Which 27 inch iMac to get? Edu pricing.

[UbuntuFu]

I currently have a 2013 27 inch iMac. Have my eye on a new 27 inch iMac but I'm not sure whether or not the top stock 27 inch iMac is worth it.

The 3.3ghz 6-core i5, Radeon Pro 5300 with 4gb RAM is $1899.

For $200 more, you'd get a 3.8ghz 8 core i7 and Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8gb at $2099.

Is the upgrade worth it for $200 more? Is the drawback with the i7 more heat, louder fans?

I do plan to add 64gb RAM, I would use Lightroom, sometimes re-encode videos with Handbrake, was planning to install Windows on Boot Camp so I can play some games like Civ V, VI, also have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. For like 80% of the time I don't really need extra performance, but was just wondering if I should spend the extra money for "future proofing" or is the difference not substantial enough that in 5-7 years it won't matter.

Which one would you get? Thanks in advance.

 

[Whiteman007]

i would get the I7 100% and also upgrade too 1TB SSD. Also you dont need Bootcamp for Civ 5,6

 

[CheesePuff]

The $200 upgrade to the 5500 XT and i7 is definitely worth it, even just for resale value alone.

You could also go with an external SSD like the Samsung T7 which on the Thunderbolt 3 port will yield ~1000 MB/sec read and write for $170 for 1 TB.

 

[pldelisle]

I’d take the i7 8 cores all the way. 8 cores is still a very low core count for today. This config 100% worth it. 1 TB SSD would be a must too.

 

[Traildave]

I had same dilemma, ended up going with the i7, the step up is quite good value for both CPU and GPU upgrade. Games play quite smooth on it too