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Vexel's Intel iMac thread

9K views 54 replies 18 participants last post by  overkill 
#1 ·
First post folks, just got it set up. :) IMPRESSED!

more to come.....
 
#6 ·
First Impressions :)

This thing FLIES!

The usual set-up was really nice to see again. It was quite fast and not intrusive.

ehMac is already my first bookmark in Safari (which is at least 3 times faster than on my iBook.)

Started copying my backup stuff from my iMac downstairs.. through airport.. which was detected in the setup. (really nice)

Set up iChat. Easy, yet again. Although, I have lost all of my contact information so I don't know who anyone is anymore! :eek: Oh well.. I'm sure I'll figure it out someday. :) In a video conference as we speak.. the video is incredibly smooth and clear... even compared to the iSight I had before.

Opened up iPhoto and Garageband. I had no photos yet.. so, I'll wait to post about this another time. They open really really fast though.

I already don't like the Mighty Mouse.. so.. back to the Wireless Logitech LX7 :) Personal preference I think.. nothing more.

Well.. I'm going to let my music copy.. and I'll get back here soon.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the opening of the box.. however, I'll have some nice ones for you all soon of it set up :) (I was too eager to set it up to take pics ;))
 
#7 ·
Set up iChat. Easy, yet again. Although, I have lost all of my contact information so I don't know who anyone is anymore! Oh well.. I'm sure I'll figure it out someday. In a video conference as we speak.. the video is incredibly smooth and clear... even compared to the iSight I had before.
just clone your user folder - you shouldn't lose any settings for any program. that's what i did on my brand spanking new intel imac 20". i find it easier to reinstall my apps though - that way i can take the opportunity to update to latest versions.
 
#9 ·
Chealion said:
Vexel - You could always plug your old computer into the new iMac using Firewire Target Disc Mode and use Migration Assistant or just copy over certain Library files like the Addresses folder for example.
Thanks Chealion, however, I really didn't have the space and I don't really have my old machine to do the copying. I only backed up a few things on my other iMac, so I thought I'd just copy them while I slept :)

Going to import my music now :)
 
#10 ·
Well.. a little more to update.

iTunes is completely up and running. All of my music has been copied without a hitch. Frontrow is great! :) It's way faster on the iMac.

I put Rosetta through its first "real" test with Quake 3. Well.. I have to say.. It's FAST.. gameplay was WAY faster on this thing than it was on the iBook. I would probably say that is largely due to the VRAM in this machine. There is a universal binary of quake.. but it will not connect to the point release that I play. Therefore, running Quake 3 in Rosetta is a must.. and let me tell you.. I'm far from disappointed.

Played a DVD in Frontrow. Quite handy. :) I didn't think I'd be a fan of the remote being so small.. however, it's growing on me.

Sometime later in the day, I'm going to attempt hosting my first 3 or 4 way video chat.. so if any of you are online.. drop me a line :)

Cleaned up a little bit with OnyX (which is universal now) and everything is running really really smooth. Rebooting took about 30 seconds. Quite a big difference from the iBook.

Well, that's it for now. Networking is amazingly easy. So far, I would say anyone moving from a Laptop.. will notice a HUGE performance increase. I don't know what moving from a G5 would be like.. but I'm sure you would not be disappointed. :) Especially running Apps Natively.
 
#11 · (Edited)
first hitch... I can't get my Canon Pixma MP130 to be recognized. Going to try reinstalling the driver.. if that doesn't help, shooting an email off to Canon. :)

I really hate having to go to work today! :(

Edit: fixed it :). Re-installed the driver, restarted computer, restarted printer. All is well :)
 
#13 ·
Sorry, NBiBooker. My girlfriend is actually going to be picking up a Mac Mini when the next revisions come out. So, she asked if she could have it already. :)

I'm going to have quite a long week testing out this machine. So, if anyone has any apps they'd like tested, lemme know. I'd be more than happy to try them out. :)

Also, with the new Garageband, I'm planning on doing the next ehMac Radio Podcast. This is going to be really fun judging from what I've already experimented with. :)

Well... more to come. I have to get ready for work now. :(
 
#15 ·
vapour said:
Any chance of some feedback on running Adobe CS?

Thanks
Are you buying it for me? ;) hehe

I don't actually have a copy of Adobe CS, so unfortunately I can't test that out. It'll have to pretty much be Free Trials or Freeware :)
 
#19 ·
haven't experienced any time-outs or beach balls, but I'm not a pro photographer. The filters all work well, exporting and all the 'usual' stuff is no different than on any G4 i've used. The bounces? Not that many really, it's just not that big of a problem (for me) to wait an extra 10 seconds.
HTH
James
 
#20 ·
So is it more a question of filters taking an extra few seconds but the overall responsiveness is about the same. Personally I don't mind if it takes a few seconds longer but an unresponsive interface drives me nuts. Motion is unuseable on my imac G5 and I have two gigs of ram and my concern is that photoshop would choke on an intel in the same way...I am not a pro photographer but I do some freelance Photoshop and other graphics stuff, about 10 hours a week.

