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All-in-Ones

WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
I'm in the market for a new desktop. I was thinking iMac for a while, to accompany my MBP, but I've decided that I would really like a quad core machine, and to get that out of an iMac I'd be looking at at least $2000, even with my student discount, + taxes and all that.

Right now I'm looking at the Gateway One, specifically this one. $1299, but they're offering $100 off if I bring in an old computer (got a bunch of old ones in the basement so thats not a problem.) I've been looking online for a review but all the reviews seem to be of older versions, or of an i3 version with 4gb of ram (this one is i5 with 6gb of ram, dedicated graphics, and a bluray drive.) Does anyone have any experience with these?

I wasn't completely set on an All-in-One, but I will be moving next year (either within Canada or abroad) and will probably be in a fairly small apartment. Being able to get away with a smaller desk by having an all-in-one would be nice, as would having something that could play my blurays without having to drag the ps3 and a tv along too. My main need for a desktop is for writing - I find that when writing papers I prefer to have the screen higher than I can get my laptop's screen. In addition to writing I also like to play Minecraft and Starcraft 2, and occasionally pick up a new game - I'm not looking to run Far Cry or anything like that, just something that I can run games on reasonably. I know in terms of specs it is fast enough to do what I want, my main concern is the fact that it is an all-in-one, and that it is a Gateway. I have never owned either an all-in-one or Gateway machine, and do not know what to expect with them.

Wezoin on

Posts

  • SpazHappySpazHappy Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    In this world you got to build your own computer or else you're either getting something cheap with shitty hardware or something good but overpriced.

    SpazHappy on
  • corky842corky842 Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    With those all-in-one computers you're just getting laptop parts in a different form factor.

    Cheaper solution: a stand (like this one) with an awesome keyboard and mouse. Or, buy a monitor (you could even get one with HDMI input and speakers for your PS3) and set that up as high as you want it.

    For $1200 you can build a damn nice computer.

    You wanted a quad-core? The i5 650 is just a dual-core.

    corky842 on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Wow, thanks for pointing that out - I thought all i5s were quad core.

    The problem with building a computer is that I'm in Canada and prices here on components + Windows make it waaaay more expensive than just buying a prebuilt. I don't really have all that much confidence in my computer building abilities either, to be honest. I'd much rather walk into a store and pick something up in a box and know it'll work when I get it home.

    What is the breakdown of the Intel line now then?

    I thought it was i3 - dual core, i5 - quad core, i7- quad core with hyperthreading, i7 extreme - 6core?

    Wezoin on
  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    That would make sense, but I pretty much need to consult wikipedia to figure out what features a particular processor designation has.

    All i7's have HT, but they could have 4 or 6 cores.

    No i5's quad cores have HT, but all dual-core i5's have it.

    I think all i3's are dual core and have HT.

    That's desktop, for mobile:

    All i3's and i5's are dual-core with HT.

    All i7-7xxxM and above are quad-core no HT, i7's with lower-numbered designations are dual-core plus HT.

    The other differences have to do with clock speeds, multipliers, VT features and cache size, but fuck if I know which is which. Hope I didn't screw that up too much.

    But again, I'd look at the wikipedia or Intel sites to make sure.

    Djeet on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Alright, I'm thinking maybe I should ditch the quad core requirement. Are many programs actually set up to use quad cores properly? Just looking at it the quad cores being used in all-in-ones have alot slower clock speeds than the dual cores. Looking at the benchmarks the i5 650 looks to be faster than alot of the AMD quad cores. Other than during extreme multitasking would there be a noticeable difference in speed?

    Wezoin on
  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    This article is a few years old, but generally the conclusions still hold: quad core benefits mainly encoding, rendering, and specialty scientific applications.

    Also databases may take advantage of more that 2 or 4 threads, virus scan engines, and IME if you run multiple VMs in the background then dedicating a core to each makes the system snappier.

    Djeet on
  • StormwatcherStormwatcher Blegh BlughRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Games like 4 cores.

