New iMac 27" - 3.2GHz model or 3.4?

[barcahawkeyes]

Hi, first post. I'm upgrading from a 2009 MacBook to a new Haswell iMac. I know I'm going with the 27" screen but am unsure whether the $1799 or $1999 model is right for me. I'm a graphic designer and regularly have multiple Adobe CS programs open at the same time (Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc). I also stream video frequently.

Seems that the only differences between the two models are processor speed and the graphics card. I don't really know anything about either of these so I'm not sure if the upgrade is worth it in my situation. I'm willing to put up another $200 but I don't want to if I'm not going to see significant boosts. Planning on using this computer for a good five years. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Adgeman]

I'm going to be using my 27" for similar apps. I opted for the 3.4 i5 and the 4gb gfx cards as this seemed like a good compromise between cost and power. I was chatting with a guy at the Apple store today and he said the i7 was a little overkill especially since the Adobe apps aren't coded to get the most out of the i7 processor's hyper-threading.

 

[/V\acpower]

Both are very good machines.

My opinion is that you should take the 1799$ model and upgrade it with an internal SSD. (256 GB)

It will be about 1999$ and you will see a clear and very noticeable difference with the "stock" 1999$ option.

Your apps will open very quickly, and any caching that your Adobe CS app will do will also be way faster.