New Imac advice please!

[ashj52]

Thanks guys!

 

[iMacDonald]

I'm considering the same i5 build but installing extra RAM myself.
It comes up as £2300 for me.With current Ram offers of around £270 for 32GB that is still £2000 less than base Imac Pro (best prices I've seen in UK at least).

I was seriously considering that base iMac Pro.
But I don't think I can justify only improved multi core speed which I probably won't use much off, better thermals which compared to i5 probably doesn't matter too much and a bigger SSD. 512GB is probably plenty considering I've been making do with 256GB for last 5 years.
I was considering 1TB SSD in my BTO but looking at a T5 external USB-C drive it probably works out more cost effectively going that route and I can then always partition that drive and even run TimeMachine with two backup drives which probably is a more important thing than getting an iMac in Space Grey.

I was also considering waiting for a new Mac Pro whenever that comes out but I am guessing at best/cheapest a base model would be £3500 (probably closer to £4000) and then Apple will try to sweet talk you into a £1499-£1999 5K/8K new Mac display which might be 30 inch+ to be fair.

For not too much more than what I paid for my first iMac back in 2010 I think £2300 is fair with what is included now.

 

[ashj52]

Thanks everyone for your help,so sorry but I am just puzzled on one final thing.

How significant would buying the

• 3.8GHz i5 processor vs 3.5GHz i5 processor be?

The 3.8ghz comes with the radeon 580 8 GB ram rather than the Radeon 575 4GB ram.

Am I going for overkill here in terms of my needs/the machine lasting me? The price difference is working out to roughly £190

Sorry again to bump this

 

[iMacDonald]

Thanks everyone for your help,so sorry but I am just puzzled on one final thing.

How significant would buying the

• 3.8GHz i5 processor vs 3.5GHz i5 processor be?

The 3.8ghz comes with the radeon 580 8 GB ram rather than the Radeon 575 4GB ram.

Am I going for overkill here in terms of my needs/the machine lasting me? The price difference is working out to roughly £190

Sorry again to bump this

From what I understand the bump to the higher graphics card and fastest i5 comes with a bigger power supply, thus the iMac runs hotter and you can probably hear the fan spin faster sooner.
That processor along with the i7 are ****K unlocked ones, meaning they can be overclocked and I guess that is why they need to run at higher power.

Many here say that extra heat/noise makes no difference to them but I personally think if you are going to go for extra performance over potentially less noise/heat you then might as well go all out and get the i7 as you gain significant advantage with hyper threading in applications that can take advantage of that.

For me it would either be the mid range i5 and keeping my purchase around the £2500 range or going all out, chasing performance and thus entering the £3000-£4000 range (£3300 minimum with Ram I'd want but probably end up with 64GB and then close to £3500-3600) and to be honest THEN I'd rather go for the iMac Pro because it's newer, even faster I/O and SSD, an even better graphics card, already has enough RAM on board, 1TB SSD by default and better cooling.

Unless you really require the extra ram on the graphics card for specific reasons (perhaps intense gaming or 2 external 5K displays or so?) I think the 3.5 / 575 would suit most people fine.

 

[ashj52]

From what I understand the bump to the higher graphics card and fastest i5 comes with a bigger power supply, thus the iMac runs hotter and you can probably hear the fan spin faster sooner.
That processor along with the i7 are ****K unlocked ones, meaning they can be overclocked and I guess that is why they need to run at higher power.

Many here say that extra heat/noise makes no difference to them but I personally think if you are going to go for extra performance over potentially less noise/heat you then might as well go all out and get the i7 as you gain significant advantage with hyper threading in applications that can take advantage of that.

For me it would either be the mid range i5 and keeping my purchase around the £2500 range or going all out, chasing performance and thus entering the £3000-£4000 range (£3300 minimum with Ram I'd want but probably end up with 64GB and then close to £3500-3600) and to be honest THEN I'd rather go for the iMac Pro because it's newer, even faster I/O and SSD, an even better graphics card, already has enough RAM on board, 1TB SSD by default and better cooling.

