New iMac purchase. Choosing CPU, RAM, and gfx.

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Feb 27, 2011
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Hi all,

My old PC died on Saturday – it had an Intel Dual Core 3gHz CPU and 2 GB of RAM, and 1TB WD Black HDD, with Windows 7.

It took 4 hours to convert a 1 hour 720p video into MP4 format for iPad, using handbrake.

My new machine will mainly be used for video conversion, photo editing, and internet.

The question is, which configuration should I choose to future proof this purchase as much as possible? I can't afford max config, and I don't want to waste money by buying a quad-core if I can't take advantage of it using Handbrake or the built-in Apple apps.

Screen: 27"
CPU: 3.6gHz dual core Intel i5, or 2.8gHz quad-core i5
RAM: 4GB or 8GB – I don't do much multitasking so can't imagine I need more than 4GB
GFX: 512MB or 1GB RAM?

Thanks for any suggestions
Ben
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
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Your Mac's Specs
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 duo processor 4 GB of memory 300 GB HD imac, 8GB Ipod Touch 4th generation
I would say with snow leopard you can probably pull it off with just dual, 4GB and 512
 

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