New i7 2.93Ghz Owners Thread

[aliensporebomb]

Update.....

I'm very seriously considering the i7 over a Mac Pro at the moment, and it would be exclusively for running Logic. I've been really encouraged by the couple of posts from people using it for Logic and having good results! Please can I ask for more information?

At the moment I'm trying to run sessions on my MBP, which isn't working out so well. The MBP is my "everything" machine, so it's cluttered with other software to the gills. Its 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo gets flustered pretty quickly with the sessions I'm throwing at it. These are usually pretty light on audio tracks but heavy on virtual instrument tracks – I'm using the Rhodes and Hammond emulations a lot, plus Kontakt, plus occasional EXS24, plus other 3rd-party stuff... plus of course nice modelled EQs and other processors. The MBP starts to stutter at the point where my track is about 70% done, and even freezing and altering buffers only buys me so much grunt.

I've been saving for a "music only" machine for a year now, and waiting for the new Mac Pros avidly. But the news on that front seems pretty mixed (take a look at their forums – they're not happy bunnies over there). The bottom line seems to be bad price/performance ratio in the lower-end machines, which is all I can afford in any case. So the top-end iMac suddenly starts to look very tempting.

Please, anyone who's using Logic, could you give me an idea of what kinds of
sessions the i7 is able to handle? What kind of virtual instruments (and in what quantities) you're throwing at it? EG, I'd love to know what AlienSporeBomb's "most intense logic session" looked like. Then maybe I can get a good idea of what to expect. I would dearly, dearly love to be able to make music without constantly having to micro-manage the computer to hold things together...

Finally, also on the musical front, how intrusive are you finding any hard drive noise? Quiet is important: it's going to be sitting 3 feet from the microphone, more or less. And finally finally, any thoughts on how worth-it the SSD option is – and what would you use it for? System drive, or sample storage for Kontakt / EXS24?

Many thanks (for reading all this, if nothing else... )!

I've got a rough mix prepared of a ridiculous instrumental I put together - used for the chase scene intro of a non-existent movie with literally dozens of virtual instruments (at least nine different ones), sixteen tracks of harmony guitar doubled with lead synth, sequencers, drums, six string bass massive layered synth pads towards the end with a mellow piano out-tro for the faux romantic scene. I even put weird little environmental sounds in the background ala Pink Floyd/Porcupine Tree.

http://pod.ath.cx/espionage/

Mind you this is a Corei7 2.8 ghz iMac, your 2.9's should get you even more performance.

Also, today I managed to get another couple hundred digits in geekbench just by swapping my ram sticks from 2-2-4-4 to 4-4-2-2 (largest ones first):

 

[dalvin200]

Time Machine Restore to new i7 with SSD?

Just a question to those (or anyone who knows) who got the SSD option.

I understand that OS X and the apps will all be pre-installed on the SSD drive, which is fine.

Ideally, I want to just copy all my stuff over from my time machine backup, but where will it put this stuff? on the SSD or HDD?
Obviously stuff like Music/Movies/Photo's should go on the HDD and just simple stuff like Apps and stuff go on the SSD.

Does it work this it by itself or will it try and put everything on the SSD?

Or do I have to manually say put some stuff on the SSD and some stuff on the HDD?

I'm a bit confused now

Also, my delivery status updated..

does the below now mean its gonna be 4 days early??

 

[DHart]

Yesterday I decided the 27" i7 2.93 GHz would be a good second editing machine for my photography studio. Went to the Portland, OR Apple Store, bought one, opened it in the store to check the screen... P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Assembled in the good ole USA. Runs silently and swiftly. And now that it's all set up, it's screaming fast! All I'm awaiting for it now is 8GB more memory (for total of 12 GB) from OWC. That will make my image editing and processing just fly. Even with the 4GB of RAM, I can roar through large Lightroom catalogs of RAW files from the 5D MkII like never before. And filters in CS5 Photoshop are noticibly quicker.

I'm extremely impressed with this machine... and I've had probably 30 Macs over the years (since 1984!) I think this is quicker than my 8-core MacPro which I bought about a year and a half ago.

