New iMac question

Hello everyone this is my first post and I hope to make this home.

I'm in the market for the new 27" iMac and my question to be is the ram upgrade able on my own? I'd much rather purchase the unit with the min.amount of ram and install my own with more ram at a cheaper price than what Apple offers.
Next is how difficult is the learning curve coming from a pc to the iMac? My main purpose of the machine is to do photo editing with photoshop and Lightroom of course use of the Internet and just typical home functions. I'm no gamer so I don't see using this for games.
What I have in mind is as follows,

iMac 27" 3.2 ghz qud core
8 gig of ram (install more if allowed on my own)
3TB fusion drive
GTX 680 video card
I'm unsure if needed so ill ask do I need pages, numbers and keynote software preinstalled?
I have 3 1 TB externals I use for backups to my photography so I don't see needing to add anything beyond storage unless my externals aren't compatible.

Thanks in advance,
James

You could buy pages, numbers etc or just buy the mac version of the Microsoft programs you are already familiar with...that's what I did when I made the switch.

That's a mighty heafty harddrive! I would go with a RAID option or a large external, with the option of the 1TB fusion. Do you really need the fusion drive? That's the question a lot are asking.....anyway, the base 1TB with an external thunderbolt drive would kick A and save you some money.....couple hundred bucks actually.
That's just my opinion though, and that's the only comment I really have on your choice.

Going from PC to Mac is easier in my opinion than Mac to PC. After switching to Mac a few years ago I will never buy a PC again. Just ordered my 3rd iMac and have a MacBook Pro too.



.......you're gonna love it man......

Kwdelre said:

You could buy pages, numbers etc or just buy the mac version of the Microsoft programs you are already familiar with...that's what I did when I made the switch.

That's a mighty heafty harddrive! I would go with a RAID option or a large external, with the option of the 1TB fusion. Do you really need the fusion drive? That's the question a lot are asking.....anyway, the base 1TB with an external thunderbolt drive would kick A and save you some money.....couple hundred bucks actually.
That's just my opinion though, and that's the only comment I really have on your choice.

Going from PC to Mac is easier in my opinion than Mac to PC. After switching to Mac a few years ago I will never buy a PC again. Just ordered my 3rd iMac and have a MacBook Pro too.



.......you're gonna love it man......

Click to expand...

Thanks kindly for your reply, you're probably right on the hard drive, I thought about that for some time and I'm not real sure yet what fusion drive is Probably some fancy name thats nothing lol.... I'll go back and relook at my configuration of hard drives.
Next do you know or does anyone know if the ram on the 27" iMac is upgradeable? I heard on the earlier versions it was, I can buy ram cheaper than what apple is offering it for, but don't want to get the bare minimum if I can't do my on upgrade.

As for microsoft version of the office suite thats very expensive, I'll have to find me a copy someplace.

James

jphillips63 said:

Thanks kindly for your reply, you're probably right on the hard drive, I thought about that for some time and I'm not real sure yet what fusion drive is Probably some fancy name thats nothing lol.... I'll go back and relook at my configuration of hard drives.
Next do you know or does anyone know if the ram on the 27" iMac is upgradeable? I heard on the earlier versions it was, I can buy ram cheaper than what apple is offering it for, but don't want to get the bare minimum if I can't do my on upgrade.

As for microsoft version of the office suite thats very expensive, I'll have to find me a copy someplace.

James

Click to expand...

You can upgrade it but its pretty difficult to get to. You pretty much almost dismantle the whole thing before you can get to the RAM.

Then putting everything back together is going to require quite a bit of finesse as you need to use double sided tape and a heat gun of some sort to close the iMac back up.

I think what CrimsonRequiem replied is true for the 21,5 inch model concerning upgrading the ram.The 27 inch model seems to have a door on the backside which makes the ram banks easily accessible.

Upgrading the RAM on the 27-inch iMac is a simple two-minute job, including shutting down and restarting the computer. Buy two 8GB sticks from Other World Computing for less than $100 and you'll have all you need for PhotoShop and Lightroom.

As for the internal drive, I second the suggestions above. The computer will be plenty fast with the 1TB drive. Add two* external drives for PhotoShop and LR. If you really feel the need for speed get an SSD in a USB 3 enclosure and use that as your startup drive.

*You will need a backup. Repeat this until it is seared into your brain. I suggest one Thunderbolt external drive for working on your photos and one FireWire external drive as a backup. You'll have to purchase a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter cable and make the FW drive the last device in the chain, but this will save you several hundred dollars compared with buying two Thunderbolt drives large enough and fast enough for photo needs.

I thought on the new imac's the ram was soldered in.

No, the RAM is not soldered in. The 21.5-inch iMac has the RAM inside the sealed glass, but it is standard RAM in two DIMM slots. The 27-inch iMac retains the four user-accessible DIMMs on the bottom of the bezel.

A Peek inside the iMac 21

While the Ram modules can be replaced in the new 21.5" iMac, it will take an immense amount of work and effort..... The glass has to be removed, (need a heat gun and suckers) and then the logic board has to be removed in order to access the slots. Lots of fun. For all practical purposes, the 21.5" iMac is not user upgradeable.

That's why I linked to the OWC page. I consider this a professional only installation. Let someone else take the risk and liability of breaking the computer.

This is a picture I found of the (opened) door to the ram banks of the 27" model

BrandX said:

This is a picture I found of the (opened) door to the ram banks of the 27" model

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As much as I like everything I've read so far about the new iMacs, I'm sorely disappointed that the 21.5" model does not have this kind of access to the RAM. I'd love to get the base model and bump up the RAM to 16GB myself for less. I seriously doubt I'll need an optical drive for anything and the improved display is calling my name. It's just the RAM thing that bugs me, but I'll get over it. Now if someone would just release a 1TB external drive with Thunderbolt connection...

I wish apple would allow and access door like this for the hard drive as well even is it was just a 2.5" laptop drive. they are getting over the 1tb size these days as well.

But with thunderbolt you can easily run an external ssd as a boot drive and have no problems

BrandX said:

This is a picture I found of the (opened) door to the ram banks of the 27" model

Click to expand...

Looks pretty awesome.

CrimsonRequiem said:

Looks pretty awesome.

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I like the new 27" model and would certainly not be hesitant about buying one if I needed it. However, the 21.5" model is definitely off my list. ;D

chscag said:

I like the new 27" model and would certainly not be hesitant about buying one if I needed it. However, the 21.5" model is definitely off my list. ;D

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Yes most definitely. I already swiped the plastic for the 27" iMac. Now to play the waiting game, and then after that the "hostage in my own house" game.

When is the new 27" iMac suppose to hit the shelves. I haven't seen any yet. Been looking for some unboxing videos on YouTube and haven't seen any yet.