Two processor alternatives on 27 in. iMac

[bigsnowdog]

Looking at the iMac, I consider the two 27 in. machines. My question: Is there really a big difference between the two processors? ....also the i5 versus the i7?

My application is publication design, including Adobe programs like InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and possible Framemaker. It may also want to be able to use CAD.

I see they have different graphics cards, too. Is there much difference in the cards and their performance?

As I consider desktop units, the Mac Pro has a lot of appeal for me, as that is the sort of things I have always had. I hear the praise of the iMac, but worry a bit about it's serviceability.

Any useful thoughts for me here?

 

[trademark]

The main difference would be the hyperthreading. (The computer will recognize the cpu to have 8 cores instead of just 4) Currently the biggest difference you'd see between the two would be live video editing and encoding, which fully tax the cpu (including hyper-threading)

There's a decent amount of features in the adobe creative suites that utilize hyper threading, but not enough to justify its use. However if you're buying an iMac, you're not buying it for its performance now, you're buying it for its performance for 3-5 years down the line. Given that time, the hyper-threading will future-proof your computer even further.