iMacs and different processors

The last time I posted here I was working very hard at putting together a PC build...

Then I decided that I was really happy with the Mac Pro 1.1 that I use in my office, and they are very affordable on the used market...

Then I decided that I really should be buying something modern to take advantage of the recent advancements in processing speed and multi-core technology. And, ultimately, I want to run OSX because that's my preference and as much as I have tried to convince myself otherwise, I'm just going to be a Mac guy. Also have no interest in Hackintosh effort and maintenance. So, with all of that said I'm suddenly thinking new 27" LED iMac. And with a wedding to shoot and edit next weekend I think now is the time to pull the trigger.

There are 4 that are jumping out and I was hoping a more knowledgeable member could square up the pros and cons of the different processors since everything else is pretty much the same. Here are the 4 options:

#1 - Refurbished 27" i5 (750) 2.66Ghz Quad-Core / 4GB 1066 RAM / ATI HD 4850 512MB shared memory - $1620 after tax from Apple

#2 - New 27" i3 (550) 3.2Ghz Dual-Core / 4GB 1333 RAM / ATI HD 5670 512MB shared memory - $1650 from Amazon

#3 - Refurbished 27" i7 (860) 2.8Ghz Quad-Core / 4GB 1066 RAM / ATI HD 4850 512MB shared memory - $1800 after tax from Apple

#4 - New 27" i5 (760) 2.8Ghz Quad-Core / 4GB 1333 RAM / ATI HD 5750 1GB shared memory - $1940 from Amazon

All have 1TB HDD drives and identical specs other than what is listed here. Main focus will be Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 performance, but if you have an opinion on how After Effects or Premiere Pro might be effected in terms of stability and encoding speed, I'd love to hear that as well.

As always, you guys rock for your attention and assistance.

I don't blame you for wanting to go OS X; it's very compelling these days

I'd look hard at getting a new (or refurbished) iMac with the SDD + HDD option and getting the eSATA mod from OWC. iMac's one annoying limitation is the inability to upgrade the internal HDD easily ($50-$90 replacement cost via authorized Apple shop). Combined with a multi-eSATA switching external enclosure that limitation would be gone. There's also the hackintosh rout. I have one and so far it's been rock solid, but I would not use it for professional production work.

If you're a professional and will be taking 20-50GB of photos per week, I would highly recommend going Mac Pro.

I'd go for either the i5 or i7. Not sure if that's that big of a difference. (When using the price difference on memory for instance)
You could also go for a used MacPro (4.1, *not* the 1.1). That would be roughly the same price and speed as the iMac. (But you'd have to get a separate monitor)

MaxxuM wrote in post #10850447
I don't blame you for wanting to go OS X; it's very compelling these days

I'd look hard at getting a new (or refurbished) iMac with the SDD + HDD option and getting the eSATA mod from OWC. iMac's one annoying limitation is the inability to upgrade the internal HDD easily ($50-$90 replacement cost via authorized Apple shop). Combined with a multi-eSATA switching external enclosure that limitation would be gone. There's also the hackintosh rout. I have one and so far it's been rock solid, but I would not use it for professional production work.

If you're a professional and will be taking 20-50GB of photos per week, I would highly recommend going Mac Pro.

Well I'm a professional in the sense that I operate a LLC and get paid to provide photography services, but I'm a videographer, editor, and animator in my day job. Photography is a personal passion that I hope to eventually move to full time, but not yet. When I need and can afford to invest in a new Mac Pro system, believe that's exactly what I will do. For now though, I shoot anywhere from 8-20GB on a given week, but quickly reduce that down in first few rounds of photo culling. I've been editing and storing on a Mac Pro 1.1 2x2.66Ghz 4GB 667 RAM (when the bosses aren't looking ) or at home on my Powerbook G4 (seriously). I run Photoshop CS3 on both for now, but am looking to add Lightroom 3 and upgrade to CS5 on the iMac. And also replace the laptop with an iPad since I can move my at-home editing duties to the iMac. Long story short...any of these options will be a ridiculous upgrade.

