Anyone have an iMac with standard HD?

[S.B.G]

Good luck and enjoy you knew Mac.

 

[nrubenstein]

My iMac has a HDD and is no slouch (late 2013/2014 high end 21.5" iMac). I boot up in 35 seconds and it takes around 2 second to open Photoshop. All default apps apart from iMovie open in one bounce. I have even had people mistaken my iMac for one with a Fusion Drive because they think a HDD would be slow. All talk and no show really, most people where see that their new iMac with an SSD is faster than their 5-10 year old iMac with a HDD so they say "Oh SSD GOOD, HDD BAD". They never compare like for like so it's a pointless comparison.

And just for reference I am a graphic designer. I work with very large video (1080p, ProRes Blue Ray quality) that can commonly go over an hour in length, large photoshop files, 3D work... and not a problem.

I must agree with others here that it is crippling when a HDD computer pages out (runs out of RAM, so it has to page out to HDD) but OS X has a technique called RAM compressed that when the RAM is maxed out, it will compress inactive parts of memory so you can get more out of it. I have used 18.5GB of RAM on my 8GB of RAM iMac before paging out. On Windows, you may need 16GB, but with OS X and 8GB of RAM, you will be more than good!

In linear reads, an HDD can be as fast as an old SSD. With a well optimized drive layout, it'll be quick. It also helps that the iMacs have desktop drives in them. Laptop hard drives are brutally slow, so the gains from SSDs are even more dramatic.

The problem is that speed is very inconsistent. Access files that are spread in a sufficiently random pattern across a drive, and the speeds drop to kilobytes per second. A machine with an SSD will always read files at something like the same speed, which, under the right circumstances is literally thousands of times faster than an HD.

 

[Gav Mack]

I spend much of my time removing hard drives out of older Mac' and installing SSD with a bracket instead in the iMac.

But once you go SSD you never ever go back for booting an OS.

Personally myself, if I was buying new there would be no chance I would buy one with a spinning disk.

 

[nrubenstein]

I have used 18.5GB of RAM on my 8GB of RAM iMac before paging out. On Windows, you may need 16GB, but with OS X and 8GB of RAM, you will be more than good!

OS X may be better than Windows at memory management, but that isn't going to prevent your standard memory leaks and multitasking from eating RAM. And to be clear, I'm not even doing anything that I would call hard work here.

 

[Orangediva]

Just to update this - my new 27" iMac arrived last week, I'm all set up and have had no issues at all so far doing my usual stuff. In fact it is a joy to use and seems very fast and efficient. I haven't even upgraded the RAM yet, though I will likely do so.

Obviously things might change but perhaps not everyone needs an SSD or fusion drive. I've saved a lot of money but was restricted to a HDD stock model (I did go for the most expensive stock model to be fair) and non retina but I have no regrets. The screen is amazing and I installed and am using Yosemite with no problems at all.

My needs are basic and my new iMac seems to more than capable - and I've had none of the issues I'm constantly reading about here. So here she is:

 

[pcd109]

It has 8GB as standard, was planning on going to 16GB (Crucial seems widely recommended but I'll research a bit more before buying). What you are saying about running lots of stuff at once using up the RAM - I get that now, makes sense. TBH the most I'm likely to do at once is play iTunes while on the web or using pages but I get the feeling all this is addictive so who knows!

You can purchase an external SSD for a very low price(something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313456). Then just use CCC(carbon copy cloner http://bombich.com/ ) to transfer your system from your internal hdd to external ssd. In System Preferences(under the black Apple logo in top left corner) check for Start Up Disk and choose your external ssd. Done. As for ram, there is only one rule: get as much as you can. The more you have, the faster your machine will run, as well as apps. Better to have more ram then not to have at all. After a while you will want to edit your personal pictures and videos on your mac, trust me(iPhoto and iMovie are very easy to use). Your iMac(i assume it's the 27" model) can handle 32GB of RAM by the way. I will go for that and an external ssd and you will be setup for years with your usage pattern. So enjoy your new iMac, for home/office usage they are fantastic machines.

 

[Orangediva]

You can purchase an external SSD for a very low price(something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313456). Then just use CCC(carbon copy cloner http://bombich.com/ ) to transfer your system from your internal hdd to external ssd. In System Preferences(under the black Apple logo in top left corner) check for Start Up Disk and choose your external ssd. Done.

Ah, I've been wondering how you get your stuff from the hard drive to the SSD, that's the simplest explanation I've found! Thanks for the link too, I'm in the UK but I've found similar on Amazon UK.

Upping the RAM is definitely the first thing I'll do, the SSD can wait until I've learnt some new skills. Yes it's a 27" and I believe it can take up to 32 GB but I was planning on upping it to 16GB with a 2 x 4GB Crucial kit. I know more is always best but that is very affordable at around £60. Just one question - where is the little door to put it in?!

 

[pcd109]

Ah, I've been wondering how you get your stuff from the hard drive to the SSD, that's the simplest explanation I've found! Thanks for the link too, I'm in the UK but I've found similar on Amazon UK.

Upping the RAM is definitely the first thing I'll do, the SSD can wait until I've learnt some new skills. Yes it's a 27" and I believe it can take up to 32 GB but I was planning on upping it to 16GB with a 2 x 4GB Crucial kit. I know more is always best but that is very affordable at around £60. Just one question - where is the little door to put it in?!

Congrats on your new mac! The ram door is on the back of imac, behind support leg. You have instruction on your paperwork(with pictures too) how to place ram. or you can just watch this video - at min 5 is showing ram replacing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VovLc8vWasw Do not force the ram slots, and make sure to properly seat them. It's very easy to do it, don't worry. Glad i could help you.

 

[cynics]

HDD is fine on Yosemite. I transition between two 2013 i5 iMacs daily only difference is one has 24gb ram vs 32gb and HHD vs SSD).

Only thing that ever reminds me there is an SSD in one is when importing a movie into iTunes or something like that. And boot up (a RARE occurrence).

 

[Alimar]

I have had my iMac/HDD since February with no issues.

 

[abley22]

Nice setup, the iMac looks way better with yosemite, seems like a higher resolution screen after yosemite is installed, color and everything is better.
It looks like a old computer with mavericks, poor icons.

7200rpm disk is enough to not be to slow, its way faster than the mac mini 5400rpm disk.

Fusion is faster but you don't need it, i think its enough with the 7200rpm disk, good that apple donsnt put in 5400rpm in 27" iMac