Computer question

[Heabow]

Hey

I can get a 2011 27" iMac second hand at 1500€. It's a i5 3.1gHz loaded with 12 Go RAM and one 1To HD and comes with valid Apple Care. I think it's a fair price.

Don't know much in computer stuff but all I know is that I need a powerful one that can support large sessions with shit load of plugins and automation I'm tired of bouncing again and again. So would be better to get an i7 instead of a i5 or it doesn't make such a difference at the end?

 

[colonel_claypoo]

there's a difference between I5 and I7 but it won'T make much of a difference unless your sessions regularly have like 200+ tracks with 3+ plugins each. 12GB RAM is plenty. the only thing that may speed up things would be an SSD drive instead of the SATA hard disk. however, all in all I think you shouldn't run out of power with this machine. if you think it's a good offer then go for it.

I wouldn't do it though because for 1500€ you could get a more powerful windows-based machine.

 

[nervirasme]

...or go a Hackintosh-route and have the best of both wordls

 

[mstone564]

I really considered getting a refurbished iMac i7 for like 1400... I really did. Then I got a PC twice as better and more reliable/customizable for a little less.

Honestly, the only thing that drove me towards an iMac was the beautiful screen... What drove me away was their price, OS X Lion, the amount of plugins I wouldn't be able to use, and not being able to upgrade processors if I wanted to.

 

[Josh Burgess]

Don't even second guess the SSD if you have the choice. It makes a huge difference. It's so nice having an SSD for the OS and your most frequently used programs/samples + a normal, big HDD for storage.

 

[Heabow]

Thanks guys. I wanna keep working on an Apple and the best option for me is an iMac (Mac Pro are way too much expensive). I think its okay but I was just wondering if an i7 2.8gHz would far better than an i5 3.1gHz.