New iMac for wife, what can I do to make it better for video editing?

[ssdfw]

Hi, I just purchased my wife a new iMac.

27" I5 3.0
1 TB Fusion drive
8G RAM
Radeon Pro 570x 4GB

Among other things she wants to edit some 4k home video stuff starting out with iMovie. What can I do to make it better for her? I'm thinking adding RAM probably 2 8GB strips and maybe an external ssd. I've done a few PC builds but this is my first Apple so I'm not sure what's best. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[martyjmclean]

You probably don't want to hear this, but return it. I work in unscripted TV with Mac Pros and iMacs, so my experience would recommend you "start" with:

A Fusion Drive is not going to help anybody—especially with video editing. Start with a 512GB SSD, use an external SSD for original media if it's a "big project".
Starting with 8GB of memory and upgrading yourself is smart. 16GB is the minimum for video editing.
The GPU is okay, but irrelevant unless she's rendering effects/titles/colour (I assume not with home videos).
Go for the Magic Trackpad instead of that awful mouse. Gestures will be easier, and she won't develop RSI just from looking at it lol.

Do you know what codec(s) will be used? This can affect best workflow, or the hardware.

This probably seems like a lot (for home videos), but I'd hate for her/you to be hindered in the future.

 

[Fishrrman]

The question:
"New iMac for wife, what can I do to make it better for video editing?"

The answer:
DON'T BUY one with a fusion drive. (oops, looks like you already did).
Instead, get one with an SSD inside.
It will make a significant difference in overall performance, particularly as the years go by.

500gb is the best value for an SSD. 1tb is on the pricey side.
250gb will do, but you'll probably have to supplement it with external storage (USB3 SSD would do fine).

If you're going to keep what you have now, you could GREATLY speed it up by using a Samsung X5 EXTERNAL thunderbolt3 SSD.