That new iMac - switch from PC?

[Matt2012]

I made a very similar post like this 5 years ago about moving from PC to Mac... so am going to ask again now tech has moved on ...

I do video editing using Premier on PC (i7-6900K@3.20GHz / 32gb ram / GTX 1070 Cuda enabled card)- plus some Photoshop, general web browsing etc but am once again thinking of switching to a Mac as i'm not digging Win 10.

With this new supposed 'super' IMac Pro coming out this month, do you guys have any idea how it would perform against my current PC? I know its almost impossible to judge as its not out yet, but how do the specs on the base 8 core look?

Also, I use dual 24" monitors to extend my display (1920x1200) and with the higher resolution of the IMac, could I 'fit' more on screen as its higher res so wouldn't need a second 27" monitor?

 

[poematik13]

The base model iMac Pro would be slightly faster than your build in most scenarios. It has a Xeon, ECC RAM, and a newer GPU architecture. You also get luxuries like 4x TB3 ports (2 buses), a 5K 10bit screen, and 10Gb ethernet.

And yes, there are scaling options in macOS that let you adjust and "fit" more or less.

 

[SecuritySteve]

I made a very similar post like this 5 years ago about moving from PC to Mac... so am going to ask again now tech has moved on ...

I do video editing using Premier on PC (i7-6900K@3.20GHz / 32gb ram / GTX 1070 Cuda enabled card)- plus some Photoshop, general web browsing etc but am once again thinking of switching to a Mac as i'm not digging Win 10.

With this new supposed 'super' IMac Pro coming out this month, do you guys have any idea how it would perform against my current PC? I know its almost impossible to judge as its not out yet, but how do the specs on the base 8 core look?

Also, I use dual 24" monitors to extend my display (1920x1200) and with the higher resolution of the IMac, could I 'fit' more on screen as its higher res so wouldn't need a second 27" monitor?

Yes and No. You will definitely see marked improvement in terms of CPU performance if you get any of the iMac Pro's CPUs, and the more expensive the better. GPU wise, you can expect similar performance with the Vega Pro 56, and an improvement if you shell out for the Vega Pro 64. The RAM likely would also be an upgrade, even if you get the same quantity, seeing as it is ECC @ 2666MHz. You also get the benefit of a 1TB PCIe SSD (or larger if you wish to shell out the cash for it).

Theres no doubt that this machine is going to be superior, but there is something that you need to consider down the road. Your current PC is easy to slap in a new graphics card when something new comes out (like NVIDIA's 11 or 20 series cards coming out next year), the iMac Pro will rely entirely on eGPUs for upgrades, as you cannot upgrade the internals. This ability needs to be factored into your decision.

As far as real-estate for your monitors goes, you could just plug in your existing monitors to the iMac Pro and get even more screen real-estate. 27 inches doesn't quite give you the same horizontal working room (short of being real close to your monitor and squinting at the fine text) as your existing setup, but it will look way sharper.

 

[curmudgeonette]

I do video editing using Premier

From what I've read, Premier runs "slow" on Macs. It needs an Nvidia GPU, but Apple is using AMD. If you can change programs, reports are that Apple's own Final Cut is well optimized for the Apple hardware.

Also, I use dual 24" monitors to extend my display (1920x1200) and with the higher resolution of the IMac, could I 'fit' more on screen as its higher res so wouldn't need a second 27" monitor?

Yes, you could fit more on screen if you are OK with everything getting smaller. However, if you want pixel perfect editing, you might need to run the Mac at its simulated 2560x1440 resolution.

 

[Matt2012]

From what I've read, Premier runs "slow" on Macs. It needs an Nvidia GPU, but Apple is using AMD. If you can change programs, reports are that Apple's own Final Cut is well optimized for the Apple hardware.

Thanks but Final Cut is out. I thought about this and tried it out on my Macbook Pro and it couldn't import mpeg files. Converting them to a compatible format is a non starter due to the time it would take.

 

[J.Gallardo]

OP: I think iMac Pro will be faster than your actual PC. But you could upgrade components to reach the level. In fact, you will be always able to get a faster PC from less money.
The “Apple thing” has more to do with style and getting things done without hassle. Think about cars: people like the quality of a Porsche or Jaguar... but you can get a beefed up “normal” car. Everybody finds normal to pay more for a BMW attending fine details & smooth working.
That’s what you get with an Apple computer (a PC will be the fastest machine in the neighborhood...)

 

[Matt2012]

Yeah, I think you're right J.Gallardo
I did some more research today on PC's this time and I can get an i9 with 1080ti card plus a 37" super wide screen and still save over 1k over the new base spec iMacs supposed price.

Maybe I'll come back again in another few years and ask the same question again

 

[J.Gallardo]

Yeah, I think you're right J.Gallardo
I did some more research today on PC's this time and I can get an i9 with 1080ti card plus a 37" super wide screen and still save over 1k over the new base spec iMacs supposed price.

Maybe I'll come back again in another few years and ask the same question again

Yeah. Maybe in some years you’ll prefer to drive a luxury car...

 

[MCAsan]

I did some more research today on PC's this time and I can get an i9 with 1080ti card plus a 37" super wide screen and still save over 1k over the new base spec iMacs supposed price.

Great....if you want to run Windows. But not if you want to run MacOS.

 

[J.Gallardo]

Yeah. And you can use MacOS (wich is a pleasure; mostly) and Windows (not pleasure, but luxury) on a mac!

 

[alien3dx]

I made a very similar post like this 5 years ago about moving from PC to Mac... so am going to ask again now tech has moved on ...

I do video editing using Premier on PC (i7-6900K@3.20GHz / 32gb ram / GTX 1070 Cuda enabled card)- plus some Photoshop, general web browsing etc but am once again thinking of switching to a Mac as i'm not digging Win 10.

With this new supposed 'super' IMac Pro coming out this month, do you guys have any idea how it would perform against my current PC? I know its almost impossible to judge as its not out yet, but how do the specs on the base 8 core look?

Also, I use dual 24" monitors to extend my display (1920x1200) and with the higher resolution of the IMac, could I 'fit' more on screen as its higher res so wouldn't need a second 27" monitor?

could I 'fit' more on screen as its higher res so wouldn't need a second 27" monitor
no.

Your pc is good compare to imac