Before I spend over 1k on iMac

Dear Fellows Mac Owners,

As the title states, I was thinking of purchasing a iMac as a Christmas present to myself but I have couple questions about it.

Would an iMac fit me?
I been a Windows user for over 10 years, and going for my second year on Linux but I'm more of hardcore gamer (From World Of Warcraft, AOE 3, Counter-Strike, COD4 etc) so Windows fits me best however I do realize that you could dual-boot Mac OS/ Windows which is nice, now I built my own computer so when technology moves on I could always swap couple parts (from motherboard - graphic card (much needed since I play many games) CPU) and "update" my computer hardware, but how about with an iMac? now that Apple is using Intel has CPU is it upgradable? and one of the most important hardware when it comes to games, could I upgrade the graphic card?.

Since I'm spending over 1,200 dollars on computer I do expect to be upgradable so it could be "future-proof".

Now I know by fact that Apple releases couple new "upgraded" version of their product in a short-period of time, for example, I have a friend that purchase an "new-at-its-time" iMac G5 but know he has un-outdated version, so I was wondering, if I buy the new iMac and Apple releases a new "iMac" then I would have to spend again those 1,200 for the new version? or I would get discount or something for the new product?.

Sorry if my questions seems to be noobish but since I'm spending something that is over 1k I'm expecting to meet my "requirements".

Thank you so much for your time.

With the iMac there isn't really any user replaceable hardware. Probably only the memory and maybe the HD.

Best bet is to stick to a PC if you like upgrading a wide range of components.

I agree with Eric. Stay with a PC. The only Macs which are upgradeable to any extent are the Mac Pros and that would be overkill for you. I love my MacBook but I still have two PCs which I use.

Regards.

Agreed with the others. If you can tolerate Windows, there's no reason to switch. And since you're an avid gamer who likes to tweak on hardware, I think you'll find yourself very disappointed with a Mac.

Of course, you can always do what I and many others do - maintain a dedicated gaming desktop and a Mac notebook for everything else. It's like having the best of both worlds.

I dual boot OSX 10.5 and XP SP2 on my iMac and they both run magically. I play EVE online, and I can play it with the highest graphics options and still run it with no lag. Also, Macintosh run WoW and AOE3, which you stated that you liked.

And yes, you sadly can't change anything on most Mac computers, but you can upgrade RAM on the intel iMac.

cwa107 said:

Agreed with the others. If you can tolerate Windows, there's no reason to switch. And since you're an avid gamer who likes to tweak on hardware, I think you'll find yourself very disappointed with a Mac.

Of course, you can always do what I and many others do - maintain a dedicated gaming desktop and a Mac notebook for everything else. It's like having the best of both worlds.

Click to expand...

Perfect couldn't have done it better myself, try a macbook and keep you gaming comp if you have one. imac has ram upgrade thats it. and 1K will get you 1GB ram and a 2400, baseline so not good for gameing.

I agree, stay with a PC. Either that or you would need to purchase a MacPro to be able to have the upgradability that you are looking for. Even then I'm not sure about upgrading the chip, someone with a MacPro will have to chime in.

iguy said:

Perfect couldn't have done it better myself, try a macbook and keep you gaming comp if you have one. imac has ram upgrade thats it. and 1K will get you 1GB ram and a 2400, baseline so not good for gameing.

Click to expand...

Not to be rude, but you're wrong.
Judging by your mac specs, you don't have an iMac, so if I were you I would let those who actually have one answer his questions.

i would even sugest getting mini, since you already have all the other hardware and not so expensive if you just want to use OS X. Otherwise, stay with a windows computer.

Aeaus said:

Not to be rude, but you're wrong.
Judging by your mac specs, you don't have an iMac, so if I were you I would let those who actually have one answer his questions.

Click to expand...

He's wrong about what? The only part that is user replaceable is the RAM. For a little over a grand the OP will get an iMac with only 1GB of RAM and an ATI 2400XT video card. This is information readily available, one doesn't need to own an iMac to know this. So please, enlighten the rest of us as to why you think he's wrong.

Oh, and don't say you can upgrade the CPU and hard drive of the iMac. It's ridiculously difficult to do even for an experienced user, and let's not forget the fact that the second he cracks open his case that he'll void the warranty.

Kash said:

He's wrong about what? The only part that is user replaceable is the RAM. For a little over a grand the OP will only get an iMac with 1GB of RAM and an ATI 2400XT video card. This is information readily available, one doesn't need to own an iMac to know this. So please, enlighten the rest of us as to why you think he's wrong.

