Buying new 27in Imac. Advice needed ^^

[Vividjelly]

Hey everyone,

I've decided to upgrade my 2009 3.06 Imac (4gb ram) with a 2010 27in Imac (spec as of yet undecided).

I'll mainly be using the computer for web design work (all the Adobe programmes), but will also be using Logic Pro, and WoW.

I'd normally just get the entry level Imac and max out the RAM, but this time I want to get the best I can afford, which is £2200. The main reason I want a 27in Imac this time round is that it'll improve my workflow, and considering I sit infront of the Mac for a minimum of 12 hours a day, I deserve better than the entry level Imac ^^

I've been doing a lot of searching and reading in the past few days but my head now feels like a mush, especially now I've made the mistake of reading about Solid State Drives!

OK, before this turns into the longest first post in history and a massive wall of text, I'll get to the points...


- If you had the £2200 to spend and you used the Imac for what I do, what one would you get and what would you add in extra?

- From what I gather, a Solid State Drive would be more effective than say adding 4GB of RAM (I'm thinking of getting 8GB), but would I really notice the difference? Is it still quite expensive for the reward it would give?

- Would I see much difference in the top i5 and i7?

- RAM or Solid State Drive?

This is what I am thinking of getting:-

2.93 i7
8GB RAM
1TB Hard Drive

That would cost £1968.

or the other choice...

2.8 i5
4GB RAM
256 Solid State Drive

That would cost £2128.

Any advice you could provide I would appreciate it. I know I'm over-thinking this, and whatever I get will be awesome compared to my low end 2009 Imac, but I wouldn't normally consider spending £2200 and want to make the right decision.

Thank you for taking the time to read my massive wall of text.

Kind regards,

VJelly

 

[Paulywauly]

You can buy the RAM cheaper yourself and easily upgrade it on your own on later so dont worry about that right now. What you really need to decide is do you need the fast application response times and boot speeds of the SSD? or the extra muscle of the i7?
Personally id go for the i7 as its the only component mentioned you cant upgrade later on. Get it with the 4GB of RAM but buy the extra 4GB yourself from somewhere else. Apples stock SSDs arn§t the best and you can always add one of these later too and it might also save you some money, would give it a nice speed boost in a year or two

 

[SpitUK]

I'm just in the same boat. I have about £2300 to spend and am feeling adventurous.

I have decided to mod mine myself and go for the following:

27" i7 iMac
16gb hynix £255
120gb corsair ssd £175
2tb samsung f4 £75

Will take out the 4gb and 1tb and sell those for approximately £100.

Should be a beast of a machine!!