21.5 4K Config Help

[dfinecy]

Sooo...I'm in need of the community's help. My wife and I are looking at getting an iMac prior to the refresh and I've been racking my brain to figure out the specs that would be best for our situation. We do the standard stuff (email, Netflix, browsing etc.) and at most, will be doing light photo editing (via GIMP). We decided to forgo the 27" as the screen is just too big for our needs so here is what I'm debating:

Option 1: 3.1 i5, 16GB Memory, 2TB Fusion Drive
Option 2: 3.3 i7, 16GB Memory, 1TB Fusion Drive

The goal is that this computer will last us for the next 5-10 years and with our current usage, I don't feel its too far of a stretch but I've been trying to decide if I should sacrifice the processor bump for the 128GB SSD that comes with the 2TB Fusion drive. Any thoughts? I can't thank you all enough!

 

[fat jez]

If you're only doing light photo editing and nothing is time critical (i.e. Has to be finished yesterday), go with the 2TB fusion drive. I don't think the jump to the i7 will be noticeable enough for what you have planned. I've just purchased a 27" 3.3Ghz i5 with 2TB fusion drive for my partner and it's pretty quick. I don't see it holding her back in her Graphic Design business.

You're already making the right move by going for 16GB and away from the 5400RPM Drive of the base model. Not doing that would really slow you down.

 

[dfinecy]

Thanks for the help!I went ahead and pulled the plug on the 2TB as I agree, the flash storage piece outweighs the small bump in processor.