Thinking about the new iMac, but is the Quad-Core worth it?
I really love the new iMacs and will definitely be buying one within a week or so. My question is, is it worth an extra $300 for the 2.66GHz Quad-Core version over the 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo version?
I’m an Interactive Designer, and I’ll be doing a lot of Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator….
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
10 Answers
I will be getting the quad-core model that is $1999 and shipping in November, personally. Not a lot of apps take advantage of the quad-core at this time, but they likely will in the future, especially professional level apps like Flash and Photoshop, so it would likely be worth it in the long run. It also has a better video card, which can help with some pro-apps as well as gaming if you do that.
I haven’t worked on a quad-core machine yet, but the biggest difference I found when switching from a single to a dual core wasn’t so much the speed of one application when I’m running it hard, but instead the resources that are still available for other applications.
If I have Photoshop and Illustrator open, with a web browser, email, and who knows what else, Photoshop isn’t eating all the CPU cycles like it used to when editing big files, because it’s limited to one core.
I would imagine the quad core gives you the same flexibility but to a great extent. Memory is another matter and that might be an area where the $300 would be better spent if you’re not already maxing it out on your configuration. From doing the same types of work (web design and graphics work), a couple sticks of memory made a much larger difference in speed than a small bump in processing power.
Whether it’s worth $300 I guess would really just be up to you. I always look at how often I upgrade and how much that next setup is going to be.
I think I’ll spend some extra cash and go with the 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, with 8GB RAM.
I notice a big difference with my quad core. But I basically use it for Final Cut.
I would not get the RAM upgrade from Apple. It is $200 extra to get 8gb of RAM. Unlock older iMacs, the new 27” supports 4 slots for RAM, two of which are filled with the standard 4gb. You can buy 2×2gb sticks at crucial.com for $96 and install it yourself extremely easily.
Hope it’s worth it, I just took the plunge and ordered mine!
@PupnTaco
Congrats! Let me know what you think.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
