The ideal iMac for video editing?

[scrill]

Ok so I'm looking to buy my first iMac. I do a lot of editing with FCPX and Motion and I'm finally buying a computer used strictly for editing (might get into photoshop later). I currently use my 2011 macbook pro with 2.66 GHz and 4GB to edit. It takes forever to render and FCPX constantly crashes. Trying to budget at around 3000$.

Processor
3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz

Memory
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X8GB
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB

Storage
1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
3TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
1TB Fusion Drive
3TB Fusion Drive
256GB Flash Storage
512GB Flash Storage
768GB Flash Storage

Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1GB GDDR5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

Do you think those options would make for a solid/fast editing machine? I still don't fully understand the fusion drive but have read it is a nice addition. Would 1TB of fusion be enough? Do I need 16GB of RAM or could I get by with 8GB/ would 16GB make a noticeable difference? I'm looking for a fast, smooth running computer. Also, I've been looking to see when the new iMacs will come out but couldn't find anything (if there is going to be a significant change coming to the iMac, I'd rather wait to buy the new model). All insight and information would be helpful, Thanks.

 

[Bear]

Go with the 1TB fusion drive and keep your video projects on external USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt drives. As for memory, order it with 8GB from Apple and add a 3rd part 16GB kit. You 'll save money and have 24GB of RAM.

Other than those two, your highlighted choices look decent for FCPX and Motion.

As for iMac updates, the guess is no later than October. But it's a guess - it could be sooner or later than that.

 

[scrill]

Go with the 1TB fusion drive and keep your video projects on external USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt drives. As for memory, order it with 8GB from Apple and add a 3rd part 16GB kit. You 'll save money and have 24GB of RAM.

Other than those two, your highlighted choices look decent for FCPX and Motion.

As for iMac updates, the guess is no later than October. But it's a guess - it could be sooner or later than that.

Appreciate the feedback. What do you think is better between the USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt drive? Also, the thats good to hear about the updates because that is around when I was looking to purchase.

 

[Bear]

Appreciate the feedback. What do you think is better between the USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt drive? Also, the thats good to hear about the updates because that is around when I was looking to purchase.

For Single drive enclosures USB 3.0 is more than fast enough and will cost noticeably less than a thunderbolt enclosure

 

[scrill]

For Single drive enclosures USB 3.0 is more than fast enough and will cost noticeably less than a thunderbolt enclosure

Thanks, and one last question. Is it easy to add RAM on your own? (as you mentioned the 3rd park 16GB kit)

 

[Bear]

Thanks, and one last question. Is it easy to add RAM on your own? (as you mentioned the 3rd park 16GB kit)

It's quite easy to add memory to the 27" iMac. From Apple's Knowledge Base - iMac: How to remove or install memory.

In short, it's 3 screws holding the memory access plate in, put in the 2 memory modules, replace the plate and the 3 screws.

I do advise that you use a new machine for a few days before adding the memory in. That way you know the machine is good.

 

[Raima]

Go with the 1TB fusion drive and keep your video projects on external USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt drives. As for memory, order it with 8GB from Apple and add a 3rd part 16GB kit. You 'll save money and have 24GB of RAM.

Other than those two, your highlighted choices look decent for FCPX and Motion.

As for iMac updates, the guess is no later than October. But it's a guess - it could be sooner or later than that.

Overall good advice, I would suggest sticking with the 3TB fusion drives. Drive upgrades are difficult to do and I would not recommend doing so.

Having the additional space allows you to deal with space issues a lot later in time and also allow you to continue utilising your storage at fusion speeds.

Once you move data onto external storage, unless it's SSD, you're going to take a pretty big hit in terms of read/write storage performance.