Which setup would you buy?

I'm about to buy an Imac 27'. I was wondering which setup should I get. I'm going to be doing ALOT of music, some Video Editing and DVD Encoding.

I7 processor with 4gb Ram 256ssd
or
I5 processor with 16gb Ram 256ssd

I wanted the TC for a tb of space, but I have verizon fios router so didnt know if i would be defeating the purpose. or should i buy a mac version of an external hd? But i wanted my macbook pro to link with the time machine to backup wirelessly. my fault but im new to apple so i might sound a little confused but i would like to have EVERYTHING apple. but if i have to make additional adjustments i would. as long as its apple approved on the product.

nortyhat said:

I'm about to buy an Imac 27'. I was wondering which setup should I get. I'm going to be doing ALOT of music, some Video Editing and DVD Encoding.

I7 processor with 4gb Ram 256ssd
or
I5 processor with 16gb Ram 256ssd

Click to expand...

Easy answer (IMHO). You can always upgrade the ram...you CANNOT upgrade the cpu.

HTH,

- Nick

Ok thanks, but im looking at the speed point of view would I actually see a difference.

Either machine will give you plenty of speed for what you're going to use it for. Just buy the machine with the best graphics capability. You can add memory later on yourself. You might also think about the option of having Apple install two hard drives; large standard SATA and the SSD.

nortyhat said:

Ok thanks, but im looking at the speed point of view would I actually see a difference.

Click to expand...

Given the two choices you listed...it looks to me that you're trying to spend the same mount of money...substituting 16 gig of ram in the "i5" model for 4gig of ram in the "i7" model (so swapping less ram for a higher end processor).

If you're main question is about speed...why do you think 16gig of ram & and an "i5" cpu is somehow equivalent to an "i7" cpu with 4 gig of ram???

Ram really has no connection to speed or processing power. The main reason for the appropriate amount of ram is to open a single application that may require a LOT of ram...or having multiple applications open at the same time.

Sure...you need to have enough ram to get the job done (allowing each program as much ram as it needs to function efficiently)...but if this means 4 gig of ram...then having an extra 12 gig of ram (the 16 gig example)...is not going to make things any faster.

Saying this another way. If (for example)...all you're doing is e-mail & internet surfing...if all you really need to do this efficiently is 2 gig of ram...having 16 gig of ram is not going to make things run faster.

With that being said...the two "better" computer choices to choose between (speed is your main concern) would be...getting a 27" iMac with:

- an "i5" cpu + 4 gig of ram
- an "i7" cpu + 4 gig of ram

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. Like "chscag" mentioned...also consider the graphics hardware. Because (for example)...with so much computing these days being graphics/video oriented....if you have a really really fast cpu with slow graphics hardware...that would not be a good "balance" for speed. All of the iMacs have great combinations of cpu & graphics hardware...but you might consider better graphics hardware over a faster cpu...depending on your computing needs.

And the SSD is very small for what you want. Suggest a 1TB external, Firewire 800 preferably, to store all that music on. Did not know you could get a second internal drive in a new iMac.

And the standard graphics card come with 1GB memory so will perform well with increased RAM.

Well actually I'm in the military so the pricing would look as such:
IMAC I5: 1899.00
1tb w/256ssd: 675.00
ADD 180.00 for the I7 Processor.

Well I was thinking about the extra harddrive but is it better to have it internal or external for the 1tb harddrive? Also I don't see any graphics cards to choose from on the configuration page? So is the highest graphics card already come with the I5 & I7?

Put a 1TB internal hard drive and the 1GB VRAM of the standard graphics card is the maximum the iMac will take.

nortyhat said:

Also I don't see any graphics cards to choose from on the configuration page? So is the highest graphics card already come with the I5 & I7?

Click to expand...

I'm not exactly sure which configuration page you're looking at (via Apple webpage or AAFES)...or if when purchasing a Macintosh with a military discount you have fewer configuration options. But the...

- 27" "i5" iMac has a graphics choice between an ATI 5670 with 512meg of ram or an ATI 5750 with 1 gig of ram.
- 27" "i7" iMac only comes with the 1 gig ATI 5750 (which is the top end option anyway)

HTH,

- Nick