NLE PC ~ iMac 27"

[Philip Ngoi]

Looking to have an NLe pc and i did plan for a DiY:

#Asus P6T SE + Intel Core i7 920
#PC3-12800/1600MHZ Corsair TR3G(2GBx3pcs)
#LT Nvidia Quadro DX 580 512MB
#COOLER MASTER 650 Extreme
#Western Digital Caviar Black 1.0TB (32MB) SATA-II
#LG dvdrw 22x IDE or sata l/s
#Creative sound card 5.1VX
#Cooler master cosmos rc-1000(s)
#Microphone/keyboard/Mouse
#Monitor Dell 2209WA 21.5-inch
#Windows 7 64bit

And then came along the iMac 27" Quad with the lcd having IPS technology (have not use mac nor a nle pc-upgrading my old pc) its beautiful! but what i should be looking for is best of both world - smooth work flow for: cs4 photoshop + editing software(edius 5 - fcs) would you kind folks help with my DiY as compare to the iMac ~ Thanks

Thks fr reading ~ Novice at Work

[Robert Lane]

An iMac is basically a laptop with a big screen and separate keyboard. That means you can't connect high-end video, RAID or other add-on cards and other desktop-tower related accessories.

If you're going to compare machines then compare desktop to desktop.

And don't bother asking which is better, PC or Mac. That'll start a never-ending wash of opinions on both sides.

[William Hohauser]

Give Windows 7 a month or so, keep an eye on the Edius discussion groups for any possible issues with Windows 7 and then make a decision. The iMac 27" core i7 has some very impressive processing specs, beats a eight-core MacPro at certain tasks that are not multi-core enabled. As Robert states, there is no way to upgrade the iMac, so if you're happy with FireWire 800 for your external drives and the permanent video board is good enough for your work consider it. And for the DiY person, an iMac isn't much fun because it works in ten minutes (including opening the box).

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by William Hohauser

And for the DiY person, an iMac isn't much fun because it works in ten minutes (including opening the box).

UNLESS you install Final Cut Studio, then it works in about 8 hours, after the install is done... <grin>

[John J. Arnold]

Did you see this 27" iMac i5/i7 review?
27-inch Core i5 iMac (with Core i7 option) Review | Business Center | Macworld

According to their benchmarks the iMac is faster than MacPro models nearly across the board. Obviously, expansion options are more limited, but plenty of horsepower out of the box.

[William Hohauser]

The Speedmark tests are not designed to run anything that uses all eight cores (as far as I know). The real test for Compressor users would be the iMac vs. an eight-core MacPro set up for a local cluster. And the tests would have to be with codecs that have multi-core render engine code written for them, such as MPEG2. Something tells me that the 27" iMac would end up slower. Until other programs are updated to use the 64bit potential of 10.6, the iMac is indeed faster for most work than the MacPro.

[Robert Lane]

Anyone considering getting the "best and fastest" Mac possible regardless of configuration should hold off on any purchases until Apple's next major hardware release, esp. the Mac Pro.

We're nearing a timeline where Apple historically would be adding an updated tower to the lineup which has always been either just before or just after the winter holiday season so it's reasonable to expect that the "next step up" for the Mac Pro is just around the corner.

Unless you've got cash burning a hole in your pocket or have an immediate business need that just can't wait... I'd wait and see.

[Shaun Roemich]

The Buyers Guide at macrumors.com certainly agrees with Robert. A great resource for rumours and news about all things Apple.

[Steve Kalle]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

Anyone considering getting the "best and fastest" Mac possible regardless of configuration should hold off on any purchases until Apple's next major hardware release, esp. the Mac Pro.

We're nearing a timeline where Apple historically would be adding an updated tower to the lineup which has always been either just before or just after the winter holiday season so it's reasonable to expect that the "next step up" for the Mac Pro is just around the corner.

Unless you've got cash burning a hole in your pocket or have an immediate business need that just can't wait... I'd wait and see.

There is no need to wait because Intel won't release their 32nm Quads(and Hexa) til next spring. Therefore, the new Mac Pro will have the same CPUs, unless Apple were to wait another 4 months.

The only new CPUs Intel is releasing this year are the 32nm dual cores with hyperthreading (for desktop and laptops I believe) and these should be the i3 and maybe i5.

As to the OP's question, the iMac seriously limits what you can do and what work you can take later on because you can't add very many Pro accessories. I personally don't like iMacs because it wastes a LCD monitor when you want to upgrade down the road.

For a DIY PC, get the P6T at a minimum, not the SE due to better capacitors(ie longer life). For the ram, save yourself money and get OCZ Obsidian 1600 or cheaper 1333MHz. Even if you overclock to 3.6GHz, your ram will never run near 1600MHz. (Take a look at Harm Millard's posts in PC and Premiere as he has his i7 at 3.6GHz) Disclaimer, I have the P6T and OCZ Obsidian ram, and I researched the difference between the P6T and P6T SE. I would also look into a good Zalman or Noctua cpu heatsink/fan.

STAY AWAY from the CM Cosmos rc-1000 case as it doesn't supply air flow to the hard drive bays. There is a reason CM released a newer version without the trays(its black on the sides instead of silver).

The Quadro 580: spend the same amount on a good nvidia gtx 275 and get FAR more power for Photoshop and anything else that uses the GPU.

Power Supply: the most reliable are PC Power & Cooling and SeaSonic with SeaSonic having some of the most efficient.

You didn't list hard drives but I will add this: the days of 10k and 15k rpm drives for booting are gone thanks to SSDs. I went from 4 10k rpm Raptors in Raid to one Intel X25 80GB SSD and the Raptors felt like a 10yr old computer compared to the Intel SSD.

If you would like more hardware suggestions, just ask.

[Philip Ngoi]

Happy too have all these infos frm pros! thank u - im leaning more on the DiY nle pc, though im just a hobbyist i still feel its better inevent i need to upgrade. Its beautiful os n the lcd of apple is tempting but also it cost more as compare to the DiY -

Thanks guys, william n steve i certainly will take ur advice n infos - its a its a beautiful day im happy.

with much appreciation

[Philip Ngoi]

Originally Posted by Steve Kalle

If you would like more hardware suggestions, just ask.

Thks steve kalle i will :)

best regards