Oh, and don't say you can upgrade the CPU and hard drive of the iMac. It's ridiculously difficult to do even for an experienced user, and let's not forget the fact that the second he cracks open his case that he'll void the warranty.

Click to expand...

I think he ment the not good for gaming part, but we shall wait and see what he says.

Even if he was referring to gaming, a 2400XT isn't exactly the type of card a hardcore gamer would be looking to use.

Kash said:

He's wrong about what? The only part that is user replaceable is the RAM. For a little over a grand the OP will get an iMac with only 1GB of RAM and an ATI 2400XT video card. This is information readily available, one doesn't need to own an iMac to know this. So please, enlighten the rest of us as to why you think he's wrong.

Oh, and don't say you can upgrade the CPU and hard drive of the iMac. It's ridiculously difficult to do even for an experienced user, and let's not forget the fact that the second he cracks open his case that he'll void the warranty.

Click to expand...

I was actually referring to the gaming aspect of the computer. Sorry- I should have been more clear. But he was right about the RAM. Also, the computer runs games seamlessly, but I've only been playing EVE Online and Warcraft III so far. I'm not so sure about CoD4 at it's REALLY graphics intensive. If you keeps the settings a smidge lower, it should run fine if you want to play it on bootcamp.

Aeaus said:

I was actually referring to the gaming aspect of the computer. Sorry- I should have been more clear. But he was right about the RAM. Also, the computer runs games seamlessly, but I've only been playing EVE Online and Warcraft III so far. I'm not so sure about CoD4 at it's REALLY graphics intensive. If you keeps the settings a smidge lower, it should run fine if you want to play it on bootcamp.

Click to expand...

EVE Online is old, and Warcraft 3 is downright ancient. The only one of the games you listed that is relatively modern is CoD4, and you just stated yourself the iMac is incapable of running it at good settings. Ergo, you have stated that the iMac is a bad computer for running modern games, as a gamer would do. So the iMac is bad for gaming. What part is wrong again?

Agreed with CWA and the other posters. If you want a Gaming rig that you can upgrade, a Mac will not be right for you. Even a Mac Pro has limitations with the Video cards and what you can use and no SLI. Sure you can use an iMac for gaming but not if you want to upgrade in the future.

If you want a Mac with OSX for other things like music, movies, pictures, Productivity and the Net, just get a Macbook and use your PC for your gaming and upgrading.

Discerptor said:

EVE Online is old, and Warcraft 3 is downright ancient. The only one of the games you listed that is relatively modern is CoD4, and you just stated yourself the iMac is incapable of running it at good settings. Ergo, you have stated that the iMac is a bad computer for running modern games, as a gamer would do. So the iMac is bad for gaming. What part is wrong again?

Click to expand...

I'm not going to say the mac is great for gaming, but EVE is not old at all. I play it in XP (on the iMac) and it runs with no lag on premium graphics settings.



It's also low quality because it's in .jpg format. When you thought of bad graphics on EVE you probably thought of the old ones before the update for Windows.
That there is an ingame screenshot of it running of my computer. Anyways, let's just forget this, it's a silly thing to argue over.

Thanks everyone for the input...

I guess I have to stay with Windows.
I personally wouldn't spend money on Mac's system just for its OS, for me it is somewhat pointless in which I have Linux to support me (doing those basic computer needs) and Windows Vista or XP does it pretty good.

Really the main thing about a Mac IS it's OS. If you are happy with Linux for your basic computing and Windows for gaming, then I would agree, stick with what you have.

dtravis7 said:

Really the main thing about a Mac IS it's OS. If you are happy with Linux for your basic computing and Windows for gaming, then I would agree, stick with what you have.

Click to expand...

Exactly. There's nothing special about the hardware - it's very much standard x86 chipsets, albeit with next gen technologies like EFI (the long-anticipated replacement for BIOS).

Aeaus said:

I'm not going to say the mac is great for gaming, but EVE is not old at all. I play it in XP (on the iMac) and it runs with no lag on premium graphics settings.

It's also low quality because it's in .jpg format. When you thought of bad graphics on EVE you probably thought of the old ones before the update for Windows.
That there is an ingame screenshot of it running of my computer. Anyways, let's just forget this, it's a silly thing to argue over.

Click to expand...

Gawd, even with the premium graphics, the Exequror is a horrible looking ship

Good to know EVE runs this well on an iMac, i'm hesitating between changing my macbook or just getting an iMac next year, when i want to get into EVE again (it inevitably happens a couple times a year)