# New iMac configuration



## Afterimage (Mar 22, 2019)

What configuration do you recommend for the new iMac for use with LR CC & PS CC? What I want to know is what options should I select: Hard Drive,RAM, Processor, Graphics Card, etc.
I currently have 1.5GB of photos and 300GB of software.


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## clee01l (Mar 22, 2019)

I will recommend something similar to mine. 
I opted for the 1TB SSD primary drive. Although  the 1TB Fusion drive is adequate for the task.  My RAM is 32GB and 16GB is the minimum that I would accept. The basic 3.6GHz quad-core is adequate for LR.  The base level  GPU that comes with the 4K or 5K is sufficient unless you are a gamer or need full motion video. 
If you notice I put my $ into RAM and fast Storage not fast CPU or GPU. A faster CPU with more cores would be helpful if your billfold is fat.


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## Conrad Chavez (Mar 22, 2019)

Good advice so far. I'll add:

Storage: I would choose the SSD/flash instead of the Fusion Drive. You have 300GB of software, so 512GB internal storage is probably the minimum. 1TB might be better so you don't have to worry about how much various temp files expand, such as the Lightroom Previews file, the Photoshop scratch file, etc. Because an SSD should not be allowed to get close to running out of space. But Apple charges a lot for internal flash storage, so instead of trying to pay for enough internal storage to also store your 1.5GB of photos, you could put them on a USB 3 external drive; that's where my photos are.

RAM: Since Lightroom prefers over 12GB, 16GB is where you start. But if you want to run Photoshop at the same time, 32GB RAM is recommended so that both applications have room to work. 64GB is not needed except for working with extremely large files.

Processor: Any of the base 6-core models with Turbo Boost. The 8-core option may help a little, but it's not cheap and not essential.

Graphics: Any of the models with 4GB of graphics RAM or more is fine, no need to go beyond that for Lightroom and Photoshop. The reasons to upgrade would be gaming, 3D, heavy 4K video editing, or attaching more 4K+ displays.


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## Afterimage (Mar 22, 2019)

Several people have recommended this approach. This results having at least 3 external hard drives: 1 for photos, 1 for backup & another drive to backup the iMac & photos drive. 
It would seem if I could get all photos on the iMac with a 3TB fusion drive it would be faster. But a thunderbolt external drive might be just as fast & I would need only 2 external drives.


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## clee01l (Mar 23, 2019)

Afterimage said:


> It would seem if I could get all photos on the iMac with a 3TB fusion drive it would be faster. But a thunderbolt external drive might be just as fast & I would need only 2 external drives.


A TB3 external drive would indeed be as fast as any internal drive.  I have a large (8TB) EHD that I use with Time Machine to backup both my Primary internal SSD and my TB3 EHD containing my master images.   So at a minimum, all you need are 2 TB3 EHDs. One for the master images and one large enough to contain a backup of the Primary disk and the master image disk.   My Time Machine backs up to alternating  backup destinations.  One Backup goes to a Network Time Capsule the next goes to that 8TB EHD that is connected via TB3.    I also have an Acronis Backup to another (6TB) EHD that is also connected via TB3.
To summarize my volumes attached:
MacIntosh HD (1TB SSD)​TB3 connected Master image disk (6TB)​Time Machine BU via TB3 (8TB)​Acronis BU via TB3 (6TB)​Time Machine Network BU (5TB)​I also have several non critical data disks attached via USB3 that are not backed up.


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## Zenon (Mar 23, 2019)

What about VRAM. That seems to be critical now with the AI stuff coming out.


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## Raptorich (Mar 27, 2019)

Hi everyone.  I'm new to the forum.

I'm also wanting a new iMac which I normally keep for around 5-7 years.  I have read Victoria's hardware performance articles. I have 2 questions.  

1.  Have the 27" iMac 5k Retina performance issues been resolved ?
2.  CPU choice.  See image below.  (That's in Australian Dollars - A$640 = US$456 incl tax).  Would the upgrade be really worth considering?  I'm not really familiar with the i5 and i9 differences.




I'm also planning:
32 GB Ram
Basic 8 GB graphics
1 TB SSD

Considerations:
I hate delays when working in LR.
65,000 RAW images in catalog
Upgrade computer in future approx 5-7 years


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## clee01l (Mar 28, 2019)

Raptorich said:


> 1. Have the 27" iMac 5k Retina performance issues been resolved ?


What performance issues?  I've not experienced any with my iMac 5k.   Perhaps it is lack of sufficient VRAM to support the 5K.  I have 4096MB and that seems to work well.  
Unless you have other apps that can utilize more than 6 cores then don't spend the money.  LR atm won't ever use more than 6.   I've never had a machine with more than 4 cores and I've always been happy with the LR performance


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 3, 2019)

Raptorich said:


> 1.  Have the 27" iMac 5k Retina performance issues been resolved ?


It's the high res screen that slows it down a bit, especially in local adjustments. That's very easily solved by using a small second monitor when it's struggling, until Adobe manages to rewrite the whole lot to run on the GPU.


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