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Which new Mac for COP?

Rainer Kriewald
Hello!
First, sorry for the bad english (google translator can not do better)!
I want to exchange my cMp (Early 2008, 2 x 2,8GHz, 20 GB, 5770, PCI 512 SSD) and buy a new Mac.
The new Mac should accompany me again for many years. I am therefore unsure what to buy?
Either I want to buy a 27 "5K iMac or the iMac Pro.
I would configure the 5K iMac with the i7 processor and a 1 TB SSD. Then I add another 32 GB of RAM.
I would take the iMac Pro in the basic configuration. Although I wonder if it is better to order the VEGA 64 directly (after all, the GPU can not be replaced later)?
Does the larger GPU bring anything or can I save the money?
The main task is the photo editing (COP, PS / Activity Photos). Audio and video editing rather rare.

Now the question:
Which iMac with which configuration is the most sensible decision right now?
... or rather wait for the new Mac Pro or maybe a 6-core 5K iMac (later this year)?

Thanks for the help and have a nice time!

cu
Ray
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Comments

14 comments

Date Votes
  • Daniel Wisniewski
    From about everything that I have, from about every source, unless you are doing video editing, you really needn't spend the money on the iMac Pro. Unless you want to...

    I recently upgraded my dead imac for a new one ( and though I bought it in 2017, its a late-2015 model, since new ones weren't out yet).

    Go with your build, skip the 32Gb ( get 16. you can add another 16 ( after market - cheaper price ( if you think you really need it ( which you don't).

    Wait for 6-core? Do your reading... Unless your a gamer ( and being priced out of the graphics market by crypto folks) - 4 cores are fine.

    Here's a good test to do:
    1) Search 'How much RAM do I need' - about 85-90% results will say 16GB
    2) Search 'How many cores do I need' - again... most say about 4 cores are fine
    3) Search 'Best Mac for photo editing' - take what you want....

    So.. take your best processor, take an upgraded graphic card ( read reviews). get your SSD & you'll be happy.

    Your build will be fine.

    cheers!
    dan
    0
  • photo by FA
    It’s been told many times by CO staff in here that, iMac GPU is not powerful enough for 5K screen, so when you draw masks, you might see some lagging. Therefore Vega 64 GPU is better.

    Best option is, if there is a Apple store close by, visit them, install the software and test it. This was, you should have a fair idea.
    0
  • Wesley
    [quote="Cupertino" wrote:
    Hello!
    First, sorry for the bad english (google translator can not do better)!
    I want to exchange my cMp (Early 2008, 2 x 2,8GHz, 20 GB, 5770, PCI 512 SSD) and buy a new Mac.
    The new Mac should accompany me again for many years. I am therefore unsure what to buy?
    Either I want to buy a 27 "5K iMac or the iMac Pro.
    I would configure the 5K iMac with the i7 processor and a 1 TB SSD. Then I add another 32 GB of RAM.
    I would take the iMac Pro in the basic configuration. Although I wonder if it is better to order the VEGA 64 directly (after all, the GPU can not be replaced later)?
    Does the larger GPU bring anything or can I save the money?
    The main task is the photo editing (COP, PS / Activity Photos). Audio and video editing rather rare.

    Now the question:
    Which iMac with which configuration is the most sensible decision right now?
    ... or rather wait for the new Mac Pro or maybe a 6-core 5K iMac (later this year)?

    Thanks for the help and have a nice time!

    cu
    Ray

    Base iMac Pro now (with 1TB SSD upgrade if you want) or upgrade GPU of your cMP and wait for new regular iMac and MP options.
    0
  • Wesley
    [quote="fatihayoglu" wrote:
    It’s been told many times by CO staff in here that, iMac GPU is not powerful enough for 5K screen, so when you draw masks, you might see some lagging. Therefore Vega 64 GPU is better.

    Best option is, if there is a Apple store close by, visit them, install the software and test it. This was, you should have a fair idea.

    That is true for the regular iMacs but these iMac Pros actually have good, decent cards now (best from AMD as of now although under clocked compared to Windows counterpart).

    The Vega 64 - 16GB is overkill for photographers. It's like for 3D modeling.
    0
  • Jerry C
    All good advice for wither iMac or iMac Pro for today's software. A big question is, how often do you want to buy a new computer.
    0
  • Jerry C
    All good advice for wither iMac or iMac Pro for today's software. A big question is, how often do you want to buy a new computer.

