Advice on Intel iMac Hack for photo editing

[adrian2043]

I currently have a 2011 27" iMac with16GB ram, mainly tasked with photo editing in Lightroom 6.Since mid-August (about when I upgraded to Yosemite), I've had intermittent display issues.While often having no problems when booting up, it will occasionally flicker in use and sometimes will remain black on wake/startup. I operate a Sony TV as a second display with no such issues, via Thunderbolt to HDMI. When the iMac fails to display the desktop on wake/startup, it usually reappears within 1/2 hour while using the external display. As a possible fix I re-installed Yosemite, after which the iMac would continuously crash while attempting to boot up. When I finally got it to boot, I ran Repair Disk and got a message along the lines of "Disk Not Repairable". Apple diagnosed either a faulty display cable or faulty display. After a week of testing, Apple concluded a faulty display, with no issue found with the HD. Apple want $800 to replace the display. For not much more than that I can get a Dell RGB capable display (or go nuts and get an NEC PA272).Being "only" 4 years old, though seeming slow while editing (up to) 50MB NEFs in Lightroom (and larger TIFFs in PSE), I do not want to buy another iMac. In terms of HD/performance issues, I've been thinking of replacing the Mac's 1TB Seagate HD (already replaced once under warranty) with a 1TB Samsung SSD. This is with the view of later transferring to a self build Hack along with the 16 GB of OWC RAM from the Mac. Is re-using the RAM in a new self build being too much of a cheapskate (being aware of possible motherboard/CPU compatibility)?

 

[Alex66]

Alas the iMac ram is laptop type ram and won't fit on a desk top motherboard. My iMac died in a pretty similar way and had the same hard disk failure as well. I went with a hack because I felt the iMac was ridiculously expensive for something that lasted me just over 3 years. I would if you can still get into your mac get a set of USB sticks (8gig) and make yourself a couple of boot sticks one with clover and one with the other loading software from here as soon as incase your machine dies, unless you have east access to another. The great thing about a hack is getting the versatility of adding extra hard drives, its worth having a smaller SSD for your OS and if you have the bigger SSD already use that for data.

 

[adrian2043]

Thanks for your reply.

RAM would only be about 10% of the cost for my eventual Self Build (tentatively Intel i7-4790K, GA-97N-WiFi motherboard).

Prior to the current issues I'm experiencing, my original plan for replacement was the Mac Mini. But with what Apple charges for additional RAM (no longer user-upgradeable) at close to AU$1700 (Fusion Drive excepted) would I be much better off. Certainly not in terms of longevity, with my previous iMac having noticeable issues before being stolen at about 4 years old. Sure "They just Work", but only up to a point and I don't want to be spending AU 2.5k every 4 years.

 

[Adrian B]

Thanks for your reply.

RAM would only be about 10% of the cost for my eventual Self Build (tentatively Intel i7-4790K, GA-97N-WiFi motherboard).

Prior to the current issues I'm experiencing, my original plan for replacement was the Mac Mini. But with what Apple charges for additional RAM (no longer user-upgradeable) at close to AU$1700 (Fusion Drive excepted) would I be much better off. Certainly not in terms of longevity, with my previous iMac having noticeable issues before being stolen at about 4 years old. Sure "They just Work", but only up to a point and I don't want to be spending AU 2.5k every 4 years.

I have updated the RAM and HDD in a few iMac models. Adding Ram certainly helps the general speed, but then adding an SSD has always made a significant improvement. There is still plenty life left in these computers if your requirements are based around general productivity applications and web/social media use. To update the HDD to an SSD there is some great guides that you find on the ifixit web site ( https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Desktop ). If you need third party fan control apps, there are a few different options available from a number of vendors - some have a small charge and some are free to use.

Whether you wish to repair the screen or not will be determined by a number of factors such as likely resell value if your 2011 iMac or the hassle of having to repair and then later upgrade by opting to build your own machine.

It sounds as if you are at a point now where considering your own CustoMac hardware build and a suitable screen could actually be of real benefit as an upgrade and the most cost effective solution. I think that only you can answer this question.

CustoMacs can be very flexible as the system can be build to your own requirements. They are actually very reliable and are easily maintained. Backups should be used on any computer these days - so data loss is not any more of an issue than it would be on a real Mac or Windows PC. There is a dedicated photo section in the forum that you may find handy.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/system-usage/

General rule for graphics options - If using primarily Adobe applications, then use nVidia graphics for best application performance speeds.

 

[Algos]

I'm on my first Hackintosh after my second iMac died. Well, the graphics card failed, and the hard drive long before. Boots up fine from an USB stick after deleting the ATI kexts though and since it's a late 2009 27" model I still use it as the display for my Hack

I had the same dilemma, but since I find iMacs too expensive seeing how long they last, and the Mac Mini not powerful enough I decided to go the Hackintosh route. I found it scary as hell, and regretted it immediately when I ordered the computer

However, it was relatively easy to get it to work (I picked all parts from Tony's buyer's guide), had a few problems initially but that was because I didn't have any experience. Once I got the hang of it I got everything working smoothly and I am really satisfied with it.