PC Computer choice (early 2013)

studio460

New Core i7 iMac:

27" late-2012 iMac w/quad-core i7; 1TB 7,200 RPM HDD = $2,199 (Apple Store)
32GB PC3-12800 1,600 MHz SODIMM (8GB x 4) = $219 (Other World Computing)

Total (before tax): $2,418

TaoTeJared

Studio460 - Seriously thank you for the links!!!

It ended up my pagefile.sys was eating 32gb of my C: Drive (SSD) along with Indexing and Hibernation files. After cleaning, turning off and moving file locations I went from 81gb used to 25gb! 56gb used on nothing!

Here is the link to the article I used.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/windows-7-and-ssds-cutting-your-system-drive-down-to-size/2941
I found some really radical change articles but that one was the safe route and worked quite well!

studio460

Glad that helped! Yes, the ZDNet article seemed a reliable source.

Parke1953

studio460

so I need a super-long monitor arm that has to traverse the space between the bed and the wall (to provide walking access to the opening of the sliding glass door--the back of bed is up against a sliding glass door).

Just get a 80" flat screen and you can see it from the next block.
I love it. We do have some toys don't we
$219 for 32 GB's think I paid more than that for (4x2) 8 MB years ago.

studio460

Maybe next year . . . I only have a 65" screen in the bedroom (. That was actually the original plan, but I like to browse the Internet while watching TV.

studio460

Single worse thing about the new iMacs? No optical drive (I just found this out). I mean, what is Apple thinking? iMacs are supposed to function as a full-fledged "desktop" machines. Jeez . . .

studio460

Back to square-one . . .

studio460

Aha! I've got it! A new MacMini, and a fancy new LED screen on a monitor arm!

PB_PM

@Studio I can find high quality 1600MHZ DDR3 sticks (2x8GB) for $88 ($176 for two kits). No need to pay the extra for special "OWC" stuff. The PPC days are long behind us.

PB_PM

The Mac Mini is no good, the most RAM you can get in there is 16GB (2x8GB), and has no optical drive either.

studio460

Which brand? I think 16GB is enough for the bedroom machine. The iMac in my home office can only take 6GB ("officially," only 4GB), and it's my MAIN computer! But the no-VESA mount/no optical drive design of the new iMacs are both huge deal-breakers. And guess what? Zero inventory of iMacs in the refurbished Apple store.

studio460

Core i7 MacMini:

2.3GHz quad-core i7 MacMini= $799
Add 1TB Fusion drive = $250
16GB DDR3 (8GB x2) = $88

Total before tax: $1,137 for Core i7 16GB/1TB HDD MacMini

PB_PM

Corsair, it's the high end Vengeance sticks (made for gaming notebooks).

studio460

Thanks. I need an optical drive in my home office computer which I was going to replace with a new iMac. No optical drive in the bedroom is fine (although it would be nice to do some editing in there and be able to burn off photo DVDs). I can always slip the external Apple optical drive underneath the Mini, if needed.

studio460

Jeez . . . I can't believe Apple deleted the SuperDrive from the Mini also. Apple has crippled their MacMini/iMac product lines by deleting such basic features. Here's how I'm thinking of configuring my MacMini:

Core i7 MacMini 2.3GHz + 16GB + dual 250GB SSDs + SuperDrive:

2.3GHz quad-core i7 MacMini= $799
Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD = $179
Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD = $179
16GB Corsair DDR3 (8GB x2) = $88
Apple SuperDrive (CD/DVD) = $79

Total before tax: $1,324

Just for kicks, here's a "super" MacMini configuration:

Core i7 MacMini 2.6GHz + 16GB + dual 500GB SSDs + SuperDrive:

2.6GHz quad-core i7 MacMini= $899
Samsung 840 Series 500GB SSD = $369
Samsung 840 Series 500GB SSD = $369
16GB Corsair DDR3 (8GB x2) = $88
Apple SuperDrive (CD/DVD) = $79

Total before tax: $1,804

adamz

studio460 - I'm a mac user since 2007 and I really don't remember when was the last time I used superdrive. moreover, I'm seriously thinking to put another hdd in my iMac.
as for the vesa mount on iMac, You can find it at B&H.
currently 16gb in macmini should be more than enough for most applications, and I just read that samsung has showed 32gb sodimm modules.

PB_PM

@adamz Regarding that 32GB RAM sticks. The question is, a) are they affordable and b) are the compatible with the chipset used?

adamz

ad a) have no idea, no known price yet
ad b) should be, for sure 16gb will work

PB_PM

Usually a new chipset is required when new chip densities are releases, but if it is backwards compatible I guess it would work.

adamz

shortening this out a little bit, basically all new chipsets work with all kinds of memory in particular category (with some exceptions of course). in this case we are in the ddr3 ram category. there are already 32GB modules from corsair (for $1350 vs $210 for 16GB) in ddr3 standard (though in DIMM casings - regular size) so I guess it's just a matter of few months when we start seeing 16GB and 32GB modules in SODIMM size.

studio460

Adam, I read that there are third-party VESA adapters for 2012 iMacs, but they require the stand still be attached---a less-elegant solution. I use the built-in SuperDrive on my iMac all the time. What do you use to burn photo DVDs?

Here's the VESA adpter I have on my 2008 iMac (doesn't fit the new 2012 iMacs due to a change in the design of the stand):

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD179ZM/A/vesa-mount-adapter-kit-for-imac-andled-cinemaor-applethunderbolt-display

studio460

Re-thinking this a bit (I do that a lot as you'll all notice here)--what I really should do is buy a new, more powerful iMac (chock-full of RAM and SSDs) to replace my aging home office Core2Duo iMac, and re-purpose that to the bedroom. The new iMac won't be VESA-mountable, and I'll have to live with an external DVD burner, but that's what makes the most sense, and was what my original plan was.

studio460

A quick check of memory upgradeability of the new 2012 iMacs reveals a significant difference between the 21.5" and 27" models:

21.5" 2012 iMac:
No. of DIMM slots: 2
Maximum RAM supported: 16GB (8GB x 2)
User-accessible: No (it's possible but difficult, and requires screen disassembly).

27" 2012 iMac:
No. of DIMM slots: 4
Maximum RAM supported: 32GB (8GB x 4)
User-accessible: Yes (through "easy-access" removable rear memory panel).

adamz

@studio - if You really want a VESA mount, it can be done w/o any big problems, though it's a one way ticket. this is serious what I'll write. take metal jigsaw, cut the stand 2" from the bottom line of the screen, take driller and just drill 4 holes according to vesa standard, IMHO 10cm should be enough. the stand is thick enough to support it. other option is to buy not the latest and greatest iMac but the last version before the upgrade. You'll have superdrive build in, and You can either send it to OCW for 2nd hdd/sdd - or even DIY (difficult though manageable - done it)

studio460

Adam, thanks for the advice! However, that's probably a bit too severe of a mod for my comfort level! Plus, I think the new iMacs are overpriced for what you get (hardware-wise). Unless I can find a lesser-priced refurb, I'll probably buy a 2011 iMac instead, and like you said, I'll have a built-in SuperDrive, and I can repopulate its HDD bays (or have OWC do it for me) with some hefty SSDs. Thankfully, at least all models of the 2011 iMacs support 32GB of RAM.