iMac for Logic, photo editing, Final Cut

[DaveLicky]

Hello all,

I'm new to this game, but have been lusting after either a MBP or iMac for about 5 years. I think I've decided on an iMac (higher spec for the money), but I'd really appreciate some speccing advice from those more knowledgeable about these things than me...

I'm looking to mainly use the machine for "prosumer" music production (Logic Studio, using audio recording, virtual instruments), semi-professional photo editing (Photoshop etc) and some amateur film editing / production, in that order.

I'm looking at at 27" 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM with upgrade (through Crucial or similar) to 12 or 16GB, 1TB HDD, AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5.

Questions:
- Would this machine be capable of the smoothly running the duties listed above?
- Would the ~£400 cost of upgrading to 3.4GHz i7 be worth it for what I'd use the machine for?
- Would the graphics card need upgrading for video editing work?
- Or (the never-ending question I know) should I wait for the next iMac refresh? Any idea what's expected and when?

Cheers guys and girls.

 

[Smithy1802]

Just to let you know about photo editing, rather than use photoshop, try the seashore app. It does many of the things photoshop does but doesn't cost a penny. I was surprised at how good it was.

Unfortunately I can't advise on your other questions as I have never done music production

 

[0000757]

I would recommend moving to the highest spec ($1999) iMac, or at least upgrading to 8GB+ of RAM, but we use Intel Core 2 Duo 24" iMacs at school for Adobe CS4 products + Final Cut Pro so you should be safe with the one you have now, but it would be extremely beneficial to upgrade the RAM, but to do it aftermarket (if you're comfortable with that) since it's cheaper that way. You can also upgrade the iMac all the way to 32GB of RAM (If you ever really needed that).

Either way, that system should be fine, just upgrade the RAM later on.

 

[talmy]

- Would this machine be capable of the smoothly running the duties listed above?

Not a problem. IMHO having over 8GB of RAM would not be noticeable.

- Would the ~£400 cost of upgrading to 3.4GHz i7 be worth it for what I'd use the machine for?

"Worth it" for non-professional (not income producing) is subjective. The greatest performance improvement would be for video production.

- Would the graphics card need upgrading for video editing work?

No

- Or (the never-ending question I know) should I wait for the next iMac refresh? Any idea what's expected and when?

The rule is: if you need it now, buy it, but if you don't, wait. There is nothing in the next iMac that you need that isn't in the current model.