there any possibility to have both computers on and switch the screen just from the monitor ? thx for answer

 

[robgendreau]

A problem with the iMacs is that they are now virtually impossible to upgrade, except for memory. It never was officially a computer a user could open in order to replace parts, but any reasonably competent person could do it. Now it's very much more difficult.

That's probably not so much a problem with many of the parts, but it is with hard drives. Sure, you could boot from an external if you internal gets hosed, but that kinda defeats the point of an iMac. And for gaming, it also means no change in video card, etc. An extended warranty might help with the first issue, but not the second.

I'd go with the PC solution if it were primarily for gaming.

Rob

 

[NikFinn]

88 King : thx for answer... but.. another one : there is some kind of "switch" in the Sharp ? or how do i work with it when i want to make on both computers ? i know there can be only one screen from each ..but.. is there any possibility to have both computers on and switch the screen just from the monitor ? thx for answer

As long as they're plugged into two different ports, you can toggle between them so you don't have to plus and unplug every time you want to switch machines.

 

[Kasalic]

I'd say that if the primary use is for gaming then stick to PC's. If you want a Mac for OS X use with gaming as a secondary use then it's fine.

 

[tlacenka]

ok.. i stay with pc and mac mini with one monitor ..do you think, that its better the dell 2711, or eizo with spva III ?
thx for answer