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dvdlovr24

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 3, 2008
329
117
I am about to order a new 27" and can't decide which graphics card to go with. I have been keeping an eye on the other comparison threads but haven't seen anyone with my setup. Alli use mine for is HD encodes with Handbrake, iPhoto and iMovie. I will never use it for gaming. From what I can tell the programs that I use won't take advantage of the 680 and I'd rather put that money towards some extra ram from crucial. Opinions?
 

Ddyracer

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2009
1,786
31
I am about to order a new 27" and can't decide which graphics card to go with. I have been keeping an eye on the other comparison threads but haven't seen anyone with my setup. Alli use mine for is HD encodes with Handbrake, iPhoto and iMovie. I will never use it for gaming. From what I can tell the programs that I use won't take advantage of the 680 and I'd rather put that money towards some extra ram from crucial. Opinions?

Good choice. Ram will help more with editing then the 680mx except if your doing something more intensive like After Effects, 4K footage and anything really that uses that card to it's potential.
 

dvdlovr24

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 3, 2008
329
117
Good choice. Ram will help more with editing then the 680mx except if your doing something more intensive like After Effects, 4K footage and anything really that uses that card to it's potential.

Yeah. I won't be doing any of that. Just editing and adding basic graphics to some home videos in iMovie. I was more concerned about if it would help Handbrake improve my encode times. I'm planning on ordering the i7 with the 1tb fushion drive and probably maxing out the ram. I just wanted to make sure that getting the 675 over the 680 wouldn't make a difference with how I'm going to use it.
 

lali

macrumors regular
Oct 14, 2007
165
28
Yeah. I won't be doing any of that. Just editing and adding basic graphics to some home videos in iMovie. I was more concerned about if it would help Handbrake improve my encode times. I'm planning on ordering the i7 with the 1tb fushion drive and probably maxing out the ram. I just wanted to make sure that getting the 675 over the 680 wouldn't make a difference with how I'm going to use it.

Hi
Videocard - No impact on handbrake encodes.
Handbrake scales with processor speed, and quad to hexcore show a significant improvement

I need to read again if hyperthreading makes a big difference or not.

Here are some imac benchmarks with handbrake, including recent imac with i7
http://https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119583/
 

Santabean2000

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2007
1,881
2,002
Handbrake will use CPU. Are you getting the i7?

Extra RAM always a good idea in my opinion; it's cheap enough to bump no probs.

The high end graphics is, from what I've read, sounding impressive... but in your situation I don't think you'd see a difference.
 

Tri-stan

macrumors 6502
Oct 27, 2012
268
0
From recent benchmarks there is not much seperating the cards in 3Dmark 6000 vs 6800.
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
From recent benchmarks there is not much seperating the cards in 3Dmark 6000 vs 6800.

Yeah there is not a massive difference but every FPS counts when gaming, especially if you want to lock a game in at 60FPS with vsync ( Even the 680mx can struggle with this at 1440p). If you are not gaming i would go the 675mx for sure.
 

Santabean2000

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2007
1,881
2,002
Absolutely. I'm replacing a 2009 27" so I figure I should see a significant difference in my encode times.

I have a late 2009 iMac (the first i7) and it still runs well. That specific processor was well received at the time and is still speedy enough for my needs.

Do you have a Seagate HDD? If you do, like me, you may well qualify for the recall programme; mine's getting a (slight paid [1TB replacement free]) bump to a new 2TB HDD next week.

Stoked. Added another few years to the usability of this machine!
 
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