and yet again another iMac enquiry (21.5 vs 27)

[fruu]

I feel like I've read and seen every review/video/benchmarks out there about the 2012 iMacs and now I'm more undecided than I was in the beginning...

My needs are mostly: Photoshop image editing (work), video processing (Final Cut).

Obviously I have a limited amount of money (still a youngster), so that's why I wanted to go with 21.5" which, in this config. seems to be better. Yet, a gamer inside of me weeps a little, because I know playing games on 21.5" is probably not such a great experience, given the card for example (that cannot be configured, jesus, for starters: 512 MB RAM, can somebody explain that to me...; I was even wondering, do you think it is possible they will make the card configurable in the future? i know, we never know, but still... sigh).

My main questions are: is it better to go with the 21.5" and maybe buy a console later this year and keep the work and play separated,
or is it better to starve oneself to the limit and go with the 27". I wanted SSD in my iMac since they made it available, but 256gb for somewhat a desktop computer is ridiculous, I know, plus gaming on iMac is still not its primary purpose, obviously...

configs I'm thinking about:

iMac 21.5"

i5 2,9 GHz / 16 GB RAM / SSD 512 GB

iMac 27"

i5 3,2 GHz / 16 GB (bought separately, not from Apple) / 1TB fusion (or 256GB SSD, but 256 seems like... ahaha really not enough), 680GTX 2 GB

Unfortunately, I'm not from the US so I cannot consider refurbished products.
Thanks guys!

 

[got556]

This is just my opinion. Ditch the console idea. Get a 21.5" for your photoshopping/editing needs. Build a sub $700 or so gaming rig. If you build something that isn't pushing bleeding edge tech, then it can be stable and reliable. Buy last years tech, and you will be GTG with decent FPS rates for the next few years. That is what I would do, if it were me. Crossfire a couple ATI cards ($200 or so), get a sandy bridge (not ivy, remember last years tech...budge) i5 or i7 2500, 16gb of ram, a decent PSU and a sub $50 case. Throw in a cheap cd/dvd-r drive, and you can easily do it sub $700. Then you can keep your mac, a mac, and game on something that was absolutely meant for gaming and nothing else. Now, you could easily surpass that budget if you start going with SSD's on the gaming rig, but if you bought a decent HDD you will be fine.

And if you go the two different setup route, throw the SSD in the mac. Again I don't feel you would need it for gaming. Sure you'll get quicker load times, but when you're actually playing, you will be fine with an HDD.

 

[Bear]

The US is not the only country that Apple sells refurbished products. If you can order through the online Apple Store in your country, do check for refurbished products. In the US, the 27" i7/1TB Fusion/680MX costs less than buying the 27"/i5/1TB fusion/680MX.

The l arger screen does help with photo and video editing. And depending on which video editing product you get, the graphics card in the system will make a difference as well. Is there a store you can go in to and play with both screen sizes and try some video or photo editing?