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Do iMacs run really hot?

AndrewMRiv

AndrewMRiv

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 29, 2013
151
0
Hello, all.

I only started using Macs at the end of 2010 so I have not experienced as much hands on experience as all of you. Playing around at the Apple store can only do so much for me, haha.

My only real Mac has been a MacBook (white, mid 2010). Other than that, I also have a Hackintosh which has both OS X and Windows installed on it.

It was fun building it and all, but in a couple of years I am looking into buying Mac desktops and the beautiful iMacs are my best bet since the Mac Pros are a bit overkill for what I do.

For gaming, I would probably just continue to build PCs for it, but with Apple and OS X, I always loved the ease of use and no longer wish to tinker around with the Hackintosh world and just have a computer that works well.

I do a lot of music recording for my band, video editing for musical projects and other stuff as well, I use a lot of photoshop for work, etc. On top of that, I do A LOT of multitasking (iTunes, iMessage, Calendar, Notes, iWork, etc.)

Since I'm really going to be pushing my computer, I was wondering how well the iMacs handle the power users.

Am I better off with a Mac Pro or will an iMac be okay? I have heard some rumors that they overheat easily and other that have had their iMacs growing strong for years.

Will it run hot while doing intense multitasking? Thank you.
 
AndrewMRiv said:
Hello, all.

I only started using Macs at the end of 2010 so I have not experienced as much hands on experience as all of you. Playing around at the Apple store can only do so much for me, haha.

My only real Mac has been a MacBook (white, mid 2010). Other than that, I also have a Hackintosh which has both OS X and Windows installed on it.

It was fun building it and all, but in a couple of years I am looking into buying Mac desktops and the beautiful iMacs are my best bet since the Mac Pros are a bit overkill for what I do.

For gaming, I would probably just continue to build PCs for it, but with Apple and OS X, I always loved the ease of use and no longer wish to tinker around with the Hackintosh world and just have a computer that works well.

I do a lot of music recording for my band, video editing for musical projects and other stuff as well, I use a lot of photoshop for work, etc. On top of that, I do A LOT of multitasking (iTunes, iMessage, Calendar, Notes, iWork, etc.)

Since I'm really going to be pushing my computer, I was wondering how well the iMacs handle the power users.

Am I better off with a Mac Pro or will an iMac be okay? I have heard some rumors that they overheat easily and other that have had their iMacs growing strong for years.

Will it run hot while doing intense multitasking? Thank you.
Click to expand...

My 27" has been the brunt of intense gaming and performing scientific simulations, along with editing 4K videos. It runs well and doesn't heat up. But probably because I use it in an air-conditioned basement.

You might as well as get the same config as mine: 3.5GHz i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD and 4GB GTX780M. That'll be the closest thing you can get to a Mac Pro without the price of one. It's fast.
 
The newer iMacs i.e. late 2012 run extremely cool whatever you throw at them.
The earlier iMacs i.e. 2011 and before run so hot you can fry eggs on them.
If you're buying second hand make sure it's a later one especially if your ambient temperature is high.
 
yjchua95 said:
My 27" has been the brunt of intense gaming and performing scientific simulations, along with editing 4K videos. It runs well and doesn't heat up. But probably because I use it in an air-conditioned basement.

You might as well as get the same config as mine: 3.5GHz i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD and 4GB GTX780M. That'll be the closest thing you can get to a Mac Pro without the price of one. It's fast.
Click to expand...

I am waiting for mine with exactly the same specs. How fast is this machine? Does it lag whatsoever with resource demanding apps ? ( ie. Adobe AE or FCPX etc... ) and what about the boot time ?

Thanks.
 
IA64 said:
I am waiting for mine with exactly the same specs. How fast is this machine? Does it lag whatsoever with resource demanding apps ? ( ie. Adobe AE or FCPX etc... ) and what about the boot time ?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Boot time is within 5-7 seconds. Never longer than that.

FCP X and all apps in Adobe CS6 (Master Collection) work fine without any lag.

Even Maya works like a dream. It's so smooth.

Playing BF4 (Boot Camp), it's great too (high settings). Until you turn on anti-aliasing. Some AA is okay, but not too much.
 
yjchua95 said:
Boot time is within 5-7 seconds. Never longer than that.

