Benchmarks for 27 i5 with 680MX?

AndiS. · Dec 16, 2012

Hi everyone,

I've been following this forum for quite some time and was happy to see people already posting first benchmarks on their new machines.

I was wondering though, has anybody here already run benchmarks for the 3.2 i5 with the 680MX and a fusion drive?

From my previous research I found that the i7 shouldn't make any or only little difference in games, could somebody here please verify that this is the case on the new iMacs as well?

Thank you!

trent75 · Dec 17, 2012

Looking for it too!
Anybody?

dryice589 · Dec 17, 2012

trent75 said:
Looking for it too!
Anybody?

I will be receiving my i5 with fusion and 680MX today. I will try to post some results tonight if I can.

Hoping someone else already has some!?

I went with the i5 as I do not do much processor intensive tasks. Only some gaming.

AndiS. · Dec 17, 2012

Mine should arrive within the next couple of hours as well, but I won't be able to benchmark in Windows before tomorrow.

According to many forum users here, and articles like this http://arstechnica.com/information-...e-second-gaming-performance-with-todays-cpus/
there should virtually be no difference between the two CPUs in gaming, and I won't need much CPU power for anything else.

The great thing is that there are already many benchmarks for the same config with the i7, so it will be easy to compare.

dryice589 · Dec 17, 2012

AndiS. said:
Mine should arrive within the next couple of hours as well, but I won't be able to benchmark in Windows before tomorrow.

According to many forum users here, and articles like this http://arstechnica.com/information-...e-second-gaming-performance-with-todays-cpus/
there should virtually be no difference between the two CPUs in gaming, and I won't need much CPU power for anything else.

The great thing is that there are already many benchmarks for the same config with the i7, so it will be easy to compare.

Great article! I am glad to see that the i5 3470 was noted as the best bang for the buck.

I was also surprised to see that it held up so well in their multitasking test.

I really feel confident about my choice in the i5 now.

I think that article really should answer the OP's question. There should be very little difference in gaming performance between the i5 and i7.

AndiS. · Dec 17, 2012

dryice589 said:
Great article! I am glad to see that the i5 3470 was noted as the best bang for the buck.

I was also surprised to see that it held up so well in their multitasking test.

I really feel confident about my choice in the i5 now.

I think that article really should answer the OP's question. There should be very little difference in gaming performance between the i5 and i7.

Haha, I actually am the OP ; ) But I don't understand much about computers, so I got some, probably highly irrational worries about how the i5 will fare against an i7 in the same iMac. But you're right, judging from that article and everything else I read and heard there shouldn't be any good reason for me to be worried.

trent75 · Dec 17, 2012

Even with Bootcamp i5 is still efficient or i7 is really far better?

AndiS. · Dec 17, 2012

trent75 said:
Even with Bootcamp i5 is still efficient or i7 is really far better?

Whether in bootcamp with Windows or in OSX doesn't matter, neither CPU gains an advantage one way or the other, the differences remain the same.

There is also another article on the i5 vs. i7 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/core-i5-or-core-i7-does-your-computer-need-the-extra-juice/

trent75 · Dec 17, 2012

AndiS. said:
Whether in bootcamp with Windows or in OSX doesn't matter, neither CPU gains an advantage one way or the other, the differences remain the same.

There is also another article on the i5 vs. i7 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/core-i5-or-core-i7-does-your-computer-need-the-extra-juice/

Thx a lot! This article is really good!

AndiS. · Dec 17, 2012

I just ran my first benchmark on my just arrived i5 with 680MX and Fusion - Heaven Benchmark in OSX - FPS 39.8!

That is an awesome result! The same spec i7 under OSX gets the same result, according to a thread here. They also say, that in windows it's around 57 FPS, which I will test tomorrow, when I install it. I am very happy with this machine so far!

trent75 · Dec 18, 2012

AndiS. said:
I just ran my first benchmark on my just arrived i5 with 680MX and Fusion - Heaven Benchmark in OSX - FPS 39.8!

That is an awesome result! The same spec i7 under OSX gets the same result, according to a thread here. They also say, that in windows it's around 57 FPS, which I will test tomorrow, when I install it. I am very happy with this machine so far!

Wowh! Great!
Can't wait to receive it!
It takes so much time for France. The firsts 27" should arrive today.
Mine is noted as Expedition for January...

But will follow carefully your tests !

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

trent75 said:
Wowh! Great!
Can't wait to receive it!
It takes so much time for France. The firsts 27" should arrive today.
Mine is noted as Expedition for January...
But will follow carefully your tests !

I hope you will get it sooner, mine came 7-14 days earlier and would've been here even earlier with expedited!

I just installed bootcamp and will post results for Heaven and 3D Mark 11 soon

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

3DMark 11 - 6416 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5267186
Heaven - FPS: 52.5 Scores: 1322 Min FPS: 26.1 Max FPS: 117.3

Pretty amazing : )

I ran those with the beta driver 310.70.

Does anybody know if I can tweak something in Windows to make it even faster?

