27" iMac advice

[mathman]

Howdy folks!

I'm going to be getting a new 27" iMac in the next few days. I went in to my local Apple store and they look fantastic. Here's where my problem is ...

I can get everything I want in the store - except the 3 TB Fusion Drive. Should that be a stopping point for me? I'm a little impatient to get it, but I'm wondering if I'll regret not getting it. Are there other acceptable solutions that I'm not considering?

I also looked at the refurbs, but none of them meet the exact configuration I want. The only "non-negotiables" are the 3.4 i7 and the 680MX.

Ideas? Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

MM

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Depends on what you are using it for. Does it have to be 3TB Fusion? No 2TB Fusion or 1TB Fusion? Can you store the excess data in an external? Do you really need Fusion vs a small SSD or plain hard drive?

 

[mathman]

I'm going to be storing a lot of media, I think. That's probably what I'll use it for - I have 1 TB now, but everything is external except for my games, apps, and the OS. I'm also thinking that I want a machine to last a few years so I can grow into it. But not sure, really.

MM

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I'm going to be storing a lot of media, I think. That's probably what I'll use it for - I have 1 TB now, but everything is external except for my games, apps, and the OS. I'm also thinking that I want a machine to last a few years so I can grow into it. But not sure, really.

MM

3TB is a heck of a lot of data. Also, is there any reason that you HAVE to store the media on the internal drive? I mean are you going to access the entire 3TB of media frequently enough to warrant having 3TB over 2TB?

If you're just storing media, why the 680MX? Are the games you play able to take advantage of that GPU? Or would something lesser be just as good?

 

[mathman]

The games I'm playing will be needing the card - if not fully now, it will be future proofed a bit. I could have an external drive, I suppose. I hadn't really thought about it. And I thought that Fusion Drive was only available in 1TB and 3TB increments?

 

[CatAndTie]

I am filming a documentary and it took about a little over a year I think to fill up my 2 TB hard drive. I recently moved that off onto an external and have plenty of space left again.

Do you do a lot of video work? Or are you saving a lot of movies onto your hard drive that you can't just access it on externals?

 

[mathman]

I run a lot of different virtual machines and I have a lot of media stored. I don't need 3 TB now, but I'm wondering if I need to have the space for the future.

 

[Bear]

....

I can get everything I want in the store - except the 3 TB Fusion Drive. Should that be a stopping point for me? I'm a little impatient to get it, but I'm wondering if I'll regret not getting it. Are there other acceptable solutions that I'm not considering?

I also looked at the refurbs, but none of them meet the exact configuration I want. The only "non-negotiables" are the 3.4 i7 and the 680MX.

...

Consider getting the 1TB Fusion, 3.4 i7 and 680MX if you can't wait for a CTO machine with a 3 TB Fusion drives. You can use external drives for some of your data. Maybe use one as an archive for completed work that doesn't need to be on you internal drive.

A CTO iMac with the standard delivery for a US customer will take under 2 weeks to get. In fact it's possible to have it in only a week if you get lucky.

You know your buying options. Flip a coin of you have to for deciding between the 1 and 3 TB Fusion drives.