Gaming Graphics return to the iMac Line--Hooaah!

Yesterday, Apple updated its iMac line with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo (Penryn) CPUs sporting speeds ranging from 2.4GHz to 2.8Ghz and a $200 CTO option of 3.06GHz for the 24" model. The big news, however, is the return of the 24" model's high power graphics CTO, in this case Nvidia 8800 GS graphics with 512MB of video RAM.

When Apple replaced the white plastic iMacs with the aluminum iMacs sporting the newer ATI Radeon HD graphics, Apple dropped the high power CTO graphics, an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT at that time. This move left the old 2.33GHz 24" white iMac much better for gaming than the new 2.8GHz 24" aluminum iMac (see here and here).

Here are some performance characteristics for the two techologies from Nvidia's web site:

Nvidia 8800 GS vs 7600 GT

Card	Clock (MHz)	Memory Interface	Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)	Fill Rate (billion pixels/sec)
8800 GS	550	192-bit	38.4	10.8
7600 GT	400	128-bit	22.4	6.7

The 8800 GS has a memory bandwidth over 71 percent higher than the 7600 GT and a fill rate of over 61 percent higher.

When I reviewed the 24" white iMac CTO with 2.33GHz CPU and Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT graphics in September of 2006, I gave it high marks as possibly the best ever Mac for consumers and noted that at $2374 it was a great deal compared with the entry Mac Pro with 23" Cinema Display at $3198. Well, the current 24" aluminum iMac CTO with a 3.06GHz CPU and Nvidia 8800 GS graphics is only $2149 vs the same $3198 for the Mac Pro so it handily assumes the crown.

In addition, Apple also released a graphics firmware update for aluminum iMacs with ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT and 2600 Pro graphics systems. [Bill Fox]