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iMac 5K GPU Performance
- Thread starter robertojorge
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Perhaps I exaggerated it a little when I said blurry and pixelated as hell.
The fact is that 1440p non-HiDPI on the Retina iMac doesn't look much better than running any standard LCD monitor at a non-native resolution, at least to my eyes. It's actually more pixelated looking than blurry.
Compare to the native 1440p resolution of a non-Retina 27" iMac, it's a night and day difference.
I only tested this on OS X BTW, but I can't see how it will differ under Windows.
Where are these numbers coming from? A YouTube video versus your own personal setup? Variables are completely uncontrolled - off the top of my head, is it the same OS, are multiple runs being averaged, are similar points in the game being compared? This kind of comparison doesn't provide reliable data.
Barefeat benchmarked a retina iMac m295x versus last year's 780m. There are still some variables that couldn't be controlled such as different CPU in the machines but their tests are as close to like to like as possible. Their benchmark show the 295x is faster in EVERY benchmark they ran both games and non games. And the gap was frequently very substantial:
And with a game that's actually taxing, the 295x approaches 60fps versus the sub-30fps of the 780m:
The ars alien isolation results contradict the results in some of their other benchmarks notably 3dmark which show the 295x handily outperforming the 780m, so much so it suggests something else is hobbling the 295x, probably the drivers. The games were run under windows and there's s huge question mark about the quality of the AMD drivers versus Nvidia especially with a GPU that is exclusive to a single oem and been out for only a couple weeks now and benchmarked in a game that was released 3 weeks ago.
In short, tests under similar conditions show the 295x easily outruns the 780m. The only question at this point is whether it is faster than nvidia's 970m.
For me, the GPU with 4 GB VRAM is recognised under Win 7 installed by bootcamp. Here's my earlier post playing Shadows of Mordor. 1st screenshot shows the GPU on the bottom left
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20235300/
Are you sure the bootcamp drivers installed fine?
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I don't have my mid-2011 27" iMac to test this side by side... sold it after I placed the order for the 5K. But I don't think the new 5K is any more pixelated.
On the other hand, I find it brighter and under Yosemite, text are sharp, playing blu-ray rips are sharp and watching 1080p videos bought on iTunes are fine as well.
It's not like I played a video in full screen and went, "ugh... that looks terrible. I need to throw up"
Same on Windows 7 as well. See me earlier posts.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20235300/
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With the 5K... or any other Mac for that matter (the nMP excluded) I wouldn't attempt to play under OSX. I tried before with my 2012 rMBP and I tried again with this top spec 5K. I think DirectX > OpenGL. Or maybe OS X throttles performance more aggressively.
Playing under bootcamp on the other hand, this is not a problem with the 5K.
Here's my earlier post;
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20235276/
Anyway, I have been playing Civ:Beyond Earth, Dota2, Heroes of Newerth, CS:GO, L4D, Tomb Raider and Shadows of Mordor on full settings and all at 2560x1440.
I tried 3840x2160 (the max that Win7 lets me) on a couple of games and it was less than ideal
Just figured it out. Im booting Windows of an external SSD and I tried using my old bootcamp partition which i created on my mbp and the just reinstall all the drivers. Well obviously that didnt work so yesterday i created a new one and that fixed it
Well the MBP fan is much smaller so it will need to spin much faster to push the the same equivalent amount of air.
Bigger fans should be quieter as they can run slower. I can't say as to if that's fast though as currently I'm using a 2007 iMac until my retina iMac arrives later today.
Wow, 21 pages... If anyone is still on the fence just go buy the MSI AIO with the 970/980 and let this thread die. Didn't know it was possible to complain this much about gaming on an all in one system.
If you want the imac, buy it but if you're waiting on what everyone else is saying about it then chances are you'll be dissapointed. It's a great Mac with a great processor and a great gpu. And the screen is nice too
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If you want the imac, buy it but if you're waiting on what everyone else is saying about it then chances are you'll be dissapointed. It's a great Mac with a great processor and a great gpu. And the screen is nice too
.OSX vs Windows 10 on iMac 5k Benchmarks
I have run several tests on the new Retina iMac 5k (RiMac) with the i7 and the m295x. I see someone quoted my Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 videos. They thought it was lower FPS vs last years iMac. I used screen capture software to get a better image for the video so it hurt the FPS. The FPS is actually higher by 10+ FPS than my screen capture videos. What is amazing is that I was able to get decent FPS while using screen capture software at 5k resolutions. The computer didn't explode! haha
Here are the videos in question:
Starcraft II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fepmW6gQmtI
Diablo III
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW8rAsAC5JU
Here is a game League of Legends without screen capture 100+FPS at almost all resolutions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9zeveXgpI4
Here are common benchmarks run in OS X on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk-0jRqtm6c
And benchmarks run in Windows 10 on RiMac:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3HVVx9z5sw
I also ran some tests on the refresh rate, temperature and more games.
