iMac specifications?

[Wanted797]

I am in the market for a new iMac to be rid of my old PC and am unsure about what specifications I should go with.

I am looking at getting the 27" 3.2Ghz model which in in Australia at $2199

I will be looking to get some upgrades and extras, first of all Apple Care which adds $189 making it $2388. I was hoping to spend about $2500 on the machine but I can go a little over I just prefer it didn't start getting close to $3000. So that's the challenge.

As for RAM I will keep it standard and upgrade that myself once I receive it (ALOT cheaper than paying Apple).

Storage I was wanting a 3TB fusion drive but that proves too costly and think I will do just fine a 1TB fusion drive and external storage.

I plan on using the machine for video editing of HD video and possibly the occasional gaming. The main thing I was unsure about was whether the graphics card would be good enough? I was considering the 2.9Ghz model but thought it best to opt for this model which comes standard with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1GB GDDR5 but is it worth the $175 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5??

Now from what I've seen video editing doesn't rely heavily on the graphics card and that I could be better suited spending the money on the CPU to get the 3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 over the default i5. I wanted a second opinion?



http://store.apple.com/au/configure/MD096X/A?

 

[maflynn]

I'm not sure about the graphics card, but you don't have to buy applecare the day of purchase for the iMac. You have up until a year, so if you want a bit more wiggle room you can delay the purchase of that and get it from amazon or other places for less money then what apple charges (the same exact apple care warranty)

 

[snapdragonx]

I plan on using the machine for video editing of HD video and possibly the occasional gaming. The main thing I was unsure about was whether the graphics card would be good enough? I was considering the 2.9Ghz model but thought it best to opt for this model which comes standard with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1GB GDDR5 but is it worth the $175 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5??

Now from what I've seen video editing doesn't rely heavily on the graphics card and that I could be better suited spending the money on the CPU to get the 3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 over the default i5. I wanted a second opinion?



http://store.apple.com/au/configure/MD096X/A?

It depends. If your editing software takes advantage of CUDA, you're definitely going to benefit from the 680MX as it has a lot more CUDA cores than the 675MX.

You're also really going to benefit from the i7 CPU. It has hyper threading (which effectively gives it 8 cores), which really helps with rendering.

If you can't afford the i7 AND the 680MX, I'd recommend the i7 and the 675MX. The i7 is a really big step up from the i5 in every way.

 

[Wanted797]

It depends. If your editing software takes advantage of CUDA, you're definitely going to benefit from the 680MX as it has a lot more CUDA cores than the 675MX.

You're also really going to benefit from the i7 CPU. It has hyper threading (which effectively gives it 8 cores), which really helps with rendering.

If you can't afford the i7 AND the 680MX, I'd recommend the i7 and the 675MX. The i7 is a really big step up from the i5 in every way.

... you don't have to buy applecare the day of purchase for the iMac. You have up until a year, so if you want a bit more wiggle room you can delay the purchase of that and get it from amazon or other places for less money then what apple charges (the same exact apple care warranty)

Thanks for the help guys I could easily just go all out I just cringe a little at the pricing and was hoping around the $2500ish margin as Maflynn said I could put off the AppleCare purchase for awhile to spread out the spend which I think I might do and spend the money getting the 680MX.

----------

Now there is still the decision on do I purchase now and receive an education discount or do I hold out for possible new models (as this purchase is not urgent). However by waiting I may not be a student when the new models are released (Student until Nov/Dec).