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27" iMac i7 first impressions

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nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
Let me get this out the way right away for those on the fence about this beast.

1. It's fast, damn fast i just ripped a DVD and it took 20 minutes to rip but the encode took 15. LOL

2. Speakers sound a bit better then before not astronomically like Apple made it seem just a bit, definitely noticeable.

3. Hard Drive is louder you can hear it if it's quiet in the room.

4. Fans are louder too if you encoding all all 8 threads are cranking at full speed you'll hear the fans for sure.

5. The screen is absolutely amazing, man it makes my 24" look like crap and that thing looks awesome.
 
53x12

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
Sounds great! When you say the HD is loud, what do you mean? Also when all 4 cores are going, what does the fan speed usually crank up to so that you begin hearing it?
 
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nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
53x12 said:
Sounds great! When you say the HD is loud, what do you mean? Also when all 4 cores are going, what does the fan speed usually crank up to so that you begin hearing it?
Click to expand...

You can hear the HD seeking slightly when it's quiet. Right now I am encoding a movie and the CPU fan is at 2100 rpm and you can definitely hear it.
 
53x12

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
nando2323 said:
You can hear the HD seeking slightly when it's quiet. Right now I am encoding a movie and the CPU fan is at 2100 rpm and you can definitely hear it.
Click to expand...

Is it louder than the 24'' iMac? Or about the same? Loud enough to be annoying, or just loud enough to let you know the quad core is flexing its muscles and put a smile on your face? :D
 
S

SmugMac

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2009
135
0
:D Thanks for sharing. You do realize this makes my wait for my iMac to arrive even worse now.

Really glad to read your thread. I've always thought the 24" panel in the previous iMac was gorgeous, so if this new 27" panel is that good..... ;)
 
TMRaven

TMRaven

macrumors 68020
Nov 5, 2009
2,099
1
Wow 15 minutes to encode a full length dvd? What encoder and settings were you using?

I am also wondering about the encoding times for these new i7s and handbrake. What type of fps do you get with high profile x264 with handbrake?
 
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nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
53x12 said:
Is it louder than the 24'' iMac? Or about the same? Loud enough to be annoying, or just loud enough to let you know the quad core is flexing its muscles and put a smile on your face? :D
Click to expand...

Yeah that's about right just loud enough to let you know it's there but if you have any noise at all it will drown it out it's not really noticeable unless you are looking for it... The fan in the other hand is definitely noticeable.
 
N

nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
TMRaven said:
Wow 15 minutes to encode a full length dvd? What encoder and settings were you using?

I am also wondering about the encoding times for these new i7s and handbrake. What type of fps do you get with high profile x264 with handbrake?
Click to expand...

I was using Handbrake I was getting 150fps at 2500Kbps. My own settings I made for DVD's that include higher audio and stuff.
 
53x12

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
nando, have you had a chance to check the temp with iStat? Another poster mentioned that everything seemed to be fine under heavy load. Curious what you saw during the DVD rip? Everything look ok temp wise?
 
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nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
53x12 said:
nando, have you had a chance to check the temp with iStat? Another poster mentioned that everything seemed to be fine under heavy load. Curious what you saw during the DVD rip? Everything look ok temp wise?
Click to expand...

125 F the CPU was at and the GPU 150F
 
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nando2323

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2007
662
0
DoFoT9 said:
wonderful results!

how is flash playing, games, audio issues and whatnot?
Click to expand...

Just loaded up COD4 MacOS version and had it at full res with everything on high and it was smooth as butter no glitching what so ever, and I had a movie playing on iTunes at the same time too. I'm not sure what the fps was since I don't know how to see that in COD4.

Ok at full res and everything on max i am getting 60-80 fps this is at 25whatever by 1440.
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
nando2323 said:
Just loaded up COD4 MacOS version and had it at full res with everything on high and it was smooth as butter no glitching what so ever, and I had a movie playing on iTunes at the same time too. I'm not sure what the fps was since I don't know how to see that in COD4.
Click to expand...

thats very good news! full res!? YEW.

no idea how to see FPS, probably need windows + FRAPS to view FPS.

thanks SO much for this input!
 
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