Looking for 4K iMac buying advice.

[warvanov]

I’m looking at getting a new 4K iMac. I love the design and the screen looks gorgeous, but I’m a little bit disappointed by the standard 1TB HDD option and the non-upgradable RAM. I would prefer to buy a refurbished model at a bit of a discount, but the odds of finding one with upgraded RAM and storage options is slim. So I will have to compromise, and that brings me to a few questions.

1) I would like solid state storage. This is sort of a dealbreaker as this is one of the main reasons I’m considering an upgrade at this time anyway. What is the performance difference between the 1TB Fusion drive and the 256GB SSD? I’m looking for real world experience or benchmarks.

2) Assuming that I buy a model with an SSD (or Fusion drive, if that’s sufficient), is 8GB of RAM sufficient, or should I seriously consider investing in more? I typically max out the RAM on my machines within a year of purchasing them which tends to help extend their life a bit, but if that’s not an option on this iMac then I’m worried about shooting myself in the foot by not taking this option while I can. Will the solid state storage will be sufficient to handle any future RAM deficiencies?

Thanks, and if these questions are too common or easily answerable, please point me in the right direction. I would very much appreciate it.

 

[NewtonPippin]

1) I'm not sure of the answer to your question, but I would seriously get the SSD... if you can stretch the budget, go for a 512GB SSD - Yes, you're spending a little bit more, but you're buying a high end desktop... don't settle. SSDs will prolong the life of your machine and make everything faster.

2) On the 4k iMac, get 16GB. 8GB will be fine for now, but assuming you want to hang onto this machine for beyond 3 years, the 4k iMac ram is not easily user-upgradable. So again, I'd bite the bullet and step up to the 16 so there are no regrets and that this machine will last you for a very very long time.

 

[Sirmausalot]

I’m looking at getting a new 4K iMac. I love the design and the screen looks gorgeous, but I’m a little bit disappointed by the standard 1TB HDD option and the non-upgradable RAM. I would prefer to buy a refurbished model at a bit of a discount, but the odds of finding one with upgraded RAM and storage options is slim. So I will have to compromise, and that brings me to a few questions.

1) I would like solid state storage. This is sort of a dealbreaker as this is one of the main reasons I’m considering an upgrade at this time anyway. What is the performance difference between the 1TB Fusion drive and the 256GB SSD? I’m looking for real world experience or benchmarks.

2) Assuming that I buy a model with an SSD (or Fusion drive, if that’s sufficient), is 8GB of RAM sufficient, or should I seriously consider investing in more? I typically max out the RAM on my machines within a year of purchasing them which tends to help extend their life a bit, but if that’s not an option on this iMac then I’m worried about shooting myself in the foot by not taking this option while I can. Will the solid state storage will be sufficient to handle any future RAM deficiencies?

Thanks, and if these questions are too common or easily answerable, please point me in the right direction. I would very much appreciate it.

The bet buying advice is: Don't. Either wait for the revision in October or get the 5K iMac with a 2TB fusion....

 

[NewtonPippin]

The bet buying advice is: Don't. Either wait for the revision in October or get the 5K iMac with a 2TB fusion....

Why? Not everyone needs Skylake processors...

 

[warvanov]

The bet buying advice is: Don't. Either wait for the revision in October or get the 5K iMac with a 2TB fusion....

Honestly, I think this might be the best advise for me. I would really like a new iMac, but it's not a necessity. I'll keep my eyes open for a refurbished model with an SSD, but otherwise I may wait until the next revision. In the mean time I'll be adding an SSD to my 2011 MBP in place of the optical drive, which hasn't seen much use lately anyway.

 

[Sirmausalot]

Why? Not everyone needs Skylake processors...

it's not directly about skylake. it's about 1. improved igpu with skylake and 2. it's a version 1.0 product.
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Honestly, I think this might be the best advise for me. I would really like a new iMac, but it's not a necessity. I'll keep my eyes open for a refurbished model with an SSD, but otherwise I may wait until the next revision. In the mean time I'll be adding an SSD to my 2011 MBP in place of the optical drive, which hasn't seen much use lately anyway.

the ssd will make a HUGE difference in the mbp. like a new machine and an inexpensive and relatively easy install. (but consider simply replacing the hdd instead for maximum performance)

 

[warvanov]

So I've continued to think about this. I've come to decide that the non-upgradable RAM on the 21.5" iMac is sort of a dealbreaker. I don't want to be saddled with 8GB of RAM for the next 5 years. That's how much I have on my five year old MBP.

So, I could get the basic 21.5" 4K model with the RAM upgrade for $1439 refurbished. That's without any other BTO options.

Alternately, I could opt for the basic 27" 5K model for $90 more. This is with just the basic 8GB of RAM, but I could easily upgrade this myself later on along with adding an external SSD. Plus, for that $90 I would get a faster processor, discrete graphics, and a much larger screen. It seems to be foolish to pass up this option.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

I recently moved up to the 27 - upgraded the RAM and am using external SSD, no regrets whatsoever. I'm with you, I like the option of being able to upgrade as I need or desire, it is a shame that the HDD isn't user upgradeable but I am really enjoying my purchase.