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Which iMac

Yaccity

Yaccity

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 18, 2014
54
17
NJ
I am looking to replace my 2012 non-retina 27" iMac with a refurbished retina...Here are the two I am looking at...

A) 3.2GHz i5
8GB Ram
AMD R9 M390
256GB Flash SSD
$1,779

OR B) 3.3GHz i5
8GB Ram
AMD R9 M395
2TB Fusion
$1,949

These machines will be used for media consumption, and light photoshop/illustrator down the road.
 
A: Faster but smaller storage and lower price.

B: Faster CPU and GPU but (partially) slower, but larger, storage as well as a higher price.

Only you know what your priorities are, but both will work very well for your intended use.
 
I think B will be your better choice. Allows for more storage and is only slightly slower than A. A would be fine if you will have additional external storage. Just remember that photos can take up a lot of space.
 
If I were buying it would be B but I wouldn't like the Fusion drive as much but I would take the Skylake chip and more powerful graphics chip.
 
Yaccity said:
Here are the two I am looking at.
Click to expand...
What do you want, a SSD that will always be fast, but only holds 256GB or a faster GPU and a larger capacity storage with some flash storage being used.

For me I opted for option b, as I purchased the M395 5k iMac last November and I've not regretted it. I understand the pros and cons of the Fusion drive but my needs were such that the 2TB drive was a better fit.

It all boils down to what you want.
 
Option B, no question. You can add an external SSD later if you like with little real world penalty over the NV RAM drive. But you'll likely find the fusion works well.
 
I did a little bit of researching, moved money around, and got a website building job today so I am look at different iMac's. Here are my new choices...

A) Which was "B" mentioned above
3.3GHz i5
8GB Ram
AMD R9 M395
2TB Fusion
$1,949

B) 3.3 i5
8GB Ram
R9 M395
512 Flash
$2,119

C) 4.0 i7
8GB Ram
R9 M395
2Tb Fusion
$2,169

D) 3.3 i5
8GB Ram
R9 M395X
2TB Fusion
$2,169
 
Your latest choices basically boil down to an iMac with an SSD, or a model with an i7 or a model with the M395x.

Out of the alternatives, you just posted which component will mean the most to you in terms of satisfying a need. The M395x is supposed to be a fast GPU, the i7 is great for demanding apps, and the 512GB SSD will be flat out fast.

If it were me, I'd opt for the last option, because of my usage and space requirements. If I could live within 512GB of space, then option B would be a no brainer.
 
I'd opt for option C because unless you are doing video editing/gaming, it is unlikely you'll need the extra 2GB VRAM, but the i7 is a clear upgrade win -- especially for photoshop/illustrator.
 
I am stuck between these two. I can live with the 512 Flash because I can add a Thunderbolt drive if need be. I have a Fusion drive in my 2012 iMac, and it performs well.

Is the R9 M395X a significant, earth shattering upgrade from the R9 M395?

3.3 i5
8GB Ram
R9 M395X
2TB Fusion
$2,169

OR

B) 3.3 i5
8GB Ram
R9 M395
512 Flash
$2,119
 
The differences are more noticeable for game playing, I'm not sure it will be that noticeable for other tasks.
 
maflynn said:
The differences are more noticeable for game playing, I'm not sure it will be that noticeable for other tasks.
Click to expand...
I rarely game, and if I do it would be something like Sim City or Counter Strike.
 
don't get a fusion drive.if the ssd portion or the hhd portion dies the whole thing dies.i would just buy a ssd
 
B for sure. The bump in the GPU will help a lot, the CPU helps too. Plus the 2TB Fusion has 128GB SSD so comparing 128GB to 256GB isn't that big of a deal.
 
I just ordered this one
3.3 i5
8GB Ram
R9 M395
512 Flash
$2,119

Should be here Monday or Tuesday. I ordered another 16GB of ram from Crucial.
 
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