Well there here; the new iMac line up and how disappointing. I have several issues with the new iMac and I think it has to do with Intel more then it has to do with Apple even though the Apple/Intel relationship has something to do with the issue as well. For a minute let's pretend that the i3 and i5 Processors aren't a huge rip off for the consumer and that all the great technology that is in the Nehalem chip (i7) is in these processors, then everything would be rosy. The reality is if you think your getting everything in Nehalem think again. The i3 and i5* processors are dual processor chips with a integrated graphics chip in the processor instead of the integrated memory controller which is what made Nehalem the processor everyone wanted. Much like the days of the Pentium D, Intel is on a huge marketing spree to (in my opinion) sell us consumers sub prime processors. Having a Core2 Quad and a Core2 Duo, I have nothing against Intel when they come out with a great product. The Core2 Processor is a great product; the i7 (Socket 1366) is a great product. The i7 on 1156 is a mediocre product, and the i3 and i5 are in my opinion not worth the money. Usually when you buy a Mac, if you were to buy EQUIVALENT HARDWARE, you would get an equivlant price on the PC you get either the same price or the PC is more expensive. This is not the case anymore.
According to CPU Benchmark and the following benchmarks Apple could be putting in much better processors for the same price if they would switch vendors for their iMac's and Mac Mini line. With the exception of the 1156 Socket Pentium you can't get much lower then an i3 processor. It is the "Celeron" of these new series processors. Intel has a huge selection of processors to choose from but Apple went with pretty much bottom of the barrel and I for one am not impressed.
So if Apple went with a Phenom II X4 925 they would be giving consumers Quad Core Processors with decent performance and runs for about 143.00 CDN dollars
CPU Price/Performance Chart
| Intel Core2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33GHz |  | 2,627 | 158 | $289.99 |
| Intel Core i3 550 @ 3.20GHz |  | 2,794 | 144 | $112.00 |
| Intel Core i3 540 @ 3.07GHz |  | 2,806 | 142 | $136.00 |
| AMD Phenom II X4 925 |  | 3,415 | 103 | $148.00 |
| AMD Athlon II X4 635 | | 3,417 | 145 | $143.00 |
| Intel Core i5 760 @ 2.80GHz | | 4,941 | 43 | $214.99 |
| AMD Phenom II X6 1055T |  | 5,169 | 35 | $218.00 |
| Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz |  | 5,850 | 21 | $341.00 |
| AMD Phenom II X6 1090T |  | 6,080 | 19 | $319.00 |
BenchMarks
Not all processors listed are in the benchmarks. The benchmarks are purley for referance, so you can see where the performance / price chart came from.
As you can see from the benchmarks the i3 runs better for applications that don't take advantage of multi-threading, this will change in the future, multi threaded apps like Google Chrome, for example are the way of the future. On the iMacs I don't have an issue with the i5 760 or the i7 870, Ya, I would prefer a socket 1366 i7 but that isn't going to happen. I just don't know what Apple is thinking having low end dual core processors in the iMacs. Most computers even budget ones are coming quadcore, unless you really cheap out. With the advancement of multi threaded software, dual core processors will soon be as outdated as the single processor predecessor. I guess what I'm saying is Apple really cheeped out on the entry and mid-level iMac, and I wouldn't recommend it. I can't believe I'm going to say this but if your looking for an entry to mid level computer I'd go with an AMD Windows 7 64bit computer before an iMac.
* Most of the i5 processors are dual core only a few select models are quad core processors.
Imac Replacement
| iMac | OptionKey iMac PC System | |
| Processor: | 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 (Dual Core) | AMD PHENOM II X6 1055T 2.8GHZ |
| Monitor | 21.5" 1920-by-1080 resolution (LED) | View Sonic VX2250WM (LED) 21.5” 1920x1080 resolution |
| Memory | 4GB (two 2GB) | KINGSTON DDR3 4096MB (2 X 2GB) |
| Hard Drive | 500GB hard drive | 1.5 TB Hard Drive |
| DVD-RW | 8x double-layer SuperDrive | 24X DVD/CD RW With LIGHTSCRIBE |
| Video Card | ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB | SAPPHIRE HD 5770 1GB with Eyefinity |
| Price: | $1299.00 | $1243.00 |
| OptionKey iMac Replacement System Build | Total: $1243.00 | |
| Processor | AMD Phenom 1055T 6 Core Processor | $218.00 |
| Motherboard | ASUS M4A88TD-M/USB3 880G+SB850 | $110.00 |
| Ram | KVR1333D3N9K2/4G 4096MB | $108.00 |
| Hard Drive | SEAGATE 1.5TB ST31500341AS | $88.88 |
| Optical Drive | DVD-RW LG GH24LS50 24X DVDRW With LIGHTSCRIBE | $30.00 |
| Video Card | SAPPHIRE HD 5770 1GB | $176.00 |
| Case & PSU | ANTEC SONATA III With 500W PSU | $125.00 |
| Operating System | 7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT | $115.00 |
| Monitor | View Sonic VX2250WM LED 21.5” Display 1920 X 1080 | $225.00 |
| Keyboard & Mouse | LOGITECH WIRELESS DESKTOP MK300 | $48.00 |
iMac as a PC
| OptionKey Entry Level iMac as a PC System Build | Total: $1146.88 | |
| Processor | i3 540 @ 3.06 GHz | $136.00 |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D | $154.00 |
| Ram | KVR1333D3N9K2/4G 4096MB | $108.00 |
| Hard Drive | SEAGATE 1.5TB ST31500341AS | $88.88 |
| Optical Drive | DVD-RW LG GH24LS50 24X DVDRW With LIGHTSCRIBE | $30.00 |
| Video Card | SAPPHIRE HD 5670 1GB | $117.00 |
| Case & PSU | ANTEC SONATA III With 500W PSU | $125.00 |
| Operating System | 7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT | $115.00 |
| Monitor | View Sonic VX2250WM LED 21.5” Display 1920 X 1080 | $225.00 |
| Keyboard & Mouse | LOGITECH WIRELESS DESKTOP MK300 | $48.00 |
The my iMac build is slightly better then the Apple build. Note the 1.5TB hard drive, the 5670 with 1gb of Video Ram, and has a LED display as well. It is also $152.12 cheaper then the iMac. The motherboard also has E-SATA on the motherboard, firewire 400, digital optical audio out, and 7.1 sound on board the motherboard. I could have made it even cheaper but I wanted to demonstrate that you can get a better pc with close to the same parts as the iMac.
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