 

[guybblue]

Oh gods. That one is a bunch of virtual instruments and dozens and dozens of different guitar tracks and most of the individuals tracks are effected in some way. Let me create a quick MP3 mix to give you an idea how thick I mix things at times... I haven't done much in the way of mic'ed recordings since the vast
majority of my stuff goes direct but I've got some acoustic guitar I'd like to get set-up. I think the electric fan to keep me cooler would be noisier than any
fan inside the imac.

Many thanks for this! It's really useful: doesn't look like I'd have any trouble doing the kind of sessions I want on this machine. And I love the track – hope you get to write the next James Bond...!

The 1 TB drives are either Seagate or Western Digital. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to which region gets which drive. The 2 TB drives are all Hitachis and are supposedly louder than the Western Digital 1 TB but quieter than the Seagate 1 TB.

No yellow issue, no bleed, 1 dead pixel that i can only see when i test it. The WD hardrive is silent as a mouse.
)

This also sounds promising. The acoustic noise issue is the one thing that's concerning me at the moment. What I'm hoping I'm able to do is to order through my local Apple reseller, rather than the online store, and ask if they can make sure that I get a unit with a WD hard drive. Just to be certain, though, can anyone else confirm that the WD drives are the pretty-much-silent ones? Anyone able to check (via System Profiler) whether their quiet machine = Western Digital, or their more-noisy machine = Seagate / Hitachi, please could you let us know? A kind of straw poll would be very interesting...

Thanks again folks for all your help

 

[DHart]

I've got five or six Seagate Barracuda 1 TB drives and while they are indeed noisy drives (they sound similar to the sound of a fan in a HD enclosure), they have been stone reliable.

My new 27" iMac 2.93 i7 also has a Seagate 1TB in it, but I don't hear it, so either they are quieter drives now, or being inside the iMac you don't hear it.

 

[dwarnecke11]

A side note about my experience with the Seagate 1 TB - last November I bought the i5 27" but returned it due to screen yellowing and flickering and it had the Seagate. At home it was noticeable and bothered me a bit. Definite grumbling sounds. However, when I took it to my college apartment, the annoying grumbling became a subtle ticking and stayed that way until the day I returned it. I suppose a different environment or desk can do wonders.

In other news, my iPod 8 GB is in transit but my 27" i7 still hasn't shipped.

 

[rfs]

I've had my 27" 2.93GHz i7 (4GB stock + 8 GB from OWC, SSD + 1TB) for a few days now. It's pretty much perfect. No yellow tinting. One stuck pixel (I think it's stuck, rather than dead, because it's reddish - but I haven't been able to unstick it). Quieter than my C2D 24" iMac. This machine just blazes!

 

[carlgo]

...

The real justification that made me pull the trigger tonight though is that I have just completed day 14 of quitting smoking. I call this my reward to myself. The money I will save over the next year will pay for the machine alone.

... Now at 14 days without a puff, I get an urge a couple of times a day but it is no longer unbearable. I simply tell myself that it will pass, and it does.

... if I ever get the urge that just cannot be passed, I'll just jump on my new toy to forget about it.

troutspinner

Let me suggest The Nicotrol system. I think by far the best way to quit, but hardly any publicity. Gives you something to "smoke", takes care of the oral thing and gives you the throat feel. All good. Prescription. I have been "sober" for over 10 years and cigarette smoke is disgusting to me now. It would be good for someone who quit, but still had an urge now and then. It took me about a month to really be free and I never, ever cheated.

 

[texrb]

My 24" was 'made in california' but I can't remember if it said that right on the box. I'm wondering if the local stores get them in if I can have them check the boxes for me and get one that was assembled in the US. Seems they might have fewer quality control problems.

If you check the serial number, you can tell which ones are made in the US by going to this link:
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-ma...nderstand-apple-mac-serial-number-format.html

 

[xraydoc]

Just a question to those (or anyone who knows) who got the SSD option.

I understand that OS X and the apps will all be pre-installed on the SSD drive, which is fine.

