A few unanswered questions...

[joeysarks]

1. How much of a drag is using an external monitor for FCPX? I've never used an external screen for video editing, does it hinder the performance that much?

2. If I never use the HDD on the iMacs new fusion drive, does it even spin? I'll never go over the 128gb SSD so I was curious if i'd still be putting wear & tear on the HDD.

3. I've heard the MBPr's have had trouble with the vid card overheating. Would livestreaming gameplay from console or PC games at 2000kbps/720p/60fps or 30fps cause the vid card to get that hot? Or in general would the MBPr's slim figure have issues with that workload? I've heard it doesn't even get warm but I don't buy it, they must have been streaming 360p gameplay.

4. I've heard they're goin to "silently" fix the overheating issues. Is that gonna be a hardware fix or a software fix?

5. Is gaming thru an external monitor a big no-no? I'd keep it pretty relaxed still...good settings/30fps. I feel guilty when the fans on a laptop are loud

6. If I wanna test the MBPr with all these things to see if it can handle it before I consider a maxed 21.5 iMac, would it be a good idea to buy a MBPr from the refurb store, and then switch out for the iMac if I feel it needs more desktop power?

7. If I wanna use an ethernet connection for a more steady feed so there's no dips while live streaming, would that make much of a difference between MBPr and an iMac?

 

[-jc]

1. How much of a drag is using an external monitor for FCPX? I've never used an external screen for video editing, does it hinder the performance that much?

Don't see why it would, as long as you're running on modern hardware and have sufficient RAM/a good GPU, etc.

2. If I never use the HDD on the iMacs new fusion drive, does it even spin? I'll never go over the 128gb SSD so I was curious if i'd still be putting wear & tear on the HDD.

I might be wrong, but it is still a spinning drive, so it will still spin.

3. I've heard the MBPr's have had trouble with the vid card overheating. Would livestreaming gameplay from console or PC games at 2000kbps/720p/60fps or 30fps cause the vid card to get that hot? Or in general would the MBPr's slim figure have issues with that workload? I've heard it doesn't even get warm but I don't buy it, they must have been streaming 360p gameplay.

Hopefully someone who owns one here can do some tests for you and post the temps they got.

4. I've heard they're goin to "silently" fix the overheating issues. Is that gonna be a hardware fix or a software fix?

Maybe a firmware update. But I ramp up the fans on all my Macs anyway, using smcFanControl.

5. Is gaming thru an external monitor a big no-no? I'd keep it pretty relaxed still...good settings/30fps. I feel guilty when the fans on a laptop are loud

A MBP will run hot, no matter how you game. I set the fans to 6000rpm for gaming on my non-retina MBP.

6. If I wanna test the MBPr with all these things to see if it can handle it before I consider a maxed 21.5 iMac, would it be a good idea to buy a MBPr from the refurb store, and then switch out for the iMac if I feel it needs more desktop power?

You could actually buy a new one, then return within 14 days - Apple will accept it back and refund, no questions asked.

http://www.apple.com/legal/sales_policies/retail_us.html

7. If I wanna use an ethernet connection for a more steady feed so there's no dips while live streaming, would that make much of a difference between MBPr and an iMac?

Well, you'd need the adapter since the retina MBP does not have an Ethernet port.

Hope that helps.