Buy Mac or upgrade pc?

[nckfrtg28]

Hello I been thinking about buying a iMac. But the iMac I want is about $2000. Or should I upgrade my pc. I would upgrade my pc in no time if I can find a motherboard that works with 4 DDR 2 800 and the intel i series. But I looked all over and found a few motherboards that will work but they don't have 4 slots for memory. So could someone find a cheap way to upgrade my pc?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Hello I been thinking about buying a iMac. But the iMac I want is about $2000. Or should I upgrade my pc. I would upgrade my pc in no time if I can find a motherboard that works with 4 DDR 2 800 and the intel i series. But I looked all over and found a few motherboards that will work but they don't have 4 slots for memory. So could someone find a cheap way to upgrade my pc?

You have me confused.

You say you can't find motherboards with 4 slots for DDR2.

Here is a list of 10:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Intel Motherboards, 4×240pin, DDR2 667

You want a cheap way to upgrade, but you are looking at a $2000 Mac??

DDR2 is outdated. The new DDR3 is dirt cheap---8 GB for $50.

You can certainly upgrade to a new motherboard, new RAM, and new processor for maybe $500 that will be a very very strong PC. That's what I'd do, but I don't know your real budget.

 

[whs]

Keeping those old Dimms makes absolutely no sense if you want to upgrade.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Newegg.com - ASRock A770DE+ AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition Deneb 3.6GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ975FBGMBOX
Use your DDR2 with these and this will rock your world ! Just dropped a 2.6BE in this mobo and it kicks ass. Please consider upgrading your GPU or blast what you have in it and do a phase two upgrade later.

 

[whs]

Newegg.com - ASRock A770DE+ AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition Deneb 3.6GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ975FBGMBOX
Use your DDR2 with these and this will rock your world ! Just dropped a 2.6BE in this mobo and it kicks ass. Please consider upgrading your GPU or blast what you have in it and do a phase two upgrade later.

This is a nice board and CPU. But given that RAM is so cheap, I would still recommend to go with DDR3 1600 - with a matching board. Upgrading today with DDR2 800's does not sound right.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

It's just a much cheaper solution then a full mobo upgrade, cpu and ram and buys the op time without breaking the bank. As mentioned I just ordered this same mobo and with 8gb of DDR2 800 and it's 2.6Quad and a GTX260 OC card it spanks out 7.2 across the WEI with the help of a C300 64 SSD. If you look for the other you have:
$95-230 usd mobo
$150-350 usd cpu
$50-250 usd ram
My solution saves $100 usd and it a banging system to boot.

 

[nckfrtg28]

Hello I been thinking about buying a iMac. But the iMac I want is about $2000. Or should I upgrade my pc. I would upgrade my pc in no time if I can find a motherboard that works with 4 DDR 2 800 and the intel i series. But I looked all over and found a few motherboards that will work but they don't have 4 slots for memory. So could someone find a cheap way to upgrade my pc?

You have me confused.

You say you can't find motherboards with 4 slots for DDR2.

Here is a list of 10:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Intel Motherboards, 4×240pin, DDR2 667

You want a cheap way to upgrade, but you are looking at a $2000 Mac??

DDR2 is outdated. The new DDR3 is dirt cheap---8 GB for $50.

You can certainly upgrade to a new motherboard, new RAM, and new processor for maybe $500 that will be a very very strong PC. That's what I'd do, but I don't know your real budget.

Ya but they don't work with the intel i series.

 

[nckfrtg28]

Newegg.com - ASRock A770DE+ AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition Deneb 3.6GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ975FBGMBOX
Use your DDR2 with these and this will rock your world ! Just dropped a 2.6BE in this mobo and it kicks ass. Please consider upgrading your GPU or blast what you have in it and do a phase two upgrade later.

This is a nice board and CPU. But given that RAM is so cheap, I would still recommend to go with DDR3 1600 - with a matching board. Upgrading today with DDR2 800's does not sound right.

Thanks for the links I might look in to that.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

nckfrtg28,
Just an idea based on my first hand experience with this mobo. You're correct that these DDR2 mobo are drying up fast. This board for the money is flat crazy nice. I run a Phenom X4 9550 2.6BE in it and in my other rig it's a 3.4BE and a enthusiast MSI mobo listing for over 2 bills when running programs it's next to impossible to notice a difference.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

Simple answer. Are you a gamer? If you answer yes, then you can forget about a Mac.

Wait about a month, if you can. Ivy Bridge will be released. Otherwise, get yourself a decent build with an Intel i5 2500k CPU. You can get a new PC with that processor for about $700 or more. But if you can wait, do it. You'll also be able to have a motherboard that supports PCI-e 3.0. Those are actually currently out, if you want a six-core Sandy Bridge processor. I don't know if it's worth the extra price, though.

In 2007, I had my PC built by CyberPowerPC. I will say, there are some negative reviews about that site, most of which come from "Enthusiasts". I never had a problem with my PC at all. In fact, it still works. My only complaint, is that it's too loud and I didn't have it built well for overclocking/cooling. I've upgraded the GPU, hard drive and RAM because I needed more power, not because of a malfunction. Those parts worked fine til the day I upgraded, but I'll be honest, I wouldn't bother selling them, they're useless now.

