Retina iMac 27" Upgrade Advice

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Retina iMac 27" Upgrade Advice

Hi All,

I know similar derivatives of this question has been asked in other forums, but I could not find anything that specifically relates to the 3.3 ghz vs 4.0 ghz discussion.

There is a refurbished iMac 27" Retina with the 290 GB graphics card and a 256 SSD drive for $1869. This seems like it would be good for my purposes, as I don't play games and I generally use my computer to surf the internet and read/write long research papers (the reason for wanting the crisper retina display, as I have poor eyesight). At the same time, I would eventually like to learn how to use the advanced features in Photoshop, edit videos in Final Cut Pro, etc, because I think those would be useful and fun skills to have as I near retirement and have more leisure time.

Most importantly, however, I want my computer to last at least 4 years, preferably five or six (I would upgrade the RAM if necessary later on).

Money/cost is not necessarily a big concern but I'd rather not pay for something too powerful that I won't need. Is the 3.3 ghz sufficient for long term, non-professional use? Or would I be wise to spend the extra cash and get the 4.0 processor? Similarly, is the 4GB vRAM something I should look into, or is 2GB sufficient for the next several years?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Posted on Sep 3, 2015 11:42 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,451 points

Sep 3, 2015 12:06 PM in response to BaseballGuru24

I generally use my computer to surf the internet and read/write long research papers

(the reason for wanting the crisper retina display, as I have poor eyesight)

As I understand it the Retina display has smaller fonts in the menus and with Yosemite and El Capitan are more difficult to see. I don't know if that will be an issue for you. Give one a test run at an Apple store before making a decision.

(I would upgrade the RAM if necessary later on).

If you do only get the RAM from Crucial.com or otherworldcomputing.com. Those are the two most reliable suppliers of RAM for Macs. Crucial tests their RAM with each Mac model so guarantee they will work.

Or would I be wise to spend the extra cash and get the 4.0 processor?

Unless you're doing some processing that requires lots of CPU power, like extensive video editing, you shouldn't need the 4.0 processor for what you intend to use it for.

Similarly, is the 4GB vRAM something I should look into, or is 2GB sufficient for the next several years?

Again for what you plan to use the iMac for you shouldn't need the higher vRAM. It's for game playing with lots of high res graphics, the video editing, 3D rendering, etc.

I have a 2011 27" iMac with 8 GB ram, 1 GB vRAM and a SSD boot drive and it's running beautifully for what I do. I use Photoshop for image editing.

The only addition I would suggest would an external HD for use as a Time Machine backup drive. The TM drive should be about 2-2.5 times the size of the drives it's backing up. For those drives I recommend those offered by otherworldcomputing.com. I currently have 5 in use. If your SSD drive begins to fill up (always keep a minimum of 20-25 GB free space for optimal system and application performance) you can add a second EHD to hold the less frequently used files.

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