I just noticed you are a fellow Winnipeger...
 
#22 ·
Ok.. this thing is definitely a Mac. Inside and out. Hosting an iChat 3 way vid was neat. It's something I've never really been able to do before.

It takes a total of 2 seconds for the "Welcome to Mac OS X" bar to completely finish.. and then 2 more seconds later and the iMac is ready to go. In total.. a complete restart is taking about 17 seconds. Cold boot, I'm not sure.. I haven't put it to sleep yet.. or Shut it down.

No fans yet. Not once.. and I've done some pretty long gaming and video conferencing.

Plugged in my Digital Camera (Kodak Easyshare CX6330) and it works perfectly.

Edited some pictures in iPhoto.. I'm really impressed with this release of it.. it's really smooth. Some nice added features. (Effects palette and Full Screen editing)

Tomorrow is Garageband day! :)
 
#23 ·
so, I did some tests with GeekBench. Here's the Results:

Version: Geekbench Preview 2 (r73)
Compiler: GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)

System Information
OS: Version 10.4.5 (Build 8G1454)
Model: iMac4,1
Motherboard: iMac4,1
CPU: Intel Core Duo
CPU ID: 7, 4
CPU Count (Physical): 2
CPU Count (Logical): 2
CPU Frequency: 1830 MHz
Bus Frequency: 664 MHz
Memory: 512 MB

CPU Integer Performance
Emulate 6502 168 (1 thread, 298.9 megahertz)
Emulate 6502 321 (4 threads, 587.6 megahertz)
Blowfish 322 (1 thread, 443.4 megabytes/sec)
Blowfish 540 (4 threads, 819.3 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Compress 126 (1 thread, 22.69 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Compress 236 (4 threads, 44.05 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Decompress 127 (1 thread, 53.15 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Decompress 244 (4 threads, 103.5 megabytes/sec)

CPU Floating Point Performance
Mandelbrot 136 (1 thread, 915.1 megaflops)
Mandelbrot 254 (4 threads, 1.778 gigaflops)

Memory Performance
Latency 497 (1 thread, 21.05 nanoseconds/load)
Read Sequential 358 (1 thread, 2.605 gigabytes/sec)
Write Sequential 142 (1 thread, 837.8 megabytes/sec)
Stdlib Allocate 131 (1 thread, 102.1 kiloallocs/sec)
Stdlib Allocate 139 (4 threads, 109.4 kiloallocs/sec)
Stdlib Write 135 (1 thread, 2.131 gigabytes/sec)
Stdlib Copy 158 (1 thread, 1.187 gigabytes/sec)

Stream Performance
Stream Copy 105 (1 thread, 1.433 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Scale 104 (1 thread, 1.422 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Add 156 (1 thread, 2.157 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Triad 153 (1 thread, 2.156 gigabytes/sec)

I have no idea what they mean! :)
 
#24 ·
Here are my results from G5 iMac (had a few aps running while i ran it)
Geekbench Information
Version: Geekbench Preview 2 (r73)
Compiler: GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)

System Information
OS: Version 10.4.5 (Build 8H14)
Model: PowerMac12,1
Motherboard: PowerMac12,1
CPU: PowerPC G5 (970)
CPU ID: 18, 100
CPU Count (Physical): 1
CPU Count (Logical): 1
CPU Frequency: 2100 MHz
Bus Frequency: 700 MHz
Memory: 1536 MB

CPU Integer Performance
Emulate 6502 155 (1 thread, 276.5 megahertz)
Emulate 6502 160 (4 threads, 293.6 megahertz)
Blowfish 128 (1 thread, 176.9 megabytes/sec)
Blowfish 116 (4 threads, 176.1 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Compress 107 (1 thread, 19.24 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Compress 119 (4 threads, 22.27 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Decompress 136 (1 thread, 56.61 megabytes/sec)
bzip2 Decompress 143 (4 threads, 60.7 megabytes/sec)

CPU Floating Point Performance
Mandelbrot 129 (1 thread, 872.7 megaflops)
Mandelbrot 123 (4 threads, 859.6 megaflops)

Memory Performance
Latency 117 (1 thread, 89.3 nanoseconds/load)
Read Sequential 188 (1 thread, 1.367 gigabytes/sec)
Write Sequential 143 (1 thread, 844.1 megabytes/sec)
Stdlib Allocate 131 (1 thread, 102.7 kiloallocs/sec)
Stdlib Allocate 122 (4 threads, 95.66 kiloallocs/sec)
Stdlib Write 93 (1 thread, 1.469 gigabytes/sec)
Stdlib Copy 116 (1 thread, 892.3 megabytes/sec)

Stream Performance
Stream Copy 112 (1 thread, 1.537 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Scale 108 (1 thread, 1.476 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Add 120 (1 thread, 1.663 gigabytes/sec)
Stream Triad 120 (1 thread, 1.696 gigabytes/sec)
 
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