Hi, I am deciding between a new 2019 iMac 27" with either:
3.7 i5 6-core | 8GB RAM | AMD Radeon Pro 580x 8 GB | 1 TB SSD
or
3.6 i9 8-core | 8GB RAM| AMD Radeon Pro 580x 8 GB | 512 TB SSD
In other words, the difference between the two is i5 6-core with 1 TB SSD, or i9 8-core with 512 TB SSD.
Thanks! 
Then get the 27" i9 model you want with as much SSD storage as you can afford. Video can take up a lot of storage, however it can be stored on external HD's so you can get by with a 512GB SSD and then have an external hard disk to store large libraries such as music, movies, photos. Of course you will need another EHD to serve as a backup to your external HD as you do not want to risk losing data.
The i5 is a 6-core and the I-9 is a 8-core, which I know does not tell you any more than you already asked. The i9 is a faster CPU, however these days what is much more important is storage type (well done on selecting a SSD) and GPU. If you are editing film or music or doing 3D graphics which are all CPU intensive then get the i9, if you are doing any other work then the i5 should be fine.
Please advise how you intend to use the computer then we can get a better idea of which configuration would come closer to suiting your needs.
You haven't provided any information at all in regards to how you intend to use it.
There is a drastic difference in performance between those two configurations, however, if all you do is web surfing, office applications, and some light photo editing, etc., you would probably never even notice the difference...
A 512GB SSD is fine, you can have Mac OS installed (which takes up little space and a LOT of applications.), you can then store you data on external HD's as I explained earlier. Storage is storage and has absolutely nothing to do with your CPU or it's speed, it is that simple. The two are totally separate!!!!!
I think you may be way overthinking this and even possibly have a misunderstanding of what storage is compared with a CPU.
I am working on an illustrated/immersive book that I would like to turn into something as beautiful as it can be. Although I am a novice, I would like to do video editing, illustration, 3d modeling, animation, etc.
I guess what I'm wondering about then is this: if a faster processor is recommended to help me do intensive projects, wouldn't those intensive projects produce fairly huge files? In which case, 512 GB will be used pretty quickly. And even if it is not completely used up, it will have a significantly higher % of space used than the 1TB...which would mean that the computer, even with its faster processor, would be slowing down simply because more of it is being used.
I answered this in my last post, please read it in it's entirety. However if I am still not answering I think you would benefit greatly by visiting your local Apple Store or Apple re seller and ask. They can help you too!
I do thank you so much rkaufmann for all your help. I read your last post in its entirety - I just don't quite understand and I would love you (or someone else) to clarify that/this last point I was wondering about. Let me try and re-phrase:
I stand to use up 512 GB SSD more quickly than 1 TB SSD. Let's say my computer has 400 GB stored on the 512 SSD i9/8-core. Now let's say my computer has 400 GB stored on the 1 TB SSD i5/6-core. I'm wondering if the i9/8-core processor speed gains will be wiped out (or even worse than the i5/6-core) because of the much greater % taken up.
Once again, I am so grateful for all your help. I would just love your clarification on this last point. :)
No, both of the models I described are 27". :)
You are definitely right, I have been overthinking this. Thank you for your reminding me. :)
It appears you are looking at a 21.5" model, if so PLEASE purchase a minimum of 16GB, more if you can as 21.5" iMacs cannot have the RAM upgraded after purchase. A 27" is more flexible in that you can upgrade RAM and having the screen real estate is nice particularly if you will be doing video and editing as sometimes you will like to have lots of winds open.
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