Windows convert moving to Mac...need buying advice

[grumpyyoungman]

i've been a long time windows user, but i've since been won over to the Apple camp. i'm tired of messing with and tweaking my pc for performance and stability, and i just want it to work. i've saved up my money and i'm ready to buy my first mac. i dont have any crazy needs that a baseline iMac (yes i want an iMac) can't handle. the only thing i'm worried about is the small amount of pc gaming i do. i really don't do much as i game mostly on my xbox, but i play a fair amount of World of Warcraft, and i will be playing Diablo 3 when it comes out.

i'm not a huge graphics guy, nor do i have to have the latest and greatest at the highest res. i really just want to be able to play WoW and D3 at DECENT settings. so i'm looking at these two iMacs:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MC309LL...XGIK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1321233174&sr=1-6

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MC812LL...2KBS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1321229512&sr=8-5

there are only a few differences in these two.

1. price - $300 diff
2. cpu - 2.5 on the low, 2.7 on the more expensive model
3. hdd - 500gb drive vs 1tb drive. this isn't a huge deal for me as i have a NAS with 4tb of space.
4. graphics card - 6750 vs 6770...is it worth the difference?

so i guess i'm just wondering if the bump is worth the extra $300? thanks in advance.

 

[grumpyyoungman]

anyone?

 

[lexvo]

Note that you cannot upgrade the CPU and the graphics card afterwards (as far as I know). So if you find out you need just a bit more power then you have to buy a bigger iMac.

My take on this is always: if you can afford it, go for the bigger machine if you feel you might need it in the future.

 

[cherry su]

The CPUs in the current generation iMacs are socketed LGA 1155 CPUs. Keep in mind that the 21" iMac uses low powered CPUs while the 27" uses the regular powered CPUs.

I'm not sure if the GPUs are MXM modules.

 

[iRCL]

You will be fine. Blizzard games are all NATIVE in OS X and run really wonderfully. WoW ran fine on my old Macbook (non pro) ages ago. The Starcraft 2 ran fine on the iMac 21.5" and 27" base when it was in beta (1-2 gens ago I guess?)

Blizzard games also don't really have high performance needs. So you'll be fine.

The real advice I can give you, is to buy an Apple Refurb from their site. Also check out http://refurb.me because they do historical tracking of what's been for sale, the prices, etc.

Good luck!

 

[grumpyyoungman]

thanks for all of the tips!!

as for the refurbs, i've looked at those and considered buying one. i have no problems buying refurb at all, but the benefit to buying on amazon is that i dont have to pay tax AND i get free 2 day shipping.

here are my options:

1. baseline 21.5" mac (2.5 i5, 500gb hdd, radeon 6750 gfx) + apple care = $1,284 @ amazon.com w/2 day shipping

2. 21.5" mac (2.7 i5, 1tb hdd, radeon 6770 gfx) + apple care = $1,583 @ amazon.com w/2 day shipping

i checked the refurb's, but with tax and everything, it comes out about the same as if i bought it at amazon.com, so that's not a problem. so what this comes down to is whether or not a 0.2ghz bump on the cpu, an extra 500gb hdd, and a better gfx card is worth $300? if my games will run fine, and i'll be able to do my imovie and iphoto stuff, then i should be okay.

right? or would you guys still recommend i spend the extra $300? i mean, i have the money, but i dont want to spend it if i dont need to.

 

[szolr]

If gaming's the most intensive stuff you'll do a base iMac will do fine. More than fine tbh. lol. Unless you're a pro video editor dealing with Final Cut regularly higher iMacs are a waste of your money nowadays. The high end iMacs are bordering on Mac Pro capabilities.

 

[grumpyyoungman]

If gaming's the most intensive stuff you'll do a base iMac will do fine. More than fine tbh. lol. Unless you're a pro video editor dealing with Final Cut regularly higher iMacs are a waste of your money nowadays. The high end iMacs are bordering on Mac Pro capabilities.

no i'm no pro video editor. i can make a mean iMovie trailer though! thanks for the reply...i think i'll just go with the base model. thanks!

i'm a 20 year Windows user, and a Windows environment network admin...it's almost like going to play for the other team with this purchase. but when it comes down to it, i'm tired of reinstalling Windows 7 every year or so because it's getting too slow. i'm tired of tweaking this and running XYZ reg cleaner programs. i don't have time for modding and tweaking my computer anymore. marriage + kids saps all of my time!

 

[szolr]

no i'm no pro video editor. i can make a mean iMovie trailer though! thanks for the reply...i think i'll just go with the base model. thanks!

i'm a 20 year Windows user, and a Windows environment network admin...it's almost like going to play for the other team with this purchase. but when it comes down to it, i'm tired of reinstalling Windows 7 every year or so because it's getting too slow. i'm tired of tweaking this and running XYZ reg cleaner programs. i don't have time for modding and tweaking my computer anymore. marriage + kids saps all of my time!

Enjoy the Mac experience.