iMac 27" worth it?

Ryan Drew

Ryan Drew

Ryan Drew

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Joined
21 Jul 2013
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4
Hey guys, Just wondering whether to get an iMac 27". But be aware if I do it will be used and probably the mid 2010-2011 model. Probably i5 with high ram.

I do a lot of music and art, and have always wanted one. And as my current tower has just gone bust, and my laziness has grew to not bother to fix it I thought I may as well get one now.

Just thought it's best to ask if its worth it. I will mostly use it for video, photo and music editing. And browsing the web. Not for gaming or word or anything like that, I have my laptop for that.

I know this may be worded terribly, and im sorry, i'm not the best with English! And I am tired.

p.s. is it easy to replace my superdrive with the hdd, and put a ssd where the hdd was?
If so, can i 'mod' the superdrive to be usb compatible?
 
Howdy,

I have the last of the iMac's before it went to the new skinny model you see today and the 27" screen.

Long and short of it, it's been an excellent machine. Work wise I use it mainly for photo editing, website work, and some video work and it's superb throughout. I also fitted an SSD alongside the original HDD, my superdrive has just started to fail...I'm undecided whether to put another SSD in for faster photo work, or to just replace the superdrive.

So to answer your question, yes it's possible to mod it. It requires a lot of patience. If your more than used to dismantling computers and laptops it's no more difficult, it just can't be rushed...you have to remove the screen to get to the guts.

The spec of mine is:

3.4ghz i7
12gb ram (I think, it might be higher, genuinely can't remember)
240gb SSD as my OS drive
Original 1TB drive for storage
AMD Radeon 6990 2GB graphics

It's a good spec, the SSD was the biggest performance bump I gave it and then added on the additional ram later (ordered it with just 4gb as Apple charge way too much for ram)

Overall I'm very very pleased and the monitor is just beautiful. It's an IPS panel and the colours are amazing, makes it a real joy to work on :)
 
Ryan Drew said:
Hey guys, Just wondering whether to get an iMac 27". But be aware if I do it will be used and probably the mid 2010-2011 model. Probably i5 with high ram.

I do a lot of music and art, and have always wanted one. And as my current tower has just gone bust, and my laziness has grew to not bother to fix it I thought I may as well get one now.

Just thought it's best to ask if its worth it. I will mostly use it for video, photo and music editing. And browsing the web. Not for gaming or word or anything like that, I have my laptop for that.

I know this may be worded terribly, and im sorry, i'm not the best with English! And I am tired.

p.s. is it easy to replace my superdrive with the hdd, and put a ssd where the hdd was?
If so, can i 'mod' the superdrive to be usb compatible?
Click to expand...

I'm getting a 2011 model soon with a 6970m, only the todays top model is better. And i know a company in London who will modify mine, they can mod it so it has two HDD's.
 
random_matt said:
It's not a simple process, why would i risk breaking it? And have no idea what's involved in modding a imac to have two hdd's.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. It's a dozen screws, some patience, and a special cable. :)

If you search this has been discussed a few times on here and I've posted the guide I followed. It really isn't that difficult and you don't mod it. The port is already on the iMac you just need the correct cable to connect the hard drive, that's all. I had to order mine specially from the US but I think you can get them here now :)

It's just another PC but with a different OS. :)
 
random_matt said:
I'm getting a 2011 model soon with a 6970m, only the todays top model is better. And i know a company in London who will modify mine, they can mod it so it has two HDD's.
Click to expand...

Well there has been two models since the 2011 Model both are which are better and a 2014 model is about to be released.
 
Ryan Drew said:
I think I may get a 2011 model. Although I am tempted to go all out on this new 2014 model
Click to expand...

There is no point on the 2014 model, it's going to have the Haswell refresh which is a 0.2ghz speed bump which isn't worth it, an 880M gpu top end which is a rebadged 680/780 anyway but with 8GB VRAM instead of 2 and 4GB respectively which is only useful if you need a high amount of VRAM. The PCI-E SSD is already amazing so I doubt this will be improved.

Since nothing will really change apart from minor speed bumps from refreshed rebated components, I would go for a top end 2013 model as you will save lots of money second hand.
 
Phate said:
Yes it is. It's a dozen screws, some patience, and a special cable. :)

If you search this has been discussed a few times on here and I've posted the guide I followed. It really isn't that difficult and you don't mod it. The port is already on the iMac you just need the correct cable to connect the hard drive, that's all. I had to order mine specially from the US but I think you can get them here now :)

It's just another PC but with a different OS. :)
Click to expand...

Could i just manually change the fan speed and if so, what should i leave it at.
 
You don't need to touch the fan speed if you leave the original had in there like I did :)
 
Did some digging for you.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18414727&highlight=username_Phate

And the guide I followed http://www.btobey.com/learn/imac-ssd-install.php

This has been discussed quite a bit on the forum...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18412646&highlight=username_Phate

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18436502&highlight=username_Phate

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18576144&highlight=username_Phate

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18520884&highlight=username_Phate

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End result is the same. It seems like a daunting process, but it is no more difficult than dismantling a laptop, just with a much bigger and heavier screen :p

Seriously, get the right tools for the job (a few ££) print the guide off and read through it a couple of times, clear an evening and shut the cat out of the room (learned this after mine ALMOST decided inside the iMac was a comfy place to sit :p) - sit down and do it :)

However, if you're not comfortable with dismantling a laptop I would advise more caution. I've been ripping laptops and PC's apart for over a decade now so I was confident I could do it. In fact I had to dismantle it twice.

The first time it took me 2 hours to pull apart and then realised I had been sent the wrong cable. So I reassembled it, sourced the correct one, then had it apart and back to together again in about 35 minutes as I knew what to expect. :)

It's perfectly doable. It's just another PC at the end of the day :)
 
kaka4200 said:
As all apple products, the price is really high for same performances on other brands.
Click to expand...

No it isn't lol, compare on a like for like basis. Don't forget on an iMac compare a high quality 1440p monitor, Wireless Card+Bluetooth, All in One Form Factor, Premium build etc
 
kitkat9933 said:
No it isn't lol, compare on a like for like basis. Don't forget on an iMac compare a high quality 1440p monitor, Wireless Card+Bluetooth, All in One Form Factor, Premium build etc
Click to expand...

No point feeding a troll who's upping his post count :)
 
I have the mid 2011 (purchased mid 2012) i5 model. Performance wise it feels just as fast as the newer 2013 iMac that I use at work.

Bare in mind the 2011 models can take 32GB RAM, but missing USB3.0 support. I currently have 16GB installed with 2 empty banks for future performance increase, and SDD option when things start to get slow.

If the price is right it is a very capable machine.
 
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