Graphics Card Options on iMac 20 and 24 inch

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Level 1

8 points

Graphics Card Options on iMac 20 and 24 inch

I hate thelack of consumer graphics cards options for the iMac. I was going to buy the 20" iMac and upgrade the memory to 256MB when I decided to check out the 24".

On the Canadian site, to upgrade the 20" X1600 card to 256MB is $150. On the 24", to go from the Geforce 7300 128MB to the Geforce 7600 256MB is only $90. Ram 'AND' better(slightly?) graphics card upgrade.

Can someone explain as I asked an Apple retailer and they couldn't.

I went into CompuSmart afterwards and they actually had a X1600 card but it had 512MB on it. (For $150, I'd think I'd get an upgrade to 512, not 256).

I guess us consumers don't need more powerful graphics cards.

iMac Core2Duo Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Nov 9, 2006 10:51 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 9, 2006 7:38 PM in response to trevc

Let me see if I can explain this to you.

The grahics card in the iMac 20" is an ATI Radeon X1600. It comes standard with 128 MB of VRAM. You can upgrade the VRAM to 256 MB for $75 on the U.S. store. That's $150 on the Canadian store.

The standard graphics card in the 24" iMac is an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 128 MB of VRAM. The upgrade option here is not just adding more VRAM, but putting a whole new card in the iMac. The 256 MB VRAM option for the iMac 24" is a NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT with 256 MB VRAM. That upgrade is $125 on the U.S. store. That's $90 on the Canadian store.

The only way I can think that this is possible is because, in Canada, ATI's cards might be more expensive than NVIDIA's cards.

There is no option on any iMac to get any graphics card with 512 MB of VRAM in it.

Hope this Helps

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Answer 2

MacMouse

Level 1

0 points

Nov 9, 2006 8:05 PM in response to trevc

I had the same problem. Bought the 20 Imac with just 128 VRAM, now I want more but don't know how what to do...

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Answer 3

Nov 9, 2006 8:47 PM in response to MacMouse

I'm sorry, but once you've bought the iMac, there's no way to upgrade the VRAM by yourself. The graphics card is soddered to the motherboard, so there's no way to remove it.

I was talking about upgrading the VRAM when you actually buy the iMac, not after.

Trevor

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Answer 4

trevc Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2006 10:41 PM in response to Trevor Gibson

So now you have me 'mad' 😉
So if a 20" iMac in US is 1499 and in Canada is 1699 then the conversion rate is ~1.133. If I take that same conversion rate to 75, I should get 85. So looks like Apple Canada is charging me an extra $65!?!?! If I take the $125 Upgrade on the 24" graphics card in the US and do the same conversion, it looks like it should be a little over 141.

Looks to me that I found an error on the Canada site that they've accidentally reversed the prices on the 20 and 24 inch upgrades?!!?

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Answer 5

Nov 9, 2006 11:06 PM in response to trevc

I have a currency converter widget that I can convert U.S. dollars>Canadian dollars and Canadian dollars>U.S.dollars. 1499 in U.S. dollars comes out to 1693 in Canadian dollars. 125>141 and 75>84. So everything is according to ratio. I can't think of any other reason why Apple would charge $60 ($53 U.S.) more for the upgrade in Canada, except that it would be more expensive for the different graphics cards in Canada.

One solution would be to buy from the U.S. store and ship the computer to Canada, although it might not work because of currency issues and massive shipping charges.

Other than that, I guess you're stuck. Either way, both the 20" and the 24" are great computers. You'll be happy with any decision you make!

Hope this Helps

Trevor

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