Do i go back to Mac?

Hi all,

So here is my current build:
Intel G3258 (overclocked to 4.6)
16gb DDR 3 1600 Ram
280mm Watercooler
ATI 7770 gpu
120gb SSD
3x2tb HDD

however i'm feeling like i'm missing something, I used to love my late 11 macbook pro (i7, 16gb ram and ssd) and am very tempted to go back to mac and buy an imac.
I'm not looking at getting the newest and greatest 5k as it's way out of budget.

Basically i'm thinking do i upgrade to an i5 4670k or sell my PC and use the money for something like 2009 27inch imac?

Macs are purdy.

What is it that you feel is missing? OSx? Maybe you can run dual system household and go Macbook/Desktop Win machines? That way you have best of both worlds?

And a 2009 iMac seems a little dated for processing being that my 2007 24" iMac C2D struggled with Nex 5n images at times. I gave that machine to my mom along with a NEX 6 as a gift about 3 years ago and sometimes editing on that thing can be a chore but for her and how slow she does things it doesn't phase her.
But i totally get what your saying about missing something, I do enjoy grabbing the wifes MBP with OSx instead of my Win 10 Laptop.

Firstly thank you for keeping it on topic and not turning it into a Mac vs Windows thread as that's not what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I have been trying to install OS X on my current rig but it's hanging on install, apparently it doesn't like the g3258. Might work better with i5. I just like how macs 'just work'
Every so often I steal my wife's mba for work.

I also like how fluid things are.

So I guess I either need to suck up and buy a newer one or go i5 and see if I can Hackingtosh it.

Do you think something like a 2012 version would work? I'm kind of out of touch with Apple these days.

Not sure on the 2012 but I can say that it would probably do circles around the 2007 iMac with 4GB RAM and a HDD.

I definitely get the "just work" aspect, given that you understand your being sandboxed into certain software. (Gathered from your previous post your more than familiar with the pros and cons of each system) I actually don't mind the sandboxing but what got to me was the cost for additional (internal SATA) fast storage VS going USB 2.0 route. Hence the path to me building my first PC.

I also would consider how much that 2012 is going to cost you because in the long run you might be better off just purchasing a current (or refurb) 2015/2016 model if that 2012 is a high price. When I gave my mom my old iMac, the price people wanted for theirs on CL was high. That is the crappy thing about shopping for a used mac anything is that people want you to pay half the price for a 5+ year old device (example, same machine as my previous one CL Link) Just something to consider while looking for older macs which is a downfall I had when I bought my first mac mini g4 (which was a rad lil machine)

And from what I researched about Hackintosh, I personally didn't like the idea of constantly troubleshooting that would need to take place after a simple update in order to get an application or sound/wifi/video to run, which defeats the "just working" purpose of it all. That totally detracted me from wanting to waste time haggling with doing one myself and maybe you might be in the same boat as I. If i was kid-less and worked a non-IT job, I would of tinkered into that without a hesitation because it would be something different to give me to play with but I have other things I want to hobby with on my free time like photography, video games or working out. So i guess that aspect is totally up to you

When looking at older models, make sure they have USB 3.0

I was very close to buying a used 2007 Macbook Pro here in Japan.
Great price (always cost more here, always) 8gigs of ram upgradeable to 16gig and a HDD upgradeable to SSD.

But I realized that all USB ports were 2.0 and that was never going to change.


Im still loving my 2012 Air, and see no reason to get a newer one.

yeah, i think it is just my IT Geeky brain that wants to play with the hackentosh side of things. I guess in an ideal world i wan one of the oldskool mac pro towers as the main reason i didn't like the imac when i looked a while back was the lack of upgradeability / storage (currently having 6 HDDs in my PC Case.)

I think i will bide my time and see what comes along. Thanks for all the advice

What are your specific Needs? Sort out what you need the system to do, and then move on to adding into the mix things that you merely want it to do.

Ie, I need my system to be able to reliably store a few TB of data at a time while I work with it. I want that storage to be a compact array of solid state in a beefy RAID 10... But reality is the bulk of my data is still on old spinning disks.


So the big question is: What do you feel you can gain by going to a Mac system. I use a windows workstation at home and a MacBook Pro (last 13 inch non-retina model) for my personal stuff. In additon to that I have a mix of windows and linux boxes for my workstations for the bulk of my work, and a MacMini at my desk for "Mac Things". The joys of software development, and thank god for digital KM switches.

The "Mac Vs Windows" debate is kind of a dead end, especially when you throw Linux into the mix: They all suck really, and they all have their mind numbingly annoying problems. (My Macbook has taken up the habit of randomly throwing a vague "Something went wrong!" screen, and rebooting itself. No rhyme or reason to it. I'm not sure if this is a better or worse option than the "randomly locking up and looping the last second of the sound buffer" trick it was pulling before.)