FCP X and all apps in Adobe CS6 (Master Collection) work fine without any lag.

Even Maya works like a dream. It's so smooth.

Playing BF4 (Boot Camp), it's great too (high settings). Until you turn on anti-aliasing. Some AA is okay, but not too much.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks ! 5-7 seconds is insanely fast. Mavericks or ML ?

Can't wait for mine to get delivered. I'm also not sure if I should install Win7 or Win8.
 
mine iMtn Lion is still crashing imac 2008 dead screen 56Cdegrees

doing it mostly on video surfing
have smc running 2800 and external fan on at times but without fan it foes still crash with dead black glowing screen
mac rumours search is not working as there is a discussion on this :(
 
yjchua95 said:
My 27" has been the brunt of intense gaming and performing scientific simulations, along with editing 4K videos. It runs well and doesn't heat up. But probably because I use it in an air-conditioned basement.

You might as well as get the same config as mine: 3.5GHz i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD and 4GB GTX780M. That'll be the closest thing you can get to a Mac Pro without the price of one. It's fast.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I realize that the iMacs use mobile graphics cards, but what sort of intense gaming do you do? Which games for example? And are you able to play them on the highest settings? I understand if they aren’t since iMacs aren’t exactly built for gaming specifically.

Thank you for your suggestion on the specs!


Georgio said:
The newer iMacs i.e. late 2012 run extremely cool whatever you throw at them.
The earlier iMacs i.e. 2011 and before run so hot you can fry eggs on them.
If you're buying second hand make sure it's a later one especially if your ambient temperature is high.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I thankfully do not intend to buy one secondhand. I am always skeptical about buying things used. So I intend to buy one new some time!
 
AndrewMRiv said:
Thank you. I realize that the iMacs use mobile graphics cards, but what sort of intense gaming do you do? Which games for example? And are you able to play them on the highest settings? I understand if they aren’t since iMacs aren’t exactly built for gaming specifically.

Thank you for your suggestion on the specs!




Thank you. I thankfully do not intend to buy one secondhand. I am always skeptical about buying things used. So I intend to buy one new some time!
Click to expand...


I always play them at max settings. Take BF4 for instance. At 1440p, everything high and no AA, you still get around 40-50 fps.
 
Even though the GPU's used in the iMacs are mobile cards and not the full-sized slot in cards, they are still very powerful and deliver pretty good performance.
Bear in mind that these cards are cooled far better than in any laptop due to the larger case and heat sinks and this is a major factor towards their performance.
If you're serious about being able to push pixels then the 2GB 680MX is the best option upgrade and is a steal at the price.
Also worth bearing in mind that a high spec machine is easier to sell at upgrade time as well.
 
Georgio said:
Even though the GPU's used in the iMacs are mobile cards and not the full-sized slot in cards, they are still very powerful and deliver pretty good performance.
Bear in mind that these cards are cooled far better than in any laptop due to the larger case and heat sinks and this is a major factor towards their performance.
If you're serious about being able to push pixels then the 2GB 680MX is the best option upgrade and is a steal at the price.
Also worth bearing in mind that a high spec machine is easier to sell at upgrade time as well.
Click to expand...

Umm...the stock is 2GB GTX775M and the upgrade is 4GB GTX780M.
The 680MX was for last year's Ivy Bridge iMac :)
 
My 27" i7 (late 2012) never heats up, not even when i play COD 4 or do video editing.

On the contrary my 24" C2D (2009) really gets hot, especially on the top and upper back, even when i use it for not intense activities such as web browsing.
 
IA64 said:
Exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks ! 5-7 seconds is insanely fast. Mavericks or ML ?
Click to expand...

It's also not correct.

I don't know when he timed it from but if you time in from press of the on/off switch on the back, there is no way any iMac boots in 5 to 7 seconds. (i.e. normal definition of the word "boot" = displaying desktop, usable.) I'd say its more like 20 ~ 25 seconds, though I haven't timed it.
 
Chippy99 said:
It's also not correct.

I don't know when he timed it from but if you time in from press of the on/off switch on the back, there is no way any iMac boots in 5 to 7 seconds. (i.e. normal definition of the word "boot" = displaying desktop, usable.) I'd say its more like 20 ~ 25 seconds, though I haven't timed it.
Click to expand...


