Personal Computing: Speed, Storage, Memory

[schindlerpiste]

My 2008 Apple Desktop is ready for replacement. Apple no longer supports it, and it is getting slower by the day. Moreover, I am no longer confident that it is completely secure.
I want another Apple Desktop with a 27" screen, but my knowledge of needs ends there. People are telling me that I should get the fastest computer possible with as much memory and storage as I can afford. I have no idea to put this into language that I understand for my personal needs. Basically, I am the only person to use the computer, and I use it strictly for personal use. Do I really need/want 3.8GHz 8-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz? What about 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory, and Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and 1TB SSD storage? This may as well be Farsi to me. I have no doubt that what I described is a very good, but not the best, or extreme overkill set-up, but then again, I really have no idea. Help a brother out.

[East2West]

What are your personal needs? Do you game? Edit videos or photos? Run any intensive software? If so what is it. Do you just browse the web and email?

[schindlerpiste]

85% of the latter. I keep a lot of tunes and photos on my computer. I play cards, but nothing like LoL, Mortal Combat, Counter-Strike, Dota, etc. Banking, shopping, surfing, watching videos. Really minor stuff, but I don't plan on buying another desktop for another 10 years.....

[nickwm21]

If you’re really set on that 27” iMac, just get the base model. With 8 gigs of ram its already overkill for what you describe.

If I were in the market for a home desktop I’d check out an Acer chromebase. Chrome OS on a higher end machine is awesome for home computing and puts and extra $1200 in your pocket....


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[schindlerpiste]

.....except that my telephones are Apple, my TVs are Apple, my tunes are iTunes, etc.....

[ctsmith]

Agree on base iMac 27”, I use it for CAD work, and speeds / memory are fine.

[Conundrum]

Same boat. "no longer supported" pisses me off. The hardware works. They just want to sell more shit.

[ctsmith]

And maybe worth getting the Apple Card for 3% refund, yes I drank the Apple kool-aid back in the 80’s...

[East2West]

I would get at least 16gb of RAM, 8gb is hardly overkill these days never mind 10 years from now. You can look at your current storage and determine from there how much you want in the system. Keep in mind you should have at least a 10% buffer of empty space but I would recommend more. External storage is also very cheap. CPU wise I would get the best one you’re willing to spend the money on. That may be overkill today, but 5 years from now, 10??

[XXX-er]

Same boat. "no longer supported" pisses me off. The hardware works. They just want to sell more shit.

my GF has 10 yrs of a magazine she published on a mac that she can't access

[East2West]

my GF has 10 yrs of a magazine she published on a mac that she can't access

No longer supported and no longer work are two different things.

[riser4]

Get the red one. It goes faster.

[MontuckyFried]

If you’re really set on that 27” iMac, just get the base model. With 8 gigs of ram its already overkill for what you describe.

Yup. So long as it has the SSD and not a spinning disk, you'll be set.

Our family daily driver is an iMac with an i5, an SSD, and 8 GB of ram. It's been superb for normal family use, but surprisingly it's been quite capable of our video and photo editing needs. We run the full Adobe suite of products on there. Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Would an iMac Pro be sweet? Definitely, but the base model is not too shabby. Not a gaming machine, but since you're not looking for that it should be fine.

THAT SAID, Apple's about to switch over to their own proprietary chipsets, getting away from Intel, and many people are suggesting to maybe wait until they make that transition.
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-give...ear-wwdc-2020/
An entirely new CPU architecture, so I'm not sure what that's going to look like for us legacy users. :/

[Skidog]

.....except that my telephones are Apple, my TVs are Apple, my tunes are iTunes, etc.....

They got you huh? Bummer

Sent from my Pixel 2 using TGR Forums mobile app

[evdog]

My current plan is buy on the cheap end, and replace twice as often. Keeps the equipment more current and avoids planned obsolescence and the inevitable slow down once a computer gets past a certain age. Lower end computers are more than fast enough for what most of us need. Monitor and external hard drive should be portable from one computer to the next.

[MarcusBrody]

Yup. So long as it has the SSD and not a spinning disk, you'll be set.

Our family daily driver is an iMac with an i5, an SSD, and 8 GB of ram. It's been superb for normal family use, but surprisingly it's been quite capable of our video and photo editing needs. We run the full Adobe suite of products on there. Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Would an iMac Pro be sweet? Definitely, but the base model is not too shabby. Not a gaming machine, but since you're not looking for that it should be fine.

THAT SAID, Apple's about to switch over to their own proprietary chipsets, getting away from Intel, and many people are suggesting to maybe wait until they make that transition.
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-give...ear-wwdc-2020/
An entirely new CPU architecture, so I'm not sure what that's going to look like for us legacy users. :/

If he's buying the current model, I think they've done away with the hybrid drives and are all SSD now.

Up until the most recent generation, you could still add more RAM to the 27in iMacs. You may still be able to, I just can't confirm. As Mac charges a lot for RAM upfront, I just bought mine and added RAM, which was pretty easy.

I'm in the "waiting to see the ARM processors" boat. I'm a data science prof with some start up funds burning a hole in my pocket, but I want to wait and see what the new version is like. In the mean time I'm working on a Windows computer regularly for the first time in probably 8-10 years and it hasn't been an issue at all.

[East2West]

If he's buying the current model, I think they've done away with the hybrid drives and are all SSD now.

Correct and the base model doesn’t give any option beside 256gb SSD.

At least the ram the RAM is still easy to upgrade later.

[schindlerpiste]

Pulled the trigger on this:

[East2West]

I think the biggest issue with ARM will be initial app compatibility and how quickly software development catches on.

[East2West]

Pulled the trigger on this:

Nice.....

[riser4]

Yup. So long as it has the SSD and not a spinning disk, you'll be set.

Our family daily driver is an iMac with an i5, an SSD, and 8 GB of ram. It's been superb for normal family use, but surprisingly it's been quite capable of our video and photo editing needs. We run the full Adobe suite of products on there. Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Would an iMac Pro be sweet? Definitely, but the base model is not too shabby. Not a gaming machine, but since you're not looking for that it should be fine.

THAT SAID, Apple's about to switch over to their own proprietary chipsets, getting away from Intel, and many people are suggesting to maybe wait until they make that transition.
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-give...ear-wwdc-2020/
An entirely new CPU architecture, so I'm not sure what that's going to look like for us legacy users. :/

Would be far cooler if they went back to Power architecture. A Power9 workstation would rock.