Help needed please - to spec my first iMac

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sjt85

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Stuart
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I have always used windows pc's, and my current desktop is now ten years old and it's time for a replacement. I have got more into photography over the last year and have been using Lightroom 5 during that time. I have decided to bite the bullet and move to an iMac and upgrade to Photoshop/Lightroom cc on monthly subscription. It will be mainly be used for photo editing, no gaming.

I want to get the iMac spec right to start with and was thinking of the following -

iMac 27 inch with 5K disp
4.0 Ghz quad core i7
16GB 1600Mhz DDR3 SDRAM (2x8)
3TB Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2GB GDDR5

this will push my budget to the max. so as I've already said I want to get it right! Any thoughts or suggestions on what might improve the spec without increasing the budget?

All help gratefully received.
 
sjt85 said:
I want to get the iMac spec right to start with and was thinking of the following -

iMac 27 inch with 5K disp
4.0 Ghz quad core i7
16GB 1600Mhz DDR3 SDRAM (2x8)
3TB Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2GB GDDR5
Click to expand...

The memory can be user upgraded and is cheaper to do it yourself (approx 1/2 price upgrade I believe) - so could help with the budget a little

The Chip upgrade from 3.3 i5 to 4.0 i7 - I'm not sure if i'd notice the upgrade...
Memory - yes, worth the upgrade, but I'd do it myself and by adding 16GB, you'd get 24GB...
If you wish to stay with a large drive (rather than swapping to an SSD), for the minimal cost upgrade to 3TB Fusion, yes def worth it,

The Graphics is an AMD Radeon M395 with 2GB as standard ?

Hope this is of some help...
 
Oh and don't forget to think about Apple care...
 
The new iMacs are pretty nice machines, but is there a reason you feel you need to switch from Windows to OS X? It's just that for the money you would spend on an iMac you could get a much better spec pc and monitors.

I had an iMac at home but recently sold it and decided on a Windows pc. I also use a MacBook Pro every day at work. So I really don't care which OS I use as they both pretty much do the same thing.

There was a time a few years ago where anyone wanting to do serious video/photo/music work really needed to use Mac, but those days are long gone.

At the end of the day whatever you decide on there's not really a bad choice.
 
Thanks andyred. I should also have said I don't have any experience upgrading memory etc myself, so wouldn't feel confident/happy doing diy on my new expensive iMac!

andyred said:
The Graphics is an AMD Radeon M395 with 2GB as standard ?
Click to expand...
yes I think this is standard.

Apple care sounds like a must, I'll look into that
 
JBrown1 said:
The new iMacs are pretty nice machines, but is there a reason you feel you need to switch from Windows to OS X? It's just that for the money you would spend on an iMac you could get a much better spec pc and monitors.
Click to expand...
No real reason, I have friends who have always been mac users and have older macs and swear by them. But I guess it's an switch I've been considering for a while and as I have decided to spend a serious amount of money in my world, I think it's now or never. I'd like to think what I buy now will last me another ten years, with a few mods along the way.
 
sjt85 said:
No real reason, I have friends who have always been mac users and have older macs and swear by them. But I guess it's an switch I've been considering for a while and as I have decided to spend a serious amount of money in my world, I think it's now or never. I'd like to think what I buy now will last me another ten years, with a few mods along the way.
Click to expand...

It's worth bearing in mind that unlike a PC there's really not much more you can do to an iMac to ramp up the speed. That's one of the reasons I got rid of mine.

The one good thing is they do hold their value really well, much better than a PC.
 
sjt85 said:
Thanks andyred. I should also have said I don't have any experience upgrading memory etc myself, so wouldn't feel confident/happy doing diy on my new expensive iMac!
Click to expand...

You're welcome...

Seriously it's very easy and there are plenty of videos on line - there is a little cover on the back near the X stand which you just in clip, then lift a little lever and add your memory sticks in ... Really nothing much to it - have a look at the videos... :)
 
andyred said:
Seriously it's very easy and there are plenty of videos on line - there is a little cover on the back near the X stand which you just in clip, then lift a little lever and add your memory sticks in ... Really nothing much to it - have a look at the videos... :)
Click to expand...
Does this not break any seals or anything that might invalidate the warranty?
 
sjt85 said:
Apple care sounds like a must, I'll look into that
Click to expand...

Certainly worth it for peace of mind.

