iMac Pro spec for Graphic & Web Design

[OBirder]

As I had mentioned before I went for the 10 core, 64, 1 TB, Vega 64 system. My old system was a 6 core i7 Windows based machine.

We had discussed Lightroom performance before.

Here a brief experience with Lightroom. Last night I had to load from a shooting 727 RAW files. I loaded onto the same catalog and a wiped preview cache sitting on an SSD. Loading and creating 1:1 Previews in parallel.

Windows i7 6 core: 42 minutes, 37 seconds
iMac Pro: 10 minutes, 33 seconds

The other day I had to render over 3000 images and it was amazing how the iMac Pro went through it. The best of all however for me is, that on the Windows machine I can't work in parallel. It's basically impossible to start reviewing the images while loading and rendering that's how much the system is busy.
On the iMac Pro this was no problem and this while the system stays quiet and I can't here the fan. The Windows PC noticeable increases the noise when the fans are kicking in.

There was a question regarding how much LR benefits from multiple cores. Here is a screen print I took from the Activity Monitor last night.

Again I can't compare to a current iMac i7 but at least for me I am satisfied with the performance. LR seems to use the extra cores very well.

 

[dazzer21-2]

I'm an InDesign/Illustrator/pretty heavy Photoshop/Animate and various file conversion processes among other things kind guy! I have a 16gb 3.3ghz iMac 5K i5. If there's anything that keeps me waiting at all, it's the drive. I have a Fusion drive and although the times I get any beach-balling are VERY rare indeed, it's never what I would really call frustrating. I tend to keep over half my internal drive free and move completed work to external devices - it's fast enough for me and I think that were I to upgrade at all, a 4ghz i7 would be a sweet spot. iMac Pro would be pretty overkill.

However (an answer to my previous post above), since writing this I have had a bit if a shift in terms of my working requirements and I'm now successfully branching more into animation which will have to be done under the same type of conditions as the rest of my work - ie VERY quick turnaround. As time moves on, in the name of trying to offer more of a top-teir service, I'll be looking into the higher-end side of things and maybe even get into the video side of things, too. Also as time moves on, system requirements will increase. So would a top-spec i7 iMac be futureproof ENOUGH, or would an iMac Pro take it as far as I need to? in terms of the design/layout/Photoshop elements, someone previously mentioned that you could get by with doing that on a 2008 iMac - in my experience, you can, still a very useful machine in that regard; maybe the time will come when an iMac Pro will become more of a real-world consideration as the work gets more sophisticated (Augmented Reality in InDesign anyone? ). Not yet, though...

 

[Tilli85]

I will give you a non-rational advice: buy the one you want to buy. If it is the iMac Pro, go for it! If money is not the biggest problem for you, then do it.

I have an iMac Pro (base model) since January and I am very happy with it. It is a great machine, the fans never kick in (this can happen with the i7 machines). I sometimes have a couple of large photoshop files opened and work with them, have Paralles running and compile a project on xcode. It all works perfectly. Could I have a similar experice with the normal iMac? Probably. But I wanted the iMac Pro. For a couple of weeks I was asking myself the same question: Should I save some €€ by buying the cheaper iMac? And at one point I said to myself: F**k it, I’m gonna buy it now. Never regretted it.

If I went for the normal iMac I could have saved some money. But what would have happened if the machine had some (minor) issues?

 

[pappkristof]

I’d wait for the October event and see if apple introduces new iMacs.

 

[monokakata]

This is as good a thread as any for my iMac Pro report.

8 core / 64 gb RAM / Vega 64 / 2 TB SSD.

I shot a festival a week ago, and came home with 1088 Nikon D850 RAW images (averaging around 50 mb each), for import into Lightroom CC Classic (latest version). High Sierrra, because I wasn't about to go to a new OS with a big job waiting.

I wanted a real-world test, in the sense that I typically wouldn't be able to just leave the machine while it cranked away. So I didn't make a new catalog, for example. I cued the files up, asked for 1:1 previews, with a couple of adjustments to be made on import, and as soon as I had something ready to go, I started editing.

If there was fan noise, I didn't hear it, but my workroom has open windows.

The import and previews finished in just under an hour. And I didn't notice significant lag during that hour.

All 8 cores were at 100% almost all the time. The system made itself a big cache so the RAM was nearly all used up.

I'm pleased with this machine.

 

[baypharm]

This is as good a thread as any for my iMac Pro report.

8 core / 64 gb RAM / Vega 64 / 2 TB SSD.

I shot a festival a week ago, and came home with 1088 Nikon D850 RAW images (averaging around 50 mb each), for import into Lightroom CC Classic (latest version). High Sierrra, because I wasn't about to go to a new OS with a big job waiting.

I wanted a real-world test, in the sense that I typically wouldn't be able to just leave the machine while it cranked away. So I didn't make a new catalog, for example. I cued the files up, asked for 1:1 previews, with a couple of adjustments to be made on import, and as soon as I had something ready to go, I started editing.

If there was fan noise, I didn't hear it, but my workroom has open windows.

The import and previews finished in just under an hour. And I didn't notice significant lag during that hour.

All 8 cores were at 100% almost all the time. The system made itself a big cache so the RAM was nearly all used up.

I'm pleased with this machine.

View attachment 798998

Great review. The iMac Pro is an awesome machine for getting work done. Would you mind elaborating on your use of the D850? I am about to buy one and was curious as to what you think of it? Also which lenses do you use mostly with it? I am thinking of two: a 28mm and a 135mm primes

 

[monokakata]

I hope the OP won't mind if we hijack this thread.

I came from D800 to D810 to the 850. For me, it's been the perfect camera. I mostly shoot tripod-mounted, and use the D850 as if it were a view camera, meaning almost always composing on the screen.

Of course at the festival I mentioned I wasn't doing that.

The important controls fall to hand easily. I like the pinpoint focus area (very small), and the touchscreen makes my life a lot easier.

The resolution is phenomenal. I never worry about cropping down. The dynamic range is also phenomenal.

I use the 14-24, the 70-200 f/2.8, the 300 pf, the 105 micro, and the 200-500. And I have the 500pf on order; when it arrives, I'll sell the 200-500.

Although it's not the best lens in the cabinet, the 28-300 is unbeatable as a walking-around lens. I used it at the festival, occasionally shifting to the 14-24.

There's a lot of unused space between 28 and 135. Maybe you could pick up an 85?

A few years ago I got nailed for "self promotion" so I'll be cautious here. My photographic practice involves making an image every day, in my yard, and posting it on the web. Today's was #1,549. I got the D850 in December 2017, so if you google "Hilo Daily Image" you'll be led to the site, and you can inspect the D850 images there.

 

[Boil]

More hijacking...

Just to say, I miss my old Nikon FM...!

That is all...