iMac 21,5" vs. iMac 27"

[CAUman]

Greetings from Germany!

I will buy an iMac next month and I'm not sure what configuration makes sense.

First of all: I will use the iMac for professional photo and some video editing. And ordinary things like surfing and text editing.
I present you two different variants, which are quite similar in price. I would like to have your opinion.

Version 1:

21.5 "- 1 TB SATA - 16GB RAM - 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 instead of i5 2.9 GHz - NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512 MB

Price: € 1,737

Version 2:

27 "- 1TB SATA - 16GB RAM - 2.90 GHz Quad-Core Intel i5 - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M with 512MB

Price: € 1,719

The 21.5 "with the i7 have a more powerful CPU as the i5 27", but I can not estimate if the "faster effect" would be recognizable. And which display would generally be better? A display with 21.5 "or one with 27"?

i would be glad about helpfully answers!

 

[SteveAbootman]

Welcome,

Couple thoughts for you:

1) if you're doing a lot of photo/video editing you'll really enjoy the extra screen real estate you get by going with the 27in

2) if you do go with that model, you can leave the RAM at 8gb and upgrade it yourself at a later time if you find you really need it. The prices Apple charges for RAM is too much

3) Take the money you save by not having to upgrade the ram and put it towards a 1tbfusion drive. This will give you the most bang for your buck.

It's doubtful you'd notice the bump to an i7 unless you're using applications that can take advantage of the hyper threading.

 

[Machinehead119]

I couldnt agree more - I do similar activities. Adobe suite/Logic Pro

I have a 27" iMac and its not only beautiful but perfect for multitasking. Not sure what I would do with out the big screen. I will say that dual monitor is easier to see two things at once (that's one way to look at it)

1) The real estate is awesome to have

2) Buy the ram off amazon (thats what I did) for like 1/4th of the price. I run 12GB and its trump. I love it

3) Fusion drive is amazing. Flash storage is win. It can load photoshop in like 3 seconds

Hope this helps!

-R

Discuss with me!
www.contemporarychatter.com

 

[firedept]

I have both a 20" iMac and 27" iMac. I do graphic and web design. I run CS6 on both. The 20" is good for the odd little job I require of it, but my 27" with fusion drive is my real work horse. The added screen is a bonus for the type of work you will use it for.

I agree with the above statements, in that, do not pay for extra RAM and get the fusion drive. Aftermarket RAM is so much cheaper and the fusion makes a significant difference as to warrant purchasing it.