I have a few questions about what computer to get next!

Hello there Sythe users, I have a few questions I'd love to get some answers to

I currently have an Acer, not sure what the specs are as my little sister ripped the sticker off, however that's not whats in question, as my laptop is going downhill rapidly and I need to get a new computer here is where my questions come.

I have two options really, buying an iMac brand new which I may be able to persuade my mother to buy me for my upcoming birthday, or build a custom computer, now here is where it gets extremely confusing for me, I want a computer I can run several web-pages on and a RuneScape client with HD without any lagg, I've been told because of the horrendous quality of my GFX card I can't run HD sadly.

I'm debating wether or not to spend up to $2000 on an iMac or create a custom desktop for me to use, a friend of mine had recently spent £500 on his computer and said it runs better than the iMac's he had been on.

But the question is really, is it worth getting an iMac or just building a custom computer?

Thanks for your time!

~Daxel.

 

Defenitely a custom built!
Why? here is a reason:
1) an iMac is EXTREMELY overpriced! I'm sure you hear alot of people say that but you want some proof, well, here you go:
These are the specs for the normal iMac 27 inch which costs $2200:
i5 3470
8GB 1600MHz RAM
1TB 7200RPM Drive
nVidia GTX 675M 1GB GDDR5
Apple Logic Board (Motherboard)
Keyboard
Mouse

Custom PC:
i5 3470
Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX
Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Galaxy GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card
Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified
Price: $600 but, the thing you get when paying for a 27" iMac is the damn awesome Apple display, 2560x1440 IPS.. which you can get one for $350..
so let's say you paid $400 for that monitor, still $1000 total! 1/2 the price, with even better performance! gtx 675MX is the same as a GTX 660, just the one in an iMac is 1GB and the 660 is 2GB and the clock is almost doubled (The GTX 660 is 980MHz clock and the GTX 675MX is 600MHz core clock) add that to the iMac having mobile graphics card.

 

Would I have to build it all together?

The thing I personally like about iMac's are the fact of the screen and the software you get with it.

And just the fact it's an Apple product, which I think are undoubtedly the best software producers.

 

Mac..... what a pile of shit. I just gave away the macbook air i bought last year because it was such garbage. Looked nice, but I bought it for how awesome mac was "supposed to be". Here's a lesson for you: Mac OSX wasn't completely designed by Apple. It was completely designed using the Linux source code, tweaked to become what you see as Mac OSX. Some great software producers you've got there, reaallll original.

Buy yourself a PC, any cheap PC will do, because even cheap PC's have better hardware than the Mac's do. Then, if you really insist on having a Mac, install OSX on your PC as a dual-boot setup. Boom, you've got a PC AND a Mac that doesn't suck ass. You'll find that your budget PC, with easily superior hardware to the Macs, will run mac better than your high-dollar mac would. AND you get to build the computer how YOU want it to perform...how YOU want it to look. Plenty of guys here who can help you build a proper PC....and they'd be more than happy to.














apple....the finest example of conformity.

 

Hmmm, my brother has recently bought an iMac, the same one as I'm intrested in buying, and it runs amazing, it's a fucking beast, my dad still has his iMac from 06, and a MacBook pro, and they all run perfectly to what I want them to do, but however I will still keep lookiong around for a good month untill I make my final decision.

 

Also, Imacs utilize mobile graphics solutions. while these are still respectably powerful, they're simply nothing more than the same thing that you find in laptops. It takes SLI gtx 680m's to come close to the power of a single GTX 680m Desktop card...and even then they fall short in performance under many situations. Think about what you're paying for.

 

Usually I don't like to get involved in mac vs pc things but I have to reply to the complete ignorance that is the post bellow.

You're right, Mac OSX wasn't completely designed by apple, it is based on the NeXTSTEP operation system which was purchased by apple in 1996. But guess who made the NeXTSTEP operation system? NeXT, and and NeXT was founded by Steve Jobs and several apple engineers that left the company when he did.

I think what you're trying to say is that Mac OSX is a unix based operation system, and linux is a unix like operating system.

I'd recommend just disregarding everything posted by this user because as shown above he clearly has no clue what he's talking about.




@op If you're looking for raw power building your own custom computer would be the way to go. If you're interested in computers at all building your own computer and tweaking it can be very fun. If you're interested in seriously playing games on your computer building would also be the best way to go. Or if you want the best value for your money.

From what I've gathered from this thread you're not looking for crazy amount of power, you're not a super computer enthusiast, and you're not playing any hardcore games. Also based on the fact that other members of your family have macs I would very much recommend purchasing the iMac.


I also just want to add, don't blindly follow computer specs. Most people don't buy a car based solely on horsepower, why should you base your purchase solely off specs?

 

Thanks a bunch for your detailed reply.

You're exactly right, I'm not computer enthusiast x)

The main things I'll use my iMac for is to watch films, play RuneScape, maybe dabble in some photoshop etc if that's what I still find enjoyable then.

The iMac is currently the most enticing option there is here, and IMO Apple have amazing software etc, also their customer support when I bought my iPhone x)

The only downside to the iMac is it being £1750+ and as I'm only 15, nearing 16 I don't know how I would be able to achieve an amount of money

But it's still all to decide for.

