Intel iMac very slow

Hey everyone, I just got a new iMac 2days ago and I am finding that it is slower than my old iBook G4.

My G4 was running panther with 768mb RAM and 1.2Ghz.

My iMac is 17" Intel Core 2 Duo with 512MB RAM and 1.83Ghz.

Now, I'm not really complaining as such, this machine was on sale. I got it for 919euro (thats 100off) and a free iPod Shuffle from the O2 store on Henry St. in Dublin. I think I got a good deal all round even though macs in Ireland are more expensive than the US.

Im just wondering is it suppose to be like this?
I mean it finds it very hard to multitask, I just thought that it would be more powerful. I was hoping to splash out after getting a tax return today and buy CS3 but I'd like to see what you guys think first.

I dont mind buying more RAM, but I really want to try use what I have to its full potential first.

Another thing I want to mention is, I haven't installed anything Major since I got it:

Quicksilver
VLC Media Player
Democracy
Azereus
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
Adium X
Onyx


Now I do not think that any of these programs should dramatically decrease performanct of my Mac, however I am a bit suspicious about Azereus.

The iMac starts to slow down alot if for example I have iTunes, Azereus and Safari open. Surely this can't be right.

I'm afraid at the moment, my mac is not living up to as Steve Jobs says
"a yard brush of quality"

All help appreciated! ;D

It would be a lot nicer if you had at least a gig of ram. 512mb doesn't cut it these days.

None of those programs should greatly affect your speed.

Office 2004 is not an Intel or Universal application. It's running under emulation Via Rosetta and will be a bit slow and could drag the whole system down with 512 Megs RAM. I agree with Brendan, get some more RAM and it will help a lot and especially with Office 2004 running under Rosetta.

I'll third the ram. 512mb is beans for what you're doing. Go for the full 2 gigs, OWC sells it for under $100 now!

kaidomac said:

I'll third the ram. 512mb is beans for what you're doing. Go for the full 2 gigs, OWC sells it for under $100 now!

Click to expand...

Agreed. Lack of memory is the sticking point here.

Forgot that Office requires Rosetta. They need to update it!

It certainly could be a ram issue and adding more will definately help especially when running multiple programs these days.
try going to xbench.com and do a benchmark test on your iMac and the iBook if you still have it. The cool thing is you can compare them with people who have similar models. My 2GHz Intel iMac scored a 120 while my 1.2GHz iBook scores about half that. I doubt your iBook comes close to comparing to the iMac.
Also, are you sure its a core 2 duo and not a core duo. There are decent differences between the two and i can't be certain but i thought the core 2 duo wasnt made in a 1.83GHz version. I could be totally wrong.
Bryan

Brendan said:

Forgot that Office requires Rosetta. They need to update it!

Click to expand...

Its coming. Office 2008 for Mac.

sweet. hope the upgrade doesn't cost too much.

No doubt about it, when doing any multasking at all 512 is NOT enough, get at least a gig, and 2 would be better.

Im going to suggest something nobody has though of... more ram!