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Level 1

0 points

New 27-inch iMac. Dual Core or Quad Core.

Hi all,
this is my first post!

Anyway,

I'm planning on purchasing the new 27 inch iMac.

I have two options, which is what processor to get, the rest of the components will be exactly the same.

*Option 1:*
27 inch iMac
-3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
-2TB Serial ATA Drive
-ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB

Price: AU$ 3,607.01

*Option 2:*
27 inch iMac
-2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
-8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
-2TB Serial ATA Drive
-ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB

Price: AU$ 3,797.01

I'm a semi-professional photographer looking to go fully pro. So, i will mainly be using Photoshop CS4, Lightroom (both open at same time), and Final Cut Pro for editing small clips (max 25mins).

I will use it for everything else also, but i just need it to function as a photography tool, and be fast.

Also, if quad core is the better option, would the 2.8ghz i7 be much better than the 2.66ghz i5?

Thanks in advance,
P.S. this is my first venture into Mac territory.

Posted on Oct 23, 2009 4:16 PM

18 replies

Oct 30, 2009 6:47 AM in response to Marcos Duran

This talks about multi-processors, but not multi-cores - is this deliberate or are there no differences? I suspected there were, hence my question after the OP.

Simon-UK-

Level 4

3,599 points

Oct 31, 2009 4:14 AM in response to Marcos Duran

Marcos Duran wrote:
With the i7 if you install DIMMs in sets of three you get triple channel memory speeds which has a significant impact on performance according to some tests.

The Core i5 & i7 Macs run in dual channel mode even though they use the DDR3 memory. Therefore, matched pairs are what you need.

Oct 31, 2009 4:35 AM in response to Simon-UK-

cheers SImon

New 27-inch iMac. Dual Core or Quad Core.