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iMac returned... maybe a Mac Pro?

H

hemmick reef

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 2, 2012
33
0
I just returned this machine:

2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
2560 x 1440 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive1
AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

It was sluggish when running Adobe Illustrator CS6 for my business purposes. Instead of going for a higher spec iMac (should I really need to?) I'm wondering if a Mac Pro with its up-gradable options may have a bit more longevity and work out as the more economical choice?
I would buy another Dell 24" Ultrasharp screen for the Mac Pro, which I already like and have for my PC.
 
I switched from a high end iMac to a Mac Pro and feel it was a great move.

The advise your probably going to get at this point and time is wait to see what new line of iMac's Apple announce.
 
dmax35 said:
I switched from a high end iMac to a Mac Pro and feel it was a great move.

The advise your probably going to get at this point and time is wait to see what new line of iMac's Apple announce.
Click to expand...

You're probably correct. Are the Mac Pro's about to be upgraded.

I'm always a bit skeptical about integrated screens as I have had monitors come and go when using PC's and if the iMac screen fails the whole machine is affected.
 
Hmm maybe there was an issue with that iMac, my 21.5 inch with lower spec runs illustrator absolutely fine no problems and photoshop and mudbox. I know the resolution is smaller but I run them using 2 monitors and all at the same time.
 
ri0ku said:
Hmm maybe there was an issue with that iMac, my 21.5 inch with lower spec runs illustrator absolutely fine no problems and photoshop and mudbox. I know the resolution is smaller but I run them using 2 monitors and all at the same time.
Click to expand...

Is that Illustrator CS6?
Do you get any screen lag when panning? If I opened a new file typed a couple of letters then placed the pan hand and panned the screen at average speed in circles the text would slowly follow the pan hand around the screen trying to catch up.
By the way I should of said that I had a replacement iMac but it did the same thing so that one also went back - could I have been unlucky twice?
 
hemmick reef said:
Is that Illustrator CS6?
Do you get any screen lag when panning? If I opened a new file typed a couple of letters then placed the pan hand and panned the screen at average speed in circles the text would slowly follow the pan hand around the screen trying to catch up.
By the way I should of said that I had a replacement iMac but it did the same thing so that one also went back - could I have been unlucky twice?
Click to expand...

Hmm unlikely that you would have the same fault twice I guess. I don't normally use the pan tool I just scroll around the page with my mouse that supports 4 way scrolling. Its only a trial of cs6 illustrator, but photoshop is cs6 and working fine. Mudbox is way more taxing than both photoshop and illustrator combined and that runs smooth as butter on my iMac with a significantly slower GPU than the one you had as well. Seems odd :S
 
ri0ku said:
Hmm unlikely that you would have the same fault twice I guess. I don't normally use the pan tool I just scroll around the page with my mouse that supports 4 way scrolling. Its only a trial of cs6 illustrator, but photoshop is cs6 and working fine. Mudbox is way more taxing than both photoshop and illustrator combined and that runs smooth as butter on my iMac with a significantly slower GPU than the one you had as well. Seems odd :S
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help - no, I am perplexed by the whole thing!
 
hemmick reef said:
I just returned this machine:

2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
2560 x 1440 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive1
AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

It was sluggish when running Adobe Illustrator CS6 for my business purposes. Instead of going for a higher spec iMac (should I really need to?) I'm wondering if a Mac Pro with its up-gradable options may have a bit more longevity and work out as the more economical choice?
I would buy another Dell 24" Ultrasharp screen for the Mac Pro, which I already like and have for my PC.
Click to expand...

out of curiosity, what computer did you use before the imac ?
 
Tankmaze said:
out of curiosity, what computer did you use before the imac ?
Click to expand...

The one I'm back on, a dual core 4 year old average spec Dell running Illustrator CS3 - no screen lag whatsoever.

Just to note, I load up Cubase 5 at one point before the iMac went back. It's an intensive music sequencer - it ran like a dream...

But I need Illustrator to work efficiently as it's the software I use for my income.
 
hemmick reef said:
The one I'm back on, a dual core 4 year old average spec Dell running Illustrator CS3 - no screen lag whatsoever.

Just to note, I load up Cubase 5 at one point before the iMac went back. It's an intensive music sequencer - it ran like a dream...

But I need Illustrator to work efficiently as it's the software I use for my income.
Click to expand...

Have you check the imac using hardware test, and does the 8GB ram an upgrade on the store or did you upgrade it yourself ?

and did you see the page outs on the ram ? i've used 8GB before on my imac and I also been dealing with large psd that consume memory, it runs very sluggishly when the memory runs out and had to use my external scratch disk.

and I don't get screen lag when panning on my machine, so it seems weird that your machine behave that way.

your imac system can beat the mac pro Intel Xeon 5160 3000 MHz (4 cores)
you can look at this http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

what i'm trying to say maybe you should do some more testing before jumping to the mac pro. the system you have / had is good enough for running CS6.
 
i get the panning lag in Photoshop for about 2 seconds before it smooths out. I check my ram and it is not even close to being all used, I have an 8 Core mac pro 2.8ghz so it shouldn't be that. the only thing i can think of is CS6 is new and needs bug fixing or my graphics card is starting to die (8800gt)

edit: i just read that cs6 has that bug for the UI lag
 
Tankmaze said:
Have you check the imac using hardware test, and does the 8GB ram an upgrade on the store or did you upgrade it yourself ?

and did you see the page outs on the ram ? i've used 8GB before on my imac and I also been dealing with large psd that consume memory, it runs very sluggishly when the memory runs out and had to use my external scratch disk.

and I don't get screen lag when panning on my machine, so it seems weird that your machine behave that way.

your imac system can beat the mac pro Intel Xeon 5160 3000 MHz (4 cores)
you can look at this http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

what i'm trying to say maybe you should do some more testing before jumping to the mac pro. the system you have / had is good enough for running CS6.
Click to expand...

I upgraded to 8 gigs with Apple when I bought the iMac.
I checked the RAM and it was using about 3.5 gigs with my Illustrator, Safari, PS Elements open.

----------
turtlez said:
i get the panning lag in Photoshop for about 2 seconds before it smooths out. I check my ram and it is not even close to being all used, I have an 8 Core mac pro 2.8ghz so it shouldn't be that. the only thing i can think of is CS6 is new and needs bug fixing or my graphics card is starting to die (8800gt)

edit: i just read that cs6 has that bug for the UI lag
Click to expand...

I would actually be happy with a Mac mini if it would run Illustrator CS6 - it should be able to!
 
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