iMac with i7 for home use?

[trifona]

My mid 2007 24” aluminum iMac is still chugging along, but the end is near. We’re going to run this until we can’t take it anymore. I’m looking at new systems and still debating if I pull the trigger this year or wait for the successor to Kaby Lake. We could potentially decide to switch to Macbook Pro to get away from a desktop, but for now we’re assuming a new 27” iMac with 512GB(+) SSD; my current iMac has a 1TB drive with an additional 2TB connected via Firewire for Time Machine.


Uses:

• General internet
• MS Office for Mac (we have 2011 and 2016 versions)
• iTunes playback and music server
• Youtube
• Personal Lightroom photo library (no real editing)
• I could be tempted to try a game here or there once we have a new Mac in the home; but it’s been years since I did any of that.
• The only development we’ll be doing is creating the occasional home movie with our library of pics, iPhone video, and animation; we’ve done this with iMovie a couple of times.
• Since I buy CDs for my music library I would be looking to add an external optical drive; preferably a BluRay so I can watch movies on the iMac unless there is an exorbitant cost or technical limitation that I haven’t considered.

Questions:

1. On the processor, is there any benefit to getting an i7 for my uses?
   
2. If there is a benefit where would I see it?
3. Is background fan noise really a concern on the i7? My 10 year old iMac is virtually silent; yes fan(s) run but never really spool up above a low baseline. I like that since the machine sits in an enclosed home office.
4. Which Radeon GPU?
5. I would install upgraded Ram on my own, is there a sweet spot in terms of quantity? I’ve read of folks putting 40GB(?) in these new machines. I maxed out my old machine to 4GB as soon as I could.

 

[imac275]

I have just got a base 27" 2017 iMac with a 512GB SSD and it really flies doing all of the tasks you mention with the exception of gaming which I haven't tried.

I put an extra 16GB of RAM to take it up to 24GB in total as the general opinion seemed to be that anything else was overkill for my usage.

The only reason that I can see that you'd want to specify an i7 and/or better GPU is if you want to play the latest games, the base should be fine for all of your other uses.

That said, you have done well to keep your current machine for 10 years and if you are planning on keeping this one for as long, then there is a argument to say that maxxing the spec now will enable it to last longer.

I tend to keep mine for 5 years, so the £400 that I saved by not going for the upgraded model will go some way towards my new 2022 model!

 

[trifona]

That said, you have done well to keep your current machine for 10 years and if you are planning on keeping this one for as long, then there is a argument to say that maxxing the spec now will enable it to last longer.

I'm surprised it's lasted this long, considering I opened her up a few years ago to replace the HDD, and I've seen many other iMacs on this forum prematurely fail.

 

[CWallace]

I always buy the i7, but I admit I seriously considered the i5 for my 2017 for the reduced heat and noise. But in the end, I do game and an i7 tends to be better for that.

 

[EugW]

Get the 2017 27" 3.4 GHz i5 7500 base iMac, and configure it with 512 GB or 1 TB SSD. Or else get the 3.5 GHz i5 7600. The i7 is completely unnecessary.

Then add another 8-16 GB of memory from Crucial.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

For the described usage there's no likely benefit to having an i7, going beyond the base GPU, or installing more than 16 GB RAM. I'd suggest buying 8 GB from Apple and using it for a while before spending money on additional RAM - you may not need more.

By all means, there's nothing wrong with 512 GB Flash (I doubt 1 TB Flash is economically justifiable in your case), but for your use Fusion would probably serve you very well. If you go with Fusion, I'd suggest the 3 TB. The primary advantage in your case would be to have enough internal storage to meet your likely needs, all running at 80-90% of pure SSD speeds, with a minimum of management. You said you have a 1 TB HDD currently - how much of that is actually in use? From my perspective, the 512 SSD would force you to do more active disk drive management, housekeeping, etc. You'd likely need an external SSD for some data, but it'd be a gross waste of SSD to not keep that filled with as much data as possible. Sure, Fusion has a spinning HDD, so it's likely you would have to replace it sometime down the road. It's more a matter of balancing day-to-day convenience against a (likely) one-time inconvenience and cost a fair number of years down the road.

 

[rjsounds]

Agreed. The i7 would be overkill and unnecessary for what you're doing. A base or mid model should be more than enough to meet your needs for many years to come. As others have also stated, an extra 8GB of RAM will put you at 16GB, which again, should be more than enough for your needs.

 

[Ledgem]

Questions:

1. On the processor, is there any benefit to getting an i7 for my uses?
   
2. If there is a benefit where would I see it?
3. Is background fan noise really a concern on the i7? My 10 year old iMac is virtually silent; yes fan(s) run but never really spool up above a low baseline. I like that since the machine sits in an enclosed home office.
4. Which Radeon GPU?
5. I would install upgraded Ram on my own, is there a sweet spot in terms of quantity? I’ve read of folks putting 40GB(?) in these new machines. I maxed out my old machine to 4GB as soon as I could.

1. No
2. Video rendering times
3. I have a late 2015 iMac with an i7. Fan noise isn't an issue; even when I work the processor, the fans aren't particularly audible over soft piano music.
4. I have no advice on this one, partly because I don't know enough about the current models and also because it doesn't sound like you'll be doing anything that asks for much from the graphics card.
5. For your usage - unless you're doing everything all at once - 8 GB of RAM would be enough, and probably comfortable. Otherwise, I think of "sweet spot" in terms of pricing. It looks like DDR4 2400 8 GB RAM modules are running around the upper $60's to lower $70's; 16 GB modules are running around the $120-130's. I don't know what your budget is, but my recommendation - keeping an eye toward future expansion - would be to get the largest single stick you can. In other words, get a 16 GB module instead of two 8 GB modules, or get a single 8 GB module instead of two 4 GB modules. That way, if you should ever take up something requiring more RAM, you'll have the slots open for your upgrade, instead of needing to remove a module that's already installed (and putting it to waste).