I'm really interested in this OWC eSATA mod. Is that the turnkey SSD + eSATA mod that you send the iMac to OWC to perform? Do you have an iMac that has had this procedure? It seems like a REALLY good deal for the cost. I've purchased firewire drives and memory from OWC and love their products, prices, and service.

From what people are telling me the OWC upgrade is worthwhile. I've been going back and forth over what to get next. My MP 3.1 and i7 MBP are actually doing a good job and if things really get bad (huge projects) I could just use QMaster. A 30 i5 iMac lab can really crank out video

If you're going iMac then #3 for pure processing would be the way to go if you have video in mind - if you don't go with the OWC option that is. For photography #1 would be fine. You won't see much difference between them for photo work, but once you start using something like Compressor or 3D modeling software the i7 starts to pull ahead quickly. In the rendering world, more cores are better than pure processing power when speaking about a few MHz difference in CPUs. Regardless of which you decide on, plan on going to 8GB of RAM once you have the money. There is a nice speed boost when you go from 4 to 8GB in Photoshop CS4/5, Aperture, FCS and I would guess in LR too. The more memory you have the more these programs can keep in memory, ready to be used.

MaxxuM wrote in post #10851982
From what people are telling me the OWC upgrade is worthwhile. I've been going back and forth over what to get next. My MP 3.1 and i7 MBP are actually doing a good job and if things really get bad (huge projects) I could just use QMaster. A 30 i5 iMac lab can really crank out video

If you're going iMac then #3 for pure processing would be the way to go if you have video in mind - if you don't go with the OWC option that is. For photography #1 would be fine. You won't see much difference between them for photo work, but once you start using something like Compressor or 3D modeling software the i7 starts to pull ahead quickly. In the rendering world, more cores are better than pure processing power when speaking about a few MHz difference in CPUs. Regardless of which you decide on, plan on going to 8GB of RAM once you have the money. There is a nice speed boost when you go from 4 to 8GB in Photoshop CS4/5, Aperture, FCS and I would guess in LR too. The more memory you have the more these programs can keep in memory, ready to be used.

I haven't figured out how to handle video and animation in my personal endeavors. I have experience and for my small market I produce a pretty competitive product, but I don't know if I want to use it or offer it myself. With that said, I still want to have a capable machine that will serve me well and garner the highest resale value when I upgrade eventually. I'm looking at 8GB+ of RAM eventually, no worry there.

I actually just put a bid in for an i7 2.93 with 16GB of RAM(!!!) but don't expect to win it for the bid I placed. If that falls through I'm going to go for the i7 2.8, then a RAM upgrade after a month or two, and the OWC SSD + eSATA install over the Xmas/New Year break at the end of the year. I've been beating myself up for weeks trying to make a decision, but my birthday is next Friday and I've got a lot of decent paying gigs setup over the next month, so what the Hell, I'm going to treat myself and "buy once cry once."

Good for you

I do video on the side for work, photography too (newspapers as well). It's rough. I get about 5sec of usable footage for every minute of video on pure creative shows. Doing stage shows, speaking events and so on I have to mix 3-4 camera's into one production and the only way to do that is to use Final Cut Studio (Adobe was too expensive in the end). Doing weddings and other family events these days almost requires some video work, DVD slide shows at a minimum. I used Lynda and Kelby Training to get a good grasp of FCP and Motion and got Apple's pro training after that. It really helped. It all starts with the import process. If you don't have a firm grasp of the workflow, editing video at a production level can be a nightmare. I would highly recommend getting visual and hands on lab training if you can afford/find it. Books are good reference tools, but serious work requires hands on repetitive training. I'd also recommend Final Cut over Adobe Premiere & After Effects - besides being less than half the price, they are every intuitive. Though Motion lacks many of the more powerful tools that AE comes with, it's more than enough to do titles and graphics with and is supported by most plug in makers. FCS's Color application is a godsend. Three point color is fine, but Color's pallet of options is cinema quality and you'd need a third party solution to do it with Premiere/AE. Anyway, I'm rambling now. I'd like to hear about your experience with OWC if that's they way you go.

