09-04-2010, 03:34 PM

Hi all,

I'm planning to get my first iMac after a long period of consideration. I have narrowed down my choice to the 21.5" imac since I don't need the larger screen and i don't really have space on my desk for a 27" imac.

I'm going to order it from Apple online education store, so it's down to the configuration. I'm not sure which processor and hard drive to go with

processor: 3.2 GHz i3 vs 3.6 GHz i5
hard drive: 1TB vs 2TB

I need advice on configuration based on the following usage

I intend to install windows 7 along with os x to run engineering softwares such as autocad, solidworks and a few other microcontroller IDEs that only run on windows as well as gaming.

I would be using OS X for daily browsing, watching videos and video and photo editing with PS & lightroom.

Appreciate any advice from you guys. Thanks

09-04-2010, 03:39 PM

Buy the iMac 21.5" model which gives you the best graphics. That would be the more expensive model. Windows programs (games and Autocad) generally need a fast GPU with plenty of VRAM. The lesser expensive 21.5" iMac would also be OK for your usage, but it's best to be prepared for future software that may require more horsepower. Just my opinion of course.

09-04-2010, 03:41 PM

yeah i intend to do that for graphics.

the only thing is which processor and hard drive to go with. each upgrade will cost about $150.

09-04-2010, 03:54 PM

It sounds like you are not the average light computer user based on what you have listed. You probably will be okay with the i3 but I think you will benefit from the i5. The hard drive is a bit more tricky to decide because the iMacs are kind of a pain to change the hard drive.

If you have filled your hard drive quickly in the past then you might want to go with the larger hard drive. If you are willing to offload files to an external hard drive as your normal routine then you might not need the larger one. I use to think 500 GB was a lot of space but I'm filling it up faster than I thought. It really depends on how you use your computer because the average person will probably take a lifetime to fill up that much space with simple files like text files and music.

I have a lot of large files and it sounds like you will too with the software you have listed. The processor is the more important choice because you can't upgrade the processor yourself. The hard drive can be upgraded.

09-04-2010, 04:13 PM

When you look at the specs the i3 seems only slightly better than a Duo Core 2 and the i5
seems to be a big jump just a thought.

09-06-2010, 12:55 AM

get the i5 proccessor but the 1TB HDD
1TB would be heaps and the i5 would work wonderfully with autocad and other games

sacrifice the hard drive for the faster proccessor