I know this is similar to a lot of post on here but I'm going to ask any way for some advice. I currently have a 2011 iMac whose video card is about to die, so I am looking for a new iMac. My wife mostly uses it for pics with some editing, safari and sometimes we do editing of 4k video clips. I think the radeon 580 model is prob overkill for what we use it for but what does everyone think of the radeon 570 vs the 575 models. Also, I've been reading posts and it seems like a lot of people are against the fusion drive and are recommending the ssds instead. any help would be appreciated. I gotta order a new one soon my old one prob won't last much longer. Thanks
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Picking a new iMac 27
- Thread starter Ejkjr
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Buy the best within budget.
We got the 580. Would we have noticed a difference if we only got the 570/575?
Probably not, but as we are moving towards photographic accuracy with a look towards some virtual reality, the 8GB GPU was within budget.
We upgraded from the 1st Mac the Fusion was available in, the late 2012 Mini, and it was part of that BTO 5 years ago.
The 2017 3TB was an attractive option, but the allure of all 1TB SSD internal has to offer, and the understanding we would be adding additional external for storage anyway, tipped the scales to the SSD, also fitting within (give or take 200 bucks) budget.
The Fusion worked very well for us for 5 years, don't be afraid if internal and budget constraints lead you towards that option.
Just be aware that the current 1TB Fusion option has a much smaller (32GB, IIRC) SSD portion that the 2/3 versions which are 128GB.
We got the 580. Would we have noticed a difference if we only got the 570/575?
Probably not, but as we are moving towards photographic accuracy with a look towards some virtual reality, the 8GB GPU was within budget.
We upgraded from the 1st Mac the Fusion was available in, the late 2012 Mini, and it was part of that BTO 5 years ago.
The 2017 3TB was an attractive option, but the allure of all 1TB SSD internal has to offer, and the understanding we would be adding additional external for storage anyway, tipped the scales to the SSD, also fitting within (give or take 200 bucks) budget.
The Fusion worked very well for us for 5 years, don't be afraid if internal and budget constraints lead you towards that option.
Just be aware that the current 1TB Fusion option has a much smaller (32GB, IIRC) SSD portion that the 2/3 versions which are 128GB.
Get the best CPU & GPU you can afford. you can always add external HDD space as and when you need it.
I didn't know what to choose but at the end my GF said to me that I should buy most powerful one that I can afford 'cause this piece of gear should last for 5 years at least so if I don't want to be dissapointed in 2-3 years from now I should choose i7 with 1TB SSD and R580. I was wondering about i7 512SSD with R575.
My 2009 JUST had its GPU die this year, and it wasn’t even maxed out.
I’ll bet your rig lasts longer than 5 years.
I sold my old 2011 iMac 27'' in December. I put there 512SSD so it was quite fast
But I'm a photographer and those RAW files are heavier and heavier with every new camera. Well mostly fault is on Adobe side because they can't optimize Lightroom so here we are buying top specs* 'cause some programmers are lazy * I've seen charts and benchmarks .. i7 or R580 won't make LR to work much faster .. but I still hope that in near future LR will get some optimalization and will start using whole power of my computer and not the 30%
In my opinion, a "nice compromise" between affordability v. power in the current iMac lineup is:
- 3.5ghz "midrange" model (has 7600 CPU and upgraded GPU) (adds $200)
- Either a 256gb SSD (adds $100) or a 512gb SSD (adds $300).
If I needed one now (I don't), I'd be looking at a configuration as above...
- 3.5ghz "midrange" model (has 7600 CPU and upgraded GPU) (adds $200)
- Either a 256gb SSD (adds $100) or a 512gb SSD (adds $300).
If I needed one now (I don't), I'd be looking at a configuration as above...
Haha, I just posted this on the fusion drive debate forum, but will share here. This is my recommendation:
My analysis is still that the priority on your mac purchase is:
21" - SSD Drive, RAM, Processor
27" - SSD Drive, Processor
*27" iMacs can have after market ram added later (so not a priority), 21" iMacs don't have upgradeable ram.
Therefore don't order the 21" i7 processor with the 1tb fusion drive and 8gb of ram (yea, that was the first computer I ordered)....
Few months ago I bought 13 MBP Retina with 256SSD and it was a mistake. I usually don't work on laptop but at the moment I got 40GB of free disk space. Buying computer with 256GB of disk space is like buying iPhone 16GB .. do not make that mistake
So I'll make a counter argument to that. I have been using a 13" macbook pro with a 128gb ssd. It has been perfect for my needs. I will qualify I do not do high end video or audio processing. I have MS office with onedrive and everything is in the cloud. For my needs I find that the cloud is perfect. I don't have music or movies stored locally, they are in itunes cloud or on a service like netflix and such. I just don't need much local storage at all and I think that's where we are heading. My storage goes to applications and a synced version of what is on my cloud (although it optimizes space and seems to only download the items you use often). Regardless, be sure to examine what your needs are. It might be worth the 99 cents a month to have storage on icloud.
That's true that every decision should be personal specially with that amount of money. My old 2010 MBP 15'' got 128GB SSD. But as for me my Photos library weights right now 70GB+ .... and I stil remember my frustration with iPhone 16GB when I had to download form iCloud every single photo when I wanted to show it to someone. No more!
If you don't buy iMac or MacBook for 1 or 2 years but for longer time it would be wise to choose at least 512GB disk space. And if SSD is too expensive I'd go with Fusion Drive. When warranty is over you can easily switch HDD with SSD.. by that time SSD drives should be even cheaper
But that's me
If you don't buy iMac or MacBook for 1 or 2 years but for longer time it would be wise to choose at least 512GB disk space. And if SSD is too expensive I'd go with Fusion Drive. When warranty is over you can easily switch HDD with SSD.. by that time SSD drives should be even cheaper
But that's me
After AppleCare ends I'm planing to updated my 1TB SSD with second one .. unless there are no connectors on mother board like those in FusionDrive version
There are ports, but since your BTO is single internal drive, you will have to buy the harness online for the additional drive.
May be easier to just add external SSD, that way you are not taking the screen apart....