 

[scotttnz]

It looks like DDR4 2400 8 GB RAM modules are running around the upper $60's to lower $70's; 16 GB modules are running around the $120-130's. I don't know what your budget is, but my recommendation - keeping an eye toward future expansion - would be to get the largest single stick you can. In other words, get a 16 GB module instead of two 8 GB modules, or get a single 8 GB module instead of two 4 GB modules. That way, if you should ever take up something requiring more RAM, you'll have the slots open for your upgrade, instead of needing to remove a module that's already installed (and putting it to waste).

Sorry, I have to disagree with that. These CPUs have 2 memory channels, and it is best to keep the 2 channels balanced with the same amount of memory, which means adding modules in pairs is recommended.

If it was cheaper to add a single module, and there was no downside, don't you think Apple would install a single 8GB module as standard rather than 2x4GB? They don't because the memory channels would be unbalanced resulting in half the memory bandwidth.

 

[Apple_Robert]

In my opinion, the base 3.5 or 3.8 GHz model would be more than enough. You could do well with either the 2TB fusion or the 3TB. Both of those come with a 128 SSD for fast loading of the OS and apps. You can save a lot of money holding off on the 1TB SSD.

I have the 3.8 GHz model with the 2TB fusion drive and it rocks right along. Such a model would easily fit your needs. Save the extra money for a vacation.

 

[Ledgem]

Sorry, I have to disagree with that. These CPUs have 2 memory channels, and it is best to keep the 2 channels balanced with the same amount of memory, which means adding modules in pairs is recommended.

You're talking about dual channel vs single channel operation. You're technically correct, but the performance gains have generally been shown to be fairly minimal, on the order of 3-5% or so for most users. You can experience greater gains depending on the computing application you're doing, but you also experience gains from simply having more RAM. For trifona's described usage case, they are less likely to experience any major benefit (or loss) from dual channel (or lack thereof). They are, however, more likely to experience gains from having more RAM. Which gets to the next point:

If it was cheaper to add a single module, and there was no downside, don't you think Apple would install a single 8GB module as standard rather than 2x4GB? They don't because the memory channels would be unbalanced resulting in half the memory bandwidth.

It isn't cheaper to add a single module. I also suspect that's why Apple does what it does. It's not why I'm arguing that trifona should go with a single large stick, either; my argument is based purely around the fact that it's easy to buy a single 8 GB module now, and then get another 8 GB module later, rather than to buy a 2x4 GB kit that will require them to buy a 2x8 GB kit and dump their original 2x4 GB kit later if they decide that they want more RAM.

The bottom line is that you're right, there'll be a performance boost (albeit minimal - likely very minimal for trifona's usage) from running two paired modules over one larger module if the total sum of RAM is the same in both cases. I'm advocating for future expansion and economics, again with a mind toward trifona's specific use case.

 

[cynics]

My mid 2007 24” aluminum iMac is still chugging along, but the end is near. We’re going to run this until we can’t take it anymore. I’m looking at new systems and still debating if I pull the trigger this year or wait for the successor to Kaby Lake. We could potentially decide to switch to Macbook Pro to get away from a desktop, but for now we’re assuming a new 27” iMac with 512GB(+) SSD; my current iMac has a 1TB drive with an additional 2TB connected via Firewire for Time Machine.


Uses:

• General internet
• MS Office for Mac (we have 2011 and 2016 versions)
• iTunes playback and music server
• Youtube
• Personal Lightroom photo library (no real editing)
• I could be tempted to try a game here or there once we have a new Mac in the home; but it’s been years since I did any of that.
• The only development we’ll be doing is creating the occasional home movie with our library of pics, iPhone video, and animation; we’ve done this with iMovie a couple of times.
• Since I buy CDs for my music library I would be looking to add an external optical drive; preferably a BluRay so I can watch movies on the iMac unless there is an exorbitant cost or technical limitation that I haven’t considered.

Questions:

1. On the processor, is there any benefit to getting an i7 for my uses?
   
2. If there is a benefit where would I see it?
3. Is background fan noise really a concern on the i7? My 10 year old iMac is virtually silent; yes fan(s) run but never really spool up above a low baseline. I like that since the machine sits in an enclosed home office.
4. Which Radeon GPU?
5. I would install upgraded Ram on my own, is there a sweet spot in terms of quantity? I’ve read of folks putting 40GB(?) in these new machines. I maxed out my old machine to 4GB as soon as I could.

1. For your current usage, no.
2. Multi threaded task like video transcoding in certain programs.
3. Maybe, if your machine is virtually silent now it maybe obnoxious to hear the fans kick up. However it wouldn't happen very often for you since your workload won't be leveraging the i7 to the max very often and for very long.
4. Best you can get if you want to game.

5. This is a tricky question and comes down to the user and what they are doing. The sweet spot would be enough space to retain all your commonly used programs in the RAMs cache. For what you listed 16gb is enough, maybe 24gb if you leave your iMac on 24/7. You can't really have too much RAM but the laws of diminishing returns will play a heavy roll especially if you turn your iMac off when not in use.