Just wanted to take the time to say THANKS to the folks here for posting benchmarks, teardowns, and buying advice. On Tuesday night I finally decided on a configuration. The prospect of a 3-4 week lead-time was disaapointing so I decided to take my chances and try calling Apple Stores. After coming up empty on Wednesday I got lucky on Thursday: it was the only one delivered with those specs in a 30-mile radius. In Southern CA, that's about 6 Apple Stores.
Now I'm trying to be patient because I won't have time to install the Samsung 830 SSD, install the OWC RAM, & transfer files until the weekend. I feel bad saying I got my iMac too soon when so many folks have been patiently waitng for their order since December.
I have an iPhone & iPad for web browsing & games, so 95% of the time on the iMac I'll be organizing & processing photos in Aperture. Photography is my hobby & I don't edit video (and probably won't any time soon), so opted for the larger screen instead of top-spec CPU & GPU. I feel like I'll be good for the next 3-4 years.
Old iMac: 2010 21.5" 3.06 i3, 8GB RAM, 512 VRAM, 1.5TB HD
New iMac: 2012 27" 3.2 i5, 16GB RAM, 1GB VRAM, 250GB SSD (internal) + 1.5TB HD (USB3)
Now I'm trying to be patient because I won't have time to install the Samsung 830 SSD, install the OWC RAM, & transfer files until the weekend. I feel bad saying I got my iMac too soon when so many folks have been patiently waitng for their order since December.
I have an iPhone & iPad for web browsing & games, so 95% of the time on the iMac I'll be organizing & processing photos in Aperture. Photography is my hobby & I don't edit video (and probably won't any time soon), so opted for the larger screen instead of top-spec CPU & GPU. I feel like I'll be good for the next 3-4 years.
Old iMac: 2010 21.5" 3.06 i3, 8GB RAM, 512 VRAM, 1.5TB HD
New iMac: 2012 27" 3.2 i5, 16GB RAM, 1GB VRAM, 250GB SSD (internal) + 1.5TB HD (USB3)