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NEED HELP DECIDING IF I SHOULD GET an iMAC or stay PC!


Switch to iMAC i5 27 inch or stay retail hackintosh  

20 members have voted

  1. 1. Switch or no?

    • iMAC i7 27 inch
      3
    • iMAC i5 27 inch
      7
    • Hackintosh retail install Intel Quad 3.7 GHz
      10
    • Screw that, get Ubuntu
      0


20 posts in this topic

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Okay, I build Windows based computers and Hackintosh computers. My personal computer right now has a retail install of Snow Leopard as well as Windows 7 dual boot. I noticed that when I run parallels, my Windows 7 runs super slow... anyways here is a list of my current specs:

 

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 GHz (OC to 3.7 GHz)

RAM: 4 GB DDR2 @ 1066 MHz

Hard drive: WD Velociraptor 300 GB for Windows 7, WD 1 TB for MAC and backup (300 GB for mac, 700 GB for backup)

Video: Nvidia GT 220 1 GB

DVD: 22x DVD dual layer burner

Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P (Everything installed perfectly)

 

Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P FAN with dual fans for suck in blow out (my cpu is usually running at around 43 degrees celcius, 50 at gaming)

 

So my dilemma is this.. I've been working on iMAC G5's fixing blown capacitors for people.. and im starting to like the feel of it.. but then again I look at the price of a 27 inch iMAC and its crazy... like 2099 for an i5 2.66GHz...

 

I want big screen, so the 27 inch is needed (right now im using an I-INC 28 inch that I got from tigerdirect for like 269 dollars on black friday.

 

 

 

My question is this... Since i am running a retail version of Snow Leopard on my PC, am I going to notice a difference when using a real mac? or is there no real difference if im using retail??

 

I've been noticing when I open the iMAC G5's... that the hard drives are just regular hard drives.. dvd drives are regular drives... the RAM is pretty much the same as regular PC RAM... the intel chip is the same as PC.. (and what i heard iMAC uses mobile CPU's not full sized desktop ones)

 

So what could make it run any better than my PC hackintosh?? The only thing is the logic board itself that differs from my hackintosh... will that be enough to make me convert? Money isnt really an issue, if its REALLY worth it, i will spend it...

 

My configuration to date has costed me roughly 1,100 dollars which I can probably get close to if I were to sell...

 

I need YOUR help!!! Give me your opinions on wether I should get an iMAC i5 27 inch (not i7 not worth the extra 300 bucks) or stick with my PC hackintosh retail install??

 

Thanks!!!

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SticMan, My guess, is that you posted your desk right??...SORRY IM VERRY SORRY ABOUT MY NEXT QUESTION, dont want to be rude or anything but.....

WHAT THE HELL WITH YOUR SPEAKERS XDDD?!?!?!?! WTF THEY ARE HORRIBLE!!

 

Buy something for xmas please!!!! It makes your iMac dirty!

 

Cheers :)

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SOB, sob, cry, tears!!! It was a Christmas present from my late departed father, so I don't have the heart to throw them out!

 

 

 

SticMAC

ps, not really, they are a set of Altech Lansing's that came with my Dell Dimension as a retirement gift and as soon as someone tell me there are Apple branded boxes that sound as great, I'll buy them!! The subwoofer on the floor also makes a great footrest!

 

SticMan, My guess, is that you posted your desk right??...SORRY IM VERRY SORRY ABOUT MY NEXT QUESTION, dont want to be rude or anything but.....

WHAT THE HELL WITH YOUR SPEAKERS XDDD?!?!?!?! WTF THEY ARE HORRIBLE!!

 

Buy something for xmas please!!!! It makes your iMac dirty!

 

Cheers :)

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I noticed that when I run parallels, my Windows 7 runs super slow

 

I don't have half the CPU power you have, and both Windows 7 and XP

work fast and without problems using Parallels 5 on my setup

 

but here is the thing, I turn off everything that's not needed to run the

programs I want, and that includes "eyecandy"

 

I turn off "System Restore" and "Visual Effects", set the Initial and Maximum

"Virtual Memory" size to the same thing, even change the wallpaper to none,

basically just your run of the mill Windows tweaks that you could "Google"

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Mrs. SticMAC says, the new one's were in the cupboard, waiting to be presented for X-mas!

She hopes you approve of them!?

 

SticMAC

 

SticMan, My guess, is that you posted your desk right??...SORRY IM VERY SORRY ABOUT MY NEXT QUESTION, dont want to be rude or anything but.....

WHAT THE HELL WITH YOUR SPEAKERS XDDD?!?!?!?! WTF THEY ARE HORRIBLE!!

