27" 2015 iMac- upgrade choices ?

[mjoshi123]

Currently I'm using 2012 Macmini with 1.5TB of Samsung SSD + 16GB RAM + i7 Quad Core in it. I'm now looking to upgrade with 2015 device.
My main usage is Photo Editing and slideshows creation as a professional photographer.
I've two questions for 27" iMac in terms of upgrade options
1) RAM - Is RAM upgradeable in iMac, it used to be easy upgrades in past but not sure if that is still the case with 2015 iMAc. I may go with 8GB of RAM and buy more aftermarket on my own if it is upgradeable.

2) Choice between 512GB SSD v/s 2TB Fusion Drive.
Which one give better performance. Normally I like to keep project I'm working on in my internal drive. Once completed with the work I upload everything to Amazon Drive online as well as to External Backup drive.

Normal Wedding shoots yields anywhere from 60-90GB of data so having internal space available is good.

Any advise ?

 

[Aspekt]

Currently I'm using 2012 Macmini with 1.5TB of Samsung SSD + 16GB RAM + i7 Quad Core in it. I'm now looking to upgrade with 2015 device.
My main usage is Photo Editing and slideshows creation as a professional photographer.
I've two questions for 27" iMac in terms of upgrade options
1) RAM - Is RAM upgradeable in iMac, it used to be easy upgrades in past but not sure if that is still the case with 2015 iMAc. I may go with 8GB of RAM and buy more aftermarket on my own if it is upgradeable.

2) Choice between 512GB SSD v/s 2TB Fusion Drive.
Which one give better performance. Normally I like to keep project I'm working on in my internal drive. Once completed with the work I upload everything to Amazon Drive online as well as to External Backup drive.

Normal Wedding shoots yields anywhere from 60-90GB of data so having internal space available is good.

Any advise ?

1. Yes, the RAM is easily upgradable. You can find the steps at: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191
2. It really comes down to personal preferences and the type of the file you work on on a daily bases. I opted for a 1TB SSD because the files I work on are big and I don't want to be transferring them to the external hard drive every time I am done with 1 file.

 

[762999]

Currently I'm using 2012 Macmini with 1.5TB of Samsung SSD + 16GB RAM + i7 Quad Core in it. I'm now looking to upgrade with 2015 device.
My main usage is Photo Editing and slideshows creation as a professional photographer.
I've two questions for 27" iMac in terms of upgrade options
1) RAM - Is RAM upgradeable in iMac, it used to be easy upgrades in past but not sure if that is still the case with 2015 iMAc. I may go with 8GB of RAM and buy more aftermarket on my own if it is upgradeable.

2) Choice between 512GB SSD v/s 2TB Fusion Drive.
Which one give better performance. Normally I like to keep project I'm working on in my internal drive. Once completed with the work I upload everything to Amazon Drive online as well as to External Backup drive.

Normal Wedding shoots yields anywhere from 60-90GB of data so having internal space available is good.

Any advise ?

I would go with an internal SSD. I would not use a mechanical drive in an iMac. The display is glued and it's a pain to change it yourself. If you need more space, get an external HDD or SSD.

 

[benzslrpee]

what do you normally store in your HD? if your HD is typically around 50% - 60% full and your photo dump is 10% - 20% of the 512 GB SSD... well you do the math. RAW files are only getting larger from here on out. i'd say get the 1 TB SSD

never used Fusion drive before so i can't say with certainty. but thinking it through, Fusion does not sound like a good solution if you are moving that much data around.

...

2) Choice between 512GB SSD v/s 2TB Fusion Drive.
Which one give better performance. Normally I like to keep project I'm working on in my internal drive. Once completed with the work I upload everything to Amazon Drive online as well as to External Backup drive.

Normal Wedding shoots yields anywhere from 60-90GB of data so having internal space available is good.

Any advise ?

 

[mjoshi123]

Thank you all for your response. Looks like 512GB SSD is the way to go for now ?
Or is it easier to get the Fusion drive and then replace HD portion of fusion drive with SSD ?