iMac i7 currently, looking for a custom PC equivalent

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djdavidvaux

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Joined
May 23, 2011
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I currently have a iMac i7 2.8ghz. Im unfortnately looking to get rid of it and go for a windows based machine to allow a power bump and better configuration options, most importantly, updating hardware as i please.

I'm wondering though what config i should go with to give a better experience than i currently have on my iMac.

The specs of my current machine are:

27'' LED
2.8ghz i7
12GB Ram
1TB 7200 HD
512 Video card (the one that apple includes, nothing special)

so based on those specs, what can I get in a windows pc that will give me faster overall experience.

I do mostly HD Video editing, some gaming, and lots of audio and graphic work (ableton photoshop etc)

Can you guys help me find a killer machine that isnt too much? looking for below or around 1500!

possible? and is it worth it??
 
just to clarify im looking for a machine that can render hd video pretty fast, same if not better then my current iMac. also be able to handle graphic and audio work with ease.

Gaming is kinda important, i game here and there and would like a solid video card that could push sc2 to ultra if possible :)
 
The thing is that, you cant really get a much better machine. I mean do you already have another monitor?
 
ah so you think my current i7 imac is pretty top of the line as it is? i dont have a monitor yet, i would get that later, im more so looking for a rig that would really push. and ultimately run dual 27s or 24s
 
Its not that I think it's top of the line. It's that I think you won't get much better performance for $1500, especially when you consider the screen the iMac has already and that you hav 12gb ram already. Yeah, a bigger, faster gpu would help, but i think the iMac package is superior. I can come up with a build later, long posts from the iPad isn't ideal.
 
I'm assuming you'll need a display as well. Assuming you want a display that's as good as the iMac's, you'll have to extend your $1500 budget considerably.

If you have no intention of overclocking, get an H67 Intel motherboard and an i7 2600 or 2600k (which may hold its value better). All the Intel boards have plenty of features (though currently no Thunderbolt). Grab some standard Crucial or Kingston DDR3 — as much as you can afford — and a decent video card, like a GeForce 560 Ti. Buying power supplies has gotten easier than it used to be: just about anything from Seasonic, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Antec and Enermax will be fine. Anything over 450W I would imagine would be sufficient.
 
yeah im not worried about the displays, i have a budget for them , im looking for just the computer rig itself. and RAM i could update over time. im just looking to see if i can get a computer with a faster processor and an awesome video card for under 1500. later on id work on bumping the ram.
 
djdavidvaux said:
yeah im not worried about the displays, i have a budget for them , im looking for just the computer rig itself. and RAM i could update over time. im just looking to see if i can get a computer with a faster processor and an awesome video card for under 1500. later on id work on bumping the ram.
Click to expand...

Yeah, then it's certainly possible.
 
I don't see the point. The iMac you have is an excellent system and you really can't beat the form factor. The monitor that's built in is better than pretty much anything else out there as well.

If the iMac is doing everything you need then why get rid of it and build a similar PC?
 
djdavidvaux said:
yeah im not worried about the displays, i have a budget for them , im looking for just the computer rig itself. and RAM i could update over time. im just looking to see if i can get a computer with a faster processor and an awesome video card for under 1500. later on id work on bumping the ram.
Click to expand...

why not use the imac as the new monitor?
 
For video editing, you need to be running all fast firewire drives (or eSata, but thats not an option on a Imac).

Like others have said... you're going to find it hard building a pc with equivalent specs for same price. (and I'm a pc man myself)

In essence for video editing you need a minimum of 3 internal 7200 rpm sata drives (I recommend a 120GB SSD for your boot/app drive), plus a eSata card or built in eSata to the mobo. You're also going to need a Firewire card for FW800. (for compatibility for others that send you FW drives)

You'll also need to have Mac Drive v8+ (for anyone that gives you drives that are mac formated)
Then you'll need either Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, or Grass Valley EDIU. (non of them cheap options)

Sandy Bridge I7 2600k OC'd to 4GHZ will be a noticeable difference.
A better video card will help for games, but not for video editing unless you want to go triple monitor+
Then you'll need a case / HSF that'll keep everything cool and quiet.
Video monitor x2 (22"+ for 1080p)

All in all, you'll looking at about $2500 investment to switch from Mac to PC for video editing.
 