 

Buy something for xmas please!!!! It makes your iMac dirty!

 

Cheers :angel:

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RAWR!! Thats what im talking about!..Congrats! =) Marry Xmas! haha..

 

edit: and dude, the poster, sorry for hijacking your thread, and your answer is pretty obvious.....like.wtf?..if you have the money to buy an imac, just buy it!

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lmao, not one person here has given me any reason at all to switch to a real iMAC.

 

To the guy that said he runs windows in parallel using tweaked settings... i am sorry, i think i didnt explain my problem well... it runs super good, except when trying to game or watch videos it becomes sluggish, but I just checked and apparently the driver that parallels uses, just sucks for video cards.. well mine for that matter.. unless ive gotten a defect?

 

When i run warcraft 3, to play DoTA... the frozen throne background is like all weird colored, and the game play is like having a 2 to 3 second delay between clicks (and im in single player lmao)

 

thats my concern is if maybe my system just cannot handle it because its a hackintosh install, or will it be the same thing if im running it on a genuine imac?

 

 

 

*** Also to the guy that said i cannot make my own decisions... dude its really hard, im hardcore PC, im trying to switch or do both, but want to know opinions from the other side... i dont want to hear from PC guys, i want to hear from MAC/PC guys. Yes my mom does tell me what to wear, if that wasnt the case, id be wearing my southpark boxers, Family guy shirt sayin "No fat chicks", and my blue jeans that has a questionable origin.

 

 

 

BOTTOM LINE, IS IT WORTH GOING GENUINE OR STICK TO HACKINTOSH!!!!

 

 

 

Oh and to those about to say "You should support MAC if your usin them", I did, I bought the software legally.

 

RAWR!! Thats what im talking about!..Congrats! =) Marry Xmas! haha..

 

edit: and dude, the poster, sorry for hijacking your thread, and your answer is pretty obvious.....like.wtf?..if you have the money to buy an imac, just buy it!

 

 

its not the point of having the money, its the point of is it worth it, like is there a real difference user wise, every day wise... not just physical appearance. People say MAC's run stuff better than PC does, i only have the hackintosh perspective of it... and so far ive noticed they run almost the same, if not slower.. so I just wanna know is if its not running at full speed due to the fact its not running on genuine MAC logic board. Thnx for the answer though

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If you think the Mac (not MAC) will work exactly like Windows with registry {censored} and everything, don't do it.

 

If you don't like the idea of hacking into your system every time there is an update to it, don't dare go Hack.

 

If you don't like Linux, don't use Ubuntu. If you do like Linux, don't use Ubuntu.

 

If you just want to dabble in the Mac world, go buy a used one from Powermax (much cheaper dive).

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If you think the Mac (not MAC) will work exactly like Windows with registry {censored} and everything, don't do it.

 

If you don't like the idea of hacking into your system every time there is an update to it, don't dare go Hack.

 

If you don't like Linux, don't use Ubuntu. If you do like Linux, don't use Ubuntu.

 

If you just want to dabble in the Mac world, go buy a used one from Powermax (much cheaper dive).

 

Its a retail install, updates dont harm my setup at all. its flawless. Sooooorrrryyy for type MAC lmao.

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it runs super good, except when trying to game or watch videos it becomes sluggish,

 

 

When i run warcraft 3, to play DoTA... the frozen throne background is like all weird colored, and the game play is like having a 2 to 3 second delay between clicks (and im in single player lmao)

 

my concern is if maybe my system just cannot handle it because its a hackintosh

 

People say MAC's run stuff better than PC does

 

 

I did notice that Media Center on Windows 7 under Parallels is unable to handle HD video,

and some games using DirectX ether paused or shuddered a second or two every few seconds

or had graphics errors, but if I was able to switch over to OpenGL the game worked perfect

 

The problems are not Hackintosh related, and think that Parallels just needs more time to

figure out DirectX.

 

I have had Macs and PCs over the years and run Linux, I have crashed all of them, and have

had every one of them lock up on me, but I am not the kinda guy that just checks his email

and play a few games, I actually "use" the computer and I am always tinkering with it, and

that's what causes it to crash, its all the same to me,

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BECAUSE PEOPLE DONT LIKE BEING YELLED AT!

 

 

No, its because people are understanding the point to this whole thing :wallbash: that getting a real Mac isnt worth it at all :wacko:, if it were, you would see a bunch of people backing up Mac and clicking to vote for them. They arent, because they know deep down its a rip off, and that the hackintosh (retail install) is the better deal and it runs even better than a Mac Pro, for 1/3 the price. Yes, people arent really voting for the hackintosh either, but thats because they are using real Macs and cannot for the life of them vote on a PC hehe, yet they wont vote for Mac, because they know its just a total rip.

