iMac and Pro Tools 11 Set Up Question...

[Diarmaid]

Hi Folks,

I have some money saved to invest in a new iMac. I am going to be using a 'Focusrite Sapphire Pro 14' firewire 800 audio interface, a 'Yamaha PSR E413' Midi Keyboard and 'Pro Tools 11.02.01' on the system. My options are:

A 27" iMac with:

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X8GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

@ €2449

OR the new 27" Retina 5K iMac full spec:

4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
3TB Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5

@ €4018

I know it may seem odd trying to compare these two specs, but my thinking at the minute is that I am either buying the highest spec model possible or else buying a system that is more than capable capable of handling pro tools' tasks and investing the other money elsewhere...

My question is: Would buying the top spec iMac Retina 5K model be spending a whole lot of extra money on "pointless extras", for example do I need 32GB of Ram or 4GB Dedicated Graphics memory? I understand a lot of this may seem over the top for home recording and using such small interfaces but I am going to invest in a robust desktop.

It would be fantastic if someone could provide a potential iMac spec that would be suitable for my needs as a reference.

For the record I also work on Logic Pro X which will also be installed on my system at the same time.

Thank you all very much for your input, advice and help! I am very grateful and thankful to you all and also to this entire community, it is such a fantastic resource for everyone of us!

Kind Regards,
Diarmaid

[nst7]

Why are you forced to get a maxed out Retina, when you can build to order from the Apple Store?

I7 is much better than I5.

Get the Retina 4.0 I7.

Don't upgrade the graphics card.

Don't upgrade the ram, as you can get it cheaper elsewhere.


Skip the Fusion drive and get the SSD instead. 256 or 512.

[Craig F]

about $360 + tax + s/h http://www.crucial.com/ScanListView?...atalogId=10151

do not get an i5