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Buy a iMac or wait?

G

ghaghamashibaba

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 13, 2010
23
0
I currently have a late 2008 iMac (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 320gig HDD)
But the problem is i just joined a production group and now that i am running Final Cut Studio 3. The HDD is to small. The iMac is having trouble with rendering, extracting takes 7-8 hours for a 2 hour movie.
Its a good machine and it runs very well for average stuff.
So now i am hesitating to buy the 27" iMac with the following specs

- 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
- 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB / 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB (Does this make any difference? Expect the price or should I take more ram?)
- 2TB Serial ATA Drive

Now the other thing is buy it now? Wait for the specs upgrade? Or should i wait for a new line of iMac's when Lion is released?
 
Adding the ram won't help for rendering videos.

If the filming season not starting until march literally translates into I won't be needing a new computer until march, then effectively I would wait. iMacs would hopefully be using sandybridge by then.
 
TMRaven said:
Adding the ram won't help for rendering videos.

If the filming season not starting until march literally translates into I won't be needing a new computer until march, then effectively I would wait. iMacs would hopefully be using sandybridge by then.
Click to expand...

That is what it means, what is sandbridge?
Then what is the reason for higher RAM? Running more Apps?
 
Yes, higher ram gives you more headroom when running more apps and/or running ram intensive apps. Ram intensive apps include apps that deal with large resolutions of 2d and/or 3d images, such as photoshop. Rendering videos is pretty much all the cpu, so the better cpu would sooner benefit you.

Sandybridge is the successor to the nehalem cpu architecture, much like nehalem was the sucessor of the core2duo architecture that your computer has (the current iMac you were contemplating getting used a performance grade high end quad core nehalem processor)

No one knows the exact performance gains sandybridge will gain over their respective predecessors, but it's sure to be at least a good evolutionary step. The sandybridge cpus that would possibly replace the current i7 870 in the iMac will be quad cores with 3.4ghz clock speed.
 
I think in the long run a Mac Pro would be a better option.
Very fast, RAID storage. Good long term life

My buddy has his own production company, says it's the way to go!
 
If you need a computer for your "business" (where time = money), then buy an iMac now. Buy from online refurb store if dollars are limited. Then, I'd buy replace it AFTER future "new" Mac OS and future "better" CPUs have proven themselves. If you need a computer for "hobby tasks", then perhaps waiting for future technology to solidify is a better option. Your call...

For me, I hate waiting... Especially when I know a computer task can be done in 1/3 the time - if executed on a "today's technology" computer. Thus, I'd probably buy now, and get 2-3 years out of it (while future technology promises prove themselves)....

Good luck...
 
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