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Which imac for Photoshop CS3 & Lightroom

B

Bramley

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2009
1
0
Nottinghamshire, UK
I am looking to buy a 27" imac but am not sure which model to go for.
Either a faster processor or more RAM?
(1) i5 2.66ghz upgrading the RAM to 8gb
(2) i7 2.8ghz and leave RAM @ 4gb
which model would run PSCS3 & Lightroom the fastest?
Thanks
 
I would get the 2.8GHz quad because of benchmarks
043238-imac-core-i7-core-i5-benchmarks.jpg


You can get the extra 4GB of RAM for less than 100$ from 3rd party seller e.g. Crucial or OWC
 
Bramley - I just ordered the 27" Quad Core to use primarily with those same apps.

The only option I would have preferred would have been if I could have gotten a 21.5" with a Quad Core and then a second pro monitor (I was looking at a Lacie from B&H). But the Quad Core isn't an option on the 21.5" (yet) and on my second look at Best Buy, the 27" is really nice. I ordered it with 4MB from apple and then ordered two additional 2MB simms from an aftermarket site. Saved about $85.

Hellhammer - Love the graphic. The anticipation of getting this baby on my desk is killing me. I've had at least two dreams about this computer!
 
I'm sure both models will be more than capable of running CS3. I'm running CS4 on a mid-2007 iMac with 4gb of RAM (and Snow Leopard) with no problems. But if money was no object, I'd get the i7 to be as future proof as possible, and it eats up the benchmarks!

**Edited to take into account comment below**

I use CS4 to edit and manipulate RAW images from my DSLR, and for a bit of web development. In these respects, it runs well!

Cheers

DR
 
i think people in this thread are confusing being able to run a program vs running a program well.

can a mac mini 'run' cs4 suite? sure. but unless all you're doing is editing a small low-res photo at a time then you're bound to run into hiccups with moderate usage.
 
o2xygen said:
Yeah, I took the plunge a month ago and CS3 works perfectly, I use PS, FL, ID, DW.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say perfectly...

It does work better but you may be out of luck with some plugins. (Superblade Pro, my most used plugin comes to mind...Wont work on CS3 in Snowleopard but works on every other version of photoshop in Snow Leopard.)
 
CS3 is still limited by a 3.3GB, so 8GB ram won't do much extra for CS3 use.
If you can affort a i7, then go for it. Adding RAM later is easy
 
cluthz said:
CS3 is still limited by a 3.3GB, so 8GB ram won't do much extra for CS3 use.
If you can affort a i7, then go for it. Adding RAM later is easy
Click to expand...

Isn't CS4 too? I have 4GB in my iMac but can't set Photoshop to use more than 3GB. It's still 32-bit in OS X so that might be the cause (CS5 will be 64-bit)
 
Hellhammer said:
Isn't CS4 too? I have 4GB in my iMac but can't set Photoshop to use more than 3GB. It's still 32-bit in OS X so that might be the cause (CS5 will be 64-bit)
Click to expand...

My fault, i just assumed CS4 was 64-bit. I still use CS3 since i'm not producing much posters lately and CS3 suits my needs just fine so I can't really justify the upgrade cost.

I just hope CS5 is out while I'm still eligible for student discount :D
 
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