    I bought an 8 core Mac Pro with 16MB RAM 10 years ago. That was overkill for photo editing software in 2008. That overkill has allowed me to have a very usable computer for 10 years and many OS and photo editing upgrades that required increasing power. It was more economical for me to spend more up front and get 10 years use out of the computer than spend less up front and have to buy 2 or 3 computers over the 10 years. Its performance is still quite acceptable with CO 11, but if I want to upgrade to the current OS and be able to run a 5k display and retain performance, I will need to replace it, but this is just becoming an issue. I am willing to shell out for an iMac Pro if I can get 10 years out of that computer.

    Jerry C
    0
  • Jeffrey Jakucyk
    I got a base model iMac Pro and love it so far (it's only been a week). Everything that I do is smooth (I shoot sports so I'm not doing a lot of masks/layers and complicated touchups admittedly) and it flies through exporting my Nikon D750 RAW photos (as long as my masters aren't on a network share, but even then it's still really good). I heard about the problems with the first 5K iMacs and Capture One, but what about today's models with the Radeon Pro 580? We've been through a couple revisions since the 5K iMac first came out, so is it really still a problem?

    All that said, the video card definitely helps with Capture One. My old mac was also a 2008 Mac Pro 8-core 2.8ghz, and swapping out the Radeon HD 5770 for a NVIDIA GTX 680 made a huge difference, cutting export times to 1/3 of what they were. Granted that's comparing a decently modern NVIDIA card with non-accelerated performance (The 5770 is not supported in Capture One, and even though it can technically be enabled, it makes Capture One slower).

    It does seem to me like the Vega 64 in an iMac Pro would be overkill though. I haven't looked into it much, but that's one reason I went with the 5770 upgrade in my old computer instead of the 5870, because the 5870 only improved 3D performance, not 2D. If that's what the Vega 64's thing is, then it's likely not worth the upgrade. Does VRAM even matter all that much for photo processing versus storing 3D textures and all that?
    0
  • Christian Gruner
    [quote="Wesley" wrote:

    The Vega 64 - 16GB is overkill for photographers. It's like for 3D modeling.

    no overkill, CO will use the computing power of it with no problem.
    0
  • Christian Gruner
    [quote="jjakucyk" wrote:
    Does VRAM even matter all that much for photo processing versus storing 3D textures and all that?


    As long as you have more than 4 GB (on a 5k setup), the amount of VRAM doesn't matter that much, unless you multi-task GPU heavy programs (which include PS, LR, Aftereffects, etc).
    But VRAM is usually not the only difference. Most time the GPU itself will also have additional computing-power, when you buy higher-end versions (that can easily be checked).
    0
  • Wesley
    [quote="Christian Gruner" wrote:
    [quote="Wesley" wrote:

    The Vega 64 - 16GB is overkill for photographers. It's like for 3D modeling.

    no overkill, CO will use the computing power of it with no problem.

    Well I wish I haven't read that. There goes more money out the bank 😄

    What's the generic percentage or time improvement over the 56? Worth the upgrade cost?
    Would the 8-core be too much of a bottleneck for the 64?
    These questions for specific CO usage, not generally.
    0
  • Chad Dahlquist
    I would say buy a normal iMac get the top cpu and the gpu upgrade but not the memory buy that 3rd party

    wait to see what the new mac pro they say they are building will be in the near future ? the other regular iMac will do fine yes as some say you might get some lag on layers painting ? but I do not know for sure

    also 3rd party external GPU setups are becoming more common especially in High Sierra with gaining support etc..


    something to think about 😊
    0
  • Rainer Kriewald
    First of all - many thanks for the suggestions! 😄

    A question to the 2017er 5K iMac owners: Are there still graphics problems or does the Pro 580er GPU work without errors?
    0
  • Jeffrey Jakucyk
    [quote="Cupertino" wrote:
    First of all - many thanks for the suggestions! 😄

    A question to the 2017er 5K iMac owners: Are there still graphics problems or does the Pro 580er GPU work without errors?


    Agreed that's critical to know if the 580 is now up to speed with what's needed to drive a 5K screen. As for the upcoming Mac Pro, Apple was very clear in stating that it "wouldn't be this year" i.e. 2017, while also stating that 2018 is no guarantee either. I would hope they give some information at WWDC this summer, but the 2013 Mac Pro was announced at the same time of year and wasn't available until January/February 2014 for all practical purposes. So we could still be a full year out from any shipping product, if not longer. Also based on where things are going with Tim Cook at the helm, I doubt you'll be able to get in the door for under $5,000. Maybe if we're lucky the CPU will be $4,000 and the new 5K monitor is another $1,000, putting it in contention with the base model iMac Pro, but even that could be wishful thinking.
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  • Rainer Kriewald
    uppps ... sorry!

    The question to the 2017 5K iMac owners was actually, if there are still problems with the 5K display or are these difficulties with the Radon Pro 580 GPU solved?
    I read somewhere that COP seems to have problems with the 27" 5K iMac display.
    0

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