bobywood

Thank you all for your answers
You give me a lot to think

I take note of your advice for a 32GB of RAM
Apple used to charge a lot for RAM so I was thinking buying not from Apple, but elsewhere
But maybe this changed, I will check

Noted for the drives
Windows is absolute no for me, I might consider Linux then
But I like the ready/easy to use OS X

Good idea to go to a Apple Store and ask for installing Houdini, I will try
I am thinking running a very high resolution fluid scene
But maybe you have a typical test scene I can get to stress the machine?

I like the idea of using the iMac as TDM, but this 5k model don’t do that as you say
Maybe I wait for the next generation and buy just a Linux box for now, that I will plug later on the 5k
of course this is more expensive but maybe this help me scale up later and spread the budget
And you are giving me an other idea : I can use a screen sharing to control the linux box via the iMac no?
Like VNC?
Would not be as nice as the TDM but still a good option

About the Mac Pro:
will Houdini take advantage of the 4 cores and the two graphic processors?
or the drivers are not managing that either?
Would you suggest 6GB of memory for the graphic card?

thanks all for your help!

Hi

I need buy a new computer and I am consider buying the iMac Retina 5k with:
- Intel Core i7
- 16 Go de mémoire SDRAM DDR3 à 1 600 MHz - 2 x 8 Go
- AMD Radeon R9 M295X avec 4 Go de mémoire GDDR5

According to sidefx requirements it can run ok
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2680&Itemid=390 [sidefx.com]

But I was wondering if anyone can tell me of your experience with this machine
Is it ok or you recommend buying a Mac Pro instead ?

My main Houdini use will be for vfx, running simulations

thanks for help