    Stormwatcher on
    Steam: Stormwatcher | PSN: Stormwatcher33 | Switch: 5961-4777-3491
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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    As a rule, not really. There are games that will utilize more than 2 cores, but test results comparing performance with 2 vs 3 vs 4 vs etc cores are inconclusive. This article shows performance gains seem to max out somewhere between 2 and 3 cores. Various posts show lists of multi-threaded games, but few actually provide any game benchmarks comparing performance/cores. Though if you're building a rig to play particular games it'd be in your best interest to research if those particular games are multi-threaded enough to take advantage of more than 2 cores.

    However, if you're going to have even one other application running in the background while you play, then you'll likely benefit from 4 cores/threads.

    Djeet on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Have you looked at refurb iMacs?

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    That is a fantastic idea and probably what I will end up doing.

    I looked before and prices didn't seem to be much cheaper than new, but I see theres apparently a new i7 imac out so the older i7 imac is quite a bit cheaper now.

    Wezoin on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Just ordered one of these badboys: 27" iMac i7

    A bit more than I was planning on spending for a desktop but actually quite a bit cheaper than some of the gaming computers I was pricing out before.

    Once I'm not feeling so poor I'll probably upgrade the RAM.

    Wezoin on
  • StormwatcherStormwatcher Blegh BlughRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Djeet wrote: »
    As a rule, not really. There are games that will utilize more than 2 cores, but test results comparing performance with 2 vs 3 vs 4 vs etc cores are inconclusive. This article shows performance gains seem to max out somewhere between 2 and 3 cores. Various posts show lists of multi-threaded games, but few actually provide any game benchmarks comparing performance/cores. Though if you're building a rig to play particular games it'd be in your best interest to research if those particular games are multi-threaded enough to take advantage of more than 2 cores.

    However, if you're going to have even one other application running in the background while you play, then you'll likely benefit from 4 cores/threads.

    WoW, GTAIV, Sup Com, ARMA2...
    They really benefit from 2 more cores.

    Stormwatcher on
    Steam: Stormwatcher | PSN: Stormwatcher33 | Switch: 5961-4777-3491
    camo_sig2.png
  • SpazHappySpazHappy Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Just ordered one of these badboys: 27" iMac i7

    A bit more than I was planning on spending for a desktop but actually quite a bit cheaper than some of the gaming computers I was pricing out before.

    Once I'm not feeling so poor I'll probably upgrade the RAM.



    That's the baddest of the boys

    SpazHappy on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    SpazHappy wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Just ordered one of these badboys: 27" iMac i7

    A bit more than I was planning on spending for a desktop but actually quite a bit cheaper than some of the gaming computers I was pricing out before.

    Once I'm not feeling so poor I'll probably upgrade the RAM.



    That's the baddest of the boys

    I hope so - now I've just gotta wait for delivery...

    Sometime between Monday and Friday...

    Its gonna feel like forever

    Wezoin on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Wezoin wrote: »
    SpazHappy wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Just ordered one of these badboys: 27" iMac i7

    A bit more than I was planning on spending for a desktop but actually quite a bit cheaper than some of the gaming computers I was pricing out before.

    Once I'm not feeling so poor I'll probably upgrade the RAM.



    That's the baddest of the boys

    I hope so - now I've just gotta wait for delivery...

    Sometime between Monday and Friday...

    Its gonna feel like forever

    That's what I have. It is indeed a sexy, sexy machine. That screen is just insane...

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Fallingman wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    SpazHappy wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Just ordered one of these badboys: 27" iMac i7

    A bit more than I was planning on spending for a desktop but actually quite a bit cheaper than some of the gaming computers I was pricing out before.

    Once I'm not feeling so poor I'll probably upgrade the RAM.



    That's the baddest of the boys

    I hope so - now I've just gotta wait for delivery...

    Sometime between Monday and Friday...

    Its gonna feel like forever

    That's what I have. It is indeed a sexy, sexy machine. That screen is just insane...

    So I'm justified in compulsively checking my order status every 15 minutes to see if its changed?

    Oooh, its prepared for shipment!

    Wezoin on
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