All other things being equal except price, would you go for the 3.4GHz quad-core machine or 3.0GHz 6-core machine when your primary use is multi-media (music, photos and video editing)?
Thanks -
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Assuming you are referring to the two new 21.5" iMacs, there are a couple additional advantages of the 6 core machine: double the video RAM for example. However, I also have a warning. The base model of each comes with rotational drive - the 6 core model does default to a Fusion drive but the SSD is very small. Whichever you select, I strongly recommend you upgrade to an SSD. I also recommend that you upgrade to 16GB RAM since the 21.5" aren't user upgradable. (I've not seen any tear downs of the new iMacs so I don't even know if the RAM is soldered to the logic board or not.)
Assuming you are referring to the two new 21.5" iMacs, there are a couple additional advantages of the 6 core machine: double the video RAM for example. However, I also have a warning. The base model of each comes with rotational drive - the 6 core model does default to a Fusion drive but the SSD is very small. Whichever you select, I strongly recommend you upgrade to an SSD. I also recommend that you upgrade to 16GB RAM since the 21.5" aren't user upgradable. (I've not seen any tear downs of the new iMacs so I don't even know if the RAM is soldered to the logic board or not.)
As a rule a faster CPU running a single core process will be faster. However, a CPU with more cores will run multicore processes faster even if it's a bit slower. If it were me I would chose more cores.
In general when it comes to video processing, the more cores the better.
3.4GHz quad-core vs. 3.0GHz 6-core
