couple of mac questions imac/MBA

  • Thread starter Thread starter 233
  • Start date Start date

233

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,558
Location
Wishaw
righto guys, looking at a imac to replace my gaming pc

couple of Q's

how capable is the 5750 in the imac?is it potent enough to play the latest games?

secondly can i use the imac as a monitor? if so what connections are available on it? can i connect my pc/360 to it?


upgradability? can i upgrade hard drives/ram without the apple price gouging?
what about graphics card? i know a mac gpu needs a different bios but is there the option of upgrading an imac gpu?(moot point depending on the answer to the connecting stuff to it.



mac book air, how upgradable also, SWMBO is hinting at one for xmas, wondering if i can drop some more ram in easy enough or is this an at order time only upgrade?


Cheers guys
 
That's a lot of money to spend just to play PC games and use it as a monitor.

why not just get a PC?
 
playing pc games and monitor use would be a bonus in terms of where my prospective imac would live in the house

answered one of the questions ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhbrypDlI-4
kanex HD box allows the xbox to be plugged in via hdmi as well as the pc :)

price though but an option

anyone help out with the other questions?
 
Foxtrot26 said:
righto guys, looking at a imac to replace my gaming pc

couple of Q's

how capable is the 5750 in the imac?is it potent enough to play the latest games?

secondly can i use the imac as a monitor? if so what connections are available on it? can i connect my pc/360 to it?


upgradability? can i upgrade hard drives/ram without the apple price gouging?
what about graphics card? i know a mac gpu needs a different bios but is there the option of upgrading an imac gpu?(moot point depending on the answer to the connecting stuff to it.



mac book air, how upgradable also, SWMBO is hinting at one for xmas, wondering if i can drop some more ram in easy enough or is this an at order time only upgrade?


Cheers guys
Click to expand...

The only user servicable part in an iMac is the RAM; everything else is locked up tight inside and requires considerable dismantling to gain access.

MacBook Air isn't upgradable at all apart from perhaps the SSD drive, although I doubt Apple warrant it. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard so you need to buy the RAM upgrade at purchase as it cannot be changed later on.
 
Foxtrot26 said:
mac book air, how upgradable also, SWMBO is hinting at one for xmas, wondering if i can drop some more ram in easy enough or is this an at order time only upgrade?
Click to expand...

MBA is pretty much non upgradeable.

CPU and RAM are soldered onto the logic board. No sockets for a RAM upgrade, so I'd advise ordering the 4GB version.

Virtually the same story with the SSD. It's not the usual HDD alike form factor, more like a long mini-PCIe card. Toshiba have announced they will be made available outside the Apple spare parts channel.
 
mrochester said:
The only user servicable part in an iMac is the RAM; everything else is locked up tight inside and requires considerable dismantling to gain access.

MacBook Air isn't upgradable at all apart from perhaps the SSD drive, although I doubt Apple warrant it. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard so you need to buy the RAM upgrade at purchase as it cannot be changed later on.
Click to expand...

The 'hard drive' in the Air is chips on their own little daughter board, you can't change it.
 
- Only the 27" has video in. (via Displayport)
- The video cards in iMacs are crap next to PC equivalents.
- No, you can't upgrade the video card.
- Hard Drives are a pain to replace. Not something you should look to do.
- Ram is easy to upgrade, takes 5mins.

If you play games you will probably need to dual boot.
 
I did correct it, I always thought that little board was soldered on, but wanted to check. Didn't know it could actually come out, and certainly didn't know they'd brought them to market!
 
@OP maybe make a list of the games you intend to play?

It possible you could still play them reasonably well but be aware that in a couple of years you may not be able to play new stuff at great frame rates.
 
Belkin AV360 can also be used to hook up an hdmi device to the iMac 27inch screen, is nicer than the kanex as has no power cable, also it autoscales the picture as iirc the 27inch iMac will only support 720p or 1080p even though the monitor has a higher resolution
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom