Which 27" would you buy?

[sourskittle]

Hello!
I live in Dubai and we just got the new iMac's here

I'm confused as to what the minor differences between the old and new and do they make a big difference? I use it mainly for Adobe Photoshop/InDesign and high-res work in Illustrator that can slow down the computer.

Does the i3 i5 thing make a big difference?

If i get the cheapest one (below)it'll do the trick? The middle models both are the same price

The price difference between cheapest and middle is about $270 american)

My choices:

Cheapest (Dirhams 7000)
3.2GHz Core i3 | 4gb RAM | 1 TB harddrive | 512MB ATI RADEON HD 5670

Middle (Dirhams 8000) NEW MODEL
2.7GHz Core i5 | 4gb RAM | 1 TB harddrive 7200rpm | 512MB ATI RADEON HD 6770M

Middle (Dirhams 8000)
2.8GHz Core i5 | 4gb RAM | 1 TB harddrive | 1GB ATI RADEON

Thank you for your help!

 

[elithrar]

Hello!
Does the i3 i5 thing make a big difference?

Note that the i3 is the older (2010 model) iMac. The older iMac's also have the 5xxx series ATI cards, with the new ones having the 6xxx series (so it seems you have a mix of old and new in your listing).

Without knowing your use case, it's hard to say—especially because iMac's aren't cheap in Dubai (I know because I've spent some time there, have a house out in Green Community). If you plan on using it extensively, playing any games, editing large photos or videos, then go for the new i5 (2.7 w/ 512MB 6770M). If not, then it doesn't really matter.

 

[karthi]

The i5 quad core would do

The main difference is the new iMac's have the new line of intel quad core processor, even the i5's are as fast as the previous generation i7 processors.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...ore-i5-2600k-i5-2500k-and-core-i3-2100-tested

I noticed the startup time of photoshop is really quick with the SSD, but I don't know if the SSD has meaningful improvement in the day to day PP times to justify the high cost and long wait time.

Right now the new i5 would be fast enough for everything. After three years, when RAW files double in theirs size you may fell the i5 is sluggish.

I ordered i7 hoping to extend the lifetime to 4-5 years instead of 3-4 years with i5.

 

[sourskittle]

Thank you!

Thank you all!

 

[Michael D.]

The middle one seems a good option.

I'd think an i5 will last about three years of use based on the information provided. Four to five years seems a stretch.