Purchase a 27' iMac or....Sandy Bridge?? (Musician)

dbeanerzdbeanerz
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I've been waiting for this tax refund check and grew immediately excited to see it depoisted directly and sooner then expected.



I work primarily with music composition and production, using Ableton and Logic for personal use as well as some mixing jobs for other bands. Currently, I'm working on an MBP 2.8 Core Duo with 4GB of Ram and although it's held up great and I intend on keeping it, I do push it to the limit.



Thus, I've been looking into the iMAC 27' i7 Quad Core with the SSD and upgrading the RAM to 16GB from OWC(I use big sample libraries) as I enjoy the price for the value as well as the large monitor. I also intend on using a FW800 1TB HD for my samples/audio projects. Im confident it will meet my requirements demand wise with the current software I use.



But of course, I read that there's a possible update coming in the next couple of months. I truly hate to repeat common threads of asking should I wait or not, but I'm having a hard time deciphering the most significant upgrades that will possible.



How old is the i7 Quad Core model?

Is it worth waiting a couple months?

Or can I order this bad boy and hope for the best?



Truly any advice from anyone with more knowledge is appreciated.

Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/



    It all depends on how badly you need/want one now.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    dbeanerzdbeanerz Posts: 3member
    Yes, I've looked over that information and have also considered the want/need approach. I appreciate the reply, suppose I was looking for some bit of information I overlooked to push me one way or the other.



    I'm concerned a model might come out in two months with more than one FW800 port or something of that nature.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dbeanerz View Post


    I'm concerned a model might come out in two months with more than one FW800 port or something of that nature.



    Never going to happen.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dbeanerz View Post


    Yes, I've looked over that information and have also considered the want/need approach. I appreciate the reply, suppose I was looking for some bit of information I overlooked to push me one way or the other.



    I'm concerned a model might come out in two months with more than one FW800 port or something of that nature.



    The chips that can go in the laptops come out February 20th. Given that nearly all the consumer models need a refresh, they could actually do them all at once. The iMac chips are out already so they don't have much reason to hold back from updating but I think there's something going on with the exclusive liquid metal deal that came to light last August. If you look at the video on the following page about the Omega watch, you can see how it would be an industrial designer's wet dream:



    http://www.cultofmac.com/apples-liqu...rk-stuff/54315



    "It creates a surface so hard that it takes an 8000W laser-ray to cut cavities into the surface of the material. The result is a bezel that will retain its striking appearance indefinitely. The liquid metal numbers will appear in bold, vivid contrast to the glossy ceramic background, forever."



    Those two contrasted colours would work perfectly in the iPhones/iPads and Macs if they are styled with the same matte appearance, although the iPhone might be the other way round with a silver Apple logo. I'm not sure how the metal would affect reception too but the iPad seems to do ok with the 3G.



    Scratch resistant and best of all shatter-proof. I would love an iPhone made with a metal-alloy backing with a curved back and edges that don't slice your ears.



    A patent came to light though suggesting they may use the tech in a fuel cell:



    http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-is-gr...xclusive/75486



    but there's no harm in using it for both.



    Light Peak will also be a great improvement over existing connections and Intel is expecting it in products this year. With a Final Cut overhaul, this could be a big boost to HD filmmakers. Think of a professional camcorder with a 250MB/s SSD importing footage to a workstation at full rate.



    I wouldn't go for the current 27" i7 anyway because the newest i5 will probably match it and run cooler. Also remember Intel are launching their 25nm SSDs this month too so if you plan on getting an SSD, the prices should drop down a bit. The rumour is $1.60 per GB down from over $2 per GB. I'd expect Apple's own SSD chips to go in all the Macs too - their current SSD addition in the iMac seems like an afterthought.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dbeanerzdbeanerz Posts: 3member
    Genuinely appreciate that informative response - I'll hide the money out of reach and wait it out for the next refresh/update. Again, thanks for that information!



    DB
  • Reply 6 of 7
    zephzeph Posts: 133member
    It's painful, but the iMac i7 actually has a higher Geekbench score than the base-model MacPro.



    I know it does not tell the whole story (especially for music applications), but it's clear where Apple spends the money.





    iMac (27-inch Mid 2010) Intel Core i7 870 2.93 GHz (4 cores) \t9084



    Mac Pro (Mid 2010) Intel Xeon W3530 2.8 GHz (4 cores) \t8360





    http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/
  • Reply 7 of 7
    needanewmacneedanewmac Posts: 37member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zeph View Post


    It's painful, but the iMac i7 actually has a higher Geekbench score than the base-model MacPro.



    I know it does not tell the whole story (especially for music applications), but it's clear where Apple spends the money.





    iMac (27-inch Mid 2010) Intel Core i7 870 2.93 GHz (4 cores) \t9084



    Mac Pro (Mid 2010) Intel Xeon W3530 2.8 GHz (4 cores) \t8360





    http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/



    I got 8925 on my Mac Pro 2.8 GHz, anyway you'll notice very little difference. The Mac Pro in that case is for expandability while expanding on a iMac is a real chore. Example, put a Hard Disk in a Mac Pro about a minute or 2. Put a Hard disk in a iMac, 30 minutes, 1 hour? Depends on what you are going to use the machine for and if you do not install hard disk or SSD's much, then a iMac is fine for you, but speedwise not going to notice too much difference.
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