Top spec iMac 27inch vs PC

archon4332

archon4332

archon4332

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7 Jul 2009
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4
Hey guys, i am torn between the highest spec imac 27inch

http://store.apple.com/uk/configure/MC814B/A?mco=MjIwNTQ0Njk

with the i7 3.2ghz upgrade & 2gb on the gpu which costs £1889 - around £1600 when my university discount is applied.

OR

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-175-OE

with the 16gb memory upgrade and possibly a SSD thrown in.

+

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-010-HO

coming to £1551

My main uses are for Photoshop CS5(digital artist) and gaming ( preferably able to run crysis 2 at native 1440p with decent frame rates). I am having trouble deciding as the imac's display is gorgeous and arguably makes the machine cost effective but i am having a very hard time trying to justify taking it over the much much more powerful PC setup with a slightly worse display. Can anyone give me their views on what seems the best setup to go for / changes to the builds? Thanks.
 
If digital art is your bread and butter, you'll want the best screen with the best colour accuracy.

If you went with the PC you'd still be looking at investing in something like the Dell UltraSharp IPS screens. Which is another 700-1200 depending on size and resolution on top of your PC purchase. So all in you're looking between 1700 to 2000 quid.

Getting the iMac with the 3.4 i7, 16GB of RAM and 6970m 2GB will take you towards nearly 2500 quid. And it won't be as good in terms of graphics if you had a dedicated card (it is a mobile card in there after all). And you can't throw another card in if you decide it needs a boost. HDD upgrades are out of the question since Apple are now using a new proprietary cable with temp sensor wired into it. Swapping drives out causes the fans to go nuts...

I'm a Mac user, but I would go with the PC. Especially if I was planning to do any gaming that required a high end card to power huge resolutions.
 
The prices that apple charge for upgrades is absolutely extortionate. For best bang for buck PC is the way to go.

If you build the PC yourself you will get it cheaper too.

For gaming you only really need an i5-2500K as games don't take advantage of the hyperthreading that the i7-2600K offers, but if you do enough photoshop to warrant it or if you just want it fair enough, but know there is about £100 price difference and the performance difference for gaming is next to nothing.

Assuming your budget is £1600 heres an option. The with a 27" IPS monitor, but you could always replace with a 24" IPS and a big SSD which would take your total to £1,594.52.


Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £689.00

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £254.99

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £205.99

MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.99

XFX 750W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £94.99

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £71.99

Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £56.99

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £40.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Total : £1,591.55 (includes shipping : £22.20)

 
I work in design industry and we would never get an iMac for a designer - the displays are nowhere near accurate enough. You shouldn't even be thinking about a glossy screen if accurate reproduction of colour is a concern.
 
Caracus2k said:
+1 for getting a PC.

Apple's computers are nice but style over substance, overpriced and expensive/tricky to upgrade
Click to expand...

to be perfectly honest

- apple's OS is VERY good

- but they're hardware is overpriced and not as good quality as everyone likes to make out...

but i;d love to be able to afford a 27" imac :D
 
Thanks for the quick responses guys! It sounds silly but the only thing that's bugging me at the moment is how ugly the Dell Ultrasharp is in comparison to the apple cinema displays are there any other IPS alternatives? @ Sk82jack thanks for the build, will definitely look into the i5 over the i7 i think it's much more suitable for my needs/budget.
 
archon4332 said:
Thanks for the quick responses guys! It sounds silly but the only thing that's bugging me at the moment is how ugly the Dell Ultrasharp is in comparison to the apple cinema displays are there any other IPS alternatives? @ Sk82jack thanks for the build, will definitely look into the i5 over the i7 i think it's much more suitable for my needs/budget.
Click to expand...

from what i understand, the nice apple displays and the nice dell displays both use philips panels in different housings :)
 
I am liking the sound of having the Apple cinema display(sucker for the looks) with a PC. Are there any special connectors i would need to buy or compatibility issues?
 
archon4332 said:
I am liking the sound of having the Apple cinema display(sucker for the looks) with a PC. Are there any special connectors i would need to buy or compatibility issues?
Click to expand...

i imagine the apple displays use minidisplayport, which is available on a lot of high end graphics cards :)

(check first though!)
 
panyan said:
i imagine the apple displays use minidisplayport, which is available on a lot of high end graphics cards :)

(check first though!)
Click to expand...

I know that there were a massive bunch of compatibility issues with Ati 5xxx cards because I was considering the same thing a while back.

Best check to be sure. I'd just go with a Dell monitor...
 
The Dell is superior to the apple cinema display on technical specs, according to an in depth trusted review I read not long ago. I agree, the apple display does look nice. However are you going to pay a premium to have a less specced monitor with a higher price, over functionality.
 
panyan said:
to be perfectly honest

- apple's OS is VERY good

- but they're hardware is overpriced and not as good quality as everyone likes to make out...

but i;d love to be able to afford a 27" imac :D
Click to expand...

For me this has become less of an issue since Win7. Far more choice of hardware/ software with WINTEL or AMDWIN??

But there is the trade off that it all does not 'work' as well as apple's do (most of the time)

Still part of the fun for me is getting everything to play nicely!
 
I'd go with the PC and opt for eyefinity tbh.

EDIT:

This would be my basket:

"Ultima Mosasaur" Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz @ 4.60GHz DDR3 Sandybridge System "Ultima Mosasaur" Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz @ 4.60GHz DDR3 Sandybridge System £979.98
(£816.65) £979.98
(£816.65)
Options applied to the above product:
No Hard Drive Upgrade £0.00
(£0.00) £0.00
(£0.00)
Options applied to the above product:
No Memory Upgrade £0.00
(£0.00) £0.00
(£0.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Overclock selected £20.00
(£16.67) £20.00
(£16.67)
Options applied to the above product:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Options applied to the above product:
No Crossfire Upgrade £0.00
(£0.00) £0.00
(£0.00)
LG E2260V-PN 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black LG E2260V-PN 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £159.98
(£133.32) £479.94
(£399.96)
Sub Total : £1,299.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £30.45
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £266.08
Total : £1,596.47
 
Last edited:
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