[icibaqu]

I was curious of peoples opinions on the below comparison. The price difference is $150 more for iMac 2. I see that bringing the RAM equal would be $25-30 on Crucial, and for both to bring it up to the 4GB supported is like $50-60. so not a big difference, and I'd probably do that regardless of which one was purchased.

So really, the main dividing factors are the 1) processor speed bump, 2) 250 vs 320 GB drive and 3) the graphics card. Also, is there a difference between "fronside bus" and "system bus" that greatly impacts performance? Do you think these differences are worth $150 price increase?

Lastly, if you think it is worth it, is the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO or the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M a better/more reliable choice for graphics card?

iMac 1: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
20-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
250GB hard drive
L2 Cache 6MB Shared
1066MHz System Bus
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory
8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning

iMac 2: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
20-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
320GB hard drive
L2 Cache 6MB Shared
1066MHz Frontside Bus
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory OR NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory

[turtle777]

The biggest argument to go with iMac 2 and the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M is that it is supported by Open CL.
This might give you great advantage with apps optimized to use Open CL.

Other than that, I think the GPU would also make a difference with gaming. But I'm not an expert at how those different GPU options stack up.

-t

[MichiganRich]

The 24" display alone is worth the difference in my book. I was going to go the 20" route to save some money until I saw them side-by-side. Mine will be 2 years old in August and I am still happy as a clam with it.

[Simon]

The problem with the GPUs is this: the 2600 will definitely be faster at games than the 9400. But it's the 9400 you want for OpenCL/SL goodness. That said, if you're a gamer you should be getting something better than a 2600 anyway (a 130 or better yet a 8800 or 4850).

And finally, I'd get a 24" iMac IIWY. The screen is much nicer. And so much more future-proof.

[icibaqu]

Thanks for your help and comments everyone.

old iMac G5 2.0 sold to happy craigslist customer. refurb iMac 2.66 w/ the NVIDIA now sitting on desk. I'm amazed by just how much faster it is. I can't imagine the improvement when I decide to upgrade the RAM from the current 2 to 4gb (8 I think is overkill for me). This computer should have some real longevity since I didn't really need to upgrade, but the idea came from my wife so I obviously grabbed that bull by the horns ;-)