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iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) Order Thread
- Thread starter RyanXM
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The amount of RAM in the machines being used might be affecting fan noise though? A lot of folks are ordering 8GB and running GPUs with the same amount of RAM.
Is it possible this would be contributing to fan noise (I have no clue, but for the GPU to run right the machine does need double its RAM).
jetjaguar
macrumors 68040
I will buy more ram I am just deciding first if I am keeping this machine.
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I mean I think a lot of the tech you tubers have 10 cores. I would think their videos would mention the noise.
Just to clarify, I'm thinking it's possible the fans and the low RAM are connected because it's not running the way it was intended. I don't know enough to say that, but I think it's worth checking out. The fan issue could well be related?
PieTunes
Contributor
Regarding the nano texture display, I saw iJustine’s review and she raved about it. In a situation with a lot of bright lighting I can see it be worthwhile but the trade off would be the additional cost and attention to care needed. Apple sounds pretty stringent that the only material to ever come in contact with the screen be their specialty dry polishing cloth. If you pack up and move your iMac around I assume you use a cover and I doubt the inside of the cover which would touch the screen is made of the same material. The constant friction and movement would probably affect the durability of the screen over time.
Conversely if you instead travel/move the machine around without any screen covers, that brings up an entirely different set of risks.
PieTunes
Contributor
I’m genuinely curious, where are you hearing about RAM needing to be doubled relative to GPU VRAM in order to obtain optimal performance? I never heard of such a thing and would be interested in reading more about it.
Just dug this up. I'd not heard it before, but I'm not a super tech savvy user and don't work in the field. Seems a question worth asking though given most buyers are buying the stock 8GB – could the fan issues be related to the system RAM shortfall? I have no clue as to the answer just to be clear.
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pldelisle can't even spell the word nonsense which is a shame because nonsense is what he wrote. I have never heard of such a requirement. My 2014 MacBook Pro 15" has 2GB of video ram and 16GB of RAM. It worked fine for the last 6 years.
He's actually one of the most knowledgeable guys on the forum here. But ironic typo aside, I think you misunderstand what he wrote/have it backwards there - the system RAM only needs to be 4 GB if the VRAM is just 2GB.
What he wrote was "System memory MUST be 2:1 ratio with GPU RAM". He didn't write that it must be "at least double". I may be misunderstanding what he meant but I am not misunderstanding what he wrote.
That said, I have never heard of this requirement and I am curious when this was ever an issue. I doubt there are many Macs or PCs with high end discrete GPUs that have only 8GB of RAM and I would expect anyone ordering their 2020 iMac with the 5700XT and 8GB of RAM to be upgrading the RAM themselves to something reasonable.
I went with the base configuration of the top tier model, with the only upgrade for a 4TB SSD. I'm hoping the CPU and GPU it comes with will be good enough to last me 3-5 years. I'll do an after-market upgrade of the memory, likely 32GB or 64GB from OWC.
Upgrading the SSD bumped me from being able to get it now to having to wait until Aug 20-24. Hopefully it'll come sooner.
This will replace my 2012 27" iMac. That one was the top-tier model at the time and I maxed out the CPU, GPU, and SSD (and it still cost less than what this new one costs -- though not adjusted for today US$ vs 2013 US$). It is still performing admirably and I was hoping to get another good year out of it. But then I made the mistake of upgrading to Catalina, which is a rant for another thread. So here I am anxiously waiting for my new toy. I mean, my critical work-from-home desktop computer.
Upgrading the SSD bumped me from being able to get it now to having to wait until Aug 20-24. Hopefully it'll come sooner.
This will replace my 2012 27" iMac. That one was the top-tier model at the time and I maxed out the CPU, GPU, and SSD (and it still cost less than what this new one costs -- though not adjusted for today US$ vs 2013 US$). It is still performing admirably and I was hoping to get another good year out of it. But then I made the mistake of upgrading to Catalina, which is a rant for another thread. So here I am anxiously waiting for my new toy. I mean, my critical work-from-home desktop computer.
Patchwork
macrumors 6502
That’s the first I’ve heard that you must have a 2:1 ratio. My understanding is that it is more a guide to having a balanced system e.g. no point paying for a 16GB graphics card if you only have 1GB of memory as the lack of memory would be a bottleneck. It also depends on what you are using your Mac for. I do quite a lot of virtual machine work, so have a lot of memory, and have been running my current iMac at a ratio of 8:1 and never noticed issues.
Yup probably the only person on earth who ordered an iMac with the 5700 Pro 😋 Don’t really need the extra VRam & I already am over budget after I throw 64gb of Ram in there. Should have it Aug 20 - 24th.
