looking into imac5k these good specs?

[cameron dunn]

I am looking into getting an imac5k

Are these good specs

• 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
• • 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM - two 4GB
  • 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
  • AMD Radeon R9 M380 with 2GB video memory

I do photoshop and lots of pictures

my current imac is mid 2011

2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
4gb ram
amd radeon hd 6750m 512mb


is i5 great or is i7 better?

 

[MetalCores]

i7 will be faster when doing certain tasks. You just need to ask yourself if you need it to be faster or if more speed can justify the added cost. Unless you are doing really intensive stuff the i5 should work just fine. I went with the i7 but I edit a lot of videos and don't like waiting forever for one to render. You should defiantly look into the fusion drive tho. Put the extra money in that instead of the i7. Unless you really think you need the i7

 

[cameron dunn]

i7 will be faster when doing certain tasks. You just need to ask yourself if you need it to be faster or if more speed can justify the added cost. Unless you are doing really intensive stuff the i5 should work just fine. I went with the i7 but I edit a lot of videos and don't like waiting forever for one to render. You should defiantly look into the fusion drive tho. Put the extra money in that instead of the i7. Unless you really think you need the i7

thanks for the fast reply

 

[rkaufmann87]

I am looking into getting an imac5k

Are these good specs

• 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
• • 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM - two 4GB
  • 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
  • AMD Radeon R9 M380 with 2GB video memory

I do photoshop and lots of pictures

my current imac is mid 2011

2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
4gb ram
amd radeon hd 6750m 512mb


is i5 great or is i7 better?

Actually those are pretty poor specs. You should at the very least get a Fusion drive and if you want the computer to be much quicker get a SSD.

 

[cameron dunn]

Actually those are pretty poor specs. You should at the very least get a Fusion drive and if you want the computer to be much quicker get a SSD.

ok thanks
[doublepost=1460775418][/doublepost]what specs would everyone suggest?i want it fast, too last

 

[r6mile]

Have you considered just upgrading your current iMac? If you bump up the RAM to 8GB or higher (you can up to 16GB), and install an SSD drive, it will feel like new, and with the right components yours is still a very capable machine.

 

[maflynn]

I'd look at the M395 model, its a better GPU, and you get the 2TB Fusion drive which has 128GB of flash storage over the 24GB for the 1TB Fusion drive

 

[cameron dunn]

thanks for the help

I'd look at the M395 model, its a better GPU, and you get the 2TB Fusion drive which has 128GB of flash storage over the 24GB for the 1TB Fusion drive

not sure what M395 and what upgrade would i have to make to it, i want it fast and to last.

 

[jerwin]

photoshop? with 4gb? PS likes having lots of Ram.

the problem with the base model is that it's hard drive is obsolete tech, substantially slower than flash. The video card is very much slower than the m390, which in turn is slower than the m395. Some applications (including photos) use the graphics card for opencl-- it's not just for games. I've heard of photoshop using opencl, but not being a photoshop user, I can't attest that it's bug free, or even useful to invest in a better video card.)

The i5 is a capable processor. But the i7 is faster.
http://barefeats.com/imac5k15.html
http://barefeats.com/imac5k16.html


If however, you can only afford one upgrade over the base model, storage is the priority, -- 2 tb fusion or 256 gb flash are two very good options. (When it designs new versions of MacOS, Apple assumes that a great many of its users (i.e laptop users) have low latency high speed storage, so things such as spotlight can be aggravatingly slow when using an an ordinary 7200 rpm hard drive).
[doublepost=1460823277][/doublepost]

thanks for the help

not sure what M395 and what upgrade would i have to make to it, i want it fast and to last.

There are three stock models of the imac5k. Some upgrades may only be available by starting from a higher priced model.

But stock models tend to be discounted more often than build to order models.

 

[cameron dunn]

photoshop? with 4gb? PS likes having lots of Ram.

the problem with the base model is that it's hard drive is obsolete tech, substantially slower than flash. The video card is very much slower than the m390, which in turn is slower than the m395. Some applications (including photos) use the graphics card for opencl-- it's not just for games. I've heard of photoshop using opencl, but not being a photoshop user, I can't attest that it's bug free, or even useful to invest in a better video card.)

The i5 is a capable processor. But the i7 is faster.
http://barefeats.com/imac5k15.html
http://barefeats.com/imac5k16.html


If however, you can only afford one upgrade over the base model, storage is the priority, -- 2 tb fusion or 256 gb flash are two very good options. (When it designs new versions of MacOS, Apple assumes that a great many of its users (i.e laptop users) have low latency high speed storage, so things such as spotlight can be aggravatingly slow when using an an ordinary 7200 rpm hard drive).
[doublepost=1460823277][/doublepost]
There are three stock models of the imac5k. Some upgrades may only be available by starting from a higher priced model.

But stock models tend to be discounted more often than build to order models.

so i is this good specs or will i have enough with just the AMD Radeon R9 M395 with 2GB and is the 8gb ram ok?

 

[jerwin]

The US Prices are
1799-- slowest video card. Spinning Rust. Upgrading to 2TB fusion drive (The model with an ample amount of flash) would cost $300. Upgrading to 256 GB flash would cost $200.

(So 1999 to 2099 depending on whether you can live with 256 GB-- with things like itunes on a external drive

1999-- decent video card. Fusion drive. Upgrading to 2TB fusion drive would cost $200. Upgrading to 256 flash would be $100. $2099 to $2199. Plus $300 if you want the i7--the base model does not allow this option.

