[Nextdimension]

I'm getting my first iMac which will also be my first nice new desktop. So I'm kind of a newb when it comes to all the different hardware options. I will be using some programs that use a lot of Ram and processor power, but just how much I'm not really sure. Here's a little list of some of the programs I know I'll be using:
Adobe-Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere...
Some kind of music recording software maybe Logic or Pro Tools
3D animation program of some kind
3D fractal generating program

I'm looking at getting the 27" 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5. I'm probably gonna up the Ram, but how much? Should I go all the way to 16? What about upgrading the processor? Or the Graphics card? What would you say is the most important for my needs? I can upgrade it all, I want this computer to be awesome and I'm willing to spend the money, but I don't want to go overboard if I don't have to. So maybe upgrade the processor but only put 8GB Ram in it? Also is the Solid State hard Drive something I should invest in?
Any advice or suggestions would be awesome!

Thanks

[OreoCookie]

You should wait a few more hours, new iMacs will be announced today. Once the specs have been officially published, ask us again

[Nextdimension]

I was wondering if that was what was going on. I saw the store was offline. Perfect timing!

[Eug]

And if not today, then very soon nonetheless. It's been 405 days since the last iMac update.

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

[SierraDragon]

Mac Pros are far superior to iMacs for those apps. You should strongly be considering a MP which should also be upgraded really really soon.

• SSD as boot drive for sure.

• Add RAM and additional drives via third-party, not Apple.

[SierraDragon]

So no upgrade to the iMac and no significant upgrade to the MP. Bummer.

[Nextdimension]

Well while I did say I can spend a lot on a computer I think a Mac Pro is out of my budget although they do look awesome! So any advice on the iMac, is there still a good chance it'll be upgraded soon? Also just in general what do you think is more important upgrading the ram to 16 or getting the most powerful processor and only upgrading the ram to 8gb?

[chris v]

The 2011 iMac is still an awesome machine. I use one at work every day, and I love it. My advice:

Definitely get the solid state drive, and use it as the boot drive. If you can afford to, or need the space, you can get an SSD and a regular drive. I wend with both for speed and capacity. Minimum of 8 gigs of RAM. Don't buy if from Apple, though. I ordered my machine with 4 gigs then stuck another 8 in the 2 open slots. Rarely pages out, and when it does, it's hardly noticeable because it pages out to the SSD.

The difference in the CPUs is going to be minimal for what you're using it for, so unless you know you specifically need the hyper threading, I'd save the money there. You'll get a much more noticeable speed increase from the solid state boot drive.

[SierraDragon]

What Chris said.

View the display in a store first though to make sure it is ok for you. Some folks (I am one) find the glare unacceptable; millions of others do ok with it.

Also you do want the strongest available GPU for those apps.

-Allen

[angelmb]

Also you do want the strongest available GPU for those apps.

Not only that, by getting the high-end iMac you can order the Radeon with 2 GB of video RAM. 3D software is very demanding on this regard.

[Waragainstsleep]

RAM you can upgrade later (cheaper than Apple will charge you too), the CPU is fixed, so if that is your choice, go for more CPU.

[SierraDragon]

Since all the CPUs are similarly strong (relatively) while GPUs differ more dramatically IMO focus on GPUs and the CPUs will take care of themselves in the way the boxes are preconfigured by Apple. I.e. there are no lame CPUs that you can get the strongest GPUs with.