Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

i7 27" iMac (2011) or i5 27" iMac (5K)

PlainviewX

PlainviewX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 4, 2013
916
1,870
Possibly looking to get a new iMac. Both systems would have 32 gigs of ram. Price difference is not an issue. Heavy graphics and medium video work and looking for which one will give me the best performance.

2011 vid card = AMD Radeon HD 6970M
5k vid card = AMD Radeon 2GB R9 M395
 
UnionVGF said:
Possibly looking to get a new iMac. Both systems would have 32 gigs of ram. Price difference is not an issue. Heavy graphics and medium video work and looking for which one will give me the best performance.

2011 vid card = AMD Radeon HD 6970M
5k vid card = AMD Radeon 2GB R9 M395
Click to expand...

The 5k has a much better graphics card, that simple really, to be honest try and make sure it has at least a 2Tb fusion or SSD as well, that is the main issue with the iMac these days, the spinning HDD that comes as standard is a dog and ruins the performance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PlainviewX
UnionVGF said:
Possibly looking to get a new iMac. Both systems would have 32 gigs of ram. Price difference is not an issue. Heavy graphics and medium video work and looking for which one will give me the best performance.

2011 vid card = AMD Radeon HD 6970M
5k vid card = AMD Radeon 2GB R9 M395
Click to expand...

When you say graphics work, do you mean heavy 3d graphics? Or photo editing/graphic design? Because if you plan on doing heavy video/3D graphics work, i.e. 1 minute+ 4k compositions, neither of these is up to the task. You're really going to want a desktop with a decent GPU instead of the low-end mobile GPU's in iMacs. But if you only work with fairly short 720p or 1080p comps, or photos, etc. the 5k iMac will do okay. But for reference, the GPU performance of the 5k iMac is still only about half that of modern mid-tier $150-200 cards.

As a side note, I'm also fairly certain Apple has had a lot of trouble with the 6970m, so I would avoid it entirely.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PlainviewX
If I work with 4K it won't be intensive. Simple cuts, dissolves, titles, etc.

Graphics work is Adobe's Creative Suite. No 3D.

I could go the PC route, but then that would take Final Cut Pro out of the equation if I want to use that instead of Premier for certain projects.
 
Can't see a single reason to buy a 2011 iMac (great machines that they are, I have one) if you can afford a 2015 5k. But as noted above, make sure you get an SSD or a 2TB Fusion Drive.
 
It seems the 2011 isn't an option as it's too dated now. Thanks for the feedback guys and gals.
 
5k. I don't even know why the 2011 is in the mix as an option in this, as you're talking about an entirely different class of desktop.
 
atlas_0 said:
That's fair, but a 2011 i7 is trounced by a 2015 i5.
Click to expand...
With Apple not going all out with the last refresh, from what I've read, I wasn't sure if there would be much of a tangible power difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back