iMac 5K GPU Performance

[FrozenDarkness]

also, this is an all-in-one so your graphics card temperature will have a net effect on the rest of the system.

high temperatures also gives you less headroom for stuff like OC.

 

[5iMacs]

My feeling is that Apple knows enough about engineering this stuff that we are not going to see scary numbers of heat-related GPU failures.

But if typical gaming GPU load pushes the M295X to the thermal limit as soon as it hits a 15% improvement over the M290X, I would like to know when making recommendations to my friends.

Ummm...overclocking GPUs in iMacs... is that something that people do?

 

[Cameryn12]

My feeling is that Apple knows enough about engineering this stuff that we are not going to see scary numbers of heat-related GPU failures.

But if typical gaming GPU load pushes the M295X to the thermal limit as soon as it hits a 15% improvement over the M290X, I would like to know when making recommendations to my friends.

That's the thing, I wasn't running super-intensive games; we are talking WoW and Guild Wars 2, games with multiple-year-old architectures. And whether I ran WoW in 5K resolution (which was *incredibly* responsive and pushing near 60 FPS - I was shocked at how amazing the experience was) or the 'old' iMac resolution of 2560 x 1440 (which was so blurry as to be unplayable, I don't know how this thing scales but it looked horrible)... the GPU numbers reported in iStat were the same: upper 90s-low 100s C, topping out at 107 C. Nothing I did in these games made a lick of difference - they still ran the GPU incredibly hot.

I'm hoping it's something that they're prepared for, and I certainly hope Apple has pushed these things with the engineering you suggest… but my unwillingness to be a test subject over a $3500 machine (i7, higher RAM etc.) won out. I'll wait for the next iteration after I'm sure they aren't game-killers.

 

[Gav Mack]

My feeling is that Apple knows enough about engineering this stuff that we are not going to see scary numbers of heat-related GPU failures.

But if typical gaming GPU load pushes the M295X to the thermal limit as soon as it hits a 15% improvement over the M290X, I would like to know when making recommendations to my friends.

Ummm...overclocking GPUs in iMacs... is that something that people do?

My feeling after having to get customers 2011 Macbook pro GPU reballed says otherwise. Despite being an engineer who strips down these for a living I suspected that heat would be an issue with these 5k's particularly with gaming and OpenCL earlier in this thread and shock horror I'm not surprised either.

If you want to game on a genuine Mac and not worry about overheating there's a choice. A new Mac pro 6,1 or a used Mac Pro 5,1 with upgraded cpu GPU and PCIe ssd which would cost probably the same as a base 5k with a GTX 680 that would blow everything bar the 6,1 away.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

Ahh nuts. Was all set to buy an iMac 5K but I think I'll wait until next reiteration

 

[Branskins]

That's the thing, I wasn't running super-intensive games; we are talking WoW and Guild Wars 2, games with multiple-year-old architectures. And whether I ran WoW in 5K resolution (which was *incredibly* responsive and pushing near 60 FPS - I was shocked at how amazing the experience was) or the 'old' iMac resolution of 2560 x 1440 (which was so blurry as to be unplayable, I don't know how this thing scales but it looked horrible)... the GPU numbers reported in iStat were the same: upper 90s-low 100s C, topping out at 107 C. Nothing I did in these games made a lick of difference - they still ran the GPU incredibly hot.

I'm hoping it's something that they're prepared for, and I certainly hope Apple has pushed these things with the engineering you suggest… but my unwillingness to be a test subject over a $3500 machine (i7, higher RAM etc.) won out. I'll wait for the next iteration after I'm sure they aren't game-killers.

That's weird because Guild Wars 2 is way more CPU intensive than GPU intensive.

How did GW2 run by the way?

 

[Cameryn12]

How did GW2 run by the way?

Just as great as Warcraft was in full 5K resolution. The look and feel of the game was stunning on both counts.

Don't get me wrong - this is a beautiful machine with a beautiful display. The only issue that I'm frustrated with is the heat issue, because I believe it to be a design flaw.

 

[Branskins]

Just as great as Warcraft was in full 5K resolution. The look and feel of the game was stunning on both counts.

Don't get me wrong - this is a beautiful machine with a beautiful display. The only issue that I'm frustrated with is the heat issue, because I believe it to be a design flaw.

