27" iMac, but which one!?!

You are using some cpu intensive apps, so I would go with the quad core.

I'm actually in the same boat as you.

If you are planning to purchase an iMac immediately, don't go for anything other than the top-end i5 or i7. Reason being is Apple tends to phase out their older systems and focus development of their newer software - including OS - on current systems (ex. 10.6 made the switch to 64bit). In other words, you're more likely to see Mac OS X 10.7 be optimized for quad core than dual core. You obviously wouldn't want to be left behind then.

However, if you're just looking for working with current software then the top end core 2 duo should be more than enough.

Personally my decision is either get the core i5 2.66 now, or wait until Apple refreshes all their imacs to core i5,i7. The difference there of course, is getting the most bang for your buck.

As for the Uni discount, Apple in the US is very lenient. In fact, the last two times I bought something at the Apple Store, they gave me the discount without even checking ID - though I am a student.

im in the boat and paddling as hard as i can lads !!

heres the thing, im switching from pc to mac primarily because music is my hobby. ive opted for this one 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB as my machine of choice, ive never used a mac for music so ill be switching from pro tools to logic also, might as well kill two birds with one stone etc. my dilema was the same, i could go for the cheapest imac and get my logic in along with protection plan but i need to future proof the machine, its gonna cost a few hundred more but sure ill be long enough dead.

ill probably post again here asking stupid questions like "how do i turn this on" etc. so i appologise in advance.

TheHoffman said:

Hi guys,
'hopefully' next week I should be buying a new 27" iMac from apple but I'm having trouble in which one I should chose, I'm stuck between the quad-core top range version and the 3ghz one just below the top spec.
The main reason I'm getting a new iMac is my current MacBook pro (late 2008, 2.1 ghz) really stuggles with my Uni design work as I'm always swapping between mudbox, Photoshop and illastrator. My question is will the 3ghz still cope alright or is it wiser to spend that bit more and go quad? I'm currently selling my laptop but might not be getting that money for it, so the less i spend the better really!

Also the shop I'm going to get it from is not an apple store but an 'authorised' store in peterbourogh (Cambridgeshire), do you think they will allow me to still have the university educational discount?

Any advise would be great!

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i7 is the sweet spot in the iMac range. great machine. only wish they supported dual internal drives, but hey, it's still very very capable.

if you can afford it, get it!

if you can afford, go with the i7 i wish i had saved for an extra month and gone i7

bluebearddub said:

im in the boat and paddling as hard as i can lads !!

heres the thing, im switching from pc to mac primarily because music is my hobby. ive opted for this one 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB as my machine of choice, ive never used a mac for music so ill be switching from pro tools to logic also, might as well kill two birds with one stone etc. my dilema was the same, i could go for the cheapest imac and get my logic in along with protection plan but i need to future proof the machine, its gonna cost a few hundred more but sure ill be long enough dead.

ill probably post again here asking stupid questions like "how do i turn this on" etc. so i appologise in advance.

Click to expand...

I just made the leap myself and went with a refurbished iMac 27" Core i7 for $1849... that's a savings of $350 over the retail price. I gotta say, this has to be one of the best deals to be found in the refurb store. Reading on the additional quality control Apple goes through with their refurbs, hopefully this machine won't have any tint issues. Though if they do show up, worst case I'll just have to send it back

It depends on what you will be doing. I don't need multiple cores which seems to be critical for editing movies, games... I do still photography. Anyway, I just switched from a old PC desktop the other day to a refurb 27" iMac with a 'ancient' 3.06 C2D. The refurb looks brand new. I just completed some speed tests against my Pentium 4 3.2 PC on Photomatix an HDR software which is my slowest program for what I do. Anyway, the speed difference for the time it takes to create a 32-bit file from varied exposures is a full 500% faster. As you can imagine, I am very happy with 5x faster so I do not regret investing in the lower end model and saving money. I spent $1,450 plus tax!!!