Here's a video of a 3 years old iMac booting in 13 seconds with Vertex LE ( 270MB/250MB read write )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ujBnlTjuyo

I assume the newer PCIe SSDs are much fasters ( 750/700MB ) so maybe it's possible ? at least from the moment you see the Apple logo )

Have to get mine first to judge.
 
So far, my late 2013 i7 iMac does not seem to generate that much heat. If I've been working for a while, the very top of the back might feel a little warm, but never hot. The early 2009 iMac that was replaced did run warmer and the fans used to rev up a bit after a while.

Now for a real heater, my G5 Mac Pro was hard to beat. That thing threw off so much heat that we ended up having to relocate the HVAC thermostat for our house.
 
IA64 said:
Here's a video of a 3 years old iMac booting in 13 seconds with Vertex LE ( 270MB/250MB read write )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ujBnlTjuyo

I assume the newer PCIe SSDs are much fasters ( 750/700MB ) so maybe it's possible ? at least from the moment you see the Apple logo )

Have to get mine first to judge.
Click to expand...

For me, boot time is from key press on the back to desktop. Why would anyone exclude the time from key press until chime? Is this delay somehow less important or doesn't count? No, it's a delay just the same.

So no, even with a i7 Haswell, a 5 to 7 second boot time is impossible. Hell, I would wager it's impossible even from chime to desktop only. The 2013 iMac is not 2x plus faster than yours.

yjchua95 was er "exaggerating".
 
Based on my experiences, it depends on the age of the iMac. My 2008 iMac can get VERY hot. My 2011 iMac runs cooler, but still gets warm at times. I imagine the 2013 iMacs run cooler still.
 
Chippy99 said:
For me, boot time is from key press on the back to desktop. Why would anyone exclude the time from key press until chime? Is this delay somehow less important or doesn't count? No, it's a delay just the same.


yjchua95 was er "exaggerating".
Click to expand...

I think because you have no control over this delay whatever hardware you got.

Also that delay IMOH is almost non existent when you reboot your iMac so cold boot is somehow different than restart.

Gotta try it myself tho.
 
2013 iMac i7 cpu. I never felt it hot. Done a lot of demanding tasks.. Especially gaming such as Battlefield 4.
Its a little varmer. but no way near hot.
The fan doesn't even speed up since i killed the turbo boost on the cpu.
 
Chippy99 said:
It's also not correct.

I don't know when he timed it from but if you time in from press of the on/off switch on the back, there is no way any iMac boots in 5 to 7 seconds. (i.e. normal definition of the word "boot" = displaying desktop, usable.) I'd say its more like 20 ~ 25 seconds, though I haven't timed it.
Click to expand...

The reason why you can't get something as fast as mine is because you don't have a PCIe based SSD. I went all out on a 512GB SSD.

I timed it only from the moment after I entered the firmware password and selected the boot drive. If you count in the chime, make that 11 seconds.

----------
Chippy99 said:
For me, boot time is from key press on the back to desktop. Why would anyone exclude the time from key press until chime? Is this delay somehow less important or doesn't count? No, it's a delay just the same.

So no, even with a i7 Haswell, a 5 to 7 second boot time is impossible. Hell, I would wager it's impossible even from chime to desktop only. The 2013 iMac is not 2x plus faster than yours.

yjchua95 was er "exaggerating".
Click to expand...

One does not simply measure boot time from the moment you press the power button, because the delay is for the EFI to select the boot drive.

With a PCIe based SSD, your argument is invalid, because I've got 680/750 MB/s of read/write. Much faster than the 550MB/s of SATA3 SSDs.

Do a quick YouTube search for a PCIe SSD Haswell boot up.
 
IA64 said:
Here's a video of a 3 years old iMac booting in 13 seconds with Vertex LE ( 270MB/250MB read write )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ujBnlTjuyo

I assume the newer PCIe SSDs are much fasters ( 750/700MB ) so maybe it's possible ? at least from the moment you see the Apple logo )

Have to get mine first to judge.
Click to expand...

If you don't count in the blank screen and time from the  logo, it's just 5-7 seconds. 5 when empty, 7 when it's starting to be half-filled.

I don't count the blank screen because that period may well be the EFI searching for the boot drive and/or loading other stuff in the background. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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