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27 Retina or Maxed out 21.5 for video editing

k3ith

k3ith

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 1, 2007
176
150
New York, NY
Hey guys! I'm buying a new computer for video editing and wondering which would be best for my needs.. I'm currently eyeing the 21.5 inch maxed out or a refurbished 27 inch retina.

Is the processing power basically going to be the same? If so, maybe it would be best for me to just get a second monitor instead of worrying about screen real estate? Retina doesn't really matter all that much to me.. I'm just concerned about getting the best computer for my needs.

Would really appreciate everyone's input. And yes I'm sure this is a common question asked, but couldn't find anything recently in the forum :p

Thanks in advanced
 

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Y

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
k3ith said:
Hey guys! I'm buying a new computer for video editing and wondering which would be best for my needs.. I'm currently eyeing the 21.5 inch maxed out or a refurbished 27 inch retina.

Is the processing power basically going to be the same? If so, maybe it would be best for me to just get a second monitor instead of worrying about screen real estate? Retina doesn't really matter all that much to me.. I'm just concerned about getting the best computer for my needs.

Would really appreciate everyone's input. And yes I'm sure this is a common question asked, but couldn't find anything recently in the forum :p

Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

The maxed out 21.5" iMac is going to be way more powerful because of the i7.

One thing - I'd suggest a 256GB SSD instead of an FD. You'll get pure speed out of it.

Video editing is multi threaded, so the hyper threading capabilities of the i7 is a must have.
 
JoelTheSuperior

JoelTheSuperior

macrumors 6502
Feb 10, 2014
406
443
I'd definitely recommend an SSD over the fusion drive.

yjchua95 said:
The maxed out 21.5" iMac is going to be way more powerful because of the i7.

One thing - I'd suggest a 256GB SSD instead of an FD. You'll get pure speed out of it.

Video editing is multi threaded, so the hyper threading capabilities of the i7 is a must have.
Click to expand...

You sure? The GPU in the 27" is a much better chip plus the i5 in the Retina iMac is a newer model. Granted it lacks hyperthreading but it's still a very capable chip.

Only thing to keep in mind is ofc the GPU is going to be under more load in the 27" model as the screen is much higher res (1920x1080 vs 5120x2880).
 
Y

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
JoelTheSuperior said:
I'd definitely recommend an SSD over the fusion drive.



You sure? The GPU in the 27" is a much better chip plus the i5 in the Retina iMac is a newer model. Granted it lacks hyperthreading but it's still a very capable chip.

Only thing to keep in mind is ofc the GPU is going to be under more load in the 27" model as the screen is much higher res (1920x1080 vs 5120x2880).
Click to expand...

Pretty sure... http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/compare/2047781?baseline=611544

3.5GHz i5 retina iMac vs 3.1GHz i7 21.5" iMac.
 
F

fathergll

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2014
1,788
1,487
k3ith said:
Hey guys! I'm buying a new computer for video editing and wondering which would be best for my needs.. I'm currently eyeing the 21.5 inch maxed out or a refurbished 27 inch retina.

Is the processing power basically going to be the same? If so, maybe it would be best for me to just get a second monitor instead of worrying about screen real estate? Retina doesn't really matter all that much to me.. I'm just concerned about getting the best computer for my needs.

Would really appreciate everyone's input. And yes I'm sure this is a common question asked, but couldn't find anything recently in the forum :p

Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

My only issue with the 21.5 iMac is that it's completely overpriced for the hardware you are getting. $2100 for that those iMac specs....blah.

The retina iMacs are amazing buys because you are a $2500 monitor to start with. Everything else is gravy.

If you don't care about the retina screen I would go for a refurbished 27" i7 iMac with at least a fusion drive.
 
T

tears2040

macrumors 6502
Aug 27, 2010
401
1
k3ith said:
Hey guys! I'm buying a new computer for video editing and wondering which would be best for my needs.. I'm currently eyeing the 21.5 inch maxed out or a refurbished 27 inch retina.

Is the processing power basically going to be the same? If so, maybe it would be best for me to just get a second monitor instead of worrying about screen real estate? Retina doesn't really matter all that much to me.. I'm just concerned about getting the best computer for my needs.

Would really appreciate everyone's input. And yes I'm sure this is a common question asked, but couldn't find anything recently in the forum :p

Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

Get a top of the line 2013 iMac with 4GB graphics card or build a Mac Pro from 2010. That Mac Pro from 2010 can be built up to be a beast , something that even destroys top of the line iMac Retina. Do some research, I've spoken on it before

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-MacPro-upgrade.html

This is what I'll be doing hopefully real soon as it's also a simply more professional platform where you can edit, encode, compress and not worry about your fans going into overdrive like they do on an iMac.

There's also some nice 4k monitors selling for about $500-$600
 
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fathergll

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2014
1,788
1,487
k3ith said:
but buying the 21" maxed out will future proof it to some extent. I'll be able to use this for at least 4 yrs
Click to expand...


That's fine, it's just a terrible buy of a computer. Literally Apple is making all profit on that sale. :apple:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0PG4LL/A/refurbished-27-inch-imac-35ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i7

Compare that with this model for $190 more. 27" screen, i7, 32 GB RAM capability, 4 GB GPU, 3TB Fusion drive

Which computer is going to better 4 years down the road? Which computer is going to be more valued on the used market if you decide to sell it? I guarantee that $2100 iMac is going to lose all of it's value in no time.
 
loekf

loekf

macrumors 6502a
Mar 23, 2015
824
568
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
fathergll said:
That's fine, it's just a terrible buy of a computer. Literally Apple is making all profit on that sale. :apple:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0PG4LL/A/refurbished-27-inch-imac-35ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i7

Compare that with this model for $190 more. 27" screen, i7, 32 GB RAM capability, 4 GB GPU, 3TB Fusion drive

Which computer is going to better 4 years down the road? Which computer is going to be more valued on the used market if you decide to sell it? I guarantee that $2100 iMac is going to lose all of it's value in no time.
Click to expand...

I'm also considering either a maxed out 21.5" model (16 GB + i7 + SSD) versus a 27" model with an i5 and SSD.

So you're saying everything above an entry-level 21.5" model is a waste of money and not future proof enough ?

Here in the Netherlands, refurbished iMacs are hard to find on the Apple site. I suspect, Apple deals with returned models strictly per country. In e.g. Germany they are easier to find, but I can't find anything in the German Apple Store.

I am convinced though that if you want to use your iMac for > 3 years go for the SSD route. I wouldn't trust a completely embedded and hard to replace hard drive for more than let's say 1-2 years.
 
F

fathergll

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2014
1,788
1,487
loekf said:
I'm also considering either a maxed out 21.5" model (16 GB + i7 + SSD) versus a 27" model with an i5 and SSD.

So you're saying everything above an entry-level 21.5" model is a waste of money and not future proof enough ?

Here in the Netherlands, refurbished iMacs are hard to find on the Apple site. I suspect, Apple deals with returned models strictly per country. In e.g. Germany they are easier to find, but I can't find anything in the German Apple Store.

I am convinced though that if you want to use your iMac for > 3 years go for the SSD route. I wouldn't trust a completely embedded and hard to replace hard drive for more than let's say 1-2 years.
Click to expand...


I am saying paying over $2,000 for a desktop class computer with a GeForce GT 750M 1GB in 2015 is way too much money. I’d hate to be one of those guys just looking at specs but you can’t ignore what little Apple is giving you for a significant amount of money. If you’re comfortable with spending that much for something that is already somewhat outdated in certain areas then by all means go ahead. I’d jump ship over to Windows before paying that much(assuming I didn’t need something OSX specific).
 
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