Unless you really require the extra ram on the graphics card for specific reasons (perhaps intense gaming or 2 external 5K displays or so?) I think the 3.5 / 575 would suit most people fine.

Thanks for your detailed reply, it's very helpful. No I would be using it for low to mid tier video editing (4k), with no gaming or secondary display. I was thinking the 580 graphics card may be required or better for this but had no idea. Thank you

 

[Glockworkorange]

Hi Everyone,

I would very much appreciate any advice here. My situation is that I am not really tech savvy, work as a doctor and just set up my own practice. I purchased a sony a6300 mirrorless camera and learnt the basics of photoshop and lightroom editing raw images. Things were painfully slow to do with my current system which is 5 years old:

Samsung 700A3D 23.6 inch All-in-One Touchscreen Desktop PC (Black) - (Intel Core i3 3220T 2.80GHz Processor, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDSM DL, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8)

I was silly and thought it must be a virus and so downloaded windows 10, and everything is fine until it comes to adobe editing programmes. They are so slow it sometimes takes 5 minutes for the programme itself to load

I have an ipad pro first generation but think I need to buy a new desktop. I plan to edit raw images (roughly ten a week) and create 4k videos etc. I am thinking of getting an imac, with a budget of maximum £2500. I was thinking a 27inch, but would appreciate any advice on processor, ram etc.I hope to keep the computer for at least 3-5 years.

Not sure what I can offer in return except for sincere gratitude!

Really any of the new iMacs should offer a dramatic improvement.

Base graphic i5 model and 512 GB to 1 TB SSD should be fine.

If you're truly tech adverse, you might want to pick up 16GB RAM. You can get it much cheaper in other places, however, if you just don't want to deal with the hassle order it pre-installed.

• 3.5GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• 16GB 2400MHz DDR4
• 512GB SSD
• Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory

This is $2,500.00 US.
[doublepost=1518975330][/doublepost]

Thanks casperes for writing such a detailed reply, your time is much appreciated. Ive just configured it with 3.5ghz, I5 processor, 16gb ram, and 2TB fusion drive for a total price of £2309.

In your opinion do you think this will also be powerful enough for 4k video. I do not play video games, this machine is purely for RAW photo editing, 4k video editing and evernote lol

thanks again!

That's a nicely configured system for the OP's wants.

 

[ashj52]

Really any of the new iMacs should offer a dramatic improvement.

Base graphic i5 model and 512 GB to 1 TB SSD should be fine.

If you're truly tech adverse, you might want to pick up 16GB RAM. You can get it much cheaper in other places, however, if you just don't want to deal with the hassle order it pre-installed.

• 3.5GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
• 16GB 2400MHz DDR4
• 512GB SSD
• Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory

This is $2,500.00 US.
[doublepost=1518975330][/doublepost]
That's a nicely configured system for the OP's wants.

Hi glockwork, i think im going to go for the same as above but with the radeon 580, i believe it may be helpful with 4K video editing? Or is it overkill?

kind regards and thanks
adil

 

[c0ppo]

Hi glockwork, i think im going to go for the same as above but with the radeon 580, i believe it may be helpful with 4K video editing? Or is it overkill?

By choosing 3.8GHz i5 CPU + R580, you can forget about your iMac running much cooler and being way less noisy.
Go for 3.5GHz, or if you can't help yourself, then go for i7. 3.8GHz is probably the worst choice, since it would be as noisy as i7, but not as powerful.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Hi glockwork, i think im going to go for the same as above but with the radeon 580, i believe it may be helpful with 4K video editing? Or is it overkill?

kind regards and thanks
adil

Probably overkill. It is for me and I have similar needs. But if you have the $, go for it.

Money wasn't an issue when I bought my 2017 iMac, so I maxed it out.

