Since there’s no definite time frame with the windows port next year, I have a question about performance with the iMac. I’m planning to pick one up next month when Leopard gets released to run Unity Pro. Will the 20" with the 128MB card perform fine? Or should I go with a refurbished earlier model. I’m thinking ahead since I’m an avid Windows user and I have a new XP workstation at home. I’m running XSI, zBrush, Roadkill and Photoshop for modeling/texturing. If the iMac doesn’t blow me away I think I’ll jump back to Windows when they port it over.
Any thoughts from developers who are really pushing Unity to the extreme? Thanks!
I was running our benchmarks on iMac with Radeon HD2600 today.
The CPUs are bloody fast. E.g. compiling the whole Unity player source code (on windows, bootcamped) took just over two minutes. For comparison, compiling the same on Pentium 4 @ 3GHz takes almost 10 minutes.
Graphics wise, the performance of the card seems to be a bit better than GeForce 6800GT, which is quite good. In some cases it’s the same, in some cases it’s faster (up to several times).
Note that Radeon HD2400 in the lower end iMac model will probably be about twice as slow as Radeon HD2600. I don’t have hard data though.
I bought an iMac last October and it’s been easily the best valued computer I’ve ever owned… very powerful and cheap. And it runs Unity extremely well.
The newest model of iMacs are primarily a facelift on last year’s, so if you’re keeping a tight budget, you won’t lose much performance by getting a refurb model.
I do not like the new iMac’s. They have slower graphics cards then the previous iMac model. The new 20" model has just a 18 bit display (not useable for any professional graphics work). And they all have glossy displays. My suggestion would be to buy the previous model and get a better machine for less money.
I will have tp second that, but the refurb prices aren’t all that great. The iMac used to be a great desktop computer. Since the Intel switch, it’s fallen further behind with every iteration. It’s still a great computer, but its specs are not worth what you pay for it. (Expensive laptop components used to keep the size sexy.)
I have to use Windows every workday, and it’s hell for me. I’d rather use any OS X computer than any Windows machine, so even if all the Apple hardware continues to be unimpressive to me, I won’t switch back. The cheaper Mac Pros and MacBook Pros are the only things available right now that I feel are worth the $$$$. And those computers are out of my price range right now.
It’s either too little power, or pay too high a premium for too much.
Since they switched over to the intel chipset, you’re paying a premium for Mac’s design and their OS. I can spec out a Dell laptop that’s comparable to the MacBook Pro for less then half the price. Why do you think people are running OSX86 (Hackintosh) on their PCs? I would but there’s too many headaches with trying to get all the drivers working…