The great macdebate (now with roids)

[cRacKh0rN]

The kind of people that buy Alienware kit are the kind of people this is aimed at.

[Pete]

I heard Google services can drain your battery.

[cools]

http://www.gsmarena.com/a_global_versio ... -10075.php"

[markedkiller78]

http://www.gsmarena.com/a_global_versio ... -10075.php

Want

[yosai]

The battery on the n5 is a ballache. 4.4.4 has crippled it, but even more annoyingly its only 70% of the time.

Unless it's gaming thats draining the battery you shoud definitely try flashing a custom ROM. I get anything up to 4 days out of mine. (N5)

[SuperPang]

Wondering if I could stretch to a new iMac for Chrimbo. Could do with the 3TB fusion drive as much as anything else. I reckon I'd go for a high spec because it'd be all the desktop I'd need for a good few years.

Which do you think is the better upgrade considering they cost the same (ridiculous) amount?

3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5 > 4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 or
AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2GB GDDR5 > AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5.

I'd say the processor all day long but this thing has 15 million pixels to handle.

[TheRedKnight]

Yosemite has definitely made my late 2009 mini feel like a proper machine again. Nice.

[cRacKh0rN]

Wondering if I could stretch to a new iMac for Chrimbo. Could do with the 3TB fusion drive as much as anything else. I reckon I'd go for a high spec because it'd be all the desktop I'd need for a good few years.

Which do you think is the better upgrade considering they cost the same (ridiculous) amount?

3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5 > 4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 or
AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2GB GDDR5 > AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5.

I'd say the processor all day long but this thing has 15 million pixels to handle.

5k Imac FTW. Had a look at one in Leeds... Lovely screen and given that current Thunderbolt cannot handle 5k, we won't be seeing a 5k retina cinema display for some time.
I think I would go for Graphics upgrade myself. As you say, it is a seriously big amount of pixels to be shifting around and I think the machine would feel snappier with the better card as oppose to the quicker processor.

[cools]

Max it out.

[bloodhokuto]

Yosemite has definitely made my late 2009 mini feel like a proper machine again. Nice.

I've a late 2009 Mm (2.53 8GB & SSD), but it runs on Snowy Leopard still.

Was gonna upgrade to a Quad Core in 2012, as I (used to) rip a lot of DVD's and Blu Rays. For some reason though, two years passed without me knowing it.

My 2009 is still doing good and I am chuffed with SL, it's been the best OS for me ever, but now I'm starting to lose access to software - like current Safari (not that I use it) and the current iTunes.

If I could get all my Emu's running as nice on Yose as I can on SL, then I might upgrade, but I guess I have got stuck in my ways.

With that said, I can get a nice discount on a new Mac, so I may just ignore the fact that 2012 models were better and just get a new one ... hmm

[pubjoe]

I'm trying not to think about the Retina iMac too much.

Pang, I'd upgrade graphics first and then maybe the cpu, if at all. For any ordinary job the i5 will be just as snappy. For big jobs an i7 upgrade just means you spend a minute less over a cup of tea.

As I'm not going to be doing any/much bell-end gaming I'd probably get away with neither upgrade, but as applications make more use of Retina (it's obvious that Apple's aiming to a fully retina product range), and as Graphics hardware is probay the fastest racing component, I reckon the gpu would provide better future proofing. And also, yeah, 15 million pixels!!!

[TheRedKnight]

Yosemite has definitely made my late 2009 mini feel like a proper machine again. Nice.

I've a late 2009 Mm (2.53 8GB & SSD), but it runs on Snowy Leopard still.

Was gonna upgrade to a Quad Core in 2012, as I (used to) rip a lot of DVD's and Blu Rays. For some reason though, two years passed without me knowing it.

My 2009 is still doing good and I am chuffed with SL, it's been the best OS for me ever, but now I'm starting to lose access to software - like current Safari (not that I use it) and the current iTunes.

If I could get all my Emu's running as nice on Yose as I can on SL, then I might upgrade, but I guess I have got stuck in my ways.