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As a previous iMac Owner and then seller, I faced the exact same dilemma as you. I bought a spanking new 20" Beauty on August 2007. She was absolutely brilliant, so nice, so thin, so perfect. I mean it was perfection.

 

I used to own a PC before and had Mac running on it. It was Pentium4 and used to suck. With SSE2 and what not OSX would be slow and crappy. QE/CI was a headache.

 

Hardware issues were a pain. My PC would be noisy (3-4 fans running). Plus I live in a coastal area, so corrosion was another big {censored}. Motherboards would die in 1.5-2 years. 3-4 Fans would also mean dust and maintenance. Over that games were slow and I just needed an upgrade.

 

Scraped together some monies, borrowed some and bought a Mac. I had it for a year. The machine was brilliant

 

1) OSX ran so beautifully and everything was so perfect. VMWare would have XP running which would be constantly on CorelDraw or CoolEdit. Both are pretty CPU heavy and would run perfect. Never tried gaming VMWare.

2) It was so silent and thin. No noise whatsoever, just a slight hum at night when there was no noise at all in the surroundings. The computer would be sleeping half the time, and you would have no idea it was on. Just a click to bring it back.

3) Beautiful and perfect. The machine was absolutely brilliant to look at and everybody I showed it to was surprised that the whole computer was inside.

4) It included everything. I sometimes needed my computer in my bedroom to watch movies and stuff. I just needed to move the computer, keyboard and mouse. No need for anything else. Plus the remote meant it gave me a TV experience.

 

And then came GTA4...December 2nd was not a good day. The 2600XT was just not good enough. The game was just not smooth. Gaming being one of my priorities, I made the very tough decision to sell my iMac. Sold it of for very close to what I spent on it. Used the money to my current system.

 

Was lucky enough to get a system that was a perfect OSX machine. Config in sig. And it actually runs OSX as stable as my iMac. As fast, as perfect. Games run like a beast too. But every now and then, an EPIC FAIL happens and I have to fix it back up.

 

SO to summarize

 

For iMac

 

Silent - Doubt that for a PC

Thin

Beautiful - You just cant beat the look of a Mac

Integration - Speakers, Webcam, Remote, everything in one

Resale Value

No need to mess around

 

For PC

 

Gaming

Upgradability - Kinda doubt that, with new stuff coming every year, makes more sense to sell the whole thing and buy new

 

 

I hope this clarifies it for you. My final advice, buy a Mac. Even if you dont like it stay with it for atleast a year, then sell it for 70-80% of its cost and buy a kickass PC. By the Corei7 will be really cheap. OOOH and the Fermi will be out.

 

BTW: I just noticed we have more or less the same config. If your selling can I have ur Velocitiraptor for cheap

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Hmmm, ya i agree they keep their resale value... but i mean... why would i bother getting the mac if what you say is im going to eventually end up getting a PC? lol.. I basically just like the look of it, like the screen itself, the fact that its mobile is good, but there are alot of all-in-one computers out there too.

 

Some guy is selling a brand new sealed with warranty, 27 inch with intel core 2 duo 3.06 GHz, for 1,800 CAD no tax. versus 1,799 at store plus 13% taxes and 20 dollar recycling fee... im saving about 160 dollars.

 

or just get the i5 for 2,350 with taxes.. dunno if its worth the extra 550 dollars to go from Dual core to Quad.

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See as I said, if your gonna game, you might as well get a PC, or keep this one. But if gaming is not your thing, I personally found my Mac far better. Considering you have a GT220, I doubt gaming is your thing. I would recommend a Mac.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey you guys, I have just bought nVidia GeForce GT 220 1024 today, since it was on a sale. Now I'm trying to get this working with my Snow Leopard Retail install. Can any of you guys help me get the best out of this card? Also, U.C. You mean this card is a bad card?

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  • 2 weeks later...

iMoshi

 

The card is not great. If I remember correctly the 9800gt is better.

 

dransiksucks

 

I've never owned an intel mac, but I have owned motorola powered ones. I've made a few hackintoshes and currently use a quad core xeon badaxe as my main system. My hacks have all been faster than my fastest mac. That's not to say that Apple doesn't make a product that will mop the floor with my system, but my personal feel on the subject is that you will see no performance increase going with a real Apple. You may see an increase in stability (my hacks have all taken a dump at some point to varying degrees).

 

I vote stick with your hack.

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