My verdict, its an awesome computer (using it 8+ hours daily since Oct 21). I can edit and encode videos lightning fast plus play games. I also have a desktop gaming rig to compare it to. The gaming rig can pull off more FPS, but the games look better on the RiMac and are playable. It also takes up a lot less space. Also, the fan is not too loud and the computer doesn't get less FPS when the GPU gets 105C. My gaming computer sounds like an airplane and has liquid cooling.
I have run several tests on the new Retina iMac 5k (RiMac) with the i7 and the m295x. I see someone quoted my Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 videos. They thought it was lower FPS vs last years iMac. I used screen capture software to get a better image for the video so it hurt the FPS. The FPS is actually higher by 10+ FPS than my screen capture videos. What is amazing is that I was able to get decent FPS while using screen capture software at 5k resolutions. The computer didn't explode! haha
Here are the videos in question:
Starcraft II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fepmW6gQmtI
Diablo III
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW8rAsAC5JU
Here is a game League of Legends without screen capture 100+FPS at almost all resolutions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9zeveXgpI4
Here are common benchmarks run in OS X on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk-0jRqtm6c
And benchmarks run in Windows 10 on RiMac:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3HVVx9z5sw
I also ran some tests on the refresh rate, temperature and more games.
My verdict, its an awesome computer (using it 8+ hours daily since Oct 21). I can edit and encode videos lightning fast plus play games. I also have a desktop gaming rig to compare it to. The gaming rig can pull off more FPS, but the games look better on the RiMac and are playable. It also takes up a lot less space. Also, the fan is not too loud and the computer doesn't get less FPS when the GPU gets 105C. My gaming computer sounds like an airplane and has liquid cooling.
+1 that is my conclusion as well... anyway cross posting on this thread for others benefits (why are there so many fricking threads on macrumours on this issue?
Update with my i7/M295X iMac for gaming under Win 7 x64;
All games at 2560x1440;
- Tomb Raider, Ultra setting, GPU temp @ ~95c
- Shadows of Mordor, High settings, GPU temp @ ~105c
- Dota 2, High/Ultra, GPU temp @ 85c
- Heroes of Newerth, High/Ultra, GPU temp @ <85c
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive, High, GPU temp @ 95c
- Crysis 3, High settings, GPU temp @ ~105c
Been playing for continuous stretches. Most gaming sessions last for longer than an hour at stretch. TR and SoM lasts even longer.
Ambient room temp @ 24c. The iMac idles at 65c with only 3-5 Chrome tabs open. When gaming, the fans on the iMac kicks in and the temp ramps up... But fan and temp comes down to idle almost immediately after I complete gaming. I don't use headphones.
Whether those temp numbers are excessive/dangerous even, I don't know. Long term effects on the iMac, I don't know.
But what I do know is that gaming (albeit casual) looks and plays awesome with no frame drops.
Just get AppleCare and enjoy the machine.
Wow, 21 pages... If anyone is still on the fence just go buy the MSI AIO with the 970/980 and let this thread die. Didn't know it was possible to complain this much about gaming on an all in one system.
If you want the imac, buy it but if you're waiting on what everyone else is saying about it then chances are you'll be dissapointed. It's a great Mac with a great processor and a great gpu. And the screen is nice too
Haha a voice of reason! While you can count me in with those disappointed with a change from NVIDIA (and especially the x80 GTX series), the new iMac is not a bad machine at all. While not a 980m GTX (or even a 970m), the m295x is a solid GPU, and better than the 780m. I didn't feel the retina screen was THAT different over the 1440p, but it was quite nice. If you have something from 2011 or older it's a fantastic upgrade. Anyone with a 2012/680mGTX or later it may pay to wait a bit, and see what prices/specs look like after the next update.
+1 that is my conclusion as well... anyway cross posting on this thread for others benefits (why are there so many fricking threads on macrumours on this issue?
Update with my i7/M295X iMac for gaming under Win 7 x64;
All games at 2560x1440;
- Tomb Raider, Ultra setting, GPU temp @ ~95c
- Shadows of Mordor, High settings, GPU temp @ ~105c
- Dota 2, High/Ultra, GPU temp @ 85c
- Heroes of Newerth, High/Ultra, GPU temp @ <85c
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive, High, GPU temp @ 95c
- Crysis 3, High settings, GPU temp @ ~105c
Been playing for continuous stretches. Most gaming sessions last for longer than an hour at stretch. TR and SoM lasts even longer.
