Configuring New iMac

[CiciOfSteele]

I'm getting a new computer for college and have been researching various options. I've decided on the iMac because I use my iPad for all mobile purposes.

My late 2008 MacBook has been hanging out on my desk ever since I got my iPad as well.

For computer use, I basically use office software, casual gaming, and some photo and video editing (I've been using my Dad's 27" iMac for the latter).

So... Looking at configurations, I've decided that 21.5" high-end would be best for me, along with the i5 processor and 16gb of RAM (unless someone here suggests otherwise).

Now where I'm stuck is deciding between the 256gb flash storage + external hard drive or the 1tb fusion drive.

Any suggestions?

 

[yjchua95]

I'm getting a new computer for college and have been researching various options. I've decided on the iMac because I use my iPad for all mobile purposes.

My late 2008 MacBook has been hanging out on my desk ever since I got my iPad as well.

For computer use, I basically use office software, casual gaming, and some photo and video editing (I've been using my Dad's 27" iMac for the latter).

So... Looking at configurations, I've decided that 21.5" high-end would be best for me, along with the i5 processor and 16gb of RAM (unless someone here suggests otherwise).

Now where I'm stuck is deciding between the 256gb flash storage + external hard drive or the 1tb fusion drive.

Any suggestions?

I have the 3.1GHz i7/16/256/750M model, and I highly recommend the 256GB variant for the sake of pure speed and reliability.

 

[smithrh]

I have the 3.1GHz i7/16/256/750M model, and I highly recommend the 256GB variant for the sake of pure speed and reliability.

Yep - I went to SSD boot with HDD backup and large/infrequent file storage (2 HDDs) and the speed is wonderful.

Apple's fusion drive is great, it really is, but pure SSD is the way to go. In a few ways, I think fusion's time is coming to an end already.

 

[Velin]

No question, SSD. If you need storage, portable drives are so cheap now.

 

[henry72]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to get the base 27" iMac with 256 Flash Storage

- 3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
- 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
- 256GB Flash Storage
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5
- Magic Trackpad

I don't play games very often but sometimes I'd like to being able to play Diablo 3 and Far Cry 3 on Windows. Would these hardware be enough? Anyone using this iMac for gaming?

BTW, my high-end Late 2013 MacBook Pro can only run Diablo 3 around 30 FPS MAX. My question is whether NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory is better than NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5

Thanks in advance!

 

[yjchua95]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to get the base 27" iMac with 256 Flash Storage

- 3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
- 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
- 256GB Flash Storage
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5
- Magic Trackpad

I don't play games very often but sometimes I'd like to being able to play Diablo 3 and Far Cry 3 on Windows. Would these hardware be enough? Anyone using this iMac for gaming?

BTW, my high-end Late 2013 MacBook Pro can only run Diablo 3 around 30 FPS MAX. My question is whether NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory is better than NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5

Thanks in advance!

The GT750M and GT755M are almost identical, regardless of how much VRAM they have (unless you're playing X-Plane).

Myself, I use a 4GB GTX 780M iMac for gaming.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

The GT750M and GT755M are almost identical, regardless of how much VRAM they have (unless you're playing X-Plane).

Myself, I use a 4GB GTX 780M iMac for gaming.

That must be great! My 750m on my iMac get's an average of 45-50 fps and a high of around 85 - 90 (well looking up at the sky at 35,000ft gives me 170 fps ). This is with the games set at very high, 1080p, 4X AA, 4X AF... only thing switched of is HDR mode (which is a killer ). I'm amazed at how well it runs (especially for a computer that "can't game" as all yer ol PC gamers always say ).

I do have compress textures to save VRAM switched on (it was like that by default) and the game uses around 650MB of VRAM on average. What will switching off compression do? Higher VRAM usage but better frame rates?

And what is your performance/ settings with your killer 780m?

----------

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to get the base 27" iMac with 256 Flash Storage

- 3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
- 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
- 256GB Flash Storage
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5
- Magic Trackpad

I don't play games very often but sometimes I'd like to being able to play Diablo 3 and Far Cry 3 on Windows. Would these hardware be enough? Anyone using this iMac for gaming?

BTW, my high-end Late 2013 MacBook Pro can only run Diablo 3 around 30 FPS MAX. My question is whether NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory is better than NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 GB GDDR5

Thanks in advance!

They both perform around the same. You will easily run Diablo 3 maxed out at well above 60fps I would have thought. As for Far Cry 3, here is a video of the Iris Pro on the 21.5" iMac running it just fine. The 750m and 755m will perform quite a bit better than this when cranking up the settings though.