i5 2.7GHz looks better than 3.1GHz?

[qap]

Those are synthetic benchmarks. The difference in application performance between the two is actually very small. In fact, there's only a 4 point difference in their Speedmark 6.5 scores (223 vs 227), and at many tasks the 21.5" 2.7GHZ is as fast or faster.

http://www.macworld.com/article/159692/2011/05/imacmid2011benchmarks.html?lsrc=top_1

Haven't you wondered why the iMac 21.5" scores 223 vs the 27" 222points? ..simply because in the Speedmark bench there are 2 or 3 "tests" that use the GPU power (games FPS) and the 21.5" has less pixel to render on the monitor, remove these "GPU tests" and the 27" 2.7ghz will be faster than 21.5" and with a lot of probability faster than the 27" 3.1ghz (which use an indisputably better Graphic Card, but If you don't need it… )

PS: the 2.7GHz always with 65W TDP rather than 95W TDP in the 3.1GHz

 

[corvus32]

Haven't you wondered why the iMac 21.5" scores 223 vs the 27" 222points? ..simply because in the Speedmark bench there are 2 or 3 "tests" that use the GPU power (games FPS) and the 21.5" has less pixel to render on the monitor, remove these "GPU tests" and the 27" 2.7ghz will be faster than 21.5" and with a lot of probability faster than the 27" 3.1ghz (which use an indisputably better Graphic Card, but If you don't need it… )

PS: the 2.7GHz always with 65W TDP rather than 95W TDP in the 3.1GHz

Yes, I know. That's why I said application performance. Otherwise you are comparing the 6970 to the 6770, and not the CPUs.

 

[qap]

Another comparison

http://www.macworld.com/article/159692/2011/05/imacmid2011benchmarks.html

 

[jborko]

So qap, what did you choose at the end?
I am probably purchasing 27", i5-2.7 today

 

[qap]

So qap, what did you choose at the end?

Order Date: May 11, 2011

Custom configuration|
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
256GB Solid State Drive
AMD RadeonHD 6770M 512MB GDDR5

Delivers: 28 Jun, 2011​

I am probably purchasing 27", i5-2.7 today

Good choice

I was a bit undecided between the 2.7+ssd or 3.4+ssd but the price is high and I don't need the power of the i7 or 6970M, I prefer have a "cold" iMac and with more (aftermarket) ram

 

[jborko]

Order Date: May 11, 2011

Custom configuration|
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
256GB Solid State Drive
AMD RadeonHD 6770M 512MB GDDR5

Delivers: 28 Jun, 2011​

Good choice

I was a bit undecided between the 2.7+ssd or 3.4+ssd but the price is high and I don't need the power of the i7 or 6970M, I prefer have a "cold" iMac and with more (aftermarket) ram

Yours is even better with the SSD...
But I cannot complain... I think I've got an excellent deal with my friends students discount 5%.
It's awesome machine, I do not regret a bit to be honest. Going these days for more RAM but overall it is a killer machine. No issues with the Display (I feared this most) and it's silent and cold, I think my thinkpad gets hotter than this... I am new happy mac/apple fanboy

 

[qap]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (iPhone; Opera Mini/6.13548/24.871; U; en) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54)

Order Date: May 11, 2011

Custom configuration|
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
256GB Solid State Drive
AMD RadeonHD 6770M 512MB GDDR5

Delivers: 28 Jun, 2011​

Good choice

I was a bit undecided between the 2.7+ssd or 3.4+ssd but the price is high and I don't need the power of the i7 or 6970M, I prefer have a "cold" iMac and with more (aftermarket) ram

Yours is even better with the SSD...
But I cannot complain... I think I've got an excellent deal with my friends students discount 5%.
It's awesome machine, I do not regret a bit to be honest. Going these days for more RAM but overall it is a killer machine. No issues with the Display (I feared this most) and it's silent and cold, I think my thinkpad gets hotter than this... I am new happy mac/apple fanboy

Great! So finally have you bought the 2.7?! Can you post your temperatures? (google for 'iStat widget' if you don't know how to read them) Thanks, I'm curious

 

[jborko]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (iPhone; Opera Mini/6.13548/24.871; U; en) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54)
Great! So finally have you bought the 2.7?! Can you post your temperatures? (google for 'iStat widget' if you don't know how to read them) Thanks, I'm curious

No worries, all temps seems decent to me

Currently working in Lightroom, iTunes is playing, Safari is open with 10 tabs, Time Machine just finished initial backup, Mail and Skype are running, and I was converting video 30 min ago.

Here is proof

Edit: One question for you...
I am searching for RAM now and I came to the following 2 available in my region:
Corsair
Kingston

According to specifications both should fit, but is there any preference on the brand...
To me Kingston sounds more familiar but I see many people are praising Corsair...
What will you buy aftermarket?

Cheers

 

[qap]

No worries, all temps seems decent to me

Currently working in Lightroom, iTunes is playing, Safari is open with 10 tabs, Time Machine just finished initial backup, Mail and Skype are running, and I was converting video 30 min ago.

Here is proof

Image

Edit: One question for you...
I am searching for RAM now and I came to the following 2 available in my region:
Corsair
Kingston

According to specifications both should fit, but is there any preference on the brand...
To me Kingston sounds more familiar but I see many people are praising Corsair...
What will you buy aftermarket?

Cheers

Thank you, the temps are low, 35cpu and 46powersupply with 23ambient, are less than my i5 2.8 mid2010 with 18ambient, nice to know

For the ram to me both are good for the iMac (because the latency timer are fixed, and both -almost all- the soddr2 1333mhz will work), is hard to say, maybe Corsair for the brand reputation but it's only a personal choice, I've installed 4GB from Kingston in my Macbook and works fine (choose the less expensive one)

 

[jborko]

...(choose the less expensive one)...

My thoughts exactly, I don't think it will make much difference... Thanks anyway...

 

[vengasuk]

DIY Upgrade

In another post, someone has purchased the 2.7 and upgraded to i7 3.4 by himself the DIY way with success, but we don't know if that GPU is good enough for running another 2 monitors on something like Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro as opposed to playing games!