iMac 27in Core Duo - enough photoshop power?

[james_de_h]

<p>Long story short. I can get a refurbished iMac 27inch in base 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo spec with 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB for around £500 sterling less than a new i5 Quad Core version with the HD 4850 graphics with 512MB RAM. It is a big, tempting saving to go for the less powerful processor and graphics. Main imaging work for me is just Photoshop CS4 and DxO when I want something fast so not over demanding. Anyone with a Core Duo iMac feel they could realistically USE more power or is a Core Duo just fine? I have a MacBook Pro with a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB but it is perhaps not as swift as I would like when it comes to working on numerous Canon EOS 7D RAW files at a time.<br>

As an aside, the Core Duo refurb iMac 27 lists at £1169 inc. VAT at 17.5% or $1892 US. A new tax included, iMac 27 with quad core i5 is £1634 or $2645 here in the UK.<br>

Belated New Year greetings and best wishes. 2009 was a bit of a stinker for many of us.</p>

[remco-jan.woldhuis]

<p>This machine has more then enough power....</p>

[jonathan_borden]

<p>1) Graphics cards are relatively irrelevent for photoshop.<br>

2) If you don't understand 1) get the cheaper computer.<br>

3) If you have any interest in video get the faster computer.<br>

4) Add more RAM.</p>

[jeff_delisio]

<p>Here are some performance metrics from MacWorld -<br /> http://www.macworld.com/article/143970/2009/11/core15_imac.html</p>

<p>My guess is you will be fine, what I can tell you for sure is that the quad i5 will handle just about anything you can throw at it, in LR or PS and that for me is working on 5D MKII RAW files.</p>

<p>I think Johathan's advice is right on - the graphics card will largely be irrelevant for PS and you should put in as much memory as you can. I have 8 GB RAM on my machine and with PS that really helps. Given the prices you mention, you might want the re-furb set up with 8 GB as well - however it depends on what the mem config is currently - you might have to replace all the current RAM to do that. Do they allow you to upgrade RAM or will you have to do that on your own?</p>

<p>One other thing though is that the HD sounds pretty small. Though I keep many things on external drive (and back everything up externally to) I now have my primary LR catalogs on the internal drive, and love the fact that Time Machine backs that up to an external 2TB drive automatically. I now find myself putting more on the internal drive than I used to and wishing I had 2 TB there as well.</p>

[james_de_h]

<p>Thanks guys. The refurb can handle an extra 4GB without having to get rid of the existing memory. I appreciate the graphic memory will not influence PS, so this was more a processor question. I have a Time Capsule of 1TB which has a second hard drive plugged in to take overspill - I just do not trust hard drives so tend to back up back-ups and keep system hard drives as clean and as under worked as possible. I must say I think a core duo iMac 27 should be just fine for me but we all look to get more power when we can! I think extra cash in memory could be the way to go.</p>