[applesnapple]

Hi, I was just curious as to what the PC equivalent of the imac would be. I know that the components in apple's tend to work together bettter than just random pc parts, so does anyone know of a pc configuration that would perform similarly to a 2.0Ghz intel imac, purely performance-wise-- I know windows cant compete. again this is more for just curiousity

[mduell]

Are you looking for the same form factor?

Otherwise, just grab the same hardware (2Ghz Core Duo, motherboard with built in sound/firewire/nic, X1600 graphics card, 250GB HDD, 512MB RAM, etc. are all available retail) and put it together.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I know that the components in apple's tend to work together bettter than just random pc parts"; if you buy from reputable companies the performance and stability should be the same.

[Velocity211]

If you're using windows, then probably a AMD Athlon FX-9999, 16TB of RAM, NVIDIA Quadro 4500 Overclocked to infinite . jk Maybe a 2.1GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM... You can't really compare a PC with a Mac because they are different in too many ways.

[applesnapple]

Originally Posted by mduell

Are you looking for the same form factor?

Otherwise, just grab the same hardware (2Ghz Core Duo, motherboard with built in sound/firewire/nic, X1600 graphics card, 250GB HDD, 512MB RAM, etc. are all available retail) and put it together.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I know that the components in apple's tend to work together bettter than just random pc parts"; if you buy from reputable companies the performance and stability should be the same.

No not the same form factor, but as for getting the same hardware- i was in best buy the other day and they had an intel CD 1.83 ghz laptop with 1 gig ram and 64 graphics memory and it seemed to be slower and more unresponsive than the 17" imac cd at the apple store.

[uicandrew]

Originally Posted by applesnapple

No not the same form factor, but as for getting the same hardware- i was in best buy the other day and they had an intel CD 1.83 ghz laptop with 1 gig ram and 64 graphics memory and it seemed to be slower and more unresponsive than the 17" imac cd at the apple store.

i think the problem is still you're comparing "apples" to oranges. PCs, especially those made by a big manufacturer and sold in stores are loaded with extra "unnecessary" software that run in the background that slows it down.

Macs, by default, are very streamlined. the only things that are running are the programs in the dock with an arrow underneath.

in order to know what is running in a pc, you have to press ctrl-alt-delete to get to the task manager. you'll see all the background programs.

the best way to judge the pc is to have a fresh WinXP install. and not by using "system restore" discs because they reinstall all the extra software, but by only using WinXP installation cd.

out of all the pc makers, alienware is one of the few companies that do not load down the pc with unneccessary software. in fact, i think alienware makes it one of their selling points.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by applesnapple

No not the same form factor, but as for getting the same hardware- i was in best buy the other day and they had an intel CD 1.83 ghz laptop with 1 gig ram and 64 graphics memory and it seemed to be slower and more unresponsive than the 17" imac cd at the apple store.

Probably the result of integrated graphics and the piles of price-reducing software OEMs preload.

[vmarks]

Apple uses a motherboard with Intel's 945 chipset on it. Get the intel 945 board, the ddr2 ram, the core duo processor, and you'll have a pretty good approximation.