Another option, if you went for the standard spec top of the range 27" is to buy from John Lewis as they give you a 3 year warranty with it - you can't up the spec though from them, so you'd be getting the i5 and a 2T fusion...just another option to save some money.
 
another vote for buying RAM elsewhere, it really is just a case of opening a flap, pulling one out and putting another back where it was, and the RAM prices from Apple are practically criminal!!
 
sjt85 said:
Does this not break any seals or anything that might invalidate the warranty?
Click to expand...

No it's a user upgradable section - small plastic cover you unclip. I'll see if I can link a video for you.
 
The Stock RAM is 2 x 4GB and there are 4 slots, so you can add more RAM without having to remove any modules.

an extra 16GB RAM is around £60 - that's £100 less than Apple for a total of 24GB.

Personally, I'd not bother with the i7 upgrade and extra 1TB of Fusion Drive. Get AppleCare instead and you'll still be spending less.
(If I was buying, it would be the 3.2GHz with 1TB Fusion drive and a Magic Trackpad 2 model - MK472B/A)

If you know any students or teachers, there are discounts to be had for "educational" purchases. ;)
 
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sjt85 said:
I'd like to think what I buy now will last me another ten years, with a few mods along the way.
Click to expand...

I think the screen resolution would see you through to the next decade but the internal hardware is packed into such a tiny hot space that compromises have to be made. This Mac has a nice desktop cpu rather than a notebook one found in most iMacs. However it can't be upgraded and I understand will rarely boost (over clock) to its maximum due to heat issues. The graphics chip is a weedy laptop chip. Limited power supply and heat issues prevent a proper desktop gpu.

If you truly want a machine to last, don't get this one. You could get a pc and a 4K screen for a good chunk less that will run rings around it from a performance perspective and would be infinitely upgradable.
 
Brazo said:
the internal hardware is packed into such a tiny hot space that compromises have to be made
Click to expand...

iMac internal design has evolved into a really efficient package. Older machines had 3 internal fans and would get quite warm under load.
These new machines only need one fan and don't get nearly as hot.

Brazo said:
The graphics chip is a weedy laptop chip.
Click to expand...

Yes it's a mobile chip and I wouldn't want to use it for serious gaming, but it is certainly not weedy. Any of the available GPUs will be more than adequate for the OP's requirements.
 
I don't know anything about macs but my opinion is your definitely want an SSD!
 
Andy Taylor said:
The Stock RAM is 2 x 4GB and there are 4 slots, so you can add more RAM without having to remove any modules.

an extra 16GB RAM is around £60 - that's £100 less than Apple for a total of 24GB.

Personally, I'd not bother with the i7 upgrade and extra 1TB of Fusion Drive. Get AppleCare instead and you'll still be spending less.
(If I was buying, it would be the 3.2GHz with 1TB Fusion drive and a Magic Trackpad 2 model - MK472B/A)
Click to expand...
Thanks, certainly helps save some pennies.

Brazo said:
If you truly want a machine to last, don't get this one. You could get a pc and a 4K screen for a good chunk less that will run rings around it from a performance perspective and would be infinitely upgradable.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I do want a machine to last. But, I am completely out of my comfort zone with this and although it might sound strange feel that if I get the 'right' mac it will be a safer bet than picking out a pc and then trying to spec that.
 
htid said:
I don't know anything about macs but my opinion is your definitely want an SSD!
Click to expand...
I have heard that said but again don't know anything about SSD's. Would that be an addition to.. or instead of..?
 
Depends on your budget. An SSD is a type of hard drive, so you could have one in addition to the 3tb one, instead of, or just not at all. But SSDs are much much quicker than the hard drive I'm assuming is in the Mac you want and depending on what you're doing, images will open much quicker and so will programmes if they're installed on the SSD. To be honest though if all you're doing is photo editing, I think the screen you've chosen is overkill and I'd personally spend the money you'd save on multiple SSDs (one for programmes and one for documents).
 
sjt85 said:
I have heard that said but again don't know anything about SSD's. Would that be an addition to.. or instead of..?
Click to expand...

zlinuk said:
The fusion drive is an SSD / HDD hybrid.
Click to expand...

As Paul says, the Fusion drive is a mixture of both - on your spec, it's a 128GB SSD and a 2 or 3TB HDD.

You can upgrade as a no cost option to 256GB SSD drive (from the 2TB Fusion drive) or pay for an upgrade to 512GB to 1TB SSD...
 
