upgrade MP 8 core to new i7 iMac?

[Dublove]

hi all,

looking for some real world use opinions not just benchmarks


I have a 2010 MP 8 core 2.4ghz.
24gb ram
256gb ssd for os & apps
3x 1TB hard drives internal
ATI 5870
2x Dell 24" Ultrasharps

I bought it for reliability and it has been very reliable - I believe a lot of that reliability is due to the ECC ram.

Back when I bought it I was into 3D rendering but now not so much. I now use it more for CAD. Solidworks I run through parallels, Rhino too - rarely going into bootcamp to do so. Heavy photoshop, illustrator, indesign & lightroom still though.


So;
I would look at the highest spec i7 27" iMac possible (but upgrade myself to 32gb.)
1TB Fusion (os + apps only)
Trackpad as I have two mighty mice...

I'd benefit from a brand new larger 27" screen, Probably keep the two dells and hook them up too.
I would also need to switch to some kind of desktop external storage. I'd keep all my files off the built in drive) Thunderbolt sounds like the way forward but which one & how much?


Do you think this change worth it for what I do now?

thx, Jay

 

[Dublove]

mmmmmn yes i've been reading about it still. Problem with my MP is that all the cores are great for rendering BUT when not rendering i.e. most else things! the slower clock speed shows.

I'm still looking for a decent external drive setup. I had hoped I could but a thunderbolt enclosure and throw my existing 3.5" drives in but seems this is just not possible right now

Trying to decide about temp usb3 storage or weather to suck it up and get 4tb of thunderbolt.

 

[Dublove]

Interesting comments

A new MP would be nice but no one is sure there will be one yet, plus I can no longer justify the outlay for one. A used 12 core is way more £££ than the imac if you can find one and I'd still be with my 5870...

Think I will pop down to the Apple store in Bristol this weekend and see if they will let me play for 30minutes or so.

Just found out about the 3tb fusion not working with bootcamp. Think I'll have to hook another external drive, probably an ssd in a usb3 enclosure.