Quad i5 or Quad i7 Imac

Discussion in 'Digital Photography' started by mattyb240, Sep 11, 2011.

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  1. mattyb240, Sep 11, 2011

    mattyb240 macrumors 6502a

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    #1
    I have the opportunity to buy an iMac at a reasonable price! I'm not sure whether or not to go for the i5 or i7?

    My main program is Lightroom 3 and a tiny bit of CS5. Presently my Raw images are only 10mb, but in the next year or so I hope to upgrade to a Canon 5dmkII which has 21mp images.

    Will Lightroom utilise hyper threading? Is it worth spending the extra for "future proofing". Whilst the difference in price is roughly £100 after I have sold some bits, it is still £100!

    I currently have a 2.66 i7 MBP and don't need the portability anymore.
     
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  2. Designer Dale, Sep 13, 2011

    Designer Dale macrumors 68040

    Designer Dale

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    #2
    Why not just get a good external monitor and keyboard setup? That MBPro outclasses the '08 machine I use for photo editing. It amounts to a big paperweight next to my 23 in. Samsung monitor, but it's cheaper than a new iMac. Every time I think I need to upgrade, I open iStat Pro and look at my processor usage during an operation. I never seem to use more that 65% of my Core2Duo. I do need more ram, though.

    My 2k worth.

    Dale
     
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  3. HBOC, Sep 13, 2011

    HBOC macrumors 68020

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    I went with a base i5 QC iMac and it is quick. I upped the RAM to 8GB. I have a 1Ds (file sizes vary up to 14MB), and will probably get a 1Ds2 before next spring. After working on my files, they quickly climb to 100MB each (after running actions, some NiK work, etc) and I have many files open at the same time, as well as my iTunes library (that is all music and 110GB), Aperture 3 running with Office 2011 and Ai CS4. No hiccups!
     
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  4. mattyb240, Sep 14, 2011

    mattyb240 thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    Thats good to know! I have a great setup with my MBP with a nice Dell external and keyboard and trackpad. As I don't need portability and always like more poke I figured it was worth it. Plus with my discount and selling my MBP I won't be spending any money.
     
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  5. Ruahrc, Sep 14, 2011

    Ruahrc macrumors 65816

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    #5
    You will get some benefit from the hyperthreading- just up to you as to whether it will be 100GBP worth. I noticed when I use LR with my i7 mini server, when rendering previews it does max out all 8 threads- so at least LR is multithreaded enough to utilize the available cores.

    Obviously as it's hyperthreaded virtual cores and not 4 additional physical cores, it's not going to be 2x the speed. I don't know what the efficiency gain is for hyperthreading, anyone know?

    Ruahrc
     
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  6. mofunk, Sep 14, 2011

    mofunk macrumors 68020

    mofunk

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    #6
    I'm with Designer Dale on this one... use your money to buy more glass. No need to get an iMac.
     
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  7. mattyb240, Sep 14, 2011

    mattyb240 thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #7
    Even though in theory it would be a straight trade for the quad i5?
     
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