thanks for everyones advice so far.. because i use a mac for programming i am leaning towards purchasing the i7 27" iMac with 6GB to start with.. i can always upgrade

I know from other posts people are 4-5 boxing with the same specs.. just a bit concerned about the graphics card..

I have recently found that the iMac display can also be used as an external display.. so if i could always buy a component here and there to build a comp simply to box on and use the iMac as the display.. then i get the sexy 2560 x 1440 resolution.

i wish i could test before i buy.. actually on that subject is anyone using an ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB or similar to box with?

EDIT: I moved away from this post for a while and found the following:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

considering my bros iMac with the Geforce 9400M (which ranked 500 with a score of 137) can 4 box then i'm pretty sure the radeon HD 4850 can (rank 43 score of 1073).

i also found this if anyone is interested : http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-...27-Inch/1236/1

sly