iMac Pro Xeon CPUs and gaming (vs. iMac higher CPU clock+eGPU)

[Mac32]

Hi,

I need a new iMac for Logic X and FCP X. I don't need the extra power in the iMac Pro per se, but the price difference between my needed high-end iMac configuration is less than $2000 (much less if adding eGPU to a regular iMac), and I'd like to treat myself with an extra nice gift this year. My configuration would be 8c/32ram/Vega64.

I'm a casual gamer, and don't have room for two separate computers. I would use the iMac Pro for both serious work, and some Windows/Bootcamp gaming on the side. Would the slower clocked 8 core Xeon CPU (3.2Ghz) drag down the gaming performance, compared to an iMac with a 4.2Ghz i7 CPU and eGPU w/Vega 64? Some of my favourite games rely on the CPU and have limited multithreading (eg. heavily upgraded STALKER mods like Misery and Lost Alpha). The Xeon CPU can turbo boost to 4.2Ghz (only Turbo Boost 2), but single core score is considerably lower than the current high-end iMac i7 CPU.

I know it's early days yet, but I would really appreciate some informed insights from the more CPU-savy people here. (There's a lot of money involved...lol.)

Thanks!

 

[bplein]

I’m going to use mine for casual gaming too.

Higher end games are usually GPU constrained but those are rarely on MacOS. But those Mac games that are GPU constrained will likely run great.

For CPU constrained games, I’m thinking most would benefit from raw CPU speed in which has a high end iMac could beat the multi-core goodness of the iMac Pro. But the high end iMac available today is known for high fan speeds during sustained CPU usage.

If gaming isn’t your number one priority, the Pro should be great. That’s what I chose to do.

If gaming is super important and you need the best experience ever, get a PC, more title choices and you can upgrade the GPU to whatever is the sexy thing every couple of years. I have no interest in building a PC or running Windows, period.

 

[Mac32]

Thanks for the reply, I totally agree. Btw. are there any CPU benchmarks out there that could point to what kind of performance loss the lower clocked Xeon CPU would result in - in terms of gaming and compared to a high end regular iMac with an eGPU? (4.2ghz i7 vs 8c 3.2ghz Xeon).
Thanks again!

 

[bplein]

None that I’ve seen. The gaming world has all sorts of benchmarks but usually for popular gaming engines, mostly on PC. I haven’t been in that world for a decade.

If you don’t have to pull the trigger immediately, wait for some first reports from those who ordered the first week. Patience will yield data!

 

[shadow82x]

There actually isn't a massive difference in Geekbench single thread scores comparing the Intel i7 7700K from the high-end iMac and the 10 core Intel Xeon W-2150B in the iMac Pro. So I'd imagine there wouldn't be a noticeable difference in most games. If/when games start utilizing multiple cores, the iMac Pro will have a substantial lead. Some games such as BF1 already start using more than 4 cores.

iMac Pro (10 Core)
Single Score: ~5400
Multi Core: ~36000

iMac (Top Spec 4.2 GHZ)
Single Score: ~5700
Multi Score: ~19000

 

[Trebuin]

There actually isn't a massive difference in Geekbench single thread scores comparing the Intel i7 7700K from the high-end iMac and the 10 core Intel Xeon W-2150B in the iMac Pro. So I'd imagine there wouldn't be a noticeable difference in most games. If/when games start utilizing multiple cores, the iMac Pro will have a substantial lead. Some games such as BF1 already start using more than 4 cores.

iMac Pro (10 Core)
Single Score: ~5400
Multi Core: ~36000

iMac (Top Spec 4.2 GHZ)
Single Score: ~5700
Multi Score: ~19000

Games actually rely upon GPUs but the multicore will drastically help cpu multithreaded processes

 

[Mac32]

There actually isn't a massive difference in Geekbench single thread scores comparing the Intel i7 7700K from the high-end iMac and the 10 core Intel Xeon W-2150B in the iMac Pro. So I'd imagine there wouldn't be a noticeable difference in most games. If/when games start utilizing multiple cores, the iMac Pro will have a substantial lead. Some games such as BF1 already start using more than 4 cores.

iMac Pro (10 Core)
Single Score: ~5400
Multi Core: ~36000

iMac (Top Spec 4.2 GHZ)
Single Score: ~5700
Multi Score: ~19000

Weirdly enough the 10 core iMac Pro CPU has a lower base clock, but a 300hz higher turbo boost. So far the 8 core seems to have a lower single score - in synthetic benchmarks anyway. Seems like an odd choice, or maybe a cynical ploy from Apple to lure people to fork out the extra money for the 10 core option?

