Best BTO iMac for my needs

[jsnbrown1989]

I've been visiting the MacRumors forums for quite a while and I've learned alot from the topics being discussed. Thanks for those who have been providing the info!

This is my first real topic here so I know I will be making some mistakes such as even posting a recommendation thread like this, (I think I've seen some others that have had harsh replies) but I would love to have some help.

I am trying to decide what iMac I really need. I want a 27" and I would love to have the power of an i7 processor, but beyond that I don't know what is a need and what is a want..

I use a lot of Adobe software (Ps, Ae, Sb, Pr) and my poor Windows laptop about dies when trying to export some projects. (i5, 4gb ram).

My dream BTO mac is I7 Processor, 4gb Ram (Upgradable), 2tb hd w/256 ssd, the best graphics card but unless I'm mistaken, I will need to buy a new adobe license to use with a Mac (didn't get the universal license) so I would like to save as much on my iMac as possible.

Any suggestions?

Also, for other Windows Converts, I use MS Publisher 2010 ALOT on my pc and MS Word doesn't look no where near as easy to toy with and I haven't played with Pages much yet but the videos makes me wonder if it has similar enough functionality. Is there a good Pub equivalent on a Mac or is using Windows in Bootcamp my best option?

 

[Bear]

Plan on buying 8GB of ram (2x4GB) from Crucial or some other company (roughly US$45 right now) as 4GB isn't really enough.

Also, Adobe used to offer cross platform upgrades. You should contact them and see if they still do that. It will cost less than buying the software again.

 

[jsnbrown1989]

Thanks Bear.

I actually would love to mac out the ram to 32gb although I know I will never use 32gb of ram, but just to say I have 32gb of ram.

I'm more looking at everything else. Would I have a need for the higher graphics card? SSD, I know is a luxury but I know those who get it say they will never turn back and should I go with a 2tb hard drive or stick with using a LaCie usb 2.0 hard drive (Since although the odds are iMac 2012 will have USB 3.0, it hasn't been announced or released so we can't know for sure).

 

[macmastersam]

Thanks Bear.

I actually would love to mac out the ram to 32gb although I know I will never use 32gb of ram, but just to say I have 32gb of ram.

I'm more looking at everything else. Would I have a need for the higher graphics card? SSD, I know is a luxury but I know those who get it say they will never turn back and should I go with a 2tb hard drive or stick with using a LaCie usb 2.0 hard drive (Since although the odds are iMac 2012 will have USB 3.0, it hasn't been announced or released so we can't know for sure).

i would suggest that you should definatly upgrade the iMac to 32GB of RAM (but with aftermarket as it is cheaper), as adobe software uses a ton of it and yo dont want to go short, do you? but you can get faster 1600mhz faster ram @16GB if you want that

anyway, what is your budget? i would suggest getting the highest-end iMac with the 3.4 ghz i7 as it will help with rendering.

can i also ask what the specs are of you laptop? as in the graphics card? dual core or quad core i5? you said adobe software seems to tire it out a lot? because i would suggest the 2GB VRAM on the highest-end iMac i suggested if your graphics card has got a decent amount of memory in it (if it is dedicated graphics).

EDIT: i would also suggest getting the hard drive that you are most likey going to need (is 2TB too much for you?) and adding an aftermarket 256/512GB ssd on top of it, if you can afford that too. And get the OS and the adobe software to boot up on your SSD (and the user files on your hard drive), for super fast performance the more you have, the faster your application can boot up!

if you dont know how to boot from a mac SSD, here is a search result i got when i typed this in:

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourc....2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=971

or even better, this:
http://macintoshhowto.com/hardware/how-to-speed-up-your-mac-with-a-ssd-drive.html

 

[throAU]

Whatever you do, upgrading an iMac to 16gb these days is very very cheap compared to the cost of the machine.

like... 16gb in 4x4gb sticks = under 100 dollars?

 

[Bear]

...
I'm more looking at everything else. Would I have a need for the higher graphics card? SSD, I know is a luxury but I know those who get it say they will never turn back and should I go with a 2tb hard drive or stick with using a LaCie usb 2.0 hard drive (Since although the odds are iMac 2012 will have USB 3.0, it hasn't been announced or released so we can't know for sure).

Okay, presuming you're getting the top end iMac, the extra $100 for the video card is nothing. It all depends on what else you may be running. What software changes happen over time etc. Also if you start playing games on the system, that makes a difference. This is a tough call.

As for your disk question, I would recommend still getting the drive internally. It's less desk space, less cables and less power outlets used.

And of course my answers are somewhat based on the current iMacs. The answers could change depending on what Apple announces for the next set of iMacs.