Is the I7 overkill for me?

[gelie]

I'm planning on getting a new 27' Retina w/ 16gb of ram and a 512gb ssd. I'm coming from a mid 2010 21' w/8gb of ram. I'm pretty much using my IMac for day trading. I usually have about 2-3 windows open on Safari while using 7-10 tabs. I also use some proprietary software from outside venders. Obviously my current setup is quite slow. Is the new I7 over kill for my needs? TIA.

 

[antman2x2]

Yes it is.

 

[Sirmausalot]

I'm planning on getting a new 27' Retina w/ 16gb of ram and a 512gb ssd. I'm coming from a mid 2010 21' w/8gb of ram. I'm pretty much using my IMac for day trading. I usually have about 2-3 windows open on Safari while using 7-10 tabs. I also use some proprietary software from outside venders. Obviously my current setup is quite slow. Is the new I7 over kill for my needs? TIA.

Yes. You don't need the i7. And you might not even need 16GB of RAM. Certainly don't get it from Apple as you can buy it anywhere else and do it yourself in about 2 minutes.

 

[^^BIGMac]

Ummm...yeah it is!

 

[alexxk]

Yes indeed as others have said it!!

 

[BlackMamba14]

Had a similar use case for my iMac. What configuration would you recommend?

I was considering getting the 3.3 i5, M395 with SSD storage. And probably upgrading the ram down the road.

 

[gelie]

Thanks , exactly why is the I7 overkill? Would I not see any of the benefits? Its not a huge stretch being $250 more than the 3.3ghz I5?

 

[syndr0me]

None of the things you mention are particularly CPU intensive, so more CPU probably won't make a big difference in your experience. I'm in a similar boat. I opted for the additional CPU because the price increase wasn't a huge deal to me, and it helps future-proof the machine a bit more. I plan to keep it a while. And if you ever do any gaming, video editing, transcoding, etc., the extra CPU power will make a difference.

Few things in life bring me greater joy than having more space than I need. CPU headroom is included in that.

 

[syndr0me]

I think 16GB of RAM is the right choice. Possibly you could get by with 8, but I've found 16 to be the sweet spot for most things. And you can upgrade it yourself if you find RAM becoming an issue as your use case evolves.

 

[Designer Dale]

You can upgrade the RAM, add screens and increase the storage externally but not the CPU. The I7 represents a 9% surcharge but opens up the machine for a longer life, greater range of tasks and higher resale value.

Dale

 

[^^BIGMac]

Thanks , exactly why is the I7 overkill? Would I not see any of the benefits? Its not a huge stretch being $250 more than the 3.3ghz I5?

From why you said you're pretty much using the machine for surfing the internet. Not much need for a souped up i7. Now if you were heavy in to Final Cut or even doing heavy photo editing well then yeah ...do it! On the other hand if you have the money to spare go ahead. Not going to hurt anything having all that power.

 

[MacVault]

For day trading and web surfing all you need is an $800 acer and invest the other $2K

seriously!