Spec me an 27" Imac alternative

Syphon

Syphon

Syphon

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Hoping you guys can help.

I'm being really tempted by an I5/I7 27" imac but can't bring myself to pay the full cost for something that's been out since november, and could be replaced soon with little upgrade potential.

So I'm looking at the PC alternatives. I still want that 27" screen and resolution so that's about £900 off the bat for the dell U2711.

Running Windows 7 64bit (already got)
I will be using CS5 - mainly fireworks and photoshop and also some HD video editing. Practically no gaming.
I already have the case (Akasa eclipse 62), hardisks and DVDwriter (although if I can fit things in a smaller case you can recommend that's quieter within budget that's a bonus)
It needs to be really quiet and not cost a fortune to run.

Budget is anything cheaper than the £1650 I was looking to pay for the Imac.

If you guys can convince me today that would be great, otherwise I may give in and just get the mac!

Cheers :)
 
In my personal opinion, i would say if you can afford the imac, get it.

I personally much prefer OSX to Windows and with a mac, you will get no problems like you would with windows.

I also think that they are the best looking computers in the world and are extremely fast and simple to use. I know looks shouldn't really matter, but i believe that when you're paying that much money for a computer, you want it to look good as well as performing well.
 
lukefinch said:
SNIP

I personally much prefer OSX to Windows and with a mac, you will get no problems like you would with windows.
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Not that old chestnut again :confused:

lukefinch said:
I also think that they are the best looking computers in the world and are extremely fast and simple to use. I know looks shouldn't really matter, but i believe that when you're paying that much money for a computer, you want it to look good as well as performing well.
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Simple, don't pay that much then you don't have to worry about what it looks like.

Andi.
 
Syphon said:
Hoping you guys can help.

I'm being really tempted by an I5/I7 27" imac but can't bring myself to pay the full cost for something that's been out since november, and could be replaced soon with little upgrade potential.

So I'm looking at the PC alternatives. I still want that 27" screen and resolution so that's about £900 off the bat for the dell U2711.

Running Windows 7 64bit (already got)
I will be using CS5 - mainly fireworks and photoshop and also some HD video editing. Practically no gaming.
I already have the case (Akasa eclipse 62), hardisks and DVDwriter (although if I can fit things in a smaller case you can recommend that's quieter within budget that's a bonus)
It needs to be really quiet and not cost a fortune to run.

Budget is anything cheaper than the £1650 I was looking to pay for the Imac.

If you guys can convince me today that would be great, otherwise I may give in and just get the mac!

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

It'll be the 27" monitor that takes most power I would think unless you go for some high end gaming video cards.

A moderate X58 based motherboard, I7 CPU and 6GB of memory as packaged in one of the bundles offered by OCUK would suffice. Consider water cooling if you require a high end video card it will make things very quiet.

Andi.
 
Would the onboard graphics on the newer CPUs suffice? I guess that would help with noise/power. Unless that is what you are suggesting already? (I'm not up on all the latest kit at the moment)
 
Syphon said:
Would the onboard graphics on the newer CPUs suffice? I guess that would help with noise/power. Unless that is what you are suggesting already? (I'm not up on all the latest kit at the moment)
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I doubt it but there a few fanless graphics cards around, if you're mostly using CS5 you really only need a reasonable amount of video memory. Zotac make a fanless GT220/240.

Andi.
 
How bizzare I was looking at iMac alternatives also!

If I didn't have to worry about the money, I would just get the iMac.
 
mac1.jpg


It seems that is all you need, according to the OP
 
Thanks for the advice. With the spec above, would I be better going for an overclocked bundle? (I'm not up for overclocking myself - I know - chicken!)

Also should I keep my existing 8800GTS or ditch it for the Palit recommended above? I've also currently got a Corsair HX520W that's about three years old. Should I ditch that for the above as well?

Really after a quiet lower power system.

Ta muchly all
 
If you don't want to OC then this would be perfect.

The 8800GTS is better that the 210, closer to a 250 I think. Depends on if you think the 8800 is loud or too power hungry, and if you need a good card, the 210 isn't great for gaming.

Might as well stick with the HX520, modular and higher wattage.
 
Cheers. Does the graphics card I have use more power when processing 3D (ie games) or will it draw the same power all the time?

I read something about photoshop CS5 making use of the graphics card more I think. Not sure if that would make a difference between the two cards.

I'm not sure what's making the most noise in my case at the moment, it could be the cpu cooler. Will have to try and pinpoint it.
 
Yes, the card will use more power and generate more heat when under load, this also means that it will be louder, due to the fan speed being higher to keep the card cool.

CS5 will probably not use a lot of GPU power, to my knowledge things like 3D rendering and games use the GPU, where as PS is mostly CPU intensive and heavy on the RAM usage.
 
xBLiNG said:
Yes, the card will use more power and generate more heat when under load, this also means that it will be louder, due to the fan speed being higher to keep the card cool.
.
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Cheers, but as I'm not gaming would I be better switching to the lower spec card, or would they run about the same power / noise when just using CS5 / browsing etc?

ta
 
If you just want a card to output video and have low power usage then go with a low end 5000 series. But if you wanted to save money the keep the 8800, but I would guess it would be overkill for Photoshop, but I'm not to sure on how demanding CS5 is, can't imagine it would be that bad on the GPU though.
 
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