5k iMac 27". HD version

[raymondkerr]

thinking about getting a iMac through. Scheme in my work to help paying for it. Only the 7200rpm HD version is available, is this advisable? I would have liked the fusion drive version but there is no option. II use Lightroom and fox on a retina mbp 14 model just now but most of my work files are on either my usb3 LaCie drive or my external tb drive. Would the HD version be ok?

Just a hobbyist user, nothing professional.

 

[varian55zx]

is this advisable

no. The 2 tb fusion drive option is advisable, that's what I got. It makes the 7200 rpm look just sad. HDD's are not a good choice.

That said, let me emphasize this, and I will say this, 7200 rpm is acceptable. It's usable. It's bearable. You won't go insane using it, tear your hair out, or anything else like that. It just so happens that the fusion happens to be much better. But 7200 rpms is livable, I own a MBP with pure SSD, and I can still live on the 7200 rpm.

It's only 5400 rpm that is not only unbearable, but is essentially a crime to sell to anyone. They're so pathetic, it's disgusting.

 

[maflynn]

Hard drive only, that would be a bitter pill to swallow in 2016. I'd not spend my money on such a product.

 

[bent christian]

thinking about getting a iMac through. Scheme in my work to help paying for it. Only the 7200rpm HD version is available, is this advisable? I would have liked the fusion drive version but there is no option. II use Lightroom and fox on a retina mbp 14 model just now but most of my work files are on either my usb3 LaCie drive or my external tb drive. Would the HD version be ok?

Buy this model. ^

Purchase this Inateck enclosure and a Samsung EVO Pro SSD (your choice on size). Boot externally.

This will give you consistent write speeds of 395MB/sec and read speeds of 420MB/sec. Write speeds will be around 4x faster for around $150 more.

 

[Sirmausalot]

Buy this model. ^

Purchase this Inateck enclosure and a Samsung EVO Pro SSD (your choice on size). Boot externally.

This will give you consistent write speeds of 395MB/sec and read speeds of 420MB/sec. Write speeds will be around 4x faster for around $150 more.

Yup. Second working from external and use the internal for your RAW camera files and other deep storage.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

no. The 2 tb fusion drive option is advisable, that's what I got. It makes the 7200 rpm look just sad. HDD's are not a good choice.

That said, let me emphasize this, and I will say this, 7200 rpm is acceptable. It's usable. It's bearable. You won't go insane using it, tear your hair out, or anything else like that. It just so happens that the fusion happens to be much better. But 7200 rpms is livable, I own a MBP with pure SSD, and I can still live on the 7200 rpm.

It's only 5400 rpm that is not only unbearable, but is essentially a crime to sell to anyone. They're so pathetic, it's disgusting.

Talk about first world problems. WOW!

I have the HD model (non-fusion) and it is more than livable. I didn't want to pay the premium for the fusion drive so I purchased an external enclosure and boot from a SSD - I used it stock for a bit, it wasn't horrible or 'livable' it did the job. Is it as fast as a fusion or SSD no but it is hardly limping by and I saved a few bucks. If anything truly is the weak point on this model, in my opinion, it is the 8GB of RAM.

 

[raymondkerr]

Buy this model. ^

Purchase this Inateck enclosure and a Samsung EVO Pro SSD (your choice on size). Boot externally.

This will give you consistent write speeds of 395MB/sec and read speeds of 420MB/sec. Write speeds will be around 4x faster for around $150 more.

thanks for the feedback, I was thinking about external SSD setups. I'll look into your suggestions.
[doublepost=1455734103][/doublepost]I haven't looked yet, but can you buy external SSD enclosures that run off Thunderbolt rather than USB3 ?

 

[cyclingplatypus]

You can but you pay a premium for thunderbolt (and the speed) - a plethora of USB3 enclosures are available for under $25.

That said, B&H has a good deal on this right now ($99)

 

[bent christian]

You can but you pay a premium for thunderbolt (and the speed) - a plethora of USB3 enclosures are available for under $25.

I don't think there is any single drive Thunderbolt enclosure that will beat USB 3 speeds. It is my understanding that gains from Thunderbolt are only realized when drives in a RAID formation are used.

You don't get TRIM with USB 3, but with an SSD that uses a good controller and has adequate free space, it may not be necessary. This is why I recommended the Samsung EVO Pro. It uses the high-end MEX controller. My tests show the Pro is about 100MB/sec faster that the regular EVO 850 (both 256GB models).

 

[raymondkerr]

I don't think there is any single drive Thunderbolt enclosure that will beat USB 3 speeds. It is my understanding that gains from Thunderbolt are only realized when drives in a RAID formation are used.

You don't get TRIM with USB 3, but with an SSD that uses a good controller and has adequate free space, it may not be necessary. This is why I recommended the Samsung EVO Pro. It uses the high-end MEX controller. My tests show the Pro is about 100MB/sec faster that the regular EVO 850 (both 256GB models).

thanks, I'm going to order one of these enclosures

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...rue&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A5JH7MGCI556L

and look for a Samsung Evo Pro SSD.

 

[varian55zx]

Talk about first world problems. WOW!

I have the HD model (non-fusion) and it is more than livable. I didn't want to pay the premium for the fusion drive so I purchased an external enclosure and boot from a SSD - I used it stock for a bit, it wasn't horrible or 'livable' it did the job. Is it as fast as a fusion or SSD no but it is hardly limping by and I saved a few bucks. If anything truly is the weak point on this model, in my opinion, it is the 8GB of RAM.

This is totally valid.

Look, the best option is 1 tb SSD, without a doubt. Nobody is debating that, and if you are, you shouldn't be.

However it costs what? $1k? Give me a break.

I'd choose the 2 or 3 tb fusion over the small sized flash storage options, the reason being I 'keep the stuff on the computer'. I like to keep my stuff on the actual computer. So I'll go with the great and adequate fusion.

Now, if my budget didn't allow for any kind of storage upgrade at all, I would purchase the 7200 rpm with no qualms. Why you might ask? Because I can easily fit that sucker with a nice, external SSD. And boot from that keeping only the OS, system settings, and apps on the external SSD. Then the bulk of my data is on the internal. Seems better to me.