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High-End Retina 5K iMac Benchmarked Faster Than Low-End Mac Pro

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Yesterday, Primate Labs highlighted some Geekbench 3 benchmarking results for the new 3.5 GHz 27-inch Retina 5K iMac, unsurprisingly showing the machine performing better than slower-clocked Core i5 chips in non-Retina models but below that of high-end Core i7 chips also available in the machines since their late 2013 introduction.

Primate Labs' John Poole noted that once benchmarks for the high-end Retina 5K iMac with Intel's 4.0 GHz Core i7-4790K chip started appearing, they could show the new iMac outperforming the low-end Mac Pro, and that is indeed the case as revealed today and highlighted in an updated version of Poole's blog post from yesterday.

The 4.0 GHz Retina 5K iMac clocks in with a score of 4438 on the single-core 64-bit benchmarking test, while multi-core testing achieves a score of 16407. Across the two tests, the new high-end Retina iMac scores 11-13 percent higher than the fastest non-Retina model due to the faster processor included on the Retina model.

retina_imac_4_0_bench.jpg
Compared to the low-end Mac Pro, which runs on a quad-core 3.7 GHz Xeon E5-1620 v2, the high-end Retina iMac clocks in over 13 percent higher on multi-core testing, although it is unsurprisingly outclassed by higher-level Mac Pro models carrying processors with more cores.

retina_imac-4_0_mac_pro_bench.jpg
Both Retina iMac processor options outperform all Mac Pro models on single-core benchmarks, but this is unsurprising as the Xeon processors used in the Mac Pro sacrifice single-core clock speed for many more cores and other benefits that enhance performance for professional-level applications that can take advantage of the multiple cores.

Article Link: High-End Retina 5K iMac Benchmarked Faster Than Low-End Mac Pro
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/21/high-end-retina-imac-benchmark/
Since they are a -K SKU I wonder if there is a mod which can be used to overclock.
 
Graphics and real world performance tests needed.

Who cares how fast processors are these days.
With all that screen res, all the time, I think the graphics performance and real world rendering and photoshop tests are more key.
 
Renzatic said:
Admittedly, after all the buzzkill surrounding the Mac Mini, it's nice having some good news around here.
Click to expand...

It was to be expected. The Xeons used in the mac pro are a generation behind the mainstream desktop cpus used in the imac, and Apple always goes with the cheapest cpu options on the base mac pro in spite of its starting price. The imac's cpus are also sometimes marginally more expensive, by $5-30 recommended customer pricing. I would have been more surprised if it didn't match the base mac pro.

jameskachan said:
Who cares how fast processors are these days.
With all that screen res, all the time, I think the graphics performance and real world rendering and photoshop tests are more key.
Click to expand...

Photoshop tests have very little to do with gpu performance. The only reason anyone thinks that is due to misleading benchmarks that are completely decoupled from actual usage patterns. Assuming adequate ram and/or fast scratch space, you won't see a difference in performance between this and the mac pro that is specific to a graphics app like that. There are a few that take advantage of them in more key areas, but it's rarely what people think. 3D apps are a bit different, as they have to do a lot of vector product math on point positions and intersections, as well as a lot more tessellation work that is increasingly offloaded to the gpu. Much of the time it makes little sense for the others to go that route due to the inevitable code branching that occurs.
 
i need to see a new version of mac pro beat the crap out of iMac like punching bag...pop pop pop 10 hit combo!
 
esposimi said:
Since they are a -K SKU I wonder if there is a mod which can be used to overclock.
Click to expand...

Be careful with heat, though.

Unfortunately you can't put one of these in an iMac:

nh-d14-large.jpg


I'm sure Apple has done their homework on adequate heat dissipation in such a small chassis.

But I wouldn't push it too far.
 
Really want to know how the GPU performs...Is the 295x like having a single D700 in the nMP? Would that be similar to two D300's? Rendering/Playback of 4K in FCPX?
 
Modano said:
I just got mine! It's a fully maxed out retina iMac (just 16 gigs of RAM though). Here's the benchmark:

http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1062136

I'm heading back to work but glad to answer any questions. The display is simply breathtaking and it seems fast as hell so far.
Click to expand...

maxed out means 1.0 TB SSD, right? could you tell me please with how many lanes the PCIe SSD is operating (2 or 4)? thnx! or you could just run a benchmark on the SSD...
 
There is a bit more to a Mac Pro now-adays than the CPU... Namely, dual high-end GPUs and high end PCI-e flash drives. I'd imagine those benchmarks still have the Mac Pro quite ahead of the game.
 
michael scrip said:
be careful with heat, though.

Unfortunately you can't put one of these in an imac:

nh-d14-large.jpg


i'm sure apple has done their homework on adequate heat dissipation in such a small chassis.

But i wouldn't push it too far.
Click to expand...

Man that would be the day.
 
How does it handle 5k video, or multiple 1080p / 2k/4k ?

I understand gaming is years out at that level (you need 1-2 grand for the GPU cards alone on a PC) - but can video be done smoothly?
 
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