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Is the retina iMac that bad? No it isn't.

R

richard371

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
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I'm looking to run VMware fusion, some light photo and video editing etc. looking at the. I7, 295x,512ssd. So far it seems to have good reviews but what I'm seeing on the forums is it is a disaster as far as gpu overheating and backlite bleeding. Would the Mac pro 6 core model be a more solid product and add a retina display later down the road when available?
 
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Don't listen/read to much in those threads. I was also really hesitant to buy the 5k mac because of the same reason you mentioned. But now I got one and ohh my god, it is so beautiful! Performance wise I have 0 problems and i have probably no real bad backlight bleeding to complain.

The guys moaning about everything are just running 24x7 those benchmark suites. There is also a thread about some professional using the 5k mac for video editing and they seem to be happy about the machine.
 
richard371 said:
I'm looking to run VMware fusion, some light photo and video editing etc. looking at the. I7, 295x,512ssd. So far it seems to have good reviews but what I'm seeing on the forums is it is a disaster as far as gpu overheating and backlite bleeding. Would the Mac pro 6 core model be a more solid product and add a retina display later down the road when available?
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I've the i7/32/512/M295X variant, and it flies. Even handles 4K editing quite well.
 
No one should make buying decisions solely based on blather here.

If you did, you would never buy an Apple product; you'd be waiting endlessly for "refreshes," a new and better system like System X of long ago, and lower prices.

It's a great machine.
 
What Rob said, don't decide solely on the basis of what is written here.

The RiMac is certainly 'not that bad' (whatever that means for you). Some are very happy with their RiMacs, others have sent them back.

You need to find out what are the important criteria for you - e.g. silent operation under all conditions… maybe this is important for you, maybe not. Either way, reading the forum here will give you some hints that the maxed-out RiMacs are louder than the maxed-out 2013 iMac…

Just make a list of what is important and what is less important and try to find out how the RiMac fulfills your criteria. It's fun!
 
I use my mine for web dev, video; and, photo. It is absolutely a dream machine. I gather that gamers are disappointed but I am not.

Post-Script: I am on i7/32/295/1 TB SSD.
 
I don't play games at all. Just dice with buddies on the iPhone.

driftless said:
I use my mine for web dev, video; and, photo. It is absolutely a dream machine. I gather that gamers are disappointed but I am not.

Post-Script: I am on i7/32/295/1 TB SSD.
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richard371 said:
I'm looking to run VMware fusion, some light photo and video editing etc. looking at the. I7, 295x,512ssd. So far it seems to have good reviews but what I'm seeing on the forums is it is a disaster as far as gpu overheating and backlite bleeding. Would the Mac pro 6 core model be a more solid product and add a retina display later down the road when available?
Click to expand...

As others have stated, it's best to take forum posts for what they are when making purchasing decisions. If you think about it, out of millions of Apple device users out there, negative forum posts are just a highly concentrated minority. It's self fulfilling to look for negative reviews on forums. If you look, you will find someone yelling about problems with any particular product.

I only wish I could afford to get my hands on the 5K iMac. Instead, I'm happily getting by with my several year old iMac. You'll be happy with either the iMac or the Mac Pro but the Mac Pro seems overkill for the uses you mention.
 
I am not a gamer but a fairly intensive user (read: NOT an intensive TESTER).
My computer is mainly for high-level photography and the usual business applications.
My RiMac (i7, 24GB, 4G graphics, 1TB Fusion (plus a number of ext drives) is the very best computer I ever had by a mile.
(upgraded from high-end recent iMac and high-end PC's before that)
 
robgendreau said:
No one should make buying decisions solely based on blather here.

If you did, you would never buy an Apple product; you'd be waiting endlessly for "refreshes," a new and better system like System X of long ago, and lower prices.

It's a great machine.
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Well put. I have "the full Monty" system, and it's absolutely fantastic. None of the supposed issues some have complained about. Buy it!
 
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The riMac is "that bad" in the same way as the iphone 6 is unusable because it bends the moment you touch it.
 
robgendreau said:
No one should make buying decisions solely based on blather here.

If you did, you would never buy an Apple product; you'd be waiting endlessly for "refreshes," a new and better system like System X of long ago, and lower prices.

