I'm facing a bit of a dilemma. I'm stuck between the entry level 24" iMac and the next model up. In AUD the prices are $2,499 and $2,999 and I am unsure if I can validate spending $500 more for a slightly higher clock speed and the jump from the 9400M to the GT 120.
Currently I have a 2.0GHz MacBook with 1GB of RAM with Intel GMA X3100, which has served me well - but I feel the need to upgrade. While currently I only use it for Internet, Email, iPhoto and iWork (and iMovie occasionally) I am interested in exploring using Photoshop and perhaps using Final Cut Express, but not too intensely. When I want to do more intense tasks I tend to use my family's 24" 2.8Ghz iMac with ATI Radeon HD 2600, but its irritating having to be interrupted by my family wanting to use it and having to go all the way down to the study to use it.
I am looking to put an iMac in my room in order to start using Photoshop more frequently and perhaps do some HD video editing (in either iMovie or Final Cut) and also get rid of my existing Vista desktop and just run VMWare on the iMac to run the few Windows Apps I need for uni.
So I guess what I want to ask is - do you think the GeForce 9400M is sufficient for what I want to do? Compared to the HD 2600 what kind of performance difference can I expect? I really don't want to spend more money than I have to because there are other things I want to buy too, so if I don't REALLY need it then I'm not going to buy it.
Also, in terms of the processor - I honestly can't see myself missing the 270Mhz difference between the 2 models, but I'm still not sure. Do you think that, for what I want to do, the 2.66 would be sufficient?
Thanks.
Currently I have a 2.0GHz MacBook with 1GB of RAM with Intel GMA X3100, which has served me well - but I feel the need to upgrade. While currently I only use it for Internet, Email, iPhoto and iWork (and iMovie occasionally) I am interested in exploring using Photoshop and perhaps using Final Cut Express, but not too intensely. When I want to do more intense tasks I tend to use my family's 24" 2.8Ghz iMac with ATI Radeon HD 2600, but its irritating having to be interrupted by my family wanting to use it and having to go all the way down to the study to use it.
I am looking to put an iMac in my room in order to start using Photoshop more frequently and perhaps do some HD video editing (in either iMovie or Final Cut) and also get rid of my existing Vista desktop and just run VMWare on the iMac to run the few Windows Apps I need for uni.
So I guess what I want to ask is - do you think the GeForce 9400M is sufficient for what I want to do? Compared to the HD 2600 what kind of performance difference can I expect? I really don't want to spend more money than I have to because there are other things I want to buy too, so if I don't REALLY need it then I'm not going to buy it.
Also, in terms of the processor - I honestly can't see myself missing the 270Mhz difference between the 2 models, but I'm still not sure. Do you think that, for what I want to do, the 2.66 would be sufficient?
Thanks.