Need to upgrade iMac - thoughts on these options!

[thegravy]

Hi all, my iMac is starting to struggle a bit its a late 2013 pre retina so looking to upgrade soonish!

I've always bought from apple refurb before, I'm in the UK and the 2 I'm currently looking at are below:

27 inch 2019 iMac -
3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
32GB (four 8GB) of 2666MHz DDR4 memory; four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible
2TB SSD storage
Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
£3209

27 inch 2017 iMac Pro
3.2GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz, 19MB cache
32GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory
1TB SSD storage
Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics processor with 8GB of HBM2 memory
£4159

is there much difference for the extra grand? I'm a graphic designer, so mainly the adobe apps, InDesign, photoshop, etc.
no video & no gaming

any thoughts or advice would be gratefully received!

cheers

D

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm thinking that the iMac Pro would be absolute overkill for you.

I'd suggest a "non-Pro" iMac.
Get the 2019..!
Get 8gb of RAM and add more if you need to yourself (easy with the 27"). Apple overcharges for RAM.
Will you really, really need a 2tb internal drive?
You could save a good deal of money by getting either 1tb (or even 512gb) and adding external storage via USB3 or thunderbolt3.
Again -- Apple overcharges for internal SSD storage -- don't pay for it unless you REALLY are going to need it.

 

[thegravy]

Thanks for the reply Fishrrman - I was leaning towards the non pro iMac!
a good point about Apple overcharging for RAM and SSD, I've a few 6gb external lacie drives so could easily make do with a smaller SSD, will take another look!

thanks again

D

 

[velocityg4]

Based on benchmarks from Pugetsystems. Photoshop won't benefit from anything beyond a GeForce GTX 1050 (about equivalent to an Radeon Rx 560). Excepting the Smart Sharpen feature. Even then the gain with the Vega 56 would be minimal. Sure there are small differences for faster GPU. But it is quite minimal. Too little to bother with. Especially since most of what you do is CPU bound.

CC 2017 (GTX 1050 - Titan Xp) https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Photoshop-CC-2017-NVIDIA-GeForce-GPU-Performance-899/
CC 2019 (GTX 1660 Ti - Titan RTX) https://www.pugetsystems.com/pic_disp.php?id=56593
CC 2019 (nVidia Super vs RTX 2700XT) https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...-Roundup-NVIDIA-SUPER-vs-AMD-RX-5700-XT-1552/

Conversely, Photoshop loves single core speed. Some tasks can use multiple cores. Most of the time it doesn't scale very well. I'd expect better results on the iMac than the iMac Pro. Even the 14 core iMac Pro doesn't average as well as the i9-9900K used in the iMac you listed. Just about the only thing better is Threadripper.

Photoshop CC 2019 CPU Roundup: Intel vs AMD vs Mac

Finding a CPU that not only fits your budget, but will also give you the best performance for your dollar can be a daunting task. In this article, we are going to be benchmarking a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD including the Intel 9th Gen, Intel X-series, AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, and AMD...

www.pugetsystems.com

Photoshop CPU performance: Intel Core X-10000 vs AMD Threadripper 3rd Gen

Photoshop typically doesn't require a HEDT processor, but with Intel drastically reducing the price of their new X-series CPUs and AMD greatly improving single threaded performance in their 3rd Gen Threadripper CPUs, is this finally going to change?

www.pugetsystems.com

Basically, you'd spend an extra grand for something not as good at Photoshop. Put the money towards an LG 5K display to pair with the iMac. More workspace will help with your workflow and boost productivity.

 

[Brian Y]

As above, get the regular 27" with as much storage as you need, and as little ram as possible. It's easy and cheap to upgrade.

Can you get access to student discount at all?