It's a great machine.
Click to expand...

Bang on he point, i've got a friend who's been on the verge of getting a 27" mac since.....2012 when the slim ones originally came out, his Vaio all in one has been on the ropes for years now but he's still waiting for the mac promised land which surprise surprise he can never find.
 
richard371 said:
Is it safe to use crucial memory to bring it up to 24?

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-1...qid=1424018424&sr=8-1&keywords=16gb+1600+iMac
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Why wouldn't it be as long as you obtain the correct memory specification? Just test the ram before you place the machine back in service. That goes for every brand, because you can get bad sticks. That advice goes for any machine, but as for upgrading ram, it has the same replacement method as the old 27", in which ram remained user serviceable. Also keep in mind all displays have backlight bleed. Even super expensive ones have backlight bleed. They just use different methods of compensating for it. All imacs have it to some degree. All of the thunderbolt displays have it to some degree. If it's bad enough to be obvious or regularly noticeable, then it's a problem. Most people who show over-exposed image of the display at full brightness in low lighting were trying to confirm earlier concerns. For example you might feel like something in a particular region is off yet be unable to confirm it. That is when you should resort to those kinds of tests.
 
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its not bad but even lenovo and dell have better graphics. I just don't get why people want this. I got it because it is retina and needed an upgrade
 
Remrod said:
The guys moaning about everything are just running 24x7 those benchmark suites. There is also a thread about some professional using the 5k mac for video editing and they seem to be happy about the machine.
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I don't think I have ever benchmarked mine. Just don't see the need to, it does everything I need it to do without issue.

perspective7 said:
I have i7 512 flash, 4GB graphics and non apple memory 24GB

I ******* love it :apple: :D
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Same specs over here, liking mine just fine :D

Natzoo said:
its not bad but even lenovo and dell have better graphics. I just don't get why people want this. I got it because it is retina and needed an upgrade
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If the GPU is the only thing you care about the Retina iMac is indeed not for you (a custom-built PC with a high-end desktop GPU is). However, there are plenty of people like myself who aren't heavy gamers and think it's a great machine.
 
richard371 said:
I'm looking to run VMware fusion, some light photo and video editing etc. looking at the. I7, 295x,512ssd. So far it seems to have good reviews but what I'm seeing on the forums is it is a disaster as far as gpu overheating and backlite bleeding. Would the Mac pro 6 core model be a more solid product and add a retina display later down the road when available?
Click to expand...

The current Mac Pro isn't going to easily support a 5K display unless Apple specifically enables it. Dual 4K displays are possible, with the Dell UP2414Q being a good option if you want a Retina-like experience. But you're going to be paying a LOT more money to get a similar experience (probably $1500 more comparatively).

I have a nearly maxed out Retina iMac (only 512GB SSD) since day one and I could not be happier with the machine. Not only does it run a Windows 8.1 VM with 8GB RAM butter smooth, I started another Windows 10 VM also running 8GB RAM and there was barely a hiccup. This was with 32GB installed and all 3 operating systems ran great. Even a single Windows 8.1 VM with 2GB RAM on my 2012 rMBP with 8GB starts stuttering. My Retina iMac is a godsend.

If the GPU is actually overheating, take it to the Apple store for them to take a look at it. I almost never hear the fan during my work (iOS development). No backlight bleed either.
 
Just buy it. If YOU have a problem with it then you can always return it. Sure its a bit of a hassle but I think in the end you'll be satisfied with it anyway.
 
Well I went with the I7, 512 ssd, 295x, and added 16GB ram for 24 and Apple care. I am am very impressed so far. The display is amazing and no major light bleed etc. I have VMware fusion running with an entire domain (win 2008 server, MS Exchange 2010 Server, Win 7 and Win 10 clients). All running at the same time. I only hear the fan when windows is installing a bunch of updates. I also tried X-plane 10 full screen with pretty much the highest settings and it was fairly smooth and the fan did kick in. Im not to worried as I do not play games. I will mainly be using this to build virtual machines and study to pass Microsoft exams hopefully. Will also be using it for photography and editing 4K footage from the DJI Inspire 1. This does not feel like a version 1 computer. Thanks for everyones feedback.
 
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