With that said, I can get a nice discount on a new Mac, so I may just ignore the fact that 2012 models were better and just get a new one ... hmm

Lion, Mountain Lion and Mavericks were all pretty much just about watching that spinning beachball on my late 2009 model, but for some reason Yosemite doesn't do that. Maybe I'll go back to Snow Leopard if I get a new machine and want a dedicated emulator box.

[markedkiller78]

I always think about getting an i7 as it seems like a nice upgrade, but unless you reguraly edit / encode video it offers nothing tangible over an i5.

If any upgrade pang, gpu, but tbh I don't think it's worthwhile either as it can't game at 5k and the 290 will be more than capable of pushing that res, mobile phone GPUs can handle 1600p now.

This is one of the few occasions that apples habit of using old tech is really apparent. The nvidia 9xx series are basically more efficient 7xx chips had they used them, I could understand an upgrade. As it stands the 290 is a power hungry monster that will either throttle all the time or run insanely hot.

You would think they would have used Hassel E this time too, but it's just another case of 2015 models being what 2014 could have been.

[markedkiller78]

Tbh I think the cheap 21.5" iMac is the best one. If you could easily change the ram / ssd I would be all over that

[joeblade]

5k Retina pointless imo unless your specifically working on video and photo editing on a daily basis!

Otherwise your just shelling out for the most expensive iMac ever to watch youtube and browse tinternet..

My work iMac i use everyday for opening and editing 500mb-1.5gb photos.

iMac 27 2011 @ 2560x1440
3.1 Ghz i5
12gb ddr3
amd radeon hd 6970m

works, runs, behaves (most of the time)!

[pubjoe]

I agree that both upgrades won't get you far at the moment once you rule out the latest gaming. But as Apple stuff goes more retina, the graphics memory alone will probably be noticeable for switching between retina desktop apps. Desktop PC usage is very different to mobile.

For (non-bell end) gaming, 4x scaling will be fine.

5k Retina pointless imo unless your specifically working on video and photo editing on a daily basis!

Otherwise your just shelling out for the most expensive iMac ever to watch youtube and browse tinternet..

Personally I'd like it for graphics applications - as a hobby. Even without those, as it's not that much more expensive than the last 27" anyone that wanted that screen area would likely enjoy the increased detail and smoothness for common use such as amateur photography and documents - just as they do on high resolution tablets. If it was a £1000 upgrade I'd probably agree with you but it's not.

[cRacKh0rN]

Personally, I would love a large retina screen and I am quite tempted myself

I used my MBpro retina for months before hooking it up to my old Dell 24inch LCD and the difference in quality was so extreme that I thought something was wrong
It is funny how your brain gets used to the text looking so perfect. After months of using the Dell, it looks ok now, but if I am away I can really see the difference when I get home and it strains my eyes a bit.

[joeblade]

the increased detail and smoothness for common use such as amateur photography

imo joe pointless for amateurs and totally irrelevant if your printing it onto a small format desktop printer.

high res tablets, if you are referring to things like the ipad, are generally used in an inefficient way, hence why I don't get using something so specific as a 5k display for anything other than it's intended purpose.

Of course apple would love people to buy 5k imacs and sit around web browsing and checking out their iphone photos on a glorious 5k display...but is that really worth the upgrade?

Horses for Courses mate and im sure whoever gets one including possibly Mr Pang will love it!

It is funny how your brain gets used to the text looking so perfect

text looks perfect for me at a comfortable sitting distance on my 2560x1440 imac.

[cRacKh0rN]

text looks perfect for me at a comfortable sitting distance on my 2560x1440 imac.

Maybe I am getting old

I guess as a browsing-the-net kind of machine it is overkill, but I am sat at this desk working for long hours in code editors and illustrator so it is a justifiable upgrade for me.

[joeblade]

text looks perfect for me at a comfortable sitting distance on my 2560x1440 imac.

Maybe I am getting old

I guess as a browsing-the-net kind of machine it is overkill, but I am sat at this desk working for long hours in code editors and illustrator so it is a justifiable upgrade for me.

Me too, sounding like a right "grumpy old man"!

Im in Adobe CC all day mate and tbh it's an easily justifiable upgrade for me too....but for "Work Purposes", take away that and gaming at that resolution and im not sure what the point is really.

Mind you im sick of my mac by the end of the day and look foward to nothing more than going home to windows!!