Need advice - Mac Pro or iMac


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Hi guys!! I find myself at a crossroad...

I'm taking the final plunge on the apple pool. I've tried the hackintosh road but it's not for me.

So...I've been searching and I found two options at almost the same price:

1) iMac 27": i7 + 256gb ssd + 780 4gb

2) MacPro: xeon e5 quad core + 256gb + 2xAMD FirePro D300

 

The basics are:

1) I play FPS from time to time and I like to play those games with keyboard and mouse. I do have a ps3/4 and xbox 360 for the rest of my gaming vices.

2) I do use photoshop (I have a Nikon D7000 and I shoot in RAW format for editing) and sometimes I do a little video editing too.

 

Storage it's not a problem for me because I've a NAS for central storage of all my devices.

The iMac it's a little more expensive than the Mac Pro but you get a 27" screen...currently I've a 22" dell lcd.

 

What are your recomendations?

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iMac would work fine and it has a pretty nice screen already. I believe you could still hook up your dell lcd as a second monitor to the iMac.

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Have you actually used OS X for more than half an hour? I've tried switching to Mac (two or three times) but keep on coming back to Windows.

 

Remember you can buy Apple-refurbished products through the Apple Store also (slightly cheaper than retail).

 

Perhaps a Mac Mini would suit (note: current model has Intel HD Graphics 4000). Update (with better GPU) may be announced in a few hours.

 

I do not believe iMacs have support for an external display, however their 27" 2560x1440 displays are stunning.

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I do have a retina macbook pro (mid 2012) and has served me well but a friend of mine offered to buy it. I was reluctant at first but since I don't need the portability anymore I started searching for a desktop replacement. I know what you mean about going back to windows, I've been there too. But in that case you have a choice like vmware fusion, parallels...etc. Bootcamp is another alternative.

I agree that the 27" displays are stunning, simply gorgeous.

I'm leaning towards the iMac so far...seems the proper reeplacement.

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I do not believe iMacs have support for an external display, however their 27" 2560x1440 displays are stunning.

It's possible to connect external monitors using the Thunderbolt ports, using Mini DisplayPort adapters for whatever ports the monitors have.

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What I meant with "the final plunge" was to get rid of the windows box for good (sorry that I didn't say that in the first post...I'll give it to my parents), and since I have used os x for a while (macbook pro retina), I'm familiar with the os, so no surprises there.
My hesitation comes from the fact that the mac pro seems a little overkill but it's a bit cheaper than the iMac...on the other hand the iMac has the 27" screen that is great.

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I would go with the imac but as someone else suggested a mac mini is also another option but is not so good if you're looking to play current games that require some graphics horsepower.

 

I bought my mini new a few months ago, purchased the OWC data doubler kit to add a second drive to the mini, installed 2 mushkin 240GB SSD's in raid0 and maxed the ram out to 16GB, total cost was around $1000 but it was well worth it because this thing flies.

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Unless you do a lot of GPGPU or CAD-like stuff the FirePro's aren't all that interesting. Go with the iMac, it suits your needs much better.

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I'd suggest iMac, nice screen and more than enough power for average joe. Mac pro is more like a workstation.

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Thanks all for the replies. I'll go with the iMac 27" i7 256gb ssd 780 4gb...it should be good enough for a few years

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FYI, If you want an iMac to be mounted on the wall, do not buy an iMac yet... just look for wall mounted iMac that you can mount it on the wall if you are interested.

 

You can look for it on their online store for more information or buy one.

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@shozilla It didn't cross my mind actually, I didn't know it was possible. Still, for now it won't be necessary, thanks for the tip thou :)

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@shozilla It didn't cross my mind actually, I didn't know it was possible. Still, for now it won't be necessary, thanks for the tip thou :)

 

No problem.  :)

 

Have fun with your Mac  

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i have a mid 2011 27 inch i7 16GB ram running a 250GB SSD and Windows 7. Windows 7 runs like a champ on it. So you could bootcamp it so you would have the best of both worlds.

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  • 2 months later...

Sorry for the bump guys, I just wanted to share with all of you that as of now I own an iMac and I love it, it's blazing fast.

The screen...speechless

Really happy with it :D

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