Build a PC vs. iMac

It is about time for a new computer, and I can't decide what path to take. Usage will be skyrim and internet, and maybe some newer games that my current laptop can't handle.

Option 1 is to build a PC. I'm looking at a mid level game rig, AMD FX 4x, AMD R7 250 gpu, ect. The newegg bundle comes out to $450+ windows+ moniter and other sundries. Pros, built it my self, easy upgrades, ect. Cons, after all the little things it will run an extra $300 or so ontop of the combo, space.

Option 2 is to buy an iMac. The upgrade "small" screen version. Price is $1500-1600 if I get the external disk drive. Pros, Mac lifespan, small(compared to a traditional tower) and simple setup, and it's very pretty. Cons, price, but that is offset by life expectancy.

i-mac: "does not play well with others."

if your a PC user now, with a droid phone, the transition can be a bit tough. if you have an I-phone and a mac now, stick with it.

i personally would go with a PC, but thats only cause i already have the software and hardware to go with it. and i like USB ports.

-J0N

Its to my understanding the trick to tuning a mac to your liking is knowing your way around a unix command line. Otherwise its a sealed for life toaster.

If you buy a Mac, are you going to run MacOS or Windows on it? Or are you going to dual boot for gaming? Game availability for MacOS is pretty limited, and the lack of upgradable graphics hardware is likely to be a significant problem as well. Note also that the 21.5" iMac has non-upgradable DRAM, so whatever you buy it with is what you'll be stuck with (barring significant effort involving a soldering iron). The 27" has upgrade slots, so you can buy the machine from Apple with the minimum DRAM and then load it up from crucial.com for a third of the price that Apple would charge.

I have a 27" iMac, which I use for general internet stuff, telecommuting, and photo processing, but I do most of my gaming on my Xbox, and only run games on the Mac if there's no console version available (Starcraft 2 and FTL are pretty much the only games I play on it -- it does SC2 just fine but that's a fairly old game by now).

The Mac looks more expensive up front, but that's mainly because Apple doesn't sell low-end machines. If you spec-out a brand-name PC that's got the same features as a particular Mac, the prices come out about the same. This lack of low-end machines means that 3-5 year old Macs have a much higher resale value than similar age PCs, because people who want to buy a Mac but can't afford a new one have to buy used instead.

If you do buy the Mac, I highly recommend the Fusion drive. It provides most of the speed benefits of a pure SSD machine at a substantially lower cost than trying to put multiple gigabytes of SSD in it. It's much, much better than the "hybrid" drives you can buy for PCs.

Why would you do anything other than build a gaming PC? Are you a masochist?

I would def go the PC route. Scalability being a huge benefit when wanting to upgrade down the road without buying a completely new PC. Want more RAM slap it in. Want a bigger HDD slap it in. Want a better graphics card - bam.

Plus I built a kickass PC that can run circles around the top of the line Mac for less than an iMac or Macbook pro. I did get some of my parts at an insane discount so prices are a bit skewed in my favor.

Apples have a great sandbox environment; but, it's also a limiting factor (unless like others have said you have a firm understanding of UNIX command line).

Build it yerself! That way you know what's under the hood when it breaks. Not to mention the sense of satisfaction you'll get from the experience. That, or it will frustrate you to the point of wanting to take a shotgun to it. Either way, it's all good fun. Build a PC!

You said you want it for games. That means you want a PC. Whatever extra lifespan a Mac may have will not matter when the next generation of games comes around and it lacks the hardware to run them or the flexibility to upgrade anything.

I'm not even sure why you would ask if you should spend 3.5x as much for something that won't do what you want.

Spend $1000 on a PC and you'll play any game you want, get quality components that will last and be upgradeable down the road. My HTPC, built for about $950 almost 4 years ago is still going strong except for replacing a HD with a bad sector.

If you want to run newer games then you probably don't want an iMac.

It's no secret that I like Macs and I have owned a 27" iMac in the past, but I would not buy another one due to them being fairly complex to repair at home (you have to take the glass and monitor off to get at the HDD, for example) and you can't really change out components either. Essentially you're looking at an overgrown laptop when it comes to repair friendliness.

I am typing this on a Mac Pro that I bought used, those are upgradeable at a price, but given your budget I think a used one (so you can get the tower design and not the new garbage can design that appears to be non-upgradable again) isn't such a smart buy unless you really want a Mac. Those things hold their value extremely well and if you want one that's new enough to be able to run newer games and support the more expensive graphics cards, you're probably looking at ~1500-1800 for a fairly base model-ish (ie, only a single quad-core or six-core processor) 2009/2010 model that's 3-4 years old at this point. Also, a decent graphics card for one of them is going to run you $300-$500 for something that you can buy as a PC-only card for half that price or less.

BTW, all my Macs are set up for dual boot and run Windows just fine, but that's also an added expense you only need if you want or need both systems.

You can also build a Mac.... not sure that helps, but you could get a Mac / PC for the price of a PC. You have to do a bit of work, but it is pretty well documented (make sure to check the process before you buy parts though, some parts are far more compatible then others)

My problem with the Mac here (and i'm not against a Mac, i'm intrigued by a "Hackintosh") is that he didn't list any compelling reason to even consider a Mac.

He wants to game and use the internet. He didn't list a single thing that a Mac is inherently superior at or worth getting for. There was nothing listed about why he wanted a Mac, or even that he wanted to try one.

Easy answer: The cheaper option that will game.

as mentioned... games = PC... even based on you having to spend extra on the kit it puts you at 1/2 the price or less of the mac... you can upgrade as you need to or just build a new computer...

Why not just get a new console? The outgoing generation lasted about 7 years; much longer than a gaming PC will remain relevant. True, the raw specs are probably worse than a gaming PC, but hardware standardization and optimization goes a long way.

Apple hardware longevity is nice, but some of their newer designs with memory & storage soldered onto the motherboard don't compute for longevity with regard to updates.

Also, building your own offers you the chance to build something of similar quality, for less money.

I say all of this as an OSX user at home and a windows user at work. All in one form factors are cool, and if that's high on your list, the iMac is probably the nicest one out there.