2299- good video card. Comes with 2TB Fusion drive. The i7 upgrade is discounted to $250 You can upgrade to a marginally better video card with 4G VRam for $250 more. But if you need the latest tech, so as to extend the life the machine, perhaps it would be better to wait until the newer imacs come out sometime in the Fall--provided that they have AMD's Polaris or nVidia's Pascal chipset.

I'd get the $2299 stock model, (i5, 2TB Fusion, m295) when on sale--i.e not from Apple, then load up on third party RAM and install it myself. Apple charges way too much money for RAM-- and since the iMac has user accessible RAM slots, it saves a hundred or two.

But, I play games.

 

[cameron dunn]

Or can I do with

The US Prices are
1799-- slowest video card. Spinning Rust. Upgrading to 2TB fusion drive (The model with an ample amount of flash) would cost $300. Upgrading to 256 GB flash would cost $200.

(So 1999 to 2099 depending on whether you can live with 256 GB-- with things like itunes on a external drive

1999-- decent video card. Fusion drive. Upgrading to 2TB fusion drive would cost $200. Upgrading to 256 flash would be $100. $2099 to $2199. Plus $300 if you want the i7--the base model does not allow this option.

2299- good video card. Comes with 2TB Fusion drive. The i7 upgrade is discounted to $250 You can upgrade to a marginally better video card with 4G VRam for $250 more. But if you need the latest tech, so as to extend the life the machine, perhaps it would be better to wait until the newer imacs come out sometime in the Fall--provided that they have AMD's Polaris or nVidia's Pascal chipset.

I'd get the $2299 stock model, (i5, 2TB Fusion, m295) when on sale--i.e not from Apple, then load up on third party RAM and install it myself. Apple charges way too much money for RAM-- and since the iMac has user accessible RAM slots, it saves a hundred or two.

But, I play games.

which apple resellers should i go with macmall?

 

[cameron dunn]

so if I upgrade to the i7 and the video card to 4gb will that be ok if I leave the ram at 8gb? since i will already have the 2tb fushion drive

 

[redheeler]

so if I upgrade to the i7 and the video card to 4gb will that be ok if I leave the ram at 8gb? since i will already have the 2tb fushion drive

Yes, leave it at 8 GB. You can add more yourself at any time.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Or can I do with

which apple resellers should i go with macmall?

Buy it direct from Apple, if you buy from MacMall be ready for incredibly poor service, stall tactics and pressure. If you buy direct from Apple yes it will cost a bit more but the service is second to none. You also get perks such as 14 day return for any reason. I have bought from resellers myself and have been disappointed, a year ago I bought my MacBook Air from a reseller and the experience was a good one however the machine was faulty. When I took it to Apple, they refused to replace it (I can't blame them at all!) because I bought from a reseller. If I had bought it from Apple, it would have been a no-questions asked situation.

Instead of one visit to the Apple Store I had to make several (not Apple's fault), had I bought directly from Apple the amount of visits would have been reduced. I don't know about you but I don't have all the time in the world to visit computer stores.

 

[cameron dunn]

Buy it direct from Apple, if you buy from MacMall be ready for incredibly poor service, stall tactics and pressure. If you buy direct from Apple yes it will cost a bit more but the service is second to none. You also get perks such as 14 day return for any reason. I have bought from resellers myself and have been disappointed, a year ago I bought my MacBook Air from a reseller and the experience was a good one however the machine was faulty. When I took it to Apple, they refused to replace it (I can't blame them at all!) because I bought from a reseller. If I had bought it from Apple, it would have been a no-questions asked situation.

Instead of one visit to the Apple Store I had to make several (not Apple's fault), had I bought directly from Apple the amount of visits would have been reduced. I don't know about you but I don't have all the time in the world to visit computer stores.

yes my fav store is apple i would go there always
[doublepost=1460905413][/doublepost]

Yes, leave it at 8 GB. You can add more yourself at any time.

thanks i will do that

 

[cameron dunn]

and also one last thing is the higher video card and the i7 processor faster?

 

[mpe]

• • 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm

You need at least 2TB fusion or 256GB or bigger SSD. My opinion is that any iMac without these is unusable and the upgrade is defacto mandatory.

I personally couldn't care less about GPU or CPU as the base model has a plenty of performance for photo-editing.

 

[cameron dunn]

also if i upgrade to the i7 and higher video card will that be good, i mean if I upgrade will that make the mac not outdated

 

[mpe]

also if i upgrade to the i7 and higher video card will that be good, i mean if I upgrade will that make the mac not outdated

Storage first. The rest is not that important. For photoshop video card doesn't really matter. CPU is rather nice to have unless you do a lot of video.

 

[cameron dunn]

Storage first. The rest is not that important. For photoshop video card doesn't really matter. CPU is rather nice to have unless you do a lot of video.

cpu is that the i7 and with out the upgrades will i ha
[doublepost=1461002796][/doublepost]cpu is that the i7 and with out the upgrades will i have to keep upgrading in couple year. sorry im dont know a cpu and gpu terms

 

[mpe]

The speed difference between i5 and i7 CPU (about 25% in the best case multithreaded situation) is unlikely to delay any future upgrade. When I5-6600 will become obsolete and unusable due to its speed, the I7-6700K won't be much better.

The same for GPU (the difference between M395X and M390 is about 20-30%). I would avoid the M380 in cheapest iMac config though as it is much slower than the other ones.

Yes. I7 and M395X are faster than base parts, but for photo editing the difference isn't big.

I would personally go for the middle-price model - I5-6600, M395 and the best storage you can afford.

 

[cameron dunn]

so would this be a good choice?

• 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
• 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM - two 4GB
• 2TB Fusion Drive
• AMD Radeon R9 M395X with 4GB video memory

price is $2,549.00

or wait to see if any new imacs comes out