Decide on what you need, sort out what wants are reasonable to pay for right now, and find a system that best ticks off the boxes on your list.

In my experience (of watching others 'enjoy' them) with Hackintosh systems: You get all the headaches and annoyances of working with an old Linux system with poor driver and hardware issues, and less of the community support. Booting the system is frequently a roll of the dice, and upgrades are Russian roulette.
- If you want the "Mac Experience", then save up the extra and buy a modern mid range system, and look at their refurbished models.
- If you want lots of power to get work done, but don't want to shell out the cash for the upper range Macs, then kit out a Windows Box and take a moment to turn off all the annoying bits of Windows 10 and enjoy a lovely system.
- If you really like databases and/or hosting personal server based tools, and don't really need anything beyond that and surfing the web, then save the cost of a windows key and install Ubuntu, then cross your fingers that you don't have to muck with drivers.

a good sense of perspective there

Want and need i guess are two very different things, especially for me! lol

Yes, the want vs need thing is such a huge difference. Every now and then I price out a dual xeon work station, but it keeps getting shot down when I admit that my aging i5-2500K and 16GB of ram is still "Good enough for now", and the bigger number crunching I do can be offloaded to remote servers for the most part.

But I'm often thinking of getting into "More video work" as a hobby, which makes a pile of cores that can also do some of my software dev work locally that much more tempting.

I enjoyed building a computer back in college. It was no gaming rig, but learning was fun.
I have read nothing but horror stories of unsuccessful Hankintosh builds.
They go one of two ways, the OP gets it running Windows and calls it a day.
Or they give up, return the parts and pony up the cash for a custom specced Mac Pro or Macbook Pro tower.
Dont; get me wrong, there are some great Hackintosh builds, using very specific parts, and software versions.
If I wanted to build a PC, I would run Windows, If I wanted a Mac I would save up and buy one as desired and be done.

Want? A 1Tb SSD with 16Gb+ of ram,in the size of the New Macbook size, but with 4 USB ports

If they revamp the Macbook Pro to a SIGNIFICANTLY lower weight and form factor with those options.
I would then consider it a NEED and be first in line to get one.

But reality comes down to me keeping my 2012 Air forever and getting a 5K iMac when I feel my 32' HDTV isn't enough.

Going to an i5 or i7 machine with a similar ~4.7 clockspeed is going to realistically give you from 2 to as much as 3 times the speed on number-crunching Photoshop operations (big resizes, blurs, filters, etc.)

For most other things Photoshop and Lightroom, having a lot of SSD space to work on is going to be a much bigger deal. A few 1-2TB SSDs would make photo importing and editing a whole lot faster. Even if there is room on your current SSD, I'm assuming it's your boot drive. Having a larger SSD with guaranteed big contiguous space and only Photoshop/LR accessing it is going to be considerably faster still.

the 2007 imac does not have USB3. Imacs Late 2012 and newer has USB 3. That's the reasosn why I gave up my 24" 2011 imac, could not stand running USB2 with drobo (just way too slow).

InfiniteDivide wrote in post #18018077
Want? A 1Tb SSD with 16Gb+ of ram, came into a Macbook the size of the new one, but with 4 USB ports

If they revamp the Macbook Pro to a SIGNIFICANTLY lower weight and form factor with those options.
I would then consider it a NEED and be first in line to get one.

Agreed.

If they redo the current MBP (the non retina one) to those specs with additional 1080p screen and even a single USB 3.0 of the 4 you want, I could see getting the attention of many Apple fans back. The most appealing thing about that specific device, IMO, is the simplicity of user serviceable items (Battery, RAM, HDD)

I use my Air for its portability, at work, in between, and at home. it is my ONLY computer.
At home it has a separate plug for power, a Mini Display Port for my monitor / TV
and two USB 3.0 ports for my External and my phone. The 13" even has an addition, a SD Card Slot
Upgradeable SSD via 3rd party. It is literal perfection, aside from the non-retina display.

Nothing about that New Macbook made me buy one. The screen resolution alone is not enough.
About the same processor speed, SSD sizes, and ram, with less ports.
If anyone is considering a laptop, get the Air 2012-2016, it's the exact same thing.

I've had at least 3 different Hackintosh setups and would do it again just for fun if I had the time. If you really want to switch back go buy yourself a new Mac mini and use your current monitor. Better yet try to find a late 2012 i7 mini as they are user upgradeable. You can get in and upgrade it yourself for under a grand.