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camner

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2009
245
18
My 2015 27" iMac is getting old in the tooth and I'm looking at the 2019 models. As I looked at the Apple Store, I spec'd out two of them:

  • 3.7GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz
  • 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
  • 1TB SSD storage
This one came to $2469.

Then THIS one:
  • 3.1GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz
  • 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • Radeon Pro 575X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory
  • 1TB SSD storage
This came to $2439!

I don't understand why the first one is only $30 more, given that it has a better processor and a better GPU. Is there something I'm missing? Is there a reason one should prefer the second to the first? For example, will the higher powered one run hotter, noisier, or have some other drawbacks that I should consider? Because absent any significant drawbacks, it seems like a no-brainer to spend the extra $30.

[My plan is to get OWC memory in either case]
 
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