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It the 27" still a good deal?

johannnn

johannnn

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 20, 2009
2,315
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Sweden
I have got a good deal on a new 27", i7 4ghz, 16gb ram, 256gb ssd, M390 gpu.
I know much more about Apple's laptop line. So if we compare to the 2016 15" MBP, how good is the screen (brightness, viewing angle etc), SSD speed and GPU?
Any major bottlebeck I should be aware of with the 27"? Does it run very hot (hate fan noise)?
 
I think it sounds like a good deal. I have the i5, 16 GB ram, 512 GB SSD, M390 my self. The fan can a little noisy when pushed to its limits. Mine usually only gets there while playing games, and the sound from the games masks the fan noise fine. But I am not super sensitive to fan noise. I grew up with noisy computers. (Ever heard an ATI Radeon 4870 at full speed? ;))

The SSD is plenty fast, when I copy around 2 GB video files, it takes less than 3 seconds. (From one place to another on the internal drive).

The GPU is good, but not awesome. I do play the new F1 2016 on it, 1920x1080 res, and what resembles medium graphics (all settings are provided by the game, and I havn't tampered with it) With Metal I did expect to be able to ramp it up a little more.

The 5k iMac is an IPS display and therefore have great viewing angels. It also has the good color gamut that was introduced to the MacBook Pro line-up in October.
In the writing moment I have the sun in my eyes and the brightness on the display enough, I can see fine.
 
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poobear said:
Does it run very hot (hate fan noise)?
Click to expand...
My iMac runs in the 35 to 45 degree range and only rarely do I hear any fan noise. I have the M395 model and its very fast. I cannot compare how it stacks up against the 2016 MBP, because I don't have that laptop. I suspect some of the componets on the MBP maybe faster (ssd), but the iMac overall should be faster.
 
poobear said:
I have got a good deal on a new 27", i7 4ghz, 16gb ram, 256gb ssd, M390 gpu.
I know much more about Apple's laptop line. So if we compare to the 2016 15" MBP, how good is the screen (brightness, viewing angle etc), SSD speed and GPU?
Any major bottlebeck I should be aware of with the 27"? Does it run very hot (hate fan noise)?
Click to expand...

It's got the best screen on any all in one with 5k pixel density, P3 colour gamut, to buy a 5k screen separately still costs at least $700 more like $1000 as a stand alone item. Yes they are still a bargain with a great little PC attached to that screen.
 
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If you do 3d rendering or use Zbrush or Final cut Pro or anything that remotely is taxing the CPU for more than 1-2 minutes, the fans will spin up. We have several at work and it's really annoying to hear the fans. I'm fortunate and have the late 2012 model and there the fans never spin up.
But on all the other models after 2012 the fans are loud and will start spinning up really fast.

If you're doing design work like Photoshop, illustrator and the rest you'll never hear the fans spinning up.
 
I just took delivery of my new top spec iMac 27in. Got the 2TB fusion with all the bells and whistles. I couldn't be bothered waiting. I has a 2009 model which served me well but the HD was slowing down and I just needed a new computer. I really like the display and the speed. The sound is really surprisingly better as well. I figure theres nothing in the updates when they come that I will especially need. Very happy with this iMac I have to say.
 
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Lunder89 said:
Congratulations with your new Mac. Sounds like a beast ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers. it's great. Truth is, I use it to listen to music, browse the web, watch Netflix etc. It's mostly media stuff. So it might be overkill with this set up, but I'll run this for at least 5 years, maybe more.
 
Just got a 27" i7 4GHz, M395, 24GB ram (put in 16GB myself), 512GB SSD.
So happy!

None of my peripherals are USB-C anyway so I'm gonna really enjoy this machine for a few years.
 
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I've had my maxed out everything except ssd (512Gb) imac for nearly two months now. Wrapped! Won't be any reason to upgrade this beast for a very very long time :)
 
czerney said:
I've had my maxed out everything except ssd (512Gb) imac for nearly two months now. Wrapped! Won't be any reason to upgrade this beast for a very very long time :)
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8GB more RAM than me and an extra X in the GPU name :)
I was actually looking at the MBP first (usually want 1st gen everything), but USB-C and touch bar will need some years to mature.
 
poobear said:
8GB more RAM than me and an extra X in the GPU name :)
I was actually looking at the MBP first (usually want 1st gen everything), but USB-C and touch bar will need some years to mature.
Click to expand...

MBP is a nice looking machine - I flipped back and forth between that an an iMac for a while but in the end went for the imac for its power and the screen realestate. I may have opted for the MBP with a couple or external monitors if I didn't already have the macbook. But the iMac and macbook is now working out to be the perfect combo for my needs.
 
czerney said:
MBP is a nice looking machine - I flipped back and forth between that an an iMac for a while but in the end went for the imac for its power and the screen realestate. I may have opted for the MBP with a couple or external monitors if I didn't already have the macbook. But the iMac and macbook is now working out to be the perfect combo for my needs.
Click to expand...
Same here. I also forgot to mention in the last post that the new butterfly keyboard also needs a few years to mature. Not gonna worry about stuck keys on the magic keyboard.
 
Of course the 27" 5k iMac is a good deal, objectively speaking.

Subjectively is a different matter. If you don't find value it what it offers its not such a good deal. This can be applied to anything you buy though.

Completely ignoring its all in one form factor you can't build a PC with identical specs at the same price point. And if you include form factor its literally impossible. The 5k display is the main issue. If you are willing to forgo that and maybe a couple other specs its may not be such a good deal to you personally. But that shouldn't negate from its overall value.

And we are going on 2 years since its initial release. Back in 2015 PCIe SSD's weren't even as commonplace as Apple made them in their systems and 5k was unheard of...

Aside from wanting the latest and greatest (namely Kaby Lake and faster GPU options) there isn't much reason not to buy one even 2 years later.

Many people get to caught up in CPU and GPU hardware specs when looking at Macs but they are only doing themselves a disservice. If you don't have an actual need for something then you are only ripping yourself off and usually justifying it as 'future proofing'. For example many would love to see a GTX 1080 in an iMac, and admittedly that would be cool however we are really bordering the line of overkill and unnecessary expense for the majority of Mac users. Those that can truly utilize all the potential of a GTX 1080 shouldn't be looking at Macs in the first place, because you'll be running into other bottlenecks preventing you from its full experience (monitor refresh rates and response time, RAM frequency, thermals vs noise, gsync, MacOS itself and its actual metal support vs Windows with DX and Vulkcan etc etc etc).

EDIT: Forgot to put my flame suit on....its on now though so let it rip...lol
 
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A top end nvidia 1080 would be nice and I definitely would have custom ordered it if it were available. But to be honest that would be more out of want not need. For me it'd be like buying a ferrari and then just driving it around town at 60km/h. :)
 
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