Help in deciding which 2017 5K 27" iMac

[bigredmachine]

Hi All,

I am looking to purchase the latest 27" iMac but still undecided on the final spec.

I have read the thread numerous times and the ones of interest were the noise and heat levels.

I am looking to use the machine for web development using coda and sublime edit and run some VMs for some light visual studio work and cross platform testing.

I will also be using the iMac for photo editing images from aD750 via Capture One Pro and video editing 1080p footage from a D750 or 4k footage from a mobile or Panasonic GX80 via either DaVinci Resolve or FCPX. A majority of this editing will be for personal projects.

The remaining use will be for admin tasks. The machine will mostly be used in the evenings and weekends.

I originally was looking at the base spec 27 i5 but upping the storage to SSD and getting a 4TB external USB-C drive or a Drobo setup over a 2TB fusion drive and then getting 16GB RAM from Crucial. I did consider a 1TB SSD but might be better suited to getting an external drive?

I then started looking at all the options and thinking I need the faster GPU or i7 but don't want something that is overkill and spending needlessly as I still want to get a portable sidekick for the iMac of some sort.

Would the base 27 suffice with the RAM and SSD upgrade or should I start looking at the i5/575 or i5/580 or even contemplate the i7?

I am looking to buy from the following re-seller as they currently have 10% and offer two year warranty. All the options are listed of what I could get.

Thanks,

BRM

 

[casperes1996]

Would the base 27 suffice with the RAM and SSD upgrade or should I start looking at the i5/575 or i5/580 or even contemplate the i7?

The model you've specified would suffice I'd say. Video editing is the only really tough thing on the machine I'd say. All the other things can easily be done nicely by the base model. If you for the most part stay in FCPX you should be pretty well set though. DaVinci is a lot heavier on the system, as it keeps the raw footage in memory, whereas FCPX uses linked and optimised footage (if you allow it). – In fact, a MacBook (not pro) can run FCPX about as well as a max spec MacBook Pro can run Adobe Premiere, and DaVinci is a bit more intense (at times) than Premiere..... Food for thought that is.

 

[bigredmachine]

Thanks for the information on how the video software utilises system resources. I have run FCPX in the past on a 2009 MacBook Pro and a 2013 MacBook Air and was surprised at how well it handled things apart from rendering times and adding effects.

The base GPU isn't a slouch either nor the i5 Quad but maybe just getting suckered into wanting to upgrade all the components into the latest and greatest.

 

[MarkC426]

I have never heard of this reseller, always used Apple or Jigsaw24.
I have just looked at the spec I was looking at on Apple's site, it is cheaper as you say, but it also does say any configured to order models are built by Apple.

They say bespoke orders are normally 2 weeks, but the same spec I was looking at on Apple is 3-4 weeks (for some reason if you select 512 SSD it's 3-4 weeks, if you select 1TB 7-10 days, but £360 more )

 

[bigredmachine]

I only discovered the reseller last week. I rung them up on Friday and they did confirm that orders are built by Apple and their lead times would be similar. The two weeks was a best case scenario at the moment.

What spec were you looking at? They sadly don't do the base spec with 1TB which I found odd. The offer is only until Sunday so really want to nail down my spec and order to make the saving.

Jigsaw24 had no offers and having the second year warranty is the added bonus. They seem to be mainly based in the Midlands and can buy online which is handy.

 

[MarkC426]

I was looking at an i7 16gb 512ssd spec.

 

[casperes1996]

The base GPU isn't a slouch either nor the i5 Quad but maybe just getting suckered into wanting to upgrade all the components into the latest and greatest.

I personally run a 2014 4790K + R9 M295X Fusion Drive, 16GB RAM + external SSD for extra video files, and you can always use more performance in video editing, but aside from extreme edge cases or stupid workflows (such as playing with 4k ProRes 4444 without proxies or anything), the performance is always good enough to work with, and often better than that too.

 

[bigredmachine]

I ended up ordering the base i5 and upgraded to 512 SSD and will be ordering a further 16GB from Crucial and setup an external SSD for any extra workflow project files.

I stuck to the base as I would only be using in the evenings and sporadically at the weekends. I will use the saved funds for the accessories mentioned above and saving for a portable device.

Can't wait to get it now.

 

[BJNY]

https://9to5mac.com/2017/07/17/imac-upgrade-i7-64gb-ram-youtuber/