 

[ashj52]

Ah in a turn of events my sister just told me she gets teachers discount which is awesome and changes things somewhat from a financial point of view. Ive done the maths on all the different models and this one seems to be the one that makes the most sense:

• 4.2GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz
• 16GB 2400MHz DDR4
• 512GB SSD
• Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory
• Magic Trackpad 2
• Magic Keyboard - British

This comes to a total price of £2,449.20

Is the radeon pro 575 compatible/good enough to go with the i7?

With Radeon pro 580 price is £2,556.00.

Sincerely appreciate everyone's help here. Im not too tech savvie so cant offer much here, but is there any way i can make a donation to the forum..? Thanks everyone

 

[Glockworkorange]

Ah in a turn of events my sister just told me she gets teachers discount which is awesome and changes things somewhat from a financial point of view. Ive done the maths on all the different models and this one seems to be the one that makes the most sense:

• 4.2GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz
• 16GB 2400MHz DDR4
• 512GB SSD
• Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory
• Magic Trackpad 2
• Magic Keyboard - British

This comes to a total price of £2,449.20

Is the radeon pro 575 compatible/good enough to go with the i7?

With Radeon pro 580 price is £2,556.00.

Sincerely appreciate everyone's help here. Im not too tech savvie so cant offer much here, but is there any way i can make a donation to the forum..? Thanks everyone

Yes. Good system and good deal.

You will be very happy.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Be aware that others here have reported the i7 iMacs to be noisier, due to the fan running at higher speeds more often.

The "blend" (of modestly-increased power but retaining near-silence) seems to be the midrange model with the 3.5ghz i5 7600 CPU, and that's why I suggested it above.

 

[ashj52]

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this: thats casperes1996, nambuccaheadsu, harishiko, justmartin, coppo, colodane, fisherman, imacbastard, glockwork orange.

Really appreciate you taking out time to help me.

In the end I think I was getting a bit too excited over the whole spec situation, and decided to follow the majority of your advice here. I just ordered the

27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display
With the following configuration:
3.5GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
16GB 2400MHz DDR4
512GB SSD
Radeon Pro 575 with 4GB video memory
Pro Apps Bundle for Education
Magic Trackpad 2
Magic Keyboard - British
Accessory Kit

Price wise for potential buyers information I paid £2465.55 which includes the final cut pro X and apple care - thanks casperes for pointing out premiere pro doesnt take full advantage of the computer. This was with teacher discount(which applies to the software too), normal price would have been £2907.99 so good saving there.

Also to potential buyers do not let the sales staff in apple dictate what you buy, I have been an apple customer since the original iphone (which isnt that long ago compared to other people here) and was a shareholder during the steve jobs days, and in my opinion the staff in-store lacked in depth knowledge back then and still arent real experts in their field so get some real advice on the forum here.

You guys have been great, thanks again everyone, really appreciate it!!

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Ahh well Doc you guys got it so spread it!

 

[Glockworkorange]

Glad the forum could be of assistance!

I think that is a great set up for your needs and I absolutely agree with you re: staff at the Apple store.

I always kind of thought they'd have a similar level of knowledge and enthusiasm as this forum, but that does not seem to be the case in most circumstances

 

[iMacDonald]

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this: thats casperes1996, nambuccaheadsu, harishiko, justmartin, coppo, colodane, fisherman, imacbastard, glockwork orange.

.....

Also to potential buyers do not let the sales staff in apple dictate what you buy, I have been an apple customer since the original iphone (which isnt that long ago compared to other people here) and was a shareholder during the steve jobs days, and in my opinion the staff in-store lacked in depth knowledge back then and still arent real experts in their field so get some real advice on the forum here.

You guys have been great, thanks again everyone, really appreciate it!!

Great stuff. Let us know how you get on and what you think of that configuration when using it.

Yeah as nice as the staff in the stores are they often seem to under estimate the professional use cases of the machines or knowledge of the customers.

When I bought my first Mac I got a whole tutorial on Garage band as the guys asked me what I was going to use the Mac for mostly. All very nice but when you are interested in Logic or something else that is more professional than Garageband it's just a waste of time.