Full Spec iMac vs Standard MacPro

[paul schefz]

For 5k and 6k wouldn't the thunderbolt 2 play a role in speed of drives/raids off of your scratch disk, as well as adding some sort of upgrade options?

theoretically, yes of course...but a pegasus r6 gets 600+mb/sec R/W right now and that is with HDs....once SSDs are really getting interesting for raid (size, cost and raid problems) TB2 will be necessary to get those 1.5gb/sec R/W....
it is a little strange that the imac did not get TB2 but the mbps announced 3 weeks later did...it would be nice to have it even if i don't think it will really become interesting before later next year...

 

[Jens Rosengren]

As other I'm also deciding between these two. My current iMac (although its a late 2009) isn't really up for resolve and can barely handle 4K R3D files at 1/8 in Premiere.
I'm waiting this one out though, to see how it'll work out for others. But I've been craving some Thunderbolt love for some time, so I guess I won't wait too long..

 

[Phil Moreton]

Just wanted to refresh this topic and see if anybody had the full specced iMac or similar to the one below:
Apple iMac – Core i7 (Quad) – 3.5GHz, 1TB Hard Drive, 32GB RAM, Integrated 27” LED Display, GeForce GTX780M (4GB) Graphics.

If so have you done any tests in FCPX with 6K Dragon files with FCPX settings at best performance?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Definitely don't buy an iMac right now. New models out soon. Also current 2013 iMac models do not have Thunderbolt 2 and that is going to be a big issue moving forward. The Mac Pro does have the edge for CPU/ memory throughput. Although, dual D300 GPUs isn't anything special.

 

[Phil Moreton]

Thanks Jeff.
I was planning on going down the leasing route rather than buying so I could just renew the lease and get a new fully kitted out iMac every 2 years.

 

[Ted Parkes]

Phil .. if you are leasing then the few extra dollars for the MP might not effect your monthly payment much.

 

[Phil Moreton]

If I already had a display then I might consider that option, but as I don't it works out to be quite a bit more.
Thanks for the thought tho.

 

[Phil Moreton]

Has anyone got a 2013 iMac and edited with FCPX or Premier. Any insight in terms of performance would be of help.

 

[Saumene Mehrdady]

I'm in the same boat. Think I'm just gonna wait and see what the 2014 iMacs are about.

 

[Mike Halper]

Don't lease. Resale on Apple computers is pretty high relatively speaking. You're better off buying under some kind of no interest credit card/financing if you want to split the cost up among multiple payments and then sell it when you want to upgrade to reduce the cost of a new model. You'd be surprised how much you can sell a well taken care of Apple computer for.

 

[Richard Rogers]

Lot of talk about the new iMac 2014 having substantially better GPU (prob x 2) and a 4K display, only thing though is still only quad CPU (maybe hex but I doubt it or would cannibalize the nMP)
The cMP (classic) is still our best seller and cent for cent blows away the high spec iMac or nMP, obviously this would seem like a pitch but in all honesty regardless of where you get a cMP from they have far more options available for them then any other Mac available. The new PCIe flash storage cards (samsung XP491, same as the nMP) can be Raid 0'ed and we get 2100mb/s, also the GTX Titan Black with internal power support (no need for a secondary PSU) smokes the dual D700, these are real world results that bare feats is also experiencing but yet significantly less price wise and you are not shoe-horned into Apples new bizarre product line that doesn't seem to feel very Pro to us...

 

[Saumene Mehrdady]

Lot of talk about the new iMac 2014 having substantially better GPU (prob x 2) and a 4K display, only thing though is still only quad CPU (maybe hex but I doubt it or would cannibalize the nMP)
The cMP (classic) is still our best seller and cent for cent blows away the high spec iMac or nMP, obviously this would seem like a pitch but in all honesty regardless of where you get a cMP from they have far more options available for them then any other Mac available. The new PCIe flash storage cards (samsung XP491, same as the nMP) can be Raid 0'ed and we get 2100mb/s, also the GTX Titan Black with internal power support (no need for a secondary PSU) smokes the dual D700, these are real world results that bare feats is also experiencing but yet significantly less price wise and you are not shoe-horned into Apples new bizarre product line that doesn't seem to feel very Pro to us...

yeah, but lack of thunderbolt and usb 3.0 (albeit with pci cards) is a problem ://

 

[Richard Rogers]

Fair enough on the thunderbolt deal, we use USB 3.0 4 port PCIe cards that work perfectly and are very cost effective, as for thunderbolt, well the only reason I can so it being used at the moment for is either audio I/O, certain displays or storage, the internal storage options are still vast for the 5,1 (we use the Areca SATA 3.0 raid card and get 16TB inside the Mac Pro running at 550mb/s) and using the new GPU's such as the Titan Black and Dual R9 280X (all internally powered) you have every monitor connection with 4K support bar a TB port. Obviously we all know the direction we are heading in but there isn't enough stuff available at present to force users into adopting hardware they are not sure on yet or more to the point having to spend such a lot on money and then upgrading certain things that maybe didn't actually need upgrading yet just to fit in with your machines new I/O...

 

[Luke Lasley]

Just ordered a maxed out 27in iMac. debating returning it.

Jeff, do you think Apple will update within the next month?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Jeff, do you think Apple will update within the next month?

I think it's been proven fruitless to try and predict Apple. And the ball is really in Intel's court on this one. The flagship i7-4771 LGA-1150 CPU in the 27" iMac was introduced in October of last year when the iMac systems were last updated. The CPUs that will replace that line were initially said to be launching late in Q3 this year -- the Broadwell-K series chips -- however serious doubt is surrounding that launch and Intel has not said a word about whether or not it will happen or in fact if it has slipped into 2015 as many rumors are saying.

Further compound that with the mobile and low power GPU offerings out there in that there are only a couple newer and better than what they already offer, and only very minimally so. The most compelling reason for them to upgrade would be to offer a UHD/4K or retina display and/ or Thunderbolt 2. Otherwise there is really nothing to upgrade to at the moment and probably not within the next 30 days.

Based on that info, I wouldn't expect an update in the next month. OTOH, both Apple and Intel are both known to drop bombs out of nowhere from time to time... So anything is possible.

I'm thinking we don't see new iMacs until they can give us Broadwell-K or Skylake CPUs, DDR4 memory, updated GPU Thunderbolt 2 (possibly TB 3) and maybe even a retina screen too... Maybe USB3.1 as the cherry on top. To me that says October at the earliest and possibly even into next year... February? That's what the rumor mill is saying about Broadwell-K 14nm CPUs in the LGA-1150 form factor.

There is a lot of talk out there however about the next iMac having better GPUs. And I think there's a good bet that Apple will try to incorporate the same GPU components used in the Mac Pro within the iMac and possibly the Mac Mini. It just makes sense to broaden their base and extend components to more systems, driving up demand and production quantities. I doubt they will go to dual GPUs in the iMac, but then again, anything is possible. If that holds true, then we can expect desktop-class GPUs in the iMac. I think they can do it, it will be interesting to see if they do.