GW2 ran at 60 FPS in 5K??? What kind of settings?

That does indeed sound stunning

 

[Cameryn12]

GW2 ran at 60 FPS in 5K??? What kind of settings?

That does indeed sound stunning

Well I can't guarantee that as I didn't see what sort of FPS was running in GW2, other than that it was smooth and I didn't notice any additional slowdown from what I'm used to. WoW was running 40 FPS in the cities and I got a 60 FPS scan in free flight, though, and that was running at full 5K resolution. I don't run the settings at Ultra though, I pick and choose what I employ.

 

[Branskins]

Well I can't guarantee that as I didn't see what sort of FPS was running in GW2, other than that it was smooth and I didn't notice any additional slowdown from what I'm used to. WoW was running 40 FPS in the cities and I got a 60 FPS scan in free flight, though, and that was running at full 5K resolution. I don't run the settings at Ultra though, I pick and choose what I employ.

I have a dedicating gaming PC...but now I am tempted to see how GW2 looks in 5K when I get my riMac

 

[RyanJWilliams]

What you are posting there is nonsense. Or let's say it is an enormous misunderstanding of your consumer rights.

Apple doesn't have to make free repairs for any failures for six years. The seller (which may or may not be Apple) has to fix problems that are due to a defective product being sold. Even after two years, you can expect that some things just break without the product being defective when it was sold, and after six months it is up to the customer to _prove_ that the problem was caused by a defective product.

The "six years" is the point when all your rights seize. Even if you bought a bronze statue for your garden that should last for hundred years, if it breaks after six years the seller doesn't need to help you anymore. But before the end of the six years, you still have to prove that the problem is caused by a defect that was present when the product was sold to you.

----------



The UK doesn't have exactly the laws that the poster claims it has.

----------



(If you are waiting for your batteries to give up to have an excuse to buy a new iPad, don't read further)

If your battery stops working, Apple will replace it for a reasonable price, much cheaper than buying a new iPad.

Apple is quite good about this kind of thing, among other companies such as Logitech. As you'll note in this very thread, someone has had multiple replacements from Apple outside of the AppleCare and warranty periods. If a company does play hardball, I understand that it isn't everyone's idea of a good time but going down the road of signalling intent to pursue legally and then if so doing so is how to deal with companies selling crappy defective hardware.

 

[Cameryn12]

I have a dedicating gaming PC...but now I am tempted to see how GW2 looks in 5K when I get my riMac

It looked great to me. I was able to do some group gaming in WOW as well running at the 5K (despite the developers saying it couldn't be done) with no reduction in screen throughput. As I said, my only issue was the heat problem with the GPU. The screen itself is amazing.

 

[Mac32]

And that was my issue… it wasn't just running games at 5K resolution, it was running them at the old 2560 x 1440 resolution (and let me tell you, running them at that resolution looks *horrible* - compared to my 2012 iMac it's blurry and almost unplayable).

EDIT: By the way, running games at 2560 x 1440 still caused the GPU to run over 90 C. There was no difference in the 5K versus standard iMac resolution. I ran four games and all of them caused the CPU to overheat like this.

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering about this. So my fears were confirmed. Running at 1440p non-retina resolution on a retina iMac produces a blurry image, vs. gaming in native 1440p resolution on a regular iMac. I'm sure the 5K screen is amazing, but my favourite games wouldn't run properly in 5k... I need my games...

 

[newbish]

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering about this. So my fears were confirmed. Running at 1440p non-retina resolution on a retina iMac produces a blurry image, vs. gaming in native 1440p resolution on a regular iMac. Too bad. I'm sure the 5K screen is amazing, but my favourite games wouldn't run properly in 5k... I need my games...

im not sure about WoW and how they display it but 1440p on Borderlands the pre-sequel runs absolutely beautiful on the 5K screen.

 

[seasurfer]

Retina iMac 5K vs iMac 2011

I am so happy to receive my retina iMac 5k today. The screen is gorgeous, best ever seen.

However, I realized that my retina 5k isn't much faster than my iMac 2011, granted, I have only used to browse internet and read PDF so far, haven't try out any heavy tasks yet.

Please tell me that my retina 5k is really a lot better when it comes to heavy tasks. I spend more than 3k on it.

My retina 5k is all maxed out except the hard disk and RAM, I got the 16GB RAM.

