10-18-2006, 07:17 AM

After talking myself out of a 24" iMac I've settled on the 20". I'm giving some thought to the 2.33GHz and 256MB of RAM on an otherwise bone-stock model. Do you guys think these upgrades are really worth it?

I'm usually content to forgo upgrades on anything I can upgrade in the future. Does anybody know if the video RAM is upgradable? How about the CPUs? I know some people have used Core 2 Duos in Core Duo Mac Minis so the CPU swap isn't unprecedented.

10-18-2006, 07:57 AM

You can't upgrade the graphics card once you have it. I even phoned apple about this. I have 256mb and found the FPS wasn't fantastic. Speaking to the guy on the phone he said my 256mb should have been fine anyway. Later I realised the screen response time on the screen isn't the best in the world maybe its something worth looking into. To be honest I wouldn't buy one if you dream of updating it except the normal ram... I guess if you can in the future its a bonus.

If you upgrade the CPU in the future you'll need to consider cooling, I guess if the motherboard supports the new chip it will work providing it doesn't melt

10-20-2006, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by DrivinWest

After talking myself out of a 24" iMac I've settled on the 20". I'm giving some thought to the 2.33GHz and 256MB of RAM on an otherwise bone-stock model. Do you guys think these upgrades are really worth it?

I'm usually content to forgo upgrades on anything I can upgrade in the future. Does anybody know if the video RAM is upgradable? How about the CPUs? I know some people have used Core 2 Duos in Core Duo Mac Minis so the CPU swap isn't unprecedented.

Well it all depends on what you're doing with it.. I have my eye on the 20" with the stock ram and processor but upgrading the video.. Like its been said. the video is the one thing that you can't upgrade. The ram can definatly be upgraded. and if you feel like voiding the warranty you can upgrade the proc. I think the best course is have teh upgraded vid card from apple. Upgrade the ram afterwards if the performance isn't up to speed. and then in a year or two the Core2Duo CPUs should drop in price and go up in the performance to upgrade your now old imac and give it a few more years of service..

I didn't think this through at all, did I? LOL