iMac or Home built PC?

[CrispinSaro]

Hi there guys, I am looking to soon order a 5K iMac with the i7 4.0Ghz 8GB RAM (will upgrade later to 16Gb) and the R9 M395X GPU. I will be using the iMac for photo and occasional video editing which I know macs are good in, but i am also looking to install windows with bootcamp and play a little GTA V too, i know the iMac is capable of playing this when putting down the resolution which i do not mind. However I've been wondering is for the £2000 or so, could I build a gaming PC that may even excel the iMac, but it has to be ultra quiet and modern looking just like the mac including the monitor, any suggestions for such systems?

 

[geofelt]

Macs are overpriced for what you get.
You can do better with your budget if you can assemble one yourself.

For gaming, the R9 M395X has a passmark rating of 5595. That is less than the power of a$200 GTX960.
Likely, a GTX1070 would be your card.
A i7-6700 will not be as strong as a i7-6700K which is a $300 processor.

A 5k monitor can be very expensive; particularly if it is a large one.
That alone will make up a large part of your budget.
I would suggest using a 4k monitor.
They are better priced and come in larger sizes such as 34-40"
The text on smaller 27" monitors can be all but unreadable at native resolution.

Cases are a personal thing. Most will do. Look for one that visually appeals to you.

And... use a ssd for your "C" drive.

 

[CrispinSaro]

Macs are overpriced for what you get.
You can do better with your budget if you can assemble one yourself.

For gaming, the R9 M395X has a passmark rating of 5595. That is less than the power of a$200 GTX960.
Likely, a GTX1070 would be your card.
A i7-6700 will not be as strong as a i7-6700K which is a $300 processor.

A 5k monitor can be very expensive; particularly if it is a large one.
That alone will make up a large part of your budget.
I would suggest using a 4k monitor.
They are better priced and come in larger sizes such as 34-40"
The text on smaller 27" monitors can be all but unreadable at native resolution.

Cases are a personal thing. Most will do. Look for one that visually appeals to you.

And... use a ssd for your "C" drive.

I know Macs are overpriced, but design is something I look at too, do you think building such a powerful gaming rig for the price similar to mac will be a bit too much power for a light GTA V session and some editing? Also are there any firms/individuals who create custom systems? Excluding manufacturers like Dell or HP

 

[Andrewst1021]

Hi there guys, I am looking to soon order a 5K iMac with the i7 4.0Ghz 8GB RAM (will upgrade later to 16Gb) and the R9 M395X GPU. I will be using the iMac for photo and occasional video editing which I know macs are good in, but i am also looking to install windows with bootcamp and play a little GTA V too, i know the iMac is capable of playing this when putting down the resolution which i do not mind. However I've been wondering is for the £2000 or so, could I build a gaming PC that may even excel the iMac, but it has to be ultra quiet and modern looking just like the mac including the monitor, any suggestions for such systems?

Personal opinion, build. The editing software that apple uses far exceeds Adobe in terms of rendering time, but if you are planning on gaming as well I would just build a computer.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/YhwqsJ
This is a little more expensive but much better

 

[Solandri]

I know Macs are overpriced, but design is something I look at too, do you think building such a powerful gaming rig for the price similar to mac will be a bit too much power for a light GTA V session and some editing? Also are there any firms/individuals who create custom systems? Excluding manufacturers like Dell or HP

Heh, you two are talking different languages. One of you cares about looks and design, the other only cares about performance.

The reason I dislike the iMacs is that you're tying the computer to the monitor. Most people replace their computer every 3-5 years. They keep the same monitor for 10-15 years. You may be content with a light GTA V session today. Will you be content with the iMac's laptop GPU with 2GB VRAM in 5-7 years when GTA 8 is out? True, Apple does let you plug a new computer into the iMac's screen. But then you're basically throwing away all the money you invested into the computer portion of the iMac.

I see the iMacs as more for design companies which will sell it in 3-5 years and replace it with the new model. Or home users who don't really care about performance and will be content using it for the next 10-15 years. If you go with an iMac, be prepared to sell it and replace it in 3-5 years, or be prepared to live with it for the next 10-15 years.

Right now, with OLED TVs coming down in price and XPoint scheduled to finally be revealed later this year, I'd be very reluctant to drop that much money onto an all-in-one computer like an iMac. It really seems like we're poised for some huge leaps in computer technology in the next few years - if you can upgrade these components of your computer separately.

 

[CrispinSaro]

I know Macs are overpriced, but design is something I look at too, do you think building such a powerful gaming rig for the price similar to mac will be a bit too much power for a light GTA V session and some editing? Also are there any firms/individuals who create custom systems? Excluding manufacturers like Dell or HP

Heh, you two are talking different languages. One of you cares about looks and design, the other only cares about performance.

The reason I dislike the iMacs is that you're tying the computer to the monitor. Most people replace their computer every 3-5 years. They keep the same monitor for 10-15 years. You may be content with a light GTA V session today. Will you be content with the iMac's laptop GPU with 2GB VRAM in 5-7 years when GTA 8 is out? True, Apple does let you plug a new computer into the iMac's screen. But then you're basically throwing away all the money you invested into the computer portion of the iMac.

I see the iMacs as more for design companies which will sell it in 3-5 years and replace it with the new model. Or home users who don't really care about performance and will be content using it for the next 10-15 years. If you go with an iMac, be prepared to sell it and replace it in 3-5 years, or be prepared to live with it for the next 10-15 years.

Right now, with OLED TVs coming down in price and XPoint scheduled to finally be revealed later this year, I'd be very reluctant to drop that much money onto an all-in-one computer like an iMac. It really seems like we're poised for some huge leaps in computer technology in the next few years - if you can upgrade these components of your computer separately.

Guess you have a point, will definitely consider looking at gaming rigs instead then, thanks for the advice!