 

[Cameryn12]

im not sure about WoW and how they display it but 1440p on Borderlands the pre-sequel runs absolutely beautiful on the 5K screen.

WOW runs fine in 5K.

That wasn't the issue. The issue is the massive heat spike in the GPU, well beyond specs, no matter what resolution you run any game on. That's the problem I had and others seem to be as well.

 

[newbish]

WOW runs fine in 5K.

That wasn't the issue. The issue is the massive heat spike in the GPU, well beyond specs, no matter what resolution you run any game on. That's the problem I had and others seem to be as well.

oh, i was commenting on how running games at 1440p would produce a blurry image, and not about how the GPU heats up or whether it runs smooth in 5K or not. sorry if it wasn't made clear.

 

[w00tini]

WOW runs fine in 5K.

That wasn't the issue. The issue is the massive heat spike in the GPU, well beyond specs, no matter what resolution you run any game on. That's the problem I had and others seem to be as well.

I'm sure apple tested the system under various uses, loads and in varying environments. seriously, you are really annoying crapping ALL OVER the forum (you just joined too, nice entrance) with your presumption that all retina iMacs are going to overheat. we are all impressed that you're so much smarter than us and were so wise to return your computer. log off.

 

[Cameryn12]

I'm sure apple tested the system under various uses, loads and in varying environments. seriously, you are really annoying crapping ALL OVER the forum (you just joined too, nice entrance) with your presumption that all retina iMacs are going to overheat. we are all impressed that you're so much smarter than us and were so wise to return your computer. log off.

Posts in three threads in one section in this forum isn't ALL OVER; get a grip. And it's a legitimate issue being raised by a number of people. Don't be a nasty nancy.

----------

oh, i was commenting on how running games at 1440p would produce a blurry image, and not about how the GPU heats up or whether it runs smooth in 5K or not. sorry if it wasn't made clear.

Yeah, the blur was really noticeable in WoW compared to my previous 1440p system. With their recent behind-the-scenes changes to their anti-aliasing system, it was *really* frustrating.

 

[steve62388]

Further to my earlier post about Passmark results, here is the overall score numbers in a nice easy to read chart. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[forg0t]

Further to my earlier post about Passmark results, here is the overall score numbers in a nice easy to read chart. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

That's a lot higher than what people have been reporting. Which is great but frustrating.

 

[macmee]

Apparently the GPU overheats: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1810017/

 

[forg0t]

Apparently the GPU overheats: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1810017/

That guys has been actively posting here, in fact 2 posts up you'll see him. And I don't think his overheats it just gets hot. Nobody really knows anything about these chips, it may be fine for it to run at these temps or it may not but until AMD finally announces these chips we are all left in the dark.

 

[aggri1]

Any chance a screenshot could show the (alleged) bluriness when run in 2560x1440 mode?

It would seem to me that in principle it should look exactly like on an older iMac, with that neat integer-pixel-mapping, so I wonder why it would be more blurry. I'm not sure whether a screenshot would show it or not, but I'd be interested to hear from those of you who can investigate this.

Cheers, A.

 

[Seramir]

Any chance a screenshot could show the (alleged) bluriness when run in 2560x1440 mode?

It would seem to me that in principle it should look exactly like on an older iMac, with that neat integer-pixel-mapping, so I wonder why it would be more blurry. I'm not sure whether a screenshot would show it or not, but I'd be interested to hear from those of you who can investigate this.

Cheers, A.

The claim that running in 2560 x 1440 non-HiDPI resolution on the 5K 27" iMac looks terrible is absolutely true, or any non-HiDPI resolution under 5K. Compared to the non-Retina 27" native 1440p, it looks blurry and pixelated as hell.

Here's an easy test if you have access to a 5K iMac. Download and install SetResX. Switch to a resolution other than 5120 x 2880 (like 2560 x 1440) and you'll easily see how poor it looks.

I did try to shoot a picture with a camera, but my camera doesn't pick up how bad it looks compared to real life (maybe I will try to use a better camera next time; I was using my iPod Touch 4G's pitiful camera). Still, it's definitely something you need to see for yourself.

So with this blurriness and reports of excessive heat on the GPU, I am no longer interested at all in the 5K iMac (at least until second generation). Especially since I game often and I realize 5K gaming isn't going to be a solution with the majority of games.