1) Are you using your firewire drives for video storage, since the 1 tb hdd is inadequate?
2)How much space do you actually need? Would 4 tb be sufficient? (for your video drives)
3)Are you then going to backup your videos, since to hit your price point and speed preferences you are going to need a stripped raid array.
4)How important is gaming to you? A top end card can eat a substantial portion of your budget.
5)Are you going to attempt to hackintosh the build?
6)Since you are accustomed to an imac, do you desire a smaller case, where aesthetics play a major role? Is one Bluray/DvDRW sufficient? Or Does it have to be a burner?

And as we said you need to increase your budget.

build1.png

--- Add 1 - Silver Arrow For the best Heatsink , and Bluray burner, Your done around 2000.

You can trim the fat, by going with a less expensive
case/psu (close to 100)
mb (maybe 50)
ssd (100 easily, 200 if you go used)
gpu (Up to 200 or more) (lets keep it for now.. you can go ati if you don't need cuda)
heatsink (40 or so)
This will allow you to hit your budget.
Or close to your budget, again add bluray burner if needed.
buildsimplified.png
 
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I think you guys are way over building for him. Note that he does not have a SSD now and only a 1tb hdd.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=20383327

there was a 40 dollar promo code on the memory so thats $950. This gives you a better CPU, bigger faster HDD, more memory, and a better video card (sc2 extreme no problem though you could go better for more demanding games). The only thing extra you could need on top of this is an optical drive and firewire or however you store your videos.

I think you should wait for lga2011 though as this is the real upgrade path for your current cpu.

Edit: almost forgot 50 bucks worth of mail in rebates, so $900 after rebates.
 
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phide said:
Agreed. 16GB of RAM is probably not necessary, nor is a $130 SFF case or liquid cooling, nor a Z68 motherboard with overclocking capability.
Click to expand...

Well, if you take out the stylish lian-li desktop case (there will not be a need to liquid cool , if he wants to overclock at low noise, but utilizes a case that has sufficient space for a tower cooler suchs as the hyper 212+), i've built 4 systems with this case... strangely enough 3 of those people had desktop mac pros. But he'll be able to keep everything else, and stay very close to his 1500 dollar budget.

Btw this is Hardocp, it's always going to be overbuilt. :)

anotherbuild.png

1560 after rebates, includes bluray burner, and intel 510 ssd.
Sacrificed 8gb of ram, and gtx 570 for gtx 560.. but switched to a pair of 3tb 7200rpm drives.
If he doesn't need a bluray burner.... then he can hit the 1500 dollar budget.

He can review benchmarks of the videocards and decide if the price premium would be worth it for him.

@DjDavid: Are you using monitors or headphones, or both? If so, which ones, and how do you hook them up to your current imac.
 
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I would say buy one HDD for now, and put it towards more ram (16gb). Or I guess one could also do it vice-versa (upgrade the ram later).

I just feel that 1TB --> 2x3TB jump is extreme and really bumps the price of the build up. If he is building it in his own case, there is more than enough room to add HDD's as they are needed and it would be "cheaper"/more cost effective to go with 2TB drives for now.

In video editing, would he use the drives separately/raid-0 for performance, or in raid-1 (mirroring)?
 
If you are looking for a rendering machine I would recommend a Xeon E3 1230 or better. Not only is it cheaper then the i7 but runs cooler and has a lower TDP.

The next question is, will the program you are using for encoding use GPU computing? If so then a nice midrange nVidia card that supports CUDA would be a worthy investment (such as the GTX 560).

SSDs are great for read, but I can get much better write and IOps (what you need for HD video encoding) off of SAS 6 drives or even SATA 6 10 or 15k drives. A RAID 5 or 10 of 4 or 6 SAS6 or SATA6 600GB drives would be preferable to a single SSD for boot, and one large slow storage drive, or even a group of them in RAID.

Unfortunately there are a lot of compromises to be made in a $1500 system For $2500 you could get everything you wanted less monitor.
 
The only iMac windows equivalent is an iMac running Boot Camp :)

For quality all in one machines that is.
 
lol

i'll trade you straight up for my system:

Lian Li PC7B case
Dell 2408wfp 24" lcd
MSI X58 Pro motherboard
Intel i7 920 @ 3.5Ghz 100%stable
noctua hsf
12gb gskill ddr3 1333mhz ram
nvidia gforce gtx275 video card
sblive xfi fatality pci sound card
laclie firewire 800 pci card
corsair 850watt psu
2x 150gb wd vraptor drives (raid 0)
2x 640gb wd black drives (raid 0)
dvdrw of some brand


??? :-D
 
It's funny, the op hasn't logged in since the 23rd. It's become basically who can build the best hd editing machine that can also play games for 1500 dollars or so.
 
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