new iMac config? (late 2012) - going crazy with too many options

Well I just ordered the 27" with 3.4Ghz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo boost up to 3.9Ghz, 3TB Serial ATA Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB graphics card, and USB SuperDrive. Then from Other World Computing I ordered 32GB of RAM, and a Mini Display to Mini Display cable. My thought was to use my 2009 27" iMac i7 as a second monitor, and then to attach a Thunderbolt RAID setup off one Thunderbolt port, and drive my Panasonic BT-LH2600W monitor via Matrox MX02LE off the second Thunderbolt port. My older MacPro will then be moved into secondary use position.
 
My wife hates it when I drop cash like this, but I'm trying to get most of my purchases in before the end of the year so I can put them all on 2012 taxes.
 
Gary Huff said:
Brian, yes, though I can't speak for how compatible it will be for all of your devices: LaCie eSATA Hub
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Thanks Gary I will check it out.

Update:
Checked it out and unfortunately the LaCie does not support port multiplier devices. Thus it would only see one drive in each of the arrays which have 8 drives in each with two esata connections per box, so I need four. But your suggestion did lead me to this device which I will check out before doing the deed. Got to say Dave that your set up sounds sweet! I think I can use my HighPoint Tech Rocket Raid card in it and that would solve the problem. Seems its that or there will be a couple of big boxes on ebay in the future.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/HELIOSTB1/
 
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teh said:
same here used the i5 2009 27" imac since it came out. still works great, for regular editing of prores and h264 its performance is enough but I would like to go into grading and use resolve 9... trying to get money together for the new model.
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are you thinking i5 again or i7? the default config. for both 27" models is the i5.
 
Dave © said:
You might also want to consider going all the way up to 32 GB of RAM from macsales. You can sell your 8 GB apple RAM for probably $50, which will almost pay for the price difference between 16 GB and 32 GB. And if you don't like the magic mouse, you can sell that for almost full price and use a much less expensive mouse. Between those two, you'd max your RAM for about the same price.
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Great idea! I hadn't thought of that. I don't know about the magic mouse. Haven't tried it yet but I've never liked Apple's mice in the past.
 
i went with the same setup but with 3tb fusion drive, I'm a happy camper

David W. Jones said:
Well I just ordered the 27" with 3.4Ghz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo boost up to 3.9Ghz, 3TB Serial ATA Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB graphics card, and USB SuperDrive. Then from Other World Computing I ordered 32GB of RAM, and a Mini Display to Mini Display cable. My thought was to use my 2009 27" iMac i7 as a second monitor, and then to attach a Thunderbolt RAID setup off one Thunderbolt port, and drive my Panasonic BT-LH2600W monitor via Matrox MX02LE off the second Thunderbolt port. My older MacPro will then be moved into secondary use position.
Click to expand...
 
Dave © said:
BTW, if you really want Apple RAM, I've got 8 GB that hasn't been used. I took it out before ever turning on my iMac and replaced it with 32 GB RAM from macsales.
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wow, thanks for the offer. that is 2X4 right? If so, I'll probably just upgrade to 32 from the beginning... If its 1X8 that's a different story!
 
killmaster said:
wow, thanks for the offer. that is 2X4 right? If so, I'll probably just upgrade to 32 from the beginning... If its 1X8 that's a different story!
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Yeah, it's 2x4. I'm not sure why I haven't sold it yet. I should probably sell it soon before it's too late.

As I mentioned earlier, I think jumping straight to 32 is almost a no-brainer for the price.
 
killmaster said:
I don't know about the magic mouse. Haven't tried it yet but I've never liked Apple's mice in the past.
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Some people (I'm guessing a lot of people?) love the magic mouse. I hate it! Ergonomics just seem way off to me and the gestures benefit isn't enough to compensate IMO.
 
Gary Huff said:
Brian, yes, though I can't speak for how compatible it will be for all of your devices: LaCie eSATA Hub
Click to expand...

This looks nice. Do you use this? If so, do you notice any performance improvement over USB 2.0?

I use two slightly-older (2008/2009-ish) external G-Tech drives for backups and archives. They both have eSata and USB 2.0 connections. I've just been using the USB 2.0 connections since iMacs don't have eSata connections. Part of me thinks, USB 2.0 is perfectly fine for backups and archives, why bother with anything else? Another part of me wonders, is eSata worth looking into? Would it speed up my workflow even a little bit (creating and transferring initial DMGs before I begin editing)?

Thoughts?
 
Dave © said:
Another part of me wonders, is eSata worth looking into? Would it speed up my workflow even a little bit (creating and transferring initial DMGs before I begin editing)?
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Does 70-90MBps over USB2's 20MBps transfer speed sound like a speedup?
 
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