iMac or iMac Pro

[Apple Mac Daz]

Looking into getting a 27” by the time I spec it up
i9 vega and 1TB SSD

It’s not that far off a Pro from the refurb store

It mainly be used for a little handbrake email browsing and some gaming

Would it be worth paying the slight extra and get a Pro
Is there much difference Vega 48 vs 56 on gaming

 

[joema2]

Looking into getting a 27” by the time I spec it up
i9 vega and 1TB SSD

It’s not that far off a Pro from the refurb store

It mainly be used for a little handbrake email browsing and some gaming

Would it be worth paying the slight extra and get a Pro
Is there much difference Vega 48 vs 56 on gaming

If encoding H264 or HEVC video using Handbrake is important, the 2019 iMac might be a better choice. The Xeon in the iMac Pro does not support Intel's Quick Sync. However FCPX and other apps apparently use similar video acceleration logic on the iMac Pro's T2 chip via some macOS API.

There is also uncertainty about what version of Handbrake supports Quick Sync on macOS. As of this 2017 Github post, it apparently worked in some custom builds: https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/1060

As of late 2018, supposedly Handbrake supports hardware acceleration for video transcoding on Mac. I don't know if this is a generic API which leverages the underlying hardware of both Quick Sync or T2, whichever are available. I tend to think it will use whatever acceleration hardware is available, since both DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro use hardware acceleration for video encoding on Mac.

I have not tested if this works on an iMac or iMac Pro: https://www.iclarified.com/68883/ha...ideo-encoding-touchbar-support-dark-mode-more

 

[SecuritySteve]

Looking into getting a 27” by the time I spec it up
i9 vega and 1TB SSD

It’s not that far off a Pro from the refurb store

It mainly be used for a little handbrake email browsing and some gaming

Would it be worth paying the slight extra and get a Pro
Is there much difference Vega 48 vs 56 on gaming

I faced the same dilemma recently when getting my girlfriend an iMac for her work. Her technical needs put her right in that sweet spot you're in, where it's a debate between the refurb iMac Pro vs high spec'd iMac.

We ended up deciding on the refurb iMac Pro, because the Vega 56 was 8% faster in gaming from benchmarks alone, and the cooling system made both the CPU and GPU more effective in heavy workloads and gaming.

I believe we made the right choice.

 

[mikehalloran]

I’m with SecuritySteve for the same reason.

Frankly, it’s hard to go wrong either way.

 

[codernova]

@SecuritySteve @mikehalloran Agreed, I'd have done the same if I was able to break the $4k barrier a bit, but it was a stretch to add Vega 48 to my i9 system.

 

[trjwv]

getting ready to buy one of the following and need advise for very large PS multi layered files and large scratch disk:
2019 IMAC 27" 5K 3.6GHz 8 core, 64GB Ram, Vega 48 8GB, 2TB SSD or
IMAC PRO 27" 3.0 GHz 10 core, 64GB Ram, Vega PRO 64X 16GB, 2TB SSD

My current late 2014 27" 5K 4.0 GHz i7, 32 GB Ram, AMD R9 4GB 1TB SSD runs very hard and loud when working on the very large multi layered PS files and is forcing me to flatten to continue. I keep getting the spinning ball and makes me wait to continue editing very frequently. I also keep LR open and running while editing. Just wondering which unit will run faster and more efficient. I would be upgrading the RAM to 64GB aftermarket from crucial.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Dutch60]

getting ready to buy one of the following and need advise for very large PS multi layered files and large scratch disk:
2019 IMAC 27" 5K 3.6GHz 8 core, 64GB Ram, Vega 48 8GB, 2TB SSD or
IMAC PRO 27" 3.0 GHz 10 core, 64GB Ram, Vega PRO 64X 16GB, 2TB SSD

My current late 2014 27" 5K 4.0 GHz i7, 32 GB Ram, AMD R9 4GB 1TB SSD runs very hard and loud when working on the very large multi layered PS files and is forcing me to flatten to continue. I keep getting the spinning ball and makes me wait to continue editing very frequently. I also keep LR open and running while editing. Just wondering which unit will run faster and more efficient. I would be upgrading the RAM to 64GB aftermarket from crucial.

Thanks in advance...

Unfortunately I haven't got an answer, but I'm curious as you are. Especially for the iMac 2019. I think, the iMac Pro will be a better choice (but not sure). Will follow this post!

 

[nihil0]

getting ready to buy one of the following and need advise for very large PS multi layered files and large scratch disk:
2019 IMAC 27" 5K 3.6GHz 8 core, 64GB Ram, Vega 48 8GB, 2TB SSD or
IMAC PRO 27" 3.0 GHz 10 core, 64GB Ram, Vega PRO 64X 16GB, 2TB SSD

My current late 2014 27" 5K 4.0 GHz i7, 32 GB Ram, AMD R9 4GB 1TB SSD runs very hard and loud when working on the very large multi layered PS files and is forcing me to flatten to continue. I keep getting the spinning ball and makes me wait to continue editing very frequently. I also keep LR open and running while editing. Just wondering which unit will run faster and more efficient. I would be upgrading the RAM to 64GB aftermarket from crucial.

Thanks in advance...

It is impossible to upgrade RAM in iMac Pro without taking it apart. So then your choice is obvious.

 

[Dutch60]

I think trjwv is comparing 64Gb RAM iMac 2019 with 64Gb RAM iMac Pro (?). If trjwv wants to upgrade from those 64Gb in the future, then yes..the choice is obvious. Looks to me, that upgrading from an 8 core to 10 core seems a lot more difficult with an iMac 2019.

 

[mikehalloran]

It is impossible to upgrade RAM in iMac Pro without taking it apart. So then your choice is obvious.

Why is it obvious? There are places where it can be done. True, less expensive as a BTO.

Looks to me, that upgrading from an 8 core to 10 core seems a lot more difficult with an iMac 2019.

One can get a 64GB 10 Core iMP for $5,269 right now in the Refurb Store.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...fc44e1ac9cd2d05e61d971aaae9dd75ed0d55379ffb91