Purchasing iMac Intel 20" suggestions :)

groggy23 · Aug 22, 2006

This is going to be my second Mac purchase. My 1st venture into the macworld was a couple years ago when I bought an iBook G4 and I love it. I've been a PC user since then and have always been skeptical of switching mainly because of compatibility issues. Now that Intel has been introduced into all the Mac's and can now dual boot into Windows got me even more excited about the Mac desktops. I would love to own a Mac Pro however I would still have to purchase a monitor and doesn't best suit my needs. So I'm highly considering the iMac 20". First, a couple of questions. I realize its an all-in-one machine, however can I self upgrade memory, hard drives, video card etc.. in the future? Second, is it worth to upgrade memory/video card for performance? I will be mainly using it as a work machine, as well an occasional game here or there. For those that own one, how quiet is it? Any likes/dislikes? Any input would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

imacvince · Aug 22, 2006

groggy23 said:
This is going to be my second Mac purchase. My 1st venture into the macworld was a couple years ago when I bought an iBook G4 and I love it. I've been a PC user since then and have always been skeptical of switching mainly because of compatibility issues. Now that Intel has been introduced into all the Mac's and can now dual boot into Windows got me even more excited about the Mac desktops. I would love to own a Mac Pro however I would still have to purchase a monitor and doesn't best suit my needs. So I'm highly considering the iMac 20". First, a couple of questions. I realize its an all-in-one machine, however can I self upgrade memory, hard drives, video card etc.. in the future? Second, is it worth to upgrade memory/video card for performance? I will be mainly using it as a work machine, as well an occasional game here or there. For those that own one, how quiet is it? Any likes/dislikes? Any input would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

Hello Groggy, Let me start out by saying that I purchased my imac 20 inch last April, It is a barn burning machine. The answer to Upgrading your memory is Yes, Removing the two screws that secure the memory cover is located on the bottom of the unit, I just upgraded my memory to 2 gigs.

As far as upgrading the video card it would depend on what games you would be playing. Let me say that the memory upgrade was an amazing difference in performance.

Upgrading the hard drive is possible but not easily done by a novice, I use a 250 gig external hard drive.

dohidied · Aug 22, 2006

As imacvince said, it's very easy to upgrade the RAM after you buy the machine. Most people on here will suggest that you don't purchase RAM from Apple, as they tend to overcharge. I bought RAM on Newegg and it works perfectly.

That said, RAM is basically the only user-servicable part of the new iMac. As with any electronic device, you can open it and remove anything you want, but Apple doesn't make it easy to get at anything. If you think you want to play any games that are graphics intensive, I would suggest upgrading to the 256MB video card, as it will provide better performance over time. Also, if you plan on having large amounts of music, movies, or photos, I would suggest upgrading to the 500GB hard drive. Or you can get an external HD like I did. Basically, buying an iMac is a lot like buying a laptop. Get what you want at the beginning, because it's not very easy to add it after the fact.

groggy23 · Aug 22, 2006

Great! Thanks for the replies. Yes you are right, upgrading to 2GB is too much, $200. I'll just purchase elsewhere when I buy it as suggested. I am willing to spend $68 more for upgrading to 256 on the video card. What are you impressions of it so far? I've been watching videos on youtube and it simply amazes me and how easy and fast it is.

jlbrew3 · Aug 22, 2006

I love my iMac and I am very glad that I maxed it out at the beginning, it would be nearly impossible to get in there and change things around now. Definitely invest in all you want at the beginning.

groggy23 · Aug 22, 2006

Exactly my thoughts.

I just looked through the newegg selection of memory and I see several kinds with slight differences that I'm not sure will really make a difference. Such as, timing latency, buffered/unbuffered and voltage. I'm not quite sure what the latency #'s mean, but I always hear that lower is better. I've ordered from Mushkin before though so I'm not entirely a stranger to memory upgrades. Is the iMac intel specific in latency or voltage?

jlbrew3 · Aug 22, 2006

As far as I know, no, it isn't.

Correct me if I'm wrong...

groggy23 · Aug 23, 2006

Ok, that what I figured, otherwise I would've probably seen more threads or replies about specific latency/voltage issues. I just wanna be really sure before I buy some memory so I'll wait for other to chime in.

