Non Retina Imac Upgrade Of Choice

My 2011 Imac with 2.5 Ghz i5, 512 MB video memory, seems to be very slow - seeing the beach ball and hearing the hard drive working. My first thought is to defrag the disk, but everywhere I read it says it's mostly unnecessary.
My second thought, is it is time for an upgrade.

I use LR and Photoshop every day, do sceencasting/recording​, and light video editing using FCP

In researching an upgrade, and reading many reviews it seems like the 5K IMac is best to get with an upgraded processor, or video card which puts it out of my budget.

I am probably going to get a 27inch non retina because quite honestly I will value the speed more than the display. With that being said, knowing that I will upgrade the RAM myself, what would you put in order of importance when adding options - processor speed (high end i5 or i7) , graphics card memory, or "fusion drive"?

What are your thoughts?

Have you thought about upgrading the drive of the iMac? A good SSD will help with the beachballs. The Crucial MX100 series is where I would start looking. My wife's 2009 MP (4,1) has a new lease on life thanks to a MX 100 SSD.

How much RAM does your iMac have? That would be another viable upgrade path along with a SSD.

I doubt you will have much of an increase for the money you will be spending on a new 2014 model Imac.. I would spend the money and jump on a 512 or 1Tb SSD and up my RAM if it is <4 gigs to something like 8-16GB. That will be significantly cheaper than a full upgrade and it can hold you off from buying a new iMac for awhile which will mean it will be a better jump for your money the later you wait to upgrade.

If you want to speed things up with an SSD, you can look at this guys experience:
http://krumelur.me …2011-imac-27-with-an-ssd/


Have you considered going to windows and building your own machine or even buying a prebuilt? You could get a better screen + i7 with video card for a much better price. No flame war intended but PCs offer better return for your money.

I upgraded all the way up to 16GB. I will look into the SSD option. Did you guys do the SSD upgrade yourselves? I am comfortable working on computers, but opening the Imac looks a bit intimidating.

Bleufire wrote in post #17535901
I doubt you will have much of an increase for the money you will be spending on a new 2014 model Imac.. I would spend the money and jump on a 512 or 1Tb SSD and up my RAM if it is <4 gigs to something like 8-16GB. That will be significantly cheaper than a full upgrade and it can hold you off from buying a new iMac for awhile which will mean it will be a better jump for your money the later you wait to upgrade.

If you want to speed things up with an SSD, you can look at this guys experience:
http://krumelur.me …2011-imac-27-with-an-ssd/


Have you considered going to windows and building your own machine or even buying a prebuilt? You could get a better screen + i7 with video card for a much better price. No flame war intended but PCs offer better return for your money.

TonyKInTexas wrote in post #17533038
Have you thought about upgrading the drive of the iMac? A good SSD will help with the beachballs. The Crucial MX100 series is where I would start looking. My wife's 2009 MP (4,1) has a new lease on life thanks to a MX 100 SSD.

How much RAM does your iMac have? That would be another viable upgrade path along with a SSD.

iFixit.com is your friend.

I opened my first edition alum iMac with some instructions on my own before I knew what teh difference was between a 2.5" and a 3.5" drive. I worked maintenance and figured it couldn't be that hard if I followed the instructions word by word and it came out fine. In hindsight now after working in IT for 5+ years as a desktop tech, that was definitely not as hard as i made it out to be then.

But definitely follow a guide so you know what to disconnect and i would recomend having a helping hand nearby to plug in things while you hold something else. it comes in handy.

Bleufire wrote in post #17535901
Have you considered going to windows and building your own machine or even buying a prebuilt? You could get a better screen + i7 with video card for a much better price. No flame war intended but PCs offer better return for your money.

This.

A couple of months ago I would've scoffed and shook my head, but it's just true.

Beyond that an SSD or a new Mac are your only real options.

Oh, I would definitely start by defraging your hard drive though... not sure who said that's not helpful, because it definitely can be.