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Making the Switch

J

JHB

n00b
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
43
Hey friends,

Recently finished grad school at good ole UCLA. 34 years old now but I finished. I am no longer a Hard core gamer like I was back in the early 2000's. The only game I play now is the Sims 3, yes Sims 3. I am thinking about selling off my current PC that I built last November and buying the top of the line 27inch iMac. My current rig is built inside of a Silverstone SG09 and it contains the following:

I7 3770k
Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3
16GB Corsair Ram
EVGA GTX 680 Classified 4GB
2 Intel 520 240GB SSD(not in Raid, one is dedicated for Linux Mint)
Asus 27inch PB278Q PLS Monitor
Windows 7 Professional

Since building this little beast, the only game I've played is the Sims 3 and a whole bunch of typing in Word while in grad school. The question for those who have switched from a high end Windows system to a Mac, were you satisfied? Will the 27inch iMac fill my needs for light gaming, Word documents, and web surfing? Should I just keep my computer, be happy, and not lose the $2700-$3000 I put into it? If I sell all the parts on eBay I know I will loose a lot of money. My days of spending 8 hours playing a game are over and I would like that clean professional look if you know what I mean. Thanks folks for your time.
 
Strictly personal view..

1. From certain view, it is an orientation choice.
2. From 3770K/G1-Sniper to iMac implies giving up most of what your self-imposed-perception of many things.
3. Sometimes it is difficult to reduce, or slightly more difficult, to let go the perceived material superiority from certain angle.
3.1 For example, if you can get your 3770K overclock, maybe, to very high, sometimes some people need that. Nothing wrong, for the record, from generic circumstances.
3.2 However, practical facts have demonstrated a lot of mobile users are equally satisfied in their daily life with low power tablets/smartphones. It seems many are equally fast, if not faster, for common Internet browsing and media consumption. (considering how easy and quick you can get one up-to-speed with minimal power demand). This is to address certain view where clock is perceived as major factor, but instead, daily life suggests a lot of people are ok with limited hardware.

3.3 It also demo maybe need to accept less, not more, as way of life.

4. However, Apple does add a partial choice for certain borderline group, albeit more costly, you can evaluate the new Mac Pro, if you definitely need more performance. From the look of it, you most likely will pay a lot, an Apple tradition. An irony twist, maybe you need to pay more to appreciate and accept less with respect to point 3.3. However, sooner or later you will understand certain things, (more is less and less is more, sometimes relative, difficult to explain for some, until you decide to pay-up and cross into a different environment.

Per your very specific question and scenario, if you decide to accept new way of life, sell the entire unit and move on. Analyze properly before embark. For example, Microsoft Office perhaps slight functional difference between OSX and Windows version.
 
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Interesting reply lightp2! I honestly don't know what to take from it. :(
 
Why are you not undie running right now with all the little ones? Kidding. Congrats, I've got a year left here in grad school so I've probably seen you around.

I use my MBP to play Civ V and some light games and it holds up perfectly for me. You do have a pretty beastly system though so it'll definitely be a step down. Honestly, I'd suggest just getting a Mac Mini and using that unless you're specifically looking to have less clutter and cables. I use both interchangeably and really am not bothered by it.
 
iMac is more than enough performance for "light gaming" and word documents.
On my 2012, I played through DX:HR as an example. I couldn't max it out, but I was able to make what I consider to be a decent set of compromises on the visuals. That's probably the highest end game I've played on it. I mostly play D3 or CS:S or sometimes Civ5.

But I should note, that if what you already own is working for you, why switch? I don't say this because I don't like the Mac platform, quite the opposite, but if your only reason to switch to Mac is: "I don't game anymore" it seems a bit silly. You could just as easily build a low power PC, that is to say build one for significantly less than any Mac.

The long and the short of it, you make the switch because you want to work in OSX. If working in OSX isn't something you want, why switch from the workflow that already works for you?

Subjectively, making the switch has been the best move I've ever made. I'm more efficient and productive in OSX than I ever was in Windows. That and I like the stability and the completeness of the systems on the Mac side of things. However if you're serious about gaming and that is any priority, just stick with Windows. Why move from something that already fills your needs to something that doesn't?
 
