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What model are you buying?
- Thread starter HBen
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Maxed out, balls-to-the-walls, high-end 21.5". Don't really need the 27" real estate and not willing to spend close to $3000
Maxed out, balls-to-the-walls, high-end 21.5". Don't really need the 27" real estate and not willing to spend close to $3000
Same here, high end 21.5" with 16gb, i7 and Fusion Drive
High end 27" with 680MX and i7. I figured the 680MX was going to be $300... so $150 is a steal to me! And since I am spending less on the 680MX, I decided to go with the i7 too.
Yea I'm pretty surprised by the pricing on the 680MX. Definitely adds much more appeal to the 27" iMac. Another appealing feature of the 27" of course is the RAM upgradeability, which means you're not forced to buy Apple's RAM upgrade like you have to on the 21" model. I would do the same thing as you and also skip out on RAM and upgrade later. That's another $200 saved at checkout. Total savings so far: $350 for the high end 27" iMac. Really not bad at all.
As of right now, I'm still plan on getting the high end 21.5" fully maxed out myself but I do like the pricing options on the 27" better.
I'm going to get the 27" with i7 and GTX 680MX. I might as well get those upgrades because I want to keep it for at least 4 years.
Yea I'm pretty surprised by the pricing on the 680MX. Definitely adds much more appeal to the 27" iMac. Another appealing feature of the 27" of course is the RAM upgradeability, which means you're not forced to buy Apple's RAM upgrade like you have to on the 21" model. I would do the same thing as you and also skip out on RAM and upgrade later. That's another $200 saved at checkout. Total savings so far: $350 for the high end 27" iMac. Really not bad at all.
As of right now, I'm still plan on getting the high end 21.5" fully maxed out myself but I do like the pricing options on the 27" better.
The BTO pricing for 27" does make it more appealing, and add the education discount to that, and you're looking at substantial savings. However, a GTX 680MX for only $150 kinda seems a bit fishy to me
We'll know for sure once Apple releases their official BTO prices. I'm having a hard time justifying the 27", because I'd only probably be getting it for the 680MX, and a fully specced 27" would cost me some serious mullah!
Doors the i7 increase life though? I'm debating if I need it. I use Photoshop sometimes, I play some steam games, ect
I'm going with the 27" with the i7 and gtx 680 mx with 16gb maybe 32gb if its not breaking the bank(or will just buy it with 8gb then put in the 32gb myself).
The ssd is just too expensive and really ridiculous that they wont offer other more affordable ssd options, but anyway thats my plans with the information I have at the moment.
The ssd is just too expensive and really ridiculous that they wont offer other more affordable ssd options, but anyway thats my plans with the information I have at the moment.
I'll grab the 27in 3.2GHz i5, 8 GB RAM (I'll add my own), 1TB Fusion, and the 680MX.
Still might go with the 3TB Fusion. Guess I'll make a decision on Friday
Still might go with the 3TB Fusion. Guess I'll make a decision on Friday
I think I might go with the baseline 21.5" inch model. I'm hoping to install my own ssd and upgrade the ram myself. I installed an ssd on my 2011 iMac so I feel confident that I could do it again. I'll have to see what Ifixit discovers in their tear down.
I got a 240gb ssd for 140 off of amazon for Black Friday which would allow me to save some money over getting the fusion drive.
I got a 240gb ssd for 140 off of amazon for Black Friday which would allow me to save some money over getting the fusion drive.
Still many Questions
Do you think that it will be Easy To Install a SSD to the New IMAC and would it VOID the Warranty??
I am planning to get a NEW 27" IMAC and Planning to use Bootcamp for PC Gamming.
I work with Photoshop, and Adobe Premier, After Effects and I play WoW on MAC and Star Wars Old Republic and other PC only games. I have a Synology DS212+ NAS for Data and Backup.
Going with:
27" 3.4GHz quad-core Intel core I7 with 8MB L3 cache $1999. + $200.
8GB Ram, Upgrade to 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 from OWC or Crucial +$200
1TB 7200rpm Fusion Drive + $250., or 768GB SSD $1300. with an External Thunderbolt Drive [LaCie 2big Thunderbolt Series 6TB (7200 rpm) Hard Drive Maybe] $669.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX Graphic processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory $150.
AppleCare Protection Plan $149.
External Samsung SE-506AB Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer [$89.] to replace the Super drive Apple remove.
Choices of drive 768GB SSD [$1300.], 1T [$250.] or 3T [$400.] Fusion HHD, 1T [$0.] or 3T [$150] HDD
So the Price has a big range. $3037. 27" with 3.4 i7, 680MX, Optical Drive, 32GB Ram 1T Fusion Drive, and Apple Care. To a high of $4756. Drop the 1T Fusion and get 768 SSD with the External 6T Thunderbolt Raid Drive.