I completely forgot that the 1TB Fusion drive only has a tiny SSD now - 24GB instead of the 128GB on the 2 and 3TB. So you should get the 2TB as a minimum.
The Apple website even says that the 2TB Fusion should be specified for a machine with 32GB RAM for best performance (so the sleep file will fit on the SSD).
 
htid said:
Depends on your budget. An SSD is a type of hard drive, so you could have one in addition to the 3tb one, instead of, or just not at all. But SSDs are much much quicker than the hard drive I'm assuming is in the Mac you want and depending on what you're doing, images will open much quicker and so will programmes if they're installed on the SSD.
Click to expand...
zlinuk said:
The fusion drive is an SSD / HDD hybrid.
Click to expand...
andyred said:
You can upgrade as a no cost option to 256GB SSD drive (from the 2TB Fusion drive) or pay for an upgrade to 512GB to 1TB SSD...
Click to expand...
Andy Taylor said:
I completely forgot that the 1TB Fusion drive only has a tiny SSD now - 24GB instead of the 128GB on the 2 and 3TB. So you should get the 2TB as a minimum.
The Apple website even says that the 2TB Fusion should be specified for a machine with 32GB RAM for best performance (so the sleep file will fit on the SSD).
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the information and guidance, I do appreciate it.
 
As someone who is also looking to buy an iMac at some foreseeable point, why wouldn't one simply buy the base 1TB HD option and add on an external SSD and boot applications and OS from there? Isn't it more cost effective?
 
travellingcello said:
As someone who is also looking to buy an iMac at some foreseeable point, why wouldn't one simply buy the base 1TB HD option and add on an external SSD and boot applications and OS from there? Isn't it more cost effective?
Click to expand...

Previously the 1 tb fusion drive had a 128gb SSD as part of the "fusion", but the recent upgrades and new retina screens - the 1 tb fusion now only has a small SSD - 28gb I think, whereas the 2 & 3 tb drives still have 128 gb SSD dives.

The other option is to swap to an SSD instead of the fusion drive and buy an external large drive for storage if you don't want a large fusion drive.
 
travellingcello said:
As someone who is also looking to buy an iMac at some foreseeable point, why wouldn't one simply buy the base 1TB HD option and add on an external SSD and boot applications and OS from there? Isn't it more cost effective?
Click to expand...

Simply because an internal SSD has a faster transfer rate and is not a user upgradeable part. The best options for a new machine are 2TB Fusion or 256GB SSD, both with External storage, for Time Machine if nothing else.

For an older Mac, an external SSD connected via Thunderbolt or even FireWire 800 will perform faster than the internal HDD.
 
Ok, thanks for all the feedback, thoughts and explanations, they have all helped. I have pressed the button and placed the order, so it's done!

I went for the iMac 27 inch with 5K disp, 3.3 GHz i5, 8GB SDRAM (I have ordered another 16GB from Crucial to add myself), 2TB Fusion drive, AMD Radion R9 M395. I've also gone with Magic Trackpad 2 and Applecare as suggested. Due for delivery early next week. Can't wait to get started!
 
That's great news. Don't forget that AppleCare is technical support as well as hardware cover. The trackpad might take some getting used to, but it is worth persevering with. Any USB compatible mouse or other pointing device will work just fine as well. Enjoy!
 
sjt85 said:
Ok, thanks for all the feedback, thoughts and explanations, they have all helped. I have pressed the button and placed the order, so it's done!

I went for the iMac 27 inch with 5K disp, 3.3 GHz i5, 8GB SDRAM (I have ordered another 16GB from Crucial to add myself), 2TB Fusion drive, AMD Radion R9 M395. I've also gone with Magic Trackpad 2 and Applecare as suggested. Due for delivery early next week. Can't wait to get started!
Click to expand...

Excellent news...

Enjoy it when it arrives :)
 
I see you've made your purchase.
It will be good.
I concur with the memory upgrade and did exactly that myself.
A couple of additional points for consideration.
1 - Lightroom require files kept locally - not on a network. You will have best performance with files stored on the internal disk - not on an external drive. Consequently, although SSD would be faster, it would be largely impractical to maintain tiny catalogs and limited files. Fusion was therefore my preference.
2 - Lightroom predominantly requires a good processor. Going from an overclocked dual core at 3.3GHz to a 3.4GHz I7 was a significant jump in performance. Recently, moving from 12MB raws to 40MB raws was a noticeable drop in performance. Getting the best processor you can afford will future proof your system to a degree for more camera upgrades.
 
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