Question about my new iMac 4k 2017 with Radeon Pro 555

[UbiCrea]

Hi, i've done a good bargain yesterday (at least i'm happy and it's the most important thing...). I paid 200$ for it including a magic keyboard and mouse...
So I found a mint iMac 21,5 4K model 2017, with the 3Ghz quad-core i5, 8Gb and a Radeon Pro 555, a 1Tb HDD.
So, i'm going to upgrade it, of course.

Here are my questions:
- First, is there a big difference in terms of perf if i switch my quad-core with a i7 7700?
- I wonder if there is any advantage to use an original Apple SSD compared to NVME with an adapter? I could get a 128 or 256GB from an old 2015 Macbook Pro. I don't know if there is a bottleneck upstream that wont change anything?
- I plan to put 16GB or ram, probably a random sodimm from some laptop. I tried to find 2nd hand 32 gb.. but it's very rare and expensive Is there a big difference ?

and lastly
- With a 256 GB SSD, is there a big drop of performance if i build a fusion drive with the 1Tb ?

Thanks a lot

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi, i've done a good bargain yesterday (at least i'm happy and it's the most important thing...). I paid 200$ for it including a magic keyboard and mouse...
So I found a mint iMac 21,5 4K model 2017, with the 3Ghz quad-core i5, 8Gb and a Radeon Pro 555, a 1Tb HDD.
So, i'm going to upgrade it, of course.

Here are my questions:
- First, is there a big difference in terms of perf if i switch my quad-core with a i7 7700?
- I wonder if there is any advantage to use an original Apple SSD compared to NVME with an adapter? I could get a 128 or 256GB from an old 2015 Macbook Pro. I don't know if there is a bottleneck upstream that wont change anything?
- I plan to put 16GB or ram, probably a random sodimm from some laptop. I tried to find 2nd hand 32 gb.. but it's very rare and expensive Is there a big difference ?

and lastly
- With a 256 GB SSD, is there a big drop of performance if i build a fusion drive with the 1Tb ?

Thanks a lot

I just do some Googling
1. Core i5-7500 vs core i7-7700

UserBenchmark: Intel Core i5-7500 vs i7-7700

2. Advantage of Apple SSD
Fully compatible
Advantage of 3rd party SSD
Bigger size as cheaper prize.
Speed: Apple SSD are slower than wellknown brand nVME in benchmark test.

3. If you are using memory intensive applications, then there will be significant difference. Otherwise, you will be happy with only 8GB of RAM.

4. Fusion drive: Let the OS control read & write, early worn-out of SSD drive.
Separate drive: manual control of where to store your data. Preserve SSD life better.

 

[UbiCrea]

Hi and thanks. In fact my 4k doesn't have the pcie slot for a ssd blade 😢... I don't know if I can just solder a slot or is there any missing chip or part...
Anyway, I've just bought a 2.5' ssd and replace the spinning hdd. I've also put 16gb of ram. Didn't have time to reinstall macos before leaving for holiday but I'll next week. I'm sure it will be a good daily driver machine for what I'm doing.