C’mon Apple let’s git r’ out the door!
No... me too... Don't have a huge need for a lot of graphics power but wanted access to Display Stream Compression.
Spk1
macrumors member
Been going back and forth on the GPU as otherwise my configuration will be identical to yours (except for extended keyboard). I’m going to hold off on my order until I see more real world user info on the 5700 vs 5700XT.
I am planning to keep my iMac a while. Once the spinning rust drive has been eliminated, the component I have found that ages fastest on a computer these days is the GPU.
I will most likely join the 5700 club as well! 😀 Just waiting for a couple more reviews before pulling the trigger. Last few days I spent debating whether the nano texture is worth it and I think I finally decided I will go with the standard glass. Looks so nice that matte finish but who knows how it will fare in the long run.
Spk1
macrumors member
I’m planning to keep mine for hopefully at least 7 years. We’ll see. The caveat to the GPU is you could always upgrade with an eGPU. I think 🤔
I am having a hard time deciding on spec.. I want to tick all the boxes but with AS looming I feel like there is no way I'm going to keep it as long as my current 2014 27" iMac so that seems silly.
8 core with 5700 + 1TB seems to be the sane choice but might wait for more real reviews with different specifications.
8 core with 5700 + 1TB seems to be the sane choice but might wait for more real reviews with different specifications.
Kronen
macrumors regular
My built-to-order iMac just shipped from Shanghai, China! Delivers by August 14 (I paid the extra $8 for Express Delivery).
Here's hoping your iMacs ship soon, too!
Here's hoping your iMacs ship soon, too!
Put my order in. Decided to stick with a similar config to my 16" MBP. Might end up selling that and sticking with this paired with my 12.9 iPad Pro 512GB. Mostly work daily work, podcast recording, video editing projects. Maybe some games in bootcamp if the drivers work well in Win10.
Vinyldust
macrumors newbie
I actually ordered this same identical setup! 5700 Is already going to be way stronger than my current 2gb card in 2013 iMac! Mine shipped this morning from Shanghai as well - Due to arrive on Friday the 14th!
Also ordered 64gb of ram from OWC to swap in when it arrives!
CheesePuff
macrumors 68000
I'm going to be ordering the top-tier model this weekend with Floridas tax free weekend for up to $1K items (which helps as I'm in the highest sales tax area of the state), but I can't decide between going with the stock 512 GB storage or 1 TB.. the biggest downside is having to wait another 1-2 weeks. My plan would be to run Windows 10 via Boot Camp for light gaming, but I could always install that on an external SSD I suppose (I have a 512 GB Samsung T5)..
This is my configuration:
3.3GHz 6-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
1TB SSD storage
Radeon Pro 5300 with 4GB of GDDR6 memory
Retina 5K 5120-by-2880 P3 display with True Tone
In other words, the cheapest 27" with 1TB SSD.
Taking the top model would probably be a better deal, but I already think my iMac is overpriced enough and paying extra for longevity doesn’t make much sense to me, since its longevity won’t be great anyway. I’m not a power user though so I likely won’t notice much difference.
Given the ARM announcement I’m not very excited about my new computer, but I use dual boot a lot and I don’t want to buy two computers. So I hope it will last at least a few years. Perhaps I will keep using it just for Windows after I buy an ARM iMac in a couple of years.
I will get more RAM, but I didn’t decide which one to buy yet. I actually don’t really need more RAM urgently, but given how cheap RAM is (well, when you’re used to Apple prices like me), I will probably get 32GB anyway so I have 40GB in total.
3.3GHz 6-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
1TB SSD storage
Radeon Pro 5300 with 4GB of GDDR6 memory
Retina 5K 5120-by-2880 P3 display with True Tone
In other words, the cheapest 27" with 1TB SSD.
Taking the top model would probably be a better deal, but I already think my iMac is overpriced enough and paying extra for longevity doesn’t make much sense to me, since its longevity won’t be great anyway. I’m not a power user though so I likely won’t notice much difference.
Given the ARM announcement I’m not very excited about my new computer, but I use dual boot a lot and I don’t want to buy two computers. So I hope it will last at least a few years. Perhaps I will keep using it just for Windows after I buy an ARM iMac in a couple of years.
I will get more RAM, but I didn’t decide which one to buy yet. I actually don’t really need more RAM urgently, but given how cheap RAM is (well, when you’re used to Apple prices like me), I will probably get 32GB anyway so I have 40GB in total.
triangletechie
macrumors 65816
I ordered the $1,999 27” base model. This is replacing a 2017 21.5” so this is a huge upgrade for me. Arrives Wednesday.