I've built PC's for 20 years, and used to play MMO's very seriously. I have an awesome gaming rig that never gets turned on any longer unless I need to burn a lightscribe label for a cd. Watercooled i7, 670GTX, couple of SSD's, big honking Corsair 800 tower, 30" Dell monitor, etc. Seems all my gaming buddies went the route of consoles and/or moved on from gaming pretty much. I bought myself a macbook pro in 2011 after being a diehard Windows user, because I found myself in a growing Apple ecosystem. Me and the wife both had iphones, we had 2 Apple TV's in the house and I was curious.

After the initial, "How do you do X in OSX?" questions, I have transitioned to my macbook very well. It is rock solid, I LOVE the trackpad and gestures. I have a nice 17" HP laptop that I never use any longer, but when I do use it, I find myself trying to swipe on the trackpad to get things done.

I now also have transitioned to 3rd gen Apple TVs and have a Mac Mini running 24/7 serving itunes content to the house. I used to love to tinker with computers and tweak and OC and now I find myself just wanting it to work when I sit down to use it.

Long winded story, but I guess what I am saying is that there is no reason not to change, but just make sure that there isn't something that you will lose functionality of by switching. I've enjoyed my time in the OSX world, but I still have Windows around if the need arises. 90% of my time with my computer at home is spent on the couch with my macbook these days, and I find that is enough for my needs, and if I get a gaming itch, well that's what my xbox is for.
 
Good point about building a low cost PC UnkownSouljer. The reason I built my gaming system in November, is because of visiting the Case Modding section here on these forums. LOL! Now that its sitting here, I'm not using it to its full potential. I am also passed the stage of tinkering with computers. I want to just turn on a machine and go.
 
Thanks cnealjr for the reply. I will try to make up my mind by 4:00 pm on whether to head to the Apple store or not. The iMac I want will run about $2600-$2800. I'm hoping to get at least $1500 from my rig if I can find a buyer. I will then be in the negative $1100-$1300. :( The negative equity is a big part of what's holding me back. I'm hoping an iMac and an Xbox 360/XboxOne, would be an ultimate combo.
 
JHB said:
Good point about building a low cost PC UnkownSouljer. The reason I built my gaming system in November, is because of visiting the Case Modding section here on these forums. LOL! Now that its sitting here, I'm not using it to its full potential. I am also passed the stage of tinkering with computers. I want to just turn on a machine and go.
Click to expand...

OSX is great for that. cnearljr and myself share a similar computing past.

The long and the short is, if your goal is productivity then OSX is a fantastic platform. But if you're attached to legacy software and a primary need is gaming, then you'll end up longing for Windows.

I should note, if you're a hardware guy, it's not like the hardware performs any differently on a Mac as compared to Windows. I always find it odd when people ask "is a Mac fast enough to game?" when they are more than capable of seeing what kind of video cards, processors, RAM, HD's, etc that go into a Mac. I understand if they might ask about a specific title, but it's usually "is it fast enough" and not "does this title perform well enough", but in either case, there are more than enough benchmarks for anything regarding any video card these days. Said simply, several Macs are more than sufficient for gaming. The iMac being one of them. Just don't expect insane gaming performance from an MBA or a Mini (just some).

That side-tangent aside, OSX has its flaws. However none of them get in the way near as much as things in Windows has for me. But all ecosystems are always about pros and cons and what you can live with. If you're ready to make the plunge, or getting close to it, I'd recommend going to an Apple store or a Best Buy with an Apple display or whatever and spend 30 minutes using one. Get a feel for it, see if you actually like it. If you ahve a friend that owns a Mac and can show you around one and let you tinker, so much the better. OSX will take a bit of time getting used to, but like I said in my previous post, I'm much more productive in OSX than I ever was in Windows. The keyboard shortcuts, Expose, Spaces, and Quicksilver alone put OSX on top for me.


