2.9 vs 2.7 GHz is it noticeably faster?

[1daPole]

Hi All,

I'm new to forum, Mac and your experience would help a lot! 🙂 I'm trying to chose between iMac 2.9 GHz with 2.7 GHz
I regularly edit photos with Photoshop and Lightroom. Other than that, my day-to-day use is pretty standard. Would 2.9 GHz and the fusion drive give me a noticeable advantage i.e. is it worth spending few hundred more?

Thanks guys for any points / help 🙂

Cheers, 1daPole

 

[maflynn]

The CPU speed won't be noticed, though your disk i/o will benefit from the Fusion drive so that will be noticeable.

 

[1daPole]

thanks maflyn!
I haven't read yet about those fusion drives. I appreciate why 7200 rpm would be better than 5200 (or 5400) but...need to get some idea re that fusion thingy 🙂

 

[AcesHigh87]

Processor wise the difference is barely there for the average user. 2.7 to 2.9 is a jump that you simply wouldn't notice doing what you describe, at least IMO.

Where a performance boost might be apparent is the fusion drive. I've never used one specifically but do have experience with SSD's that can translate a bit. Assuming it works the same way SSD's do you won't see a performance increase in the sense that the mac can render or otherwise process things faster. That's dependent on CPU, GPU, RAM, etc. However you will get a FASTER overall performance. Opening applications, start-up and shut-down time, etc.

Macs are pretty fast in general, my 2011 iMac can open photoshop CS6 (without an SSD) in about 15-20 seconds (vs my macbook with an SSD doing so in about 5-10) so it really depends how much speed you want to get out of your machine and if that is worth the extra $200.

Certainly though DO NOT do it for the sake of the extra processing power. That is basically a negligible amount considering both are still going to be i5.

Either way I personally would wait a bit. New iMacs could be coming in October or November so they might be worth grabbing or you might be able to get a refurb model.

----------

thanks maflyn!
I haven't read yet about those fusion drives. I appreciate why 7200 rpm would be better than 5200 (or 5400) but...need to get some idea re that fusion thingy 🙂

Fusion drives are basically apple's combination HDD and SDD. They "move" the applications you use frequently (as well as the OS files I believe) to the SSD portion in order to have them open quicker and feel snappier, as they would with an SSD.

 

[1daPole]

Very thorough response AcesHigh87, Thanks for your time!! 🙂