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iMac DIY Upgrade Question 2011vs2012

D

deeve

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 20, 2012
65
0
Hello, i keep going back and forth on whether to get an iMac or Macbook Pro 15. My 2009 MBP 13 isnt up to some photo and video editing tasks I have thrown at it. Nothing big, but it is 1080p GoPro stuff. Rendering time and playback in the editor are pretty pokey.

I like it being portable, but the iMac seems to give you a big bang for the buck. It is my understanding that the 2012 iMac's are not user upgradeable, except for RAM on the 27", so you buy what you will need. Kinda worries me though that the HDD/SDD can't be fixed DIY. Am I correct on that?

I believe the 2011 iMac's are more DIY friendly. I have been looking at the refurbed ones, when they are there. Any advice on being able to upgrade a 2011 yourself and is there that much of a difference between the Ivy and Sandy Bridge processors? Is it worth going to the latest processor vs non "upgradablility?" For the space it is going the 21.5 would fit better and they are more common, but the 27" has the potential to have better specs.

Thanks!
DAVE
 
A

All Taken

macrumors 6502a
Dec 28, 2009
780
1
UK
deeve said:
Hello, i keep going back and forth on whether to get an iMac or Macbook Pro 15. My 2009 MBP 13 isnt up to some photo and video editing tasks I have thrown at it. Nothing big, but it is 1080p GoPro stuff. Rendering time and playback in the editor are pretty pokey.

I like it being portable, but the iMac seems to give you a big bang for the buck. It is my understanding that the 2012 iMac's are not user upgradeable, except for RAM on the 27", so you buy what you will need. Kinda worries me though that the HDD/SDD can't be fixed DIY. Am I correct on that?

I believe the 2011 iMac's are more DIY friendly. I have been looking at the refurbed ones, when they are there. Any advice on being able to upgrade a 2011 yourself and is there that much of a difference between the Ivy and Sandy Bridge processors? Is it worth going to the latest processor vs non "upgradablility?" For the space it is going the 21.5 would fit better and they are more common, but the 27" has the potential to have better specs.

Thanks!
DAVE
Click to expand...

I take apart every Mac product and would recommend a 2010 or 2011 iMac over the 2012 iMac every day of the week for upgradability. Keep in mind that the 2012 iMac has only ONE SATA Port. Now this may not be an issue given that thunderbolt and USB 3 make viable alternatives but it's something to think about. As for the processor, the performance difference between these machines for your usage is not going to be day and night, negligible in fact. The graphics card options however....
 
D

deeve

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 20, 2012
65
0
All Taken said:
As for the processor, the performance difference between these machines for your usage is not going to be day and night, negligible in fact. The graphics card options however....
Click to expand...

Thank you, I was going to look for an i7 over an i5 mostly due to the extra core s and my understanding that the i5 does not hyperthread.

Im interested to hear the opinions about the graphics card options....This is going to be an all around family machine, but probably not a real big gamer. The kiddos have an Xbox for that.

DAVE
 
D

deeve

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 20, 2012
65
0
deeve said:
Im interested to hear the opinions about the graphics card options....This is going to be an all around family machine, but probably not a real big gamer. The kiddos have an Xbox for that.

DAVE
Click to expand...

Hoping to hear something about the follow up q.
 
T

Tofray

macrumors regular
Mar 7, 2011
107
1
deeve said:
Im interested to hear the opinions about the graphics card options....This is going to be an all around family machine, but probably not a real big gamer. The kiddos have an Xbox for that.

DAVE
Click to expand...

I have a 2011 27" i7 with the 6970 2GB card, and I think the card is great and runs everything I throw at it very well. I know you're not a "gamer" but future-proofing as much as a you can with a 2011 would likely mean buying a iMac with this card in it. There is a 1GB version, and 2 lesser cards (6750 & 6770) on the 21.5" iMac that run 512mb video memory. I've seen many of these 2GB card options on refurbished models listed on Apple's site, and they're all over Cragislist & Ebay.

This will give you a better idea how well the 6970 runs compared to the 2012's 675/680 video cards... http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
 
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