TweakOnline · Dec 18, 2012

Could you test Battlefield 3 for me please?

trent75 · Dec 18, 2012

AndiS. said:
3DMark 11 - 6416 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5267186
Heaven - FPS: 52.5 Scores: 1322 Min FPS: 26.1 Max FPS: 117.3

Pretty amazing : )

I ran those with the beta driver 310.70.

Does anybody know if I can tweak something in Windows to make it even faster?

Really amazing indeed !
No deception in choosing this i5 and saving 200€/$ so

@AndiS: do you have FB 1To or only 1To HDD ?

kidwei · Dec 18, 2012

I also chose the unpopular (at least on macrumors) option of the i5-3.2 and having set it up yesterday, I can't say I wish I got an i7. Couldn't justify the $200 bump, when it seemed like mostly a psychological advantage. Then again, there are those who are using their macs for final cut and logic, who would actually benefit from the i7. But it does indeed seem like the i5 is more than enough CPU for most people, even gamers.

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

trent75 said:
Really amazing indeed !
No deception in choosing this i5 and saving 200/$ so
@AndiS: do you have FB 1To or only 1To HDD ?

Yes, I have the Fusion Drive!

----------

TweakOnline said:
Could you test Battlefield 3 for me please?

Since I wanted to buy that one anyways, sure ; ) you'll just have to let me know how to benchmark it

----------

kidwei said:
I also chose the unpopular (at least on macrumors) option of the i5-3.2 and having set it up yesterday, I can't say I wish I got an i7. Couldn't justify the $200 bump, when it seemed like mostly a psychological advantage. Then again, there are those who are using their macs for final cut and logic, who would actually benefit from the i7. But it does indeed seem like the i5 is more than enough CPU for most people, even gamers.

It was a big relief for me as well, in games there will not be a difference between the two CPUs!
Even though I read that before, it's still great to have the re-assurance first hand, I'll keep benchmarking : )

FuriousGreg · Dec 18, 2012

AndiS. said:
It was a big relief for me as well, in games there will not be a difference between the two CPUs!
Even though I read that before, it's still great to have the re-assurance first hand, I'll keep benchmarking : )

For most games but for some strategy games like CivV you will benefit from the extra CPU power.

trent75 · Dec 18, 2012

Could you tell me in what the i7 is better for RTS like civV?

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

FuriousGreg said:
For most games but for some strategy games like CivV you will benefit from the extra CPU power.

Do you mean the slightly higher clock? I just googled it and found this http://www.techspot.com/review/320-civilization-v-performance/page12.html
Looks like an i7 doesn't make a difference in comparison to an i5, with the same clock speed?

Edit: Could you please post links showing which strategy games would actually have a benefit from an i7 and how big of a difference it would be? I couldn't find anything on the topic.

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

I already posted this in another thread, but I get the following results with Diablo III in OSX:

Native resolution maxed out settings:

60 FPS in town
80-100 in dungeon
70-80 with a lot of action

The FPS counter is rapidly changing, at least the second digit, so those results aren't the most accurate ones. But I was able to tell the range since the first digit was very constant.

FuriousGreg · Dec 18, 2012

AndiS. said:
Do you mean the slightly higher clock? I just googled it and found this http://www.techspot.com/review/320-civilization-v-performance/page12.html
Looks like an i7 doesn't make a difference in comparison to an i5, with the same clock speed?

Edit: Could you please post links showing which strategy games would actually have a benefit from an i7 and how big of a difference it would be? I couldn't find anything on the topic.

Sorry I don't have a link, it was in a Civ V forum a while back discussing how much strain was placed on the CPU the closer you got to endgame on larger maps because it had to calculate so much for each turn. So I guess it's just hearsay but it does make sense that the faster your processor the quicker it will calculate moves.

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

FuriousGreg said:
Sorry I don't have a link, it was in a Civ V forum a while back discussing how much strain was placed on the CPU the closer you got to endgame on larger maps because it had to calculate so much for each turn. So I guess it's just hearsay but it does make sense that the faster your processor the quicker it will calculate moves.

I had actually heard somebody say that about Civ 5 too, but never found anything on it. The link above actually, shows that there is zero difference between the i5 and the i7 in this game. Besides, given the games age, the new iMacs wouldn't have a problem handling Civilization 5 either way, i5 or i7 : )

AndiS. · Dec 18, 2012

Just tested Far Cry 3 for about an hour - I ran the game in native resolution with high to max settings (I didn't change any of the settings the game had defaulted to, as the game automatically chose high ones) - looks stunning and runs incredibly smooth! No idea what the actual fps were though, does anybody know if there is a command to have them displayed?

kidwei · Dec 18, 2012

AndiS. said:
I had actually heard somebody say that about Civ 5 too, but never found anything on it. The link above actually, shows that there is zero difference between the i5 and the i7 in this game. Besides, given the games age, the new iMacs wouldn't have a problem handling Civilization 5 either way, i5 or i7 : )

i played civ v for a few turns with settings maxed out. strangely, the game set a few settings to low forcibly.. it ran really smoothly.. but the game ended up crashing out pretty soon after, so i decided to give it a rest.. sigh, the mac version is.. not.. stable

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