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iMac 21 inch with i5 or i7
- Thread starter pectin232
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The only reason I got the i7 CPU is because I render on 3ds Max and use Premiere Pro CS5 + After Effects CS5 occasionally. But even the extra benefits (i.e. Hyper-Threading) are not astronomical.
Otherwise, there's no reason to spend the extra 100 bucks. Save it up for extra RAM or spend it on the SSD+HDD option.
Otherwise, there's no reason to spend the extra 100 bucks. Save it up for extra RAM or spend it on the SSD+HDD option.
guessing he's using the beta release...i had it for a few days, but it messed up my bootcamp win 7...
guessing he's using the beta release...i had it for a few days, but it messed up my bootcamp win 7...
Ah, thanks. Not being au fait with windows related matters nowadays I didn't know a beta had been released.
Get an i7 one. so you're sure
I know it would be good if he was sure, but that is not the point! it is really worth that $100 for that i7, which could be spent on some other mac part? like ram or HDD + SSD
Here are Geekmark scores for the newest iMacs:
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2011/05/imac-benchmarks-mid-2011/
Remember, these are benchmarks which push the CPU to its max! You won't see any difference between the i5 and i7 CPUs in everyday usage (office, browsing, light gaming etc.). Get an i7 if you do lots of CPU-intensive stuff (like video encoding), otherwise take the i5.
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2011/05/imac-benchmarks-mid-2011/
Remember, these are benchmarks which push the CPU to its max! You won't see any difference between the i5 and i7 CPUs in everyday usage (office, browsing, light gaming etc.). Get an i7 if you do lots of CPU-intensive stuff (like video encoding), otherwise take the i5.
Get the i7 and buy your extra RAM from OWC or some other vendor. You'll still save money in the end.
yes I tried the beta version from MSDN. It is not bad... still like Macs. There is a lot of improvements in it for Win8. Just because office have to prepare transition so testing it only. I wish the CPU can be swapped for the iMacs... extending its life..
If I were you I would get the i5 and use the money I saved to add an SSD. The big benefit from the i7 is hyper-threading (8 virtual cores), but there aren't many applications that can make use of that many cores. I think the SSD will make more of a difference from a performance standpoint (since the HDD is usually the slowest part of any system).
My sole issue with SSDs are not the cost (which IS significant) but the lack of size. As mentioned before I'm still waiting for my i7 with a 2TB drive but the fact that the HD's for these Imacs are not upgradeable, (IMHO) required me to get the biggest hard drive possible. I can't even imagine the cost of a 1TB SSD!
Yeah I know having SSD is extremely good. I use it on my PC with Win7. It boots up incredible fast...10 or or more seconds even with loaded softwares... I only got 128GB SSD .... as the 256GB is too much. I heard that SSD soon might be cheaper... but I do not think anytime too soon... although I hope so.
easy to add memory on your own or use Apple?
I am thinking of adding more more memory in the iMac but is it easy to do it on your own or do it with Apple?
Updater
I think I am going to do it myself...after seeing youtube... wonder if I can do that for SSD as well???
I am thinking of adding more more memory in the iMac but is it easy to do it on your own or do it with Apple?
Updater
I think I am going to do it myself...after seeing youtube... wonder if I can do that for SSD as well???
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