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About to take the plunge...

J

joshs2000ss

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
78
0
I'm about to make my first venture into the Mac world(other than iPhone, iPad) after years of PC and Windows Administrator work. I do quite a bit of work in the graphic design world outside of my 9-5 job and it looks like this is the route I want/need to go.

Currently I'm looking at the following configuration: (from the online store)

27" Core i7
4MB RAM (plan to add more, question upcoming)
2 GB graphics card
1TB SATA drive

Here are my questions:

What exact RAM specs for this configuration do I need to get to upgrade to 12 GB? Should I go to 16? (I know that last part is probably a loaded question)

For those who do graphic design work (Photoshop, Illustrator), do you prefer the mouse, trackpad, both or something else? (examples or explanation with answers to this question would be appreciated)

Thanks in advance for the responses.
 
I ordered the same exact configuration as yours.

I´d take additional 2x2Gb RAM anyday, make the total 8Gb. I think for your need the total 8Gb RAM should be enough. Unless you do a lot of VMWare/Parallel Desktops, the extra RAM would be obsolete

I took Magic TrackPad option and I think you should too .. MagicMouse is just horrible in term of ergonomic, sensitivity and accuracy. Magic TrackPad is a lot better, combine it with gaming mouse, I personally chose Logitech G500 to fulfill the need of REAL MOUSE accuracy and response.

It´s not really necessary to use gaming mouse for games only .. all you need is the sensitivity and accuracy, something MagicMouse don´t have as it should for a mouse.

MagicMouse + Magic TrackPad .. well it really doesn´t work in my case, Magic x 2 apparently not twice as good for me :)
 
joshs2000ss said:
Did some reading on the memory questions I had. Is there any reason why this RAM won't work. Going to go with 2 of these for a total of 16gb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148345
Click to expand...

That RAM would be fine, I'll give a +1 to www.macsales.com (OWC) because they 1. specialize in Macs 2. Have terrific pre and post sales service and support 3. have extremely competitive prices. Same amount of RAM from OWC is $105, for that small difference I'd go with OWC for the above reasons.
 
I never know why "What RAM do I buy" threads aren't sticked. This is a question that gets asked at least twice a day.

For a 2011 Thunderbolt iMac, The RAM you want will be (from wherever you buy it from, and whoever makes it)...
  • 204-pin laptop DDR3 SO-DIMM
  • DDR3-PC10600
  • 1.5V
  • CAS Latency of 9
Always install DDR memory in pairs. It is recommended that the densest pairs be installed in the lowest-numbered DIMM slots (iMacs have slots 0 through 3).

Apple ships their computers with memory modules from Hynix, Micron (Crucial) and Samsung. Remember, if you need to send in your Mac for service, it is always recommended to remove any third-party memory modules to avoid the service request being unnecessarily refused.

Any of these modules will work. Remember, if buying solo modules (instead of buying in pairs), that you'll need to buy two: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0006178 600000414 600006157&IsNodeId=1&name=9
 
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