 

Whilst I think this is ridiculous, that's another discussion. Disregard what I'm still breathing said. You could spend $2200 on a PRE-BUILT custom PC from a website who will allow you to pick your parts and will put it together, and it will SHATTER the performance specs of the iMac. Macs are ridiculously overpriced, and their hardware isn't that good - you are paying a premium for the brandname. I would 100% support you building your own/buying a pre-built one, where you would have to do nothing but order it and await the delivery. You could install the OSX on your PC in a dual-boot setup, where you have the option to boot up using Windows or OSX upon turning on the machine.

 

I see where your coming from I do, but I don't want anything fancy, something nice that will run smoothly and do what I want it to do.

And just installing OSC onto a Microsoft PC is pretty much killing the point of purchasing an iMac.

 

I'm not suggesting you pull out all of the stops here, I'm just saying that even if you spend $500 less than the value of an iMac, you will get MUCH, MUCH, MUCH greater value for your money. As for killing the point of an iMac, what is the point of an iMac in the first place? It's simply a computer, which is incredibly hard, if not impossible to modify the parts of, which has very little processing power and graphics options. You would be better off buying a $1000 gaming laptop than an iMac. Also, a computer isn't necessarily a Microsoft PC, it is just a piece of hardware that can execute an OS and code.

 

I understand what you mean, yeah I may save alot more money by buying a lets say for an example $750 desktop compared to a $2200 iMac, but iMacs are durable, as long as your not a complete ass with it.

But, I've still got alot of thinking to do about which one I buy

 

I would disagree with iMacs being durable - many Mac computers are quite easily broken due to poor design. And we're taking about a saving of over $1000, which is enough to get you a new iPhone to go along with the computer. You won't just be saving money, you will be making a MASSIVE improvement in the performance of the computer, and if you decide to go into heavier gaming, such as BF3 and whatnot, a more expensive PC will allow you to get 60+ FPS consistently, whilst on maxed out graphics settings.

 

A computer is only as durable as the parts inside it. You can get the same parts as the one in iMacs for a whole lot cheaper. Plus the software in a Imac isn't any better, if you want to do any gaming, windows is the better option. You do not to spend much on parts to get what you want maybe 300 pounds-500 pounds. Obviously you can spend however much you want. A 600 to 700 pound computer would serve you well for many years and anything over that will max out any games for many years. Plus for the money you save you might want to buy a sweet monitor that has the same specs as the imac. Ultimately its your choice but If I was in your shoes, I would defiantly build my own

 

Thinking of it in that way it makes sense really, to save me alot of money, and then I could put a decent amount of money to purchase big monitor which would par up to the iMac.

If I am to go down the route of buying my own computer etc where would I buy stuff from and would I personally have to put it together?

 

I'm not sure where in the u.k you would buy the parts but if you make another thread with your needs and your budget, people will be able to help you out. In the U.S. I know of a few companies that you pick the parts out and they build it which you might be able to find in the U.k. You might also find a local shop which would build it for you. Keep in mind this is all money that could be spent elsewhere which is why I would recommend building it yourself. I just built a computer for myself for the 1st time and it isn't really too difficult. If you needed any help, just post in this forum and people would be willing to help you.
Edit: Also if you are going to get the high resolution monitor you would want to spend more on your computer than 500 pounds as the gfx in something like that would not be able to get decent fps on that monitor

 

Even if you cannot order a pre-assembled custom PC from any website, you can, at the very least, pay most computer hardware stores and they will assemble the computer using parts you have already purchased. In this way, you don't necessarily have to build it yourself, you would just be selecting the parts. We, on this forum, can help you pick the best parts if you give us a budget.

 

You just order parts from Amazon.co.uk and from Scan.co.uk, when they arrive, simply open the motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU and put the mobo on the box it came in, then install the CPU (really easy) after that the RAM which is easy too and then the CPU cooler then the GPU, get your PSU and connect them all to cables (GPU=PCIe etc) then click the power button on the motherboard and wait till you hear the motherboard make a sound like beep (POST) and see all your fans running, if so remove the cables then put the PSU in the case, then put the motherboard, install the hard drives (really easy) then install the optical drive/blu-ray drive connect all cables and you're done..
Use this guide if you build a PC yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok



If you decide to buy a Mac, here are some tips: NEVER BUY SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN UPGRADE YOURSELF FROM APPLE! for example, memory, if you plan to buy 32GB of RAM for Apple thats $800! 8GB/$200 but you must buy atleast 8GB so go with 8 and if you want to upgrade later buy 32GB kit for $150 and save yourself alot!

 

Get a custom built one, you will save alot of money and its usually better for gaming then Macs, go on Ebay and/or amazon and order some parts, like Ram, CPU, GPU, get yourself a nice chassis.

 

thank you, raptor, for comprehending my point...and furthermore proving that I know what i'm on about.

EXACTLY, why would you EVER buy a mac? For the same money you can have something that will blow away ANY mac product on the market...and still suit every possible need that you may EVER come up with. If you need mac one month, then run OSX it on your custom PC. if you wanna play games, then load em up on windows on your custom PC, and get after it. It's a simple concept.
You can't call an item that you NEVER move more durable than any other item that you also NEVER move. I can't say that I see your ideals behind the argument involving the durability of an Imac vs a PC.
Oh, and I know it wasnt a topic mentioned in this thread...but if anyone feeds you the line of crap that "macs cant get a virus" I'm here to tell you now... they CAN.