It's been a few days since it's release, so now is the appropriate time to see if we can assemble a computer that rivals or beats the 5K iMac. This is meant as a fun thought exercise, I'm not assembling a PC at the moment.
The base 5K iMac version costs $2,500 so that's the budget and the specs to match/beat are:
Display: 27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology; 5120‑by‑2880
Processor: 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz)
RAM: 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible. Configurable to 16GB or 32GB.
Storage: 1TB Fusion Drive
Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Video Camera: FaceTime HD camera
Multi Screen Support: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display
Let's assume we're starting from a blank slate. So we have no old hardware to repurpose. Use would be general purpose computing + 4K video and photo editing.
That imac is a pretty weak computer for 4k production. Give it the i7, the mobility r9 295x and more ram and it should be a suitable prosumer workstation.
interesting. those are upgrade options at purchase, but that would push the budget up quite a bit knowing apple.
would this iMac not be suitable for an enthusiast who shoots 4K. i.e. not someone getting paid/on a tight schedule?
i think the biggest issue is upgradability given the form factor and i don't know if one would be able to switch out graphics cards or CPUs later on after purchase.
That would also be an issue for me. But the normal Apple customer knows that used iMacs sell very well, so if its too slow, sell it and buy a better one...
I would say that i5 and 8GB Ram wouldnt satisfy most people for 4k video editing. Normally a xeon or a 6-8 core i7, with lots of ram, would be the enthusiasts choice.
Yes, the RAM definitely needs an upgrade. I'm not particularly familiar with video editing, I'm more into photography, but even I know that 8GB isn't much for a new machine.
It will be interesting to see if people think the i5 is holding it back when people get there hands on these iMacs. I suppose they did it to hit the $2,500 target.
"would this iMac not be suitable for an enthusiast who shoots 4K. i.e. not someone getting paid/on a tight schedule?"
Without the constraints that jobs with schedules to meet give that becomes hard to answer because everyone will have a differing opinion on how long of renders are acceptable. I would say that this system isnt all that far off from using a i3 system (probably with hyper-threading disabled) with 4gbs of ram and a like gpu for 1080p video production.
haha... 4x 1440p monitors... actually, that's not that crazy an idea after all, but i'm not sure 4 monitors are useful for editing video. i would probably be more useful to buy 3x 1440p monitors and spend the extra cash on stands, etc...
although i will hand it to the imac- for scenarios when you can actually use all 14.7MP displaying a picture/scene the graphical fidelity will be out of this world- Hell I ogled 4K first time I saw it.