If you're going to get a new PC off of a website like CyberPowerPC, or iBuyPower or some other site, I would suggest for now getting one without the OS installed. You can download Windows 8 Customer Preview for free, and it's good until 2013. Then, just buy Windows 8 OEM and do a clean install. Keep in mind, OEMs are tied to the motherboard, and there isn't much support for it. So, you have to know what you're doing when you install it, not that it's all that difficult, anyway.

I'm about getting ready for a new upgrade, myself.

Again, to me, MACs are useless. Then again, I prefer Microsoft products (MS Office) and I'm also a gamer. Generally, developers will make games for the PC, since Windows is used more in the home PC over Mac OS.

 

[FuturDreamz]

It's just a much cheaper solution then a full mobo upgrade, cpu and ram and buys the op time without breaking the bank. As mentioned I just ordered this same mobo and with 8gb of DDR2 800 and it's 2.6Quad and a GTX260 OC card it spanks out 7.2 across the WEI with the help of a C300 64 SSD. If you look for the other you have:
$95-230 usd mobo
$150-350 usd cpu
$50-250 usd ram
My solution saves $100 usd and it a banging system to boot.

Intel BOXDB65ALB3 Mobo: $89.99
Intel Core i3-2105: $139.99 This one has the HD 4000 gpu and is only $10 more than the cheapest one.
1x8GBG-Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3: $58.49. You can get more RAM as you go along (preferably not individually as shipping's expensive).
Grand total: $288.47. And you have plenty of room for expansion.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Phenom Quad core has nothing to fear from a i3 dual core. But excellent to show the op has another affordable solution but in my humble opinion the i3 just doesn't have enough horse power other than for pure business applications.

 

[nckfrtg28]

nckfrtg28,
Just an idea based on my first hand experience with this mobo. You're correct that these DDR2 mobo are drying up fast. This board for the money is flat crazy nice. I run a Phenom X4 9550 2.6BE in it and in my other rig it's a 3.4BE and a enthusiast MSI mobo listing for over 2 bills when running programs it's next to impossible to notice a difference.

I wouldn't mind buying a Motherboard that has DDR3 it just 2 months ago I brought 2 more DDR2 800 sticks for my computer. Because my computer was crashing when i was using Photoshop. Also got it for Skyrim too.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I wouldn't mind buying a Motherboard that has DDR3 it just 2 months ago I brought 2 more DDR2 800 sticks for my computer. Because my computer was crashing when i was using Photoshop. Also got it for Skyrim too.

That's the price you pay (literally) for buying more of an old tech as opposed to spending the money more wisely, or saving it towards a larger upgrade. DDR3 has been around for quite some time now, so there was little reason to buy DDR2 which is more expensive.

As for your initial question, do you want to throw money away on a less-functional platform, or do you want to spend 1/3 of the cost for a more powerful system, the ability to run nearly any program you want, and the ability to upgrade in time as you see fit?

It always seems like a very simple equation. There's nothing about a Mac that justifies the cost.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Phenom Quad core has nothing to fear from a i3 dual core. But excellent to show the op has another affordable solution but in my humble opinion the i3 just doesn't have enough horse power other than for pure business applications.

It runs circles around my Pentium, which I can play Skyrim on.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

We'll wait for the op to get back to us as to the best direction now that he knows there are loads of relatively cheap options. I agree absolute zero need to buy a Mac. I've shown a excellent way to stay with the ram he just bought and still power on for many years. Otherwise there are of course are more expensive options that would future proof for added cost and only he'll have the answer to this question of how far does he want to take this situation.

 

[nckfrtg28]

We'll wait for the op to get back to us as to the best direction now that he knows there are loads of relatively cheap options. I agree absolute zero need to buy a Mac. I've shown a excellent way to stay with the ram he just bought and still power on for many years. Otherwise there are of course are more expensive options that would future proof for added cost and only he'll have the answer to this question of how far does he want to take this situation.

I was thinking. How expensive will it be if i Upgrade my Motherboard, 8GB ram, and a 2GB video card. And use my old motherboard and Ram and video card for a media PC?

 

[nckfrtg28]

I would like to spend less then 400.

 

[M1GU31]

I would like to spend less then 400.

yet you were willing to buy a 2000$ imac

It's just a much cheaper solution then a full mobo upgrade, cpu and ram and buys the op time without breaking the bank. As mentioned I just ordered this same mobo and with 8gb of DDR2 800 and it's 2.6Quad and a GTX260 OC card it spanks out 7.2 across the WEI with the help of a C300 64 SSD. If you look for the other you have:
$95-230 usd mobo
$150-350 usd cpu
$50-250 usd ram
My solution saves $100 usd and it a banging system to boot.

Intel BOXDB65ALB3 Mobo: $89.99
Intel Core i3-2105: $139.99 This one has the HD 4000 gpu and is only $10 more than the cheapest one.
1x8GBG-Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3: $58.49. You can get more RAM as you go along (preferably not individually as shipping's expensive).
Grand total: $288.47. And you have plenty of room for expansion.

I like this combo you should go for somthing like this

 

[FuturDreamz]

though I'd probably recommend going with 4GB per RAM stick if you're staying with Home Premium, as that's limited to 16GB or RAM.
It's cheaper, too.