 

[Trebuin]

Weirdly enough the 10 core iMac Pro CPU has a lower base clock, but a 300hz higher turbo boost. So far the 8 core seems to have a lower single score - in synthetic benchmarks anyway. Seems like an odd choice, or maybe a cynical ploy from Apple to lure people to fork out the extra money for the 10 core option?

The chips are obviously custom for apple. I don't think the 8 core will have any temp issues given the lower max clock. The 10 core probably won't either, but will run hotter than the 8. I also think the higher max clock on the 10 core might have a higher max clock just to help Bech better on synthetic benchmarks. I get this impression because everyone seems to be pushing the 10 core as the best bang for your buck, & I don't actually think that's true given an $800 cost for 9% (or 0%) single thread & 19% multi-thread improvement. I converted it to time in my wife: for every 1 hour of work, I save 10 minutes. That's not much to justify. Given the i7, yes, the extra 2k I would pay is highly worth it given an about 25min saved for every 1 hour of work...I haven't run that number yet, just guessing.

 

[CWallace]

According to initial testing by barefeats, the iMac 5K with a Vega 64 card in an eGPU enclosure has a hair bit higher OpenCL number than the iMac Pro with the internal Vega 64 card. I have heard (unsubstantiated claims) that the Vega 64's clock speed in the iMac Pro is around 13% lower than an external card so if true, even with the TB3 overhead, this might explain why the eGPU card is still scoring higher.

 

[Trebuin]

According to initial testing by barefeats, the iMac 5K with a Vega 64 card in an eGPU enclosure has a hair bit higher OpenCL number than the iMac Pro with the internal Vega 64 card. I have heard (unsubstantiated claims) that the Vega 64's clock speed in the iMac Pro is around 13% lower than an external card so if true, even with the TB3 overhead, this might explain why the eGPU card is still scoring higher.

The good think is if the thermals are good, the windows side can be overclocked a bit.

 

[Precursor]

According to initial testing by barefeats, the iMac 5K with a Vega 64 card in an eGPU enclosure has a hair bit higher OpenCL number than the iMac Pro with the internal Vega 64 card. I have heard (unsubstantiated claims) that the Vega 64's clock speed in the iMac Pro is around 13% lower than an external card so if true, even with the TB3 overhead, this might explain why the eGPU card is still scoring higher.

Albeit, that is on external display connected to the eGPU. When High Sierra update comes in Spring 2018 to enable internal display support for eGPUs, the Vega 64 in the eGPU box will be slower on internal display than the Vega 64 in the iMac Pro.

 

[_Kiki_]

The chips are obviously custom for apple. I don't think the 8 core will have any temp issues given the lower max clock. The 10 core probably won't either, but will run hotter than the 8. I also think the higher max clock on the 10 core might have a higher max clock just to help Bech better on synthetic benchmarks. I get this impression because everyone seems to be pushing the 10 core as the best bang for your buck, & I don't actually think that's true given an $800 cost for 9% (or 0%) single thread & 19% multi-thread improvement. I converted it to time in my wife: for every 1 hour of work, I save 10 minutes. That's not much to justify. Given the i7, yes, the extra 2k I would pay is highly worth it given an about 25min saved for every 1 hour of work...I haven't run that number yet, just guessing.

custom CPU only for Apple? So this means, the CPU is soldered, right ?

 

[CWallace]

Custom CPU only for Apple? So this means, the CPU is soldered, right?

No the CPUs are socketed (LGA 2066).