MaxxuM wrote in post #10852151
Good for you

I do video on the side for work, photography too (newspapers as well). It's rough. I get about 5sec of usable footage for every minute of video on pure creative shows. Doing stage shows, speaking events and so on I have to mix 3-4 camera's into one production and the only way to do that is to use Final Cut Studio (Adobe was too expensive in the end). Doing weddings and other family events these days almost requires some video work, DVD slide shows at a minimum. I used Lynda and Kelby Training to get a good grasp of FCP and Motion and got Apple's pro training after that. It really helped. It all starts with the import process. If you don't have a firm grasp of the workflow, editing video at a production level can be a nightmare. I would highly recommend getting visual and hands on lab training if you can afford/find it. Books are good reference tools, but serious work requires hands on repetitive training. I'd also recommend Final Cut over Adobe Premiere & After Effects - besides being less than half the price, they are every intuitive. Though Motion lacks many of the more powerful tools that AE comes with, it's more than enough to do titles and graphics with and is supported by most plug in makers. FCS's Color application is a godsend. Three point color is fine, but Color's pallet of options is cinema quality and you'd need a third party solution to do it with Premiere/AE. Anyway, I'm rambling now. I'd like to hear about your experience with OWC if that's they way you go.

Well I got outbid fast on that one. It's pretty funny how fast someone retaliates when you outbid them by a grand! I'm pretty sure I'll pick up the refurbished i7 2.8 and stick to the outline above. I'll start a thread if I get any of the OWC work done.

You're absolutely right about the difficulty in diving into video. I came straight out of college and into video production without any preparation. Until my final semester I was going into PR and account management, but a few twists of fate and all of a sudden I'm cutting footage, animating logos, and running camera.

That's actually the reason I got into photography - my employer has insisted that I run my productions from start to finish with no assistance. I set up lights, run camera, edit, and output to broadcast all by myself. Shooting photography solo is a relatively simple process. It's very zen and meditative in some ways, and for the most part there's nothing too difficult that one person can't physically handle. Video production is very different. Everything is larger, heavier, hotter, and there's a lot more of it. There's more to capture. More to cut. It's just a nightmare to do solo and I've been doing it for almost three years now.

Photography has been my "escape" where I can apply all the professional know-how I've learned in a medium that's more appropriate for a single individual. I've been lucky enough to have CS3 provided for me through the business, and consequently I have access to CS5 upgrades at a very reasonable rate for my personal use. I know FCP is the standard in so many ways, but I've been using Premiere and After Effects since Januray 2008, and it's kind of a "dance with the one that brought you"...even if the one that brought you is kind of fat, ugly, and occasionally passes out at the reception

Now who's rambling? I appreciate the input and the conversation.

I've used Auction Sniper with good results. It prevents bidding wars that eliminates any benefit of getting something for less. Just enter in your highest bid and it will bid for you at the last few seconds of the auction. I won a factory refurbished Denon at 1sec left that way

Yea, life is really weird with the twists and turns it hands you. I train kids (middle school & high school) in photography (mostly yearbook) and videography and when they tell me they want to be in movies and such I tell them not to close their minds off to alternatives. I joined the Army in the late 80's, 82nd Abn then 7th Special Forces, when I ETSed I went to Duke University for Ichthyology of all things (study of fish). When I got back to Texas I joined the Stage Guild and started working for CBS and Crystal Productions (Miss USA company hehe ) and fell in love with it. All the video and SLR cameras were great! Now I work with computers as an IT professional and teach on the side. Really weird path to say the least. Great thing is, I've been all over the world and seen things most people will never experience. My only real regret is that I didn't really get into photography until way after. Soon as the kids are out of the house I'm picking up and going on a world wide tour to make up for it There are still two continents I've never been.