Which iMac Should I Buy?

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Level 1

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Which iMac Should I Buy?

I'm currently in the market for a new iMac, and am debating between configurations. I may do some light gaming (WoW type stuff), but mostly it will be an internet, media, and programming PC. I like the idea of the 27" since it will be my main computer. I configured one with the i7 processor, 4GB of RAM (Would rather upgrade myself later), 2TB HD, 2GB ATI Graphics Card and Applecare - which with my student discount brought it to $2423.

Being rather new to Mac's, or rather returning to, does this configuration seem overkill for what I will be doing? Does anyone have any recommendations that may save me some money, or does this configuration look good? I'm also planning on purchasing a MBA when they refresh, so my use will be split between the two of them.

Thanks!

.t2h

Posted on May 11, 2011 9:04 AM

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Answer 1

MadisonP

Level 5

4,832 points

May 11, 2011 10:24 AM in response to take2hikes

Greetings,

If you want the 27" screen size the only area you could really get away with downgrading would be:

Processor choice
Graphics memory

Given the work load you indicate you could easily do fine with the i5 and 1 GB card. If you do large amounts of gaming then maybe the 2 GB graphics card. Upping the RAM to 8 GB would be where I would put my money.

If you do video editing / audio editing / statistics applications then the i7 processor and 2 GB graphics card (video editing benefits on this one) would be a very good idea.

That said, if you have the money to spend, why not get the fastest machine? Just up the RAM at some point. 4 GB is good but programs get more and more memory hungry as time goes on.

Happy shopping 🙂

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Answer 2

May 11, 2011 10:39 AM in response to take2hikes

My 3 and a half year iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz 3GB of RAM see the link below for a complete tech specs

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac-core-2-duo-2.0-20-inch-alu minum-specs.html

is more than enough for my typical usage.

I don't play games and I don't do programming

I use the computer mainly for internet.

Managing my work stuff, my music library, watching movies and I play a lot in Terminal.

So do your math 😉

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Answer 3

Jul 12, 2011 5:40 PM in response to Alberto Ravasio

I have the same one as this but with 4GB of RAM, still works pretty good after 3 years but we upgraded the hard drive ourselves after warranty ended. After we added the 1TB HD it needed double memory so thats what we did 🙂

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