Is the new iMac a good buy compared to buying a Dell, or better yet, building your own system? I’ve built several systems and I must say if you want to get something done on the cheap with the ability to upgrade, and creating a future proof system, custom builds can be the way to go. Now after recently getting a Macbook I have made my personal switch to Mac and I still utilize Windows at work and sometimes at home. I would say I split my OS usage down the middle at 50/50. Recently the iMac has been refreshed and I find myself asking if I were to recommend somebody a solid gaming/graphics/non-base model desktop computer, would I recommend a iMac or would I still recommend a custom build? Well here’s what I found out.

First I’m going to break down the hardware just by a price just to build this machine to be comparably specs from parts on newegg.

CPU – I put in a 2.8 Ghz Wolfdale Core 2 Duo which I think is a lesser core than what Mac puts in its operating system, but in the end you most likely won’t see much of a performance difference.
Price: $119

Motherboard – This is a tough one to compare because you really can’t have the form factor that mac’s logic boards produce. Lets just operate a standard motherboard, that would be able to handle up to 8gb and is future proof. It’s also got to handle DDR3, which doesn’t have much of a performance change over DDR2, but we need to have similar specs.
Price: $119

RAM – 4gb of DDR3 1333 RAM, enough said.
Price: $66.99

Hard Drive – a 7200 RPM 640GB Hard Drive, once again enough said.
Price: $69.99

Video Card - Instead of the 9400M that the base model has, lets upgrade our desktop to the biggest card that Apple has to offer, the Radeon HD 4850.
Price: $164.99

Case and PSU – The case and power supply is an interesting thing, and can be really anything you want, but what it can’t be is a slinder aluminum case about 2.5″ thick and fits behind your monitor, only Apple has created this, and I will get into this later on. I know you could go cheaper than this, but you want a nice clean setup that would compete with Apple, you’ll need to spend some cash.
Price: $200

Wireless N Card – Depends on how you want to do it but N cards are getting cheaper.
Price: $60

Bluetooth USB – Since the iMac has it, your going to need it.
Price: $20

24″ Monitor – Once again, figure out how to stick a 24″ monitor in the side of a 2.5″ thick aluminum case and have all your other components stuck in it as well and you could most likely start competing with Apple.
Price: $300

Operating System – Whatever you want to do, on the PC side I would just get Vista Home Premium until Windows 7 came out. Most likely will have a discount to upgrade if you purchase Vista in the next couple of months.
Price: $129

Total Price for the Custom Build System: $1,250 (and some change.)
Total Price for iMac – $1500 (w/o the Radeon card though)

Now I know that you could do some searching and find some hardware cheaper elsewhere and most likely drop this desktop build down to under a grand easy, but there are some points to be made even when comparing a $900 custom build to a $1500 iMac.

The first thing is the hassle, do you really want to hassle with coming up with all the equipment and time and expertise if you don’t know how to build it. Personally I love building pc’s, but some people could absolutely hate doing these things, so we’ll call it a wash.

Another big thing is the power usage for a desktop, the custom build could be using 350-550 Watts at any given time. The new iMac operates at 200W, similar to the Macbook Pro’s, which will keep your utility bill small…this one goes to the iMac.

The final thing is the form factor. I love a custom build case and customizing all the fans to work together or putting together a liquid cooled system, but the one thing a custom pc can’t do is pack everything into a 24″ aluminum cased monitor and create an almost silent setup. The form factor of the iMac truly is what sells it. You don’t have to hassle with a case to clean dust out of every 6 months.

It’s these thing alone that have recently sold me on utilizing and recommending an iMac for a desktop. The power user may disagree and I would defiently agree that there are some upsides to the Custom Build PC, but with recent price cuts and additional video card power, the Apple lineup is looking more and more appealing.