Help choosing iMac please

[Marcus99]

Hi. I'm looking to buy a 21.5 inch iMac. The computer is mostly intended for Adode creative suite ( illustrator, indesign and photoshop). Bear in mind that this will not be complex work; just simple wedding invites, greetings cards, etc.

I have dismissed the cheapest option, which leaves me with the 3.6ghz i3 (4 core) or the 3.0ghz i5 (6 core) options. As I understand it, Adode doesn't make full use more than 4 cores and prefers a faster clock speed. If so, am I actually better off with the cheaper cpu?

Either way, I was tempted to spend on upgrading to 16 gb RAM as I heard Adobe is hungry on RAM.

Hoping someone can help (not tech savvy so please don't get technical on me). Thanks

Ps. Radeon 555x and 560x. Opinions?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

For basic functions of the Adobe Creative Suite, any iMac will suffice. Of course, the higher spec models will perform operations faster, but nothing along the lines of double the speed. For simple projects, you probably wouldn't see a difference, as that would come when processing large, multi-layered projects with very large graphics.

Adobe products always love more RAM. More RAM is also good when it comes to having multiple applications running simultaneously.

I am not sure how the Adobe applications use multiple processor cores, so I can't comment on that. I do know they have the option to use the graphics processor for certain operations such as screen redraw.

Here an article that may help: Optimize Photoshop performance

It's really a personal and budget choice if you aren't doing anything super involved or professional-level.

Thoughts:
-I agree with your decision to skip the base model - it's only a dual-core, Intel integrated instead of Radeon discrete graphics, and has a non-Retina 4K display
-I would recommend either the SSD storage or Fusion drive over a standard hard drive.
-16 GB is more future-proof than 8 GB, but
-Don't worry about the clock speed of the processor, as speed is more about the number of cores and Turbo Boost capability
-The i5 has Turbo Boost to bump up the clock speed when needed, the i3 doesn't
-The main difference between the two Radeon graphics cards is the 2 GB vs 4 GB of GDDR5 memory

Hope that helps, and let me know if you have additional questions.

C

 

[Marcus99]

Thank you for the response. My head has been spinning with all the options.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...

Yes, it does seem like a daunting task. As I mentioned, it's really a personal and budget choice if you aren't doing anything super involved or professional-level.

Definitely let us know if you have any additional questions that may help you narrow down the choices.

C

 

[ntipping1]

Hi. I'm looking to buy a 21.5 inch iMac. The computer is mostly intended for Adode creative suite ( illustrator, indesign and photoshop). Bear in mind that this will not be complex work; just simple wedding invites, greetings cards, etc.

I have dismissed the cheapest option, which leaves me with the 3.6ghz i3 (4 core) or the 3.0ghz i5 (6 core) options. As I understand it, Adode doesn't make full use more than 4 cores and prefers a faster clock speed. If so, am I actually better off with the cheaper cpu?

Either way, I was tempted to spend on upgrading to 16 gb RAM as I heard Adobe is hungry on RAM.

Hoping someone can help (not tech savvy so please don't get technical on me). Thanks

Ps. Radeon 555x and 560x. Opinions?

Hi Marcus,

Did you buy the iMac? If so, where did you get it from? I am looking for a relatively cheap one. Thanks.

 

[Marcus99]

Hi Marcus,

Did you buy the iMac? If so, where did you get it from? I am looking for a relatively cheap one. Thanks.

After much research I reconsidered the 21.5 inch model. I really wanted to upgrade the RAM to 16GB. However, Apple charge a lot for RAM. I discovered that the 27 inch model can have its RAM upgraded after purchase via an access panel on the back, which is not possible on the smaller 21.5 inch model.

I am not in a rush and there is much speculation that Apple will be making an announcement on 22nd June about new iMac models. With only a week to go I am waiting for that before making a final decision. I can either get myself the latest and best model, or hopefully get a discount on the older model

 

[Howard Brazee]

I'm also waiting for tomorrow's announcement. One thing I'm curious about is whether I can move my 3rd party RAM from my current 27" iMac to the new model.