Most likely the $3037 Choice or maybe Add $150. more for the 3T Fusion.
The problem is with Bootcamp you need to partition your internal drive It will not work on an external Drive. When you have a Fusion Drive you have to partition HDD and use the non fusion HDD partition side for Bootcamp and Windows. You cannot use the SSD side for Windows so you lose the extra speed you may have if you could. (Note - 3TB drives can't currently be partitioned for Bootcamp.) and I rather use Bootcamp. I am confused as to what Drive setup I should get?
Now we get to the reason why I might wait before I get my Imac. Maybe OWC has looked into doing Turnkey with the New Imac's and Install Larger SSD [256GB or 512GB with a fast 1T HDD or 2T] with or without the Fusion part? Not knowing if the IMAC 27" Drive bay will even accept them? Here’s Hoping.
Apple may even fix Bootcamp to work with 3T HDD and Fusion 3T. But would be even better is for them to give upgrades of 256GB or 512GB ssd with the Fusion Drive. I may get the 768SSD But an extra $1300. is high.
So this is the reason I might wait to see what OWC is going to offer or Will Apple fix Bootcamp to work with a 3T Drive. We'll just have to see.
Do you think that it will be Easy To Install a SSD to the New IMAC and would it VOID the Warranty??
I am planning to get a NEW 27" IMAC and Planning to use Bootcamp for PC Gamming.
I work with Photoshop, and Adobe Premier, After Effects and I play WoW on MAC and Star Wars Old Republic and other PC only games. I have a Synology DS212+ NAS for Data and Backup.
Going with:
27" 3.4GHz quad-core Intel core I7 with 8MB L3 cache $1999. + $200.
8GB Ram, Upgrade to 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 from OWC or Crucial +$200
1TB 7200rpm Fusion Drive + $250., or 768GB SSD $1300. with an External Thunderbolt Drive [LaCie 2big Thunderbolt Series 6TB (7200 rpm) Hard Drive Maybe] $669.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX Graphic processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory $150.
AppleCare Protection Plan $149.
External Samsung SE-506AB Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer [$89.] to replace the Super drive Apple remove.
Choices of drive 768GB SSD [$1300.], 1T [$250.] or 3T [$400.] Fusion HHD, 1T [$0.] or 3T [$150] HDD
So the Price has a big range. $3037. 27" with 3.4 i7, 680MX, Optical Drive, 32GB Ram 1T Fusion Drive, and Apple Care. To a high of $4756.
Drop the 1T Fusion and get 768 SSD with the External 6T Thunderbolt Raid Drive.Most likely the $3037 Choice or maybe Add $150. more for the 3T Fusion.
The problem is with Bootcamp you need to partition your internal drive It will not work on an external Drive. When you have a Fusion Drive you have to partition HDD and use the non fusion HDD partition side for Bootcamp and Windows. You cannot use the SSD side for Windows so you lose the extra speed you may have if you could. (Note - 3TB drives can't currently be partitioned for Bootcamp.) and I rather use Bootcamp. I am confused as to what Drive setup I should get?
Now we get to the reason why I might wait before I get my Imac. Maybe OWC has looked into doing Turnkey with the New Imac's and Install Larger SSD [256GB or 512GB with a fast 1T HDD or 2T] with or without the Fusion part? Not knowing if the IMAC 27" Drive bay will even accept them? Here’s Hoping.
Apple may even fix Bootcamp to work with 3T HDD and Fusion 3T. But would be even better is for them to give upgrades of 256GB or 512GB ssd with the Fusion Drive. I may get the 768SSD But an extra $1300. is high
.So this is the reason I might wait to see what OWC is going to offer or Will Apple fix Bootcamp to work with a 3T Drive. We'll just have to see.
I will get the 27"/ i7/ 2GB NVIDIA graphics card/ 1 or 3TB Fusion/ 8 GB RAM (will upgrade later myself to 32GB).
This way it's gonna come to either US $ 2599,- (1TB Fusion) or US $ 2749,- (3TB Fusion) + the RAM upgrade.
But I will get mine only in summer 2013, waiting now for my MBA to come.
This way it's gonna come to either US $ 2599,- (1TB Fusion) or US $ 2749,- (3TB Fusion) + the RAM upgrade.
But I will get mine only in summer 2013, waiting now for my MBA to come.
Having considered just about every configuration except the base 21" and the BTO GPU (not a gamer), I think I've finally settled on the base 27" with Fusion Drive.
