Alternative to iMacs

[kenney]

Hi,

 

We are current looking to refresh our art suite computers. Currently we have iMacs in the suite(some 2009/2011 models). The topic of seeing what is out there has come up, so we are looking at alternatives to using Macs.

 

Has anyone got any suggestions on what would a comparable performance to a new iMac on the windows side of things?

[localzuk]

Performance? An iMac is just an Intel PC with MacOS on it - you can just get something with the same components in but Windows based and you'll have pretty much the same performance.

 

i5 + SSD + 8GB RAM will run pretty much everything you throw at it.

[atcoates]

What @localzuk says and if you want something with a similar look HP and Dell do nice looking AIO units.

 

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/desktop-and-all-in-one-pcs/optiplex-7460-all-in-one/spd/optiplex-7460-aio

[ICTDirect_Dave]

In terms of performance? Almost anything.

 

Take a look at this blog I did comparing windows PCs and mac for music. It'll translate to Art too.

 

Music Technology PCs – Getting the best bang for your buck ? Version 2.0 | ICT Direct Blog - Refurbishers of quality computers for schools, colleges and Public Sector

[hardtailstar]

 

i5 + SSD + 8GB RAM will run pretty much everything you throw at it.

 

We have i3 +SSD + 4GB RAM. Does the job plenty well.

 

Our new Art computers I believe are i5 or i7. Yet to send them to the front line but I'm sure they will cope!

 

We also have some core 2 duo machines with hdd and 4GB RAM and these seem to work well too!

[SuperChris1980]

I can supply our AIO with whatever Spec you would like

[k-strider]

we use intel NUCs cause they are tiny... and preform well... we use i5s but they do i3s and i7s too....

[kenney]

We ended up going for a few Hades canyon nucs paired with 100% srgb colour monitors.

[flyinghaggis]

Those Intel NUCs seem like pretty nifty little devices

 

The issue I've found isn't so much matching the performance of the Mac as that's easy. It's generally that when someone says they "want a Mac" specifically they mean they want to use MacOS or a specific program like Final Cut which is only available on MacOS. In my experience you'll often find they're not prepared to switch to a Windows device and/or another equivalent application.

Edited June 20, 2019 by flyinghaggis