Advice for new imac

[Shadow Slayer 26]

ok well im going to get a new 20" imac. My options right now are to get it with the 128 megabyte video card, and 2 gigs of ram, or wait 3 months and get it with 256 megabyte video card and 1 gig of ram...for about 200 dollers more. I will be doing some gaming on it, but nothing more hardware intensive than Quake (right now that seems extremely high, but in 3-4 years it will prolly be about average). I don't need it to run real well, just run. My winblows computers right now freezes after x amount of time, the other one doesn't boot, and the third one i'm saving it from the tortures of games and experiments, to use strictly for work. I can't play any of my games right now, and can't spend much time on the computer at all right now. Its not at all ABSOLUTLY needed for me to use a computer, just nice. What do you guys think, i know its a lot of stuff...

[torifile]

I'm confused about the waiting 3 months to get it with more VRAM and less real RAM. That seems like a trade off in cost and would put you in about the same situation money-wise. :confused: And I'm not sure what your question is. Buy now or wait? Like I said, the trade off between the RAM and VRAM costs are nearly identical, so why wait? Actually, if you're getting a gig LESS of RAM with the 128, it's still going to cost you more.

[Shadow Slayer 26]

amazon vs apple is the price diff. You can't get the vram update on amazon though. yah should i wait and get the vram and 1 gig, or buy now and get 2 gig?

Yah sry i know it was confusing in the first post lol. I knew what i wanted to say when i started, but somewhere in the middle i half forgot.

[torifile]

amazon vs apple is the price diff. You can't get the vram update on amazon though. yah should i wait and get the vram and 1 gig, or buy now and get 2 gig?

Yah sry i know it was confusing in the first post lol. I knew what i wanted to say when i started, but somewhere in the middle i half forgot.
No need to wait. The VRAM upgrade is not really that worth it. I opted for the 128 version myself. Spend more on the RAM.

[JsnSA]

I am in a similar situation.

Its a shame that Amazon doesn't offer a 256MB VRAM with 1 gig single stick option.

I am leaning towards buying from Apple just to be safe. I figure the 256MB Vram will ensure that it can handle newer games and software in the future. I also plan on doing some video editing with the system as well...so I assume the extra vram would help.

Unforutanely though I can't find ANY benchmarks to prove that. There just doesn't seem to be any comparisons of performance between a 128 and 256 vram system. I really wish I could find out how beneficial it will be to have the extra VRAM because you can save some decent money going through Amazon.

There are some other benefits to going the 256 apple route. You can have them install the ram, or at least one solid gig to start. That will make it much easier to upgrade to 2 gigs late on, since I hear the slot with 512MB is hidden deep inside it and can be a pain to upgrade. If you get a single stick of 1 gig, the second upgrade slot is supposed to be really easy to get to.

Does anyone have experience upgrading a stock 256MB Intel Imac to 2 Gigs on your own...is that is the internal slot as hard to get to as I hear?

[neiltc13]

The intel based iMacs have two slots on the BOTTOM of the case which are covered by a small metal plate. That's all! You simply unscrew the plate, pull the tabs and both ram slots are there. Easiest RAM installation I've ever done and certainly one which even a relative novice could do.

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/imac-core-duo-easiest-ram-installation-ever-01271218/