Ambient room temp @ 24c. The iMac idles at 65c with only 3-5 Chrome tabs open. When gaming, the fans on the iMac kicks in and the temp ramps up... But fan and temp comes down to idle almost immediately after I complete gaming. I don't use headphones.
Whether those temp numbers are excessive/dangerous even, I don't know. Long term effects on the iMac, I don't know.
But what I do know is that gaming (albeit casual) looks and plays awesome with no frame drops.
Just get AppleCare and enjoy the machine.
I think your comment finally convinced me to take the i7 retina imac with 295x I will receive tomorrow ...
I think its a good choice. I'm loving mine after replacing a mid-2011 base 27" model with this.
Hi, not me for sure
i have no interest on Plex at the time being.And when i make a post anywhere its surely not random.
It has a purpose and usually to help my self and the community.All the Best
RJ
yes, it is. it's noisy with 34 db. to me, this is annoying but I know some people feel differently as they game with headphones only. it's so annoying that my gf sitting behind me is disturbed by the "boiling"-like sound.
Did you mistype the 34 dB? Because 34 dB is not noisy at all. If this is how loud this iMac gets up to under load then I know it won't bother me because it isn't loud at all. Will i be able to hear it? Sure, but from the way people are complaining about the noise from the iMac under load one would think you can barely concentrate because it's so loud....but at 34 dB I'm thinking people are complaining just to complain. A whisper from around 6 feet away is around 30 dB....just to put a reference to the number.
as I said, it's subjective, it oscillates between 34 and 38 db and to me this is the loudest mac I've ever had, about as loud as a g4 that has rendered for days in a row.
if you place the mic behind where the hot air comes out it's about 45 db. I measured by holding the iphone next to my head.
if you can live with it - go for it! since screen is magnificent and gpu power is really nice, especially under windows. just don't come back and say nobody warned you.
Barefeats should be pretty ashamed about some of these benches, fyi. Tomb Raider is extremely (and I mean extremely) biased in favor of the AMD cards, so that benchmark you can toss out. As for Diablo 3, you have to remember that the processor could account for a massive part of the difference. 500mhz is nothing to sneeze at.
In any case, as an owner of a high-end 5K iMac I'm under no illusions that it's NOT a noticeable/significant gaming upgrade over last year's model. You buy this iMac for the screen. If you have a 2012/2013 iMac with the high-end Nvidia cards of their respective years, do NOT buy a 5K iMac unless the screen means everything to you.
For me, it did mean everything, but that doesn't mean I'm not still a bit disappointed in Apple's lack of progress everywhere else in the system.
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This should be a sticky! lol
The only measurable difference between a refurb 2012/2013 and the 5k iMac is the screen (oh, and the price!
).This should be a sticky! lol
The only measurable difference between a refurb 2012/2013 and the 5k iMac is the screen (oh, and the price!
Hah. Yeah. It's really annoying the absolute nonsense about the 5K iMac being spread about. It's ALL about the screen. The rest is absolutely disappointing. I guess it's a good thing the screen is so darn good.
Of course one needs to bear in mind that disappointment is relative. If you didn't own a spec-ed up 2012/2013 iMac then the 2014 5K iMac will seem great. It's just that if you DID own one of those systems then the 2014 iMac runs noticeably hotter without the performance increase I'd have expected from Apple going along with it.
But meh. Whenever I start to feel buyer's remorse I just open a web page or read an email. Oh that text. That gorgeous, gorgeous text. I forgive you, Apple.
In the below tests, Mac Performance Guide found the retina iMac faster than a custom-modified 3.33Ghz 8-core New Mac Pro. Do you think Lloyd Chambers (http://diglloyd.com/) should also be ashamed of his benchmarks?
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20141106_1044-iMac5K-createImageSeries.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog...ac5K-vs-MacPro-CaptureOnePro-raw-to-JPEG.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20141104_1734-iMac5K-vs-MacPro-moreBenchmarks.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20141101_1808-iMac5K-vs-MacPro-transcode4K.html
Exactly. Regardless of what the machine does for this or that specific task, it is overall currently the fastest iMac available, and for some tasks the fastest Mac available, retail from Apple. People's expectations get overinflated. This is just the latest incremental iteration of the design.
Couldn't agree more....an exhale might be advised here (inhalexhale1) perspective is everything!