For what it matters, here's my thinking:
1) I'm replacing a 2009 i7 iMac which actually performs fine for me from a CPU standpoint, and the 2.9GHz i5 in the new machine should be in the same ballpark. However, I've been booting from a variety of FW800 SSDs since I got the machine, and while this is faster and more responsive than the internal HDD, it will still be nice to eliminate the awkward setup and management hassles with the Fusion Drive.
2) The biggest single reason for the upgrade is Thunderbolt - I'm a professional photographer and my photo library lives on a 4TB RAID that can only connect via FW800 now. My working versions of my current year photos are on the internal drive for speed, but I'll be getting the Lacie eSATA Hub to hook up the RAID so that I can work directly from there going forward.
3) USB3 - I have one USB3 enclosure already; it currently houses my iTunes media, but I'll probably move that data to the internal drive and use the USB3 drive as my nightly clone of the internal instead.
4) Less reflective screen - while my screen doesn't face a window, sunlight coming into the room still causes a fair number of reflection issues, so this will be a welcome change.
Why this specific model? I had been leaning toward a maxed-out 21.5" i7, but came to the conclusion that the i7 probably isn't necessary (I have iStat Menus running, and just about the only thing that maxes out the virtual cores is Handbrake). Once I came to that conclusion, it was really down to two virtually identical machines - 2.9GHz i5 21.5 vs 27, with the latter having a slightly better GPU. There is a $300 price difference, but since I'll be able to buy 3rd party RAM and install it myself ($50) rather than pay Apple for 16GB in the 21.5" ($200), it's really only $150 for the bigger screen and better GPU. That seems like a good trade to me.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I don't still ponder getting the 21.5" instead just so I can get it sooner
For what it matters, here's my thinking:
1) I'm replacing a 2009 i7 iMac which actually performs fine for me from a CPU standpoint, and the 2.9GHz i5 in the new machine should be in the same ballpark. However, I've been booting from a variety of FW800 SSDs since I got the machine, and while this is faster and more responsive than the internal HDD, it will still be nice to eliminate the awkward setup and management hassles with the Fusion Drive.
2) The biggest single reason for the upgrade is Thunderbolt - I'm a professional photographer and my photo library lives on a 4TB RAID that can only connect via FW800 now. My working versions of my current year photos are on the internal drive for speed, but I'll be getting the Lacie eSATA Hub to hook up the RAID so that I can work directly from there going forward.
3) USB3 - I have one USB3 enclosure already; it currently houses my iTunes media, but I'll probably move that data to the internal drive and use the USB3 drive as my nightly clone of the internal instead.
4) Less reflective screen - while my screen doesn't face a window, sunlight coming into the room still causes a fair number of reflection issues, so this will be a welcome change.
Why this specific model? I had been leaning toward a maxed-out 21.5" i7, but came to the conclusion that the i7 probably isn't necessary (I have iStat Menus running, and just about the only thing that maxes out the virtual cores is Handbrake). Once I came to that conclusion, it was really down to two virtually identical machines - 2.9GHz i5 21.5 vs 27, with the latter having a slightly better GPU. There is a $300 price difference, but since I'll be able to buy 3rd party RAM and install it myself ($50) rather than pay Apple for 16GB in the 21.5" ($200), it's really only $150 for the bigger screen and better GPU. That seems like a good trade to me.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I don't still ponder getting the 21.5" instead just so I can get it sooner
Same here, high end 21.5" with 16gb, i7 and Fusion Drive
Won't that cost close to the high end 27", wouldn't that be a better solution especially with its upgradability..?
Ich will buy the high end 27'' model + GTX 680MX but whithout the Fusion Drive.
Sorry, but I will not pay 250€ for 128GB SSD. I hoped for a 256 only-SSD-option because I don't need 1000Gb. I have external HDD's.
I will take the standart 7200rpm HDD.
Sorry, but I will not pay 250€ for 128GB SSD. I hoped for a 256 only-SSD-option because I don't need 1000Gb. I have external HDD's.
I will take the standart 7200rpm HDD.
21.5
3.1 i7
16GB
1TB FUSION
Magic Mouse + Trackpad
Wireless keyboard
SuperDrive
$2,214.51
27" LED Display 2560x1440 resolution
NVIDIA GeForce GT 660M (512MB GDDR5 Memory)
2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
16GB (2x8GB Apple) 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
1TB Fusion Drive
Magic Mouse & Magic Trackpad
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Apple USB Superdrive
$2,397.00
Looks like the i7 is not yet configurable for the 27"
http://www.expercom.com/product_detail.html?p=873048