Looking for advice about Apple Repair...

[Glockworkorange]

Thank you! I am not a huge gamer, but occasionally like to play games like Battlefield 1 and 4, some other FPS’s, and maybe Madden 18. Nothing crazy, and I guess that is what my Xbox One S is for, and now with eGPU support I could make a pretty good gaming machine.

Always wanted an iMac, but Mac laptops have just been what I needed. What is the best gpu for each iMac? I apologize, I am helping take care of my Grandparents and only have time to post and then check back when I get a chance. Dinner time is coming up, and that is on me so I do not have time to even open my MBP up. Typing all this on my iPhone X. Thanks again in advance!

I have a 4K LG ultrafine panel 21 inch. I believe it is the same panel as the iMac 4K. I can absolutely tell the difference between the 4 and 5K. Before you say, "wait, it's the size!" I also have a 27 inch Samsung 4K screen and while both 4k screens are great, neither compares well to the 5K.

The 5K really is that good.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I have a 4K LG ultrafine panel 21 inch. I believe it is the same panel as the iMac 4K. I can absolutely tell the difference between the 4 and 5K. Before you say, "wait, it's the size!" I also have a 27 inch Samsung 4K screen and while both 4k screens are great, neither compares well to the 5K.

The 5K really is that good.

Hmm, now you have me thinking hard about this! I mean 5k sounds great, but I’ll have to see what they have in refurb. I would consider buying a new one, but definitely not the maxed out model. I would want the best GPU, good amount of RAM, and a really good CPU but not the the max they offer.

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

 

[Glockworkorange]

Hmm, now you have me thinking hard about this! I mean 5k sounds great, but I’ll have to see what they have in refurb. I would consider buying a new one, but definitely not the maxed out model. I would want the best GPU, good amount of RAM, and a really good CPU but not the the max they offer.

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

Refurb has some great deals. If you demands are not too high, might want to look into a 2015 5K. The display and SSD, to me as a non-photo/video/programer whatever, are the most important features.
[doublepost=1522542744][/doublepost]Of all that is on the refurb page right now, this is the one I would buy: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...uad-core-Intel-Core-i5-with-Retina-5K-display

My feeling on fusion drives is they are a decent option if the flash portion is at least 128 GB. My first 5K was a 2014 with a one TB hard drive and a 128 SSD. I don't store a lot on the internal drive and I didn't recognize any speed issues.

 

[Fishrrman]

SRLM wrote in reply 23:
"Would I really notice a difference between the 4k and 5k iMac?"

Yes.
You will.

"Basically what would you guys recommend?"

27" 5k iMac.
You WILL NEVER regret buying the larger one, once you have it.

 

[Glockworkorange]

SRLM wrote in reply 23:
"Would I really notice a difference between the 4k and 5k iMac?"

Yes.
You will.

"Basically what would you guys recommend?"

27" 5k iMac.
You WILL NEVER regret buying the larger one, once you have it.

I second that. You will absolutely not regret buying it and once you do, you will be so spoiled that you want that 5K panel everywhere—anything less won’t cut it. That’s why I ended up biting the bullet for the LG Ultrafine 5K to pair with the iMac as a second monitor.

 

[Lunder89]

@SRLMJ23
The only graphics card I could find a proper benchmark off was the Radeon Pro 555 in entry level 4K iMac.
More can be seen here. But it won't fare well. It is quite a bit slower than the AMD R9 M390 I have in my 2015 5K iMac.
And my 5K iMac is not a gaming monster. It handles most new games at medium graphics at 1920x1080. Older games can go into the high graphics presets.

From what I can gather the entry level 5K iMac with the AMD Radeon Pro 570, it seems it is compared on several sites with the nVidia GTX 1060 (Which is very decent), though the information is scarce (Meaning unreliable). As far as I know, Battlefield hasn't been released for Mac, so you would need to have Bootcamp/Windows to play those games.

I would wait a little before pulling the trigger on eGPU for Mac. Seems they have a lot of work to on that yet.