I also just noticed that I need SO-DIMM's or notebook style memory 200-pin, NOT 240-pin... Good thing I checked on that!

dohidied · Aug 23, 2006

groggy23 said:
Great! Thanks for the replies. Yes you are right, upgrading to 2GB is too much, $200. I'll just purchase elsewhere when I buy it as suggested. I am willing to spend $68 more for upgrading to 256 on the video card. What are you impressions of it so far? I've been watching videos on youtube and it simply amazes me and how easy and fast it is.

I've been very impressed with my iMac. It's by far the fastest computer I've ever used. The video card has worked very well for playing games in Windows. Oblivion and Half-Life 2 look marvelous.

groggy23 said:
Ok, that what I figured, otherwise I would've probably seen more threads or replies about specific latency/voltage issues. I just wanna be really sure before I buy some memory so I'll wait for other to chime in.

I also just noticed that I need SO-DIMM's or notebook style memory 200-pin, NOT 240-pin... Good thing I checked on that!

Basically, any RAM that is "200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 PC2 5300" will work in the iMac (or any other Core Duo based Mac). I bought Patriot from Newegg and it worked great. Other people on here have had luck with G.Skill.

groggy23 · Aug 23, 2006

Awesome thanks. Ok great, I'll shop around for prices on that. It seems that Patriot or G.Skill seems to be the popular choice.

imacvince · Aug 23, 2006

groggy23 said:
Awesome thanks. Ok great, I'll shop around for prices on that. It seems that Patriot or G.Skill seems to be the popular choice.

You might want to try crucial.com also Groggy.

http://www.crucial.com/index.asp

Jem · Aug 23, 2006

Or Omni Technologies - http://www.omnitechnologies.biz

I just got 2GB of Hyperformance (CL 2.5) RAM from them and my machine flies now, I haven't seen any faster RAM anywhere, even the Optival stuff is faster than the standard CL4 / CL5 strips most places sell.

groggy23 · Aug 23, 2006

Great! Thanks for suggestions. A quick look at prices from Omni and its a little pricey. Do you think there'd be that much difference between their hyperperformance and regular memory? Its quite a price jump from $179 to $299 for 2 x 1GB memory sticks. So far the only real difference I see is the CAS 3 to CAS 2.5.

Jem · Aug 23, 2006

I wondered the same thing... they had the price mis-printed on their website last week (I did point it out somewhere here) and the Hyperformance was only 179.99 so I bought a couple of sticks. The machine flies now, but that's mostly caused by going from 512MB.

Anyone know of any good memory throughput testing programs I could get some real stats with?

I was gonna buy a pair of the Optival as I believe CAS 3 is above Apple spec. (CAS 5 I think?) anyway and $90/GB is pretty good.

groggy23 · Aug 23, 2006

I see, yeah the hyperperformance is now $299. I went ahead and ordered the regular 2x1GB memory still within Apple spec it says CAS 3 for $179. Ironically enough they're located within minutes away from me. Thanks again for letting me know about the site.

digital john · Aug 23, 2006

This may be a little off topic but if I were you I definately wouldn't skimp on Applecare.

Jem · Aug 23, 2006

no probs - it would be very interesting to see if there is any difference in performance at all between the 2 memory types. I know theoretically the Hyperformance should be quicker, but that depends on whether the motherboard is capable of taking advantage of the faster CAS timing.

So... I wonder how we can compare?

groggy23 · Aug 23, 2006

Not off topic at all, am open to suggestions..

I wonder too, I'm sure there are programs that can test memory speeds and such. I went ahead and cancelled my order, I neglected to see the 30 day money back guarantee and I don't think I'll have my iMac in time just yet.

groggy23 · Aug 25, 2006

Well, its time to get the iMac. I already made a call at my local Mac store and they do have iMac 20" available with memory upgrade and wireless keyboard/mouse options. Obviously the hard drive and video can not be upgraded. So I plan on purchasing this Monday a 20" iMac with wireless keyboard/mouse upgrade and apple protection plan. I will be purchasing 2gigs of corsair memory very soon.

Purchasing iMac Intel 20" suggestions :)

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