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

[AppleScruff1]

If you're robbing 7-11's to afford the new iMac, you're doing things the hard way. What you need to do is cut out the middle man entirely, and rob an Apple Store.

The Apple stores are too busy, I'd have to go into the lockup in the back room, bribe the person their with a lot of Hot Pockets, etc. I'd probably get caught.

Are you worried that the default graphics card on the base model will be underpowered for the screen?

Good point. I think we'll know about this in the next few weeks once enough units are sold. If it is underpowered it will be a major disappointment for anyone who bought one or is considering buying the base model. It's not cheap at $2500, that's for sure. But it was nice to play with for a while.

 

[haruhiko]

The Apple stores are too busy, I'd have to go into the lockup in the back room, bribe the person their with a lot of Hot Pockets, etc. I'd probably get caught.



Good point. I think we'll know about this in the next few weeks once enough units are sold. If it is underpowered it will be a major disappointment for anyone who bought one or is considering buying the base model. It's not cheap at $2500, that's for sure. But it was nice to play with for a while.

Canceled and reordered the iMac with the higher-end GPU. Not worth the risk of a laggy UI, even if it’s a Yosemite bug that may get fixed. - Marco Arment (@marcoarment) October 23, 2014

Marco Arment ‏@marcoarment 16h16 hours ago
Anyone else’s 5K iMac do this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK7b6vSWMtQ …

Either way you answer, which GPU is in yours?

What do you think?

 

[AppleScruff1]

What do you think?

I don't like the looks of that. Is it underpowered or is it Yosemite? It really would be a shame if the base GPU can't power the display properly. That's unacceptable for a $2500 machine. As time goes on we should hear more about this, one way or the other.

 

[haruhiko]

I don't like the looks of that. Is it underpowered or is it Yosemite? It really would be a shame if the base GPU can't power the display properly. That's unacceptable for a $2500 machine. As time goes on we should hear more about this, one way or the other.

As I read more on Marco Arment's tweets a lot of people reported to be experiencing similar problems on regular iMacs, MacBook Pros, etc. so it may be Yosemite's problem. But I don't recall having such stuttering from my retina MBP 2012. So I think we may need more time to confirm it's a software bug or a hardware issue.

 

[Rygaard]

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.

Could you test it running WoW, League of Legends (free), diablo3 - all on max and if you have non of them LoL is 100% free - and i would love to see how it compares to my iMac.... (want the nice new display but don't want to sacrifice experienced performance in games)

 

[AppleScruff1]

As I read more on Marco Arment's tweets a lot of people reported to be experiencing similar problems on regular iMacs, MacBook Pros, etc. so it may be Yosemite's problem. But I don't recall having such stuttering from my retina MBP 2012. So I think we may need more time to confirm it's a software bug or a hardware issue.

Hopefully it's a software issue that can be worked out. Apple hasn't been doing so hot with software lately, IMO. But if it's a hardware issue with the base model, that would very disappointing.

 

[ChinkyBob]

Could you test it running WoW, League of Legends (free), diablo3 - all on max and if you have non of them LoL is 100% free - and i would love to see how it compares to my iMac.... (want the nice new display but don't want to sacrifice experienced performance in games)

If performance is less than ideal at 5k, you can always reduce the resolution to 2560x1440, which at 1/4 resolution uses exactly 4 retina pixels in place of 1 regular one, which will increase performance by a factor of 4 (almost).

 

[LordVic]

Could you test it running WoW, League of Legends (free), diablo3 - all on max and if you have non of them LoL is 100% free - and i would love to see how it compares to my iMac.... (want the nice new display but don't want to sacrifice experienced performance in games)

I wouldn't expect great performance at max settings at that resolution.

Even some of the newer graphics chips struggle modern gaming at 1440p or 4k gaming. Nevermind a mobile designed part.

I don't think Apple intends this to push that sort of pixels for gaming. The graphics chip is there for UI elements and light 3d work at best.

Cause THATS A LOT OF PIXELS

 

[Rossatron]

I too wonder how it performs when playing games. Let's say a "session" is 4 hours - will that be too hard a strain on the iMac? How will it coup with the heat?

 

[Modano]

I too wonder how it performs when playing games. Let's say a "session" is 4 hours - will that be too hard a strain on the iMac? How will it coup with the heat?

I've been playing some games with mine and it just turns bright red and melts straight through the floor of my apartment. Seems like they would have caught this problem in testing.
Just kidding, it works great. There are no heat issues and the graphics are really smooth. I can't find a game that supports 5k but playing at 2560x1440 is amazing. Portal 2 looks killer at 4k rez!

 

[LordVic]

I've been playing some games with mine and it just turns bright red and melts straight through the floor of my apartment. Seems like they would have caught this problem in testing.
Just kidding, it works great. There are no heat issues and the graphics are really smooth. I can't find a game that supports 5k but playing at 2560x1440 is amazing. Portal 2 looks killer at 4k rez!

how about something more modern? (not trying to nitpick, honestly curious about how well these GPU's are performing for higher res gaming)

 

[Modano]

how about something more modern? (not trying to nitpick, honestly curious about how well these GPU's are performing for higher res gaming)

I'm going to try to install Bootcamp this afternoon to see what Windows games can do. Any suggestions for games that support high resolutions?

 

[LordVic]

I'm going to try to install Bootcamp this afternoon to see what Windows games can do. Any suggestions for games that support high resolutions?

Some games I'd like to see tested if possible (I understand if you do not have them or the like, this is just for my own knowledge)

Bioshock Infinite, World of Warcraft (I know, not really modern), Assassin's creed 4, Battlefield 4, Skyrim

anything else you could think of would be aesome too.

Thanks for this if you do get a chance

 

[Rossatron]

I've been playing some games with mine and it just turns bright red and melts straight through the floor of my apartment. Seems like they would have caught this problem in testing.
Just kidding, it works great. There are no heat issues and the graphics are really smooth. I can't find a game that supports 5k but playing at 2560x1440 is amazing. Portal 2 looks killer at 4k rez!

Thanks for the answer!