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Do you wish you bought the 295 ?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • No

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Total voters
    9

Totally Bored

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2015
111
98
Does your 290 graphics card on your IMac 5k work good and what do you do with your machine ?
 

rkaufmann87

macrumors 68000
Dec 17, 2009
1,760
39
Folsom, CA
What is more importantly, what do YOU intend to do with the computer? Then people that have similar uses can give you their impressions.
 

Totally Bored

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2015
111
98
What is more importantly, what do YOU intend to do with the computer? Then people that have similar uses can give you their impressions.


Sure.

Multitrack recording with Cubase
Light Video editing.

I'm a musician and I record gigs on a Zoom Q3. In the past I've been editing the videos with CuteCut Pro on my IPad.


Very curious about the 290 and if people are happy with it and what they do with it and does it have loud fan noise etc.etc.

I read so much about heat and fan noise of the 295 and it costs $250 more. I don't need noise when I record vocals although iMac noise is probably a lot less then PC fan noise. How loud is your 295 fan noise people and does it only kick on during gaming and is it quiet during normal operation ?
 
Last edited:

Berlepsch

macrumors 6502
Oct 22, 2007
303
48
People often overestimate the influence of the GPU on day-to-day computing. Where the high-end models really excel is the creation of complex 3D scenes used in the latest games and some specialist applications (e.g. large CAD models). If these applications are outside your usage scenario, buying the 295 model is basically a waste of money. The 290 model is absolutely OK for the usual desktop needs.

My iMac with the 290 runs perfectly well for my (non-gaming) purposes, and it runs cool and silent nearly all of the time. Some people are complaining about "horrible" UI lag and stuttering when opening Mission Control, but honestly I never noticed it myself.
 
Last edited:

psychonaut

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2008
556
66
I have the 290 and no regrets. It's silent most of the time except when I'm doing heavy editing.

Most of my time is spent in FCX editing for my YT channel but I also use Screenflow on the iMac as well as a few other capture applications.

No regrets going with the 290. Seems snappy to me and never thought "gee I wish I had the 295". I'm actually happy I've got what I have as it seems pretty quiet most of the time and keeps the heat levels down pretty well
 

jerwin

Suspended
Jun 13, 2015
2,895
4,651
If these applications are outside your usage scenario, buying the 295 model is basically a waste of money. The 290 model is absolutely OK for the usual desktop needs.

When the fan is below 1200 rpm, which is most of the time when you're not solving [strike]massive systems of linear equations[/strike] playing games, my imac (i5/m290x) is mostly silent. If it's much above 1500 rpm, it's audible. 1750 rpm, it's loud.

The Heaven benchmark, with the music off, is pretty loud.

(Your office environment and ears may vary)

The "horrible UI lag", when it appears, is associated with transparency effects, and those can be toggled through the Accessibility control panel.
I'm not sure if the m295 is happy with the fan at 1200 rpm. It may well be.
 
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