Chossing an iMac 27" - Which one?

[Southsidemusic]

And the old ”avoid i5” is years ago. The new i5 is plenty more powerful and a higher spec i5 is what I would go for and the money saved from i9 i would put towards RAM and SSD drive and an External Thunderbolt SSD Drive for recording and that iMac would be a GREAT option for many years to come.

[The_Bear]

Originally Posted by Eric Seaberg

The rule has always been to avoid the i5. The minimum recommendation has been an i7 which is no longer available, so the i9 should be your first choice to look at.

Thanks for your answer Eric :)
Wow, then a cheap approach isn't really an option for me.
How come i5 is something to avoid?
And I just saw at Apple's store iMac with i7. Did you mean it no longer available for Pro Tools?

And from your experience, how much difference is there between the latest iMac to, let's say, 2017 iMac? Or even 2015?

Thanks in advance:)

[The_Bear]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

And the old ”avoid i5” is years ago. The new i5 is plenty more powerful and a higher spec i5 is what I would go for and the money saved from i9 i would put towards RAM and SSD drive and an External Thunderbolt SSD Drive for recording and that iMac would be a GREAT option for many years to come.

Thanks for your answer Christopher :)
What about i7? Do you think it's worth the money or maybe i5 is enough?

And which factors are for you the most important for working with Pro Tools? RAM? SSD? Processor? Which one of them has more influence on performance?

Thanks in advance :)

[Southsidemusic]

I would say all of them so if you want a solid iMac get an i5 with Big SSD drive and minimum 32 GB RAM and 64 GB if possible as those along with an i5 will be more than enough. The newer i5 processors are not the same as the older ones where everyone suggestdd going i7 so yes if you fknd an iMac i7 with lots of ram and big SSD drive (high spec) then Yes but if it is a big price difference get as high spec’d as possible and an i5 iMac and you will be set for a long time. With cash for an external Thunderbolt SSD drive for recording to aswell. My opinion of course and we have used Mac Pro’s for 15 years so I wanna think we learned something along the way what is worth putting money into and what is overkill and where to go all out to get the best option.

[The_Bear]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

I would say all of them so if you want a solid iMac get an i5 with Big SSD drive and minimum 32 GB RAM and 64 GB if possible as those along with an i5 will be more than enough. The newer i5 processors are not the same as the older ones where everyone suggestdd going i7 so yes if you fknd an iMac i7 with lots of ram and big SSD drive (high spec) then Yes but if it is a big price difference get as high spec’d as possible and an i5 iMac and you will be set for a long time. With cash for an external Thunderbolt SSD drive for recording to aswell. My opinion of course and we have used Mac Pro’s for 15 years so I wanna think we learned something along the way what is worth putting money into and what is overkill and where to go all out to get the best option.

Thanks A LOT :)
What about the GHz for the processor? any real difference between 3.1 to 3.6?

[JFreak]

Go to everymac.com and check the specs, they are all there


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[The_Bear]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Go to everymac.com and check the specs, they are all there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I mean from your experience. Like how much impact did you feel there was between 3.0GHz to 3.7GHz

[JFreak]

As I said, GHz tells you nothing. Go there and see the geekbench score. Those you can compare


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[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by The_Bear

Thanks A LOT :)
What about the GHz for the processor? any real difference between 3.1 to 3.6?

I would say 3.1 is PLENTY and if you aren’t going to score a Hollywood movie with 800 tracks I would say no real issue with the 3.1 GHz IMHO of course

You save money and can put that towards more spec’d RAM and extra SSD drive.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by The_Bear

I mean from your experience. Like how much impact did you feel there was between 3.0GHz to 3.7GHz

Perhaps it would be best to back up and be a bit more specific

What is your actual current and likely future working computer load/ needs .
Music only, or music and video ?

How many tracks total normally ....
How many audio tracks....
How many virtual instrument/midi tracks et.....

And what is a realistic budget range you can comfortably spend ?

All of this specific info will give a more accurate picture for getting more targeted suggestions.