JHB said:
Thanks cnealjr for the reply. I will try to make up my mind by 4:00 pm on whether to head to the Apple store or not. The iMac I want will run about $2600-$2800. I'm hoping to get at least $1500 from my rig if I can find a buyer. I will then be in the negative $1100-$1300. :( The negative equity is a big part of what's holding me back. I'm hoping an iMac and an Xbox 360/XboxOne, would be an ultimate combo.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about the XB1, but if you're okay with having less access to 'configuration' and want to save cash: I'd recommend Apple's refurbished store. I purchased my last two Mac machines that way. And I have every intention of continuing.

A second note, you'll get the difference back when you sell your Mac. Apple's cost more to buy into, but they also retain their value on the resale side. If you sell every couple of years or so, the 'loss' isn't so bad. There are tons of people on these forums and that I know personally that buy a new Mac machine every year and sell their old one (of course there are tons of people that do this on the PC side as well...) You end up spending about the same amount of money. This method of course is contingent on taking care of your machines. Obviously a dropped MBP isn't going to sell the same one a flawless one would.
 
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I did something very similar about a month ago. I wasn't using my crazy water cooled gaming rig and 30" monitor so I sold them both and ended up with a 21.5" new iMac for the family. The only PC game I play now is League so.... not worth keeping the gaming pc for that.

Having the iMac and an iPad has been great.

Good luck getting that much for your rig... unfortunately. You may get close if you are patient and part it out, or find someone local.
On here you can forget selling a complete rig unless you're willing to take a big loss. Mine went for just $1225.... was about $2000 in parts...
 
+1 for the refurb store.

I also made the switch last November (anticipating a move overseas which never happend, and win 8 was the last straw for me) and sold of my gaming rig. It's nowhere near as hard core as some of the ones listed here, but it was decent and ran my games just fine.

At first I was really hesitant. After all, I'd been using Dos/Win since 1992 since I was a kid. But, like cnealjr mentioned, I found myself having more things in the Apple Ecosystem.

Anyways, ended up selling the rig for $950 and put it towards a 13" MBP. Added more ram, took out the optical drive and added an SSD and the thing flies.

In terms of getting used to OSX...it took me all of...two days to feel very comfortable. Some minor things that annoyed me was no tabbed browsing, and quick maximizing by double clicking a window...but all the other short cuts make up for it, and I think Mavericks will fix even more of those issues.

Even at work on my PC I find myself automatically defaulting to ALT+C to copy because it feels so much more natural than CTRL+C even after doing that function for 20+ years.

Also going from 4 monitors to 1, sometimes 2 I thought would be a big change, but as everything is just so much more streamlined.

I installed win7 via bootcamp thinking I would be spending more time there gaming, but as time goes on, I find myself barely booting into it anymore. It's been months since I used windows at home because OSX suites my needs just fine.

Short answer, I think getting a maxed 27" iMac would be just fine. Yes it's pretty expensive, but they come with oh so nice displays, and will do everything you need just fine. If you really need Windows, you can bootcamp/parallels.

Every once in a while I get the urge to build a rig, just for tinkerings sake, but at this point in my life, it just seems like an added expense.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm heading to the Apple store at 3:30 to play around with everything. A friend of mine told me not to buy office 365 for the Mac, instead go with iWorks? Does Pages do MLA and APA formats? Headers? ECT.
 
I've personally been using Office 2011. 2009 before that. I've been happy with it. I don't intend on switching. Mac's doc stuff works fine. But I find I want maximum compatibility with the PC side. Not that Pages and the Mac platform stuff doesn't, but it's not something I'm 'willing' to blend. At least until I'm forced to.

Last time I checked, MLA has to do with what you do, not what any word processor does. You'll find header/footer in any word processing program. And by any, I mean, I've edited Headers/Footers on Word Perfect on Dos 4.2.2. MLA isn't new by any stretch. Before PC's, it was done on typewriters. Footnotes, indents, headers, multiple-headings and sub-headings, table of contents, you'll find this stuff anywhere.
 
I use both Office 2011 for Mac and iWork, mostly Pages and Word. I've found that I like the convenience of Word and use it for work, writing papers etc. However, if I do anything creative like brochures, newsletters etc, I use Pages.
 
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