iMac 27-inch RAM vs. SSD

[Reshaydee]

Hi!

I was thinking of getting the new 27-inch iMac with these specs:

• 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
• 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
• 1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive

I'm already well over my budget, especially after adding the SSD in there which I was told is a good, although expensive choice. I also did some research and saw a lot of positive feedback concerning the SSD for performance and speed.

Now, my question is... Is it really, really worth it? 'Cos I was thinking of getting 16GBs of RAM as part of my initial setup instead of getting an SSD. Or should I still keep my original setup with the SSD and go for more RAM when I can afford it in the future?

I hope someone can help. Thanks very much for reading.

-Resh

 

[stridemat]

What are you going to be doing on the machine?

I would go with the Dual HDD/SSD and upgrade the ram when you have the money.

 

[Reshaydee]

What are you going to be doing on the machine?

I would go with the Dual HDD/SSD and upgrade the ram when you have the money.

Thanks for responding! I'll be using it mostly for editing. Like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and etc. But probably use it for music some time in the future too.

 

[stridemat]

Someone may correct me if Im wrong, but I have a feeling you can only have a dual disk system if you buy BTO from Apple. It is not possible within the iMac (yet). If you are sure you want the dual disks you only have one choice.

Edit* Not impossible, but hard.

 

[Reshaydee]

Someone may correct me if Im wrong, but I have a feeling you can only have a dual disk system if you buy BTO from Apple. It is not possible within the iMac (yet). If you are sure you want the dual disks you only have one choice.

Edit* Not impossible, but hard.

That's what I thought too.

 

[Hellhammer]

RAM can easily be upgraded from aftermarket and for less $ than what Apple upgrades cost. You can get 2x2GB from aftermarket for less than 100 bucks, that would make it 8GB. even 2x4GB goes for ~150$ nowadays.

 

[MacHamster68]

i would get it with standard ram and then get the 2 tb harddrive +ssd which leave you enough in the pocket to get from somewhere else the 8gb ram if you find that you desperately need it and even if still should leave you even enough left over for a nice dinner for two to celebrate the new iMac , apple ram is expensive somewhere else its cheaper, but actually the same is true for the 2 tb hdd so if i am right and if you choose the only ssd option and get the hdd from somehere else too you could save even more , i know its not easy to fit the ssd after you bought the iMac , but i guess its easy possible if you choose the ssd without hdd to fit a hdd later but thats something you need to ask a genius , i just think about your budget and if i would be able to save several hundred i would
but then i dont have the cash anyway in first place

 

[davidw]

Get the SSD/HD combo. It was the best decision I made when ordering my iMac... you have no idea how much of a difference it makes until you use it.

People say Apple's SSDs aren't the fastest, that there are better ones. I'm sure that's true. But what people fail to mention is that the Apple SSD DRAMATICALLY improves day-to-day performance in almost everything. So what if it's 15% slower than the top of the line SSD? It's installed for you and eons faster recovering from sleep mode or startup than any hard drive, and it's silent. Safari, Mail, iPhoto... they load instantly.

If you can only afford one choice, get the SSD. Later, upgrade the RAM, and even that's pretty cheap (check out Crucial's 8GB packages)

 

[Reshaydee]

Get the SSD/HD combo. It was the best decision I made when ordering my iMac... you have no idea how much of a difference it makes until you use it.

People say Apple's SSDs aren't the fastest, that there are better ones. I'm sure that's true. But what people fail to mention is that the Apple SSD DRAMATICALLY improves day-to-day performance in almost everything. So what if it's 15% slower than the top of the line SSD? It's installed for you and eons faster recovering from sleep mode or startup than any hard drive, and it's silent. Safari, Mail, iPhoto... they load instantly.

If you can only afford one choice, get the SSD. Later, upgrade the RAM, and even that's pretty cheap (check out Crucial's 8GB packages)

Thanks for that! I really wish I could see for myself before I buy... But they don't have any iMacs with that kind of setup for demo in any of the stores I've been to...