Ideally, I want to just copy all my stuff over from my time machine backup, but where will it put this stuff? on the SSD or HDD?
Obviously stuff like Music/Movies/Photo's should go on the HDD and just simple stuff like Apps and stuff go on the SSD.

Does it work this it by itself or will it try and put everything on the SSD?

Or do I have to manually say put some stuff on the SSD and some stuff on the HDD?

I'm a bit confused now

Also, my delivery status updated..

does the below now mean its gonna be 4 days early??

If you use the Migration Assistant, as far as I can tell, it'll put everything on the main OS X drive, be it the mechanical HD or the SSD.

When I received my iMac (see below), I wanted some things on the SSD and some on the conventional HD, so in the end I moved my data over manually and reinstalled my apps from their original disks (or disk images as the case was).

The Migration Assistant app does have the ability to include/exclude certain folders, so that may be all you need. It ended up being kind of a PITA for me, since I had 750GB of data on my old computer's drive which needed to be split between the SSD (obviously wouldn't fit) and the HD.

 

[dalvin200]

If you use the Migration Assistant, as far as I can tell, it'll put everything on the main OS X drive, be it the mechanical HD or the SSD.

When I received my iMac (see below), I wanted some things on the SSD and some on the conventional HD, so in the end I moved my data over manually and reinstalled my apps from their original disks (or disk images as the case was).

The Migration Assistant app does have the ability to include/exclude certain folders, so that may be all you need. It ended up being kind of a PITA for me, since I had 750GB of data on my old computer's drive which needed to be split between the SSD (obviously wouldn't fit) and the HD.

oh man... that IS going to be shame...

so this definitely rules out setting up the new mac from a time machine backup...

i have 2 user accounts which i want to transfer over - can migration assistant simply send the settings/prefs over? (assume to the ssd).

what about mail accounts etc..? i have about 7 email accounts in Mail.app - will these get transferred over?

Basically i just need to transfer everything from old mac except apps/movies/photos/music, which i can do manually onto the hdd instead of ssd.

is that possible via migration assistant?

 

[iCaleb]

Can a external HDD backup a internal SDD??


I probably won't buy SDD unit until it is available in 1tb but I was just curious.

 

[dalvin200]

Can a external HDD backup a internal SDD??

i don't see why not - it's just a drive afterall... be it hdd or ssd should make no difference

 

[xraydoc]

Can a external HDD backup a internal SDD??

Yes.

 

[Mad4WDW]

I've got a rough mix prepared of a ridiculous instrumental I put together - used for the chase scene intro of a non-existent movie with literally dozens of virtual instruments (at least nine different ones), sixteen tracks of harmony guitar doubled with lead synth, sequencers, drums, six string bass massive layered synth pads towards the end with a mellow piano out-tro for the faux romantic scene. I even put weird little environmental sounds in the background ala Pink Floyd/Porcupine Tree.

http://pod.ath.cx/espionage/


Hi All,

I ordered an i7 yesterday so have been on here reading up etc. Read this then downloaded your track Todd. I bounced over to your myspace site and personal website. I'd love to hear more of your music, I'm listening now to the myspace stuff as I type. Do you have MP3's I can download from somewhere?

Can't wait for my 27" iMac to arrive )

Greg

 

[gn!uz]

Just replaced all the memory to 16Gb in my spanking new i7 2.93GHz 27" with SSD and 1TB WDC drive.

Geekbench result in 64-bit mode is 10822!
Integer: 9464
Floating Point: 17003
Memory: 5535
Stream: 4524

I'm truly amazed by the speed of this monster.. 100% satisfied! Who needs a Mac Pro, this is a Mac Pro with a screen! Awesome.

 

[Northgrove]

Just replaced all the memory to 16Gb in my spanking new i7 2.93GHz 27" with SSD and 1TB WDC drive.

Geekbench result in 64-bit mode is 10822!
Integer: 9464
Floating Point: 17003
Memory: 5535
Stream: 4524

I'm truly amazed by the speed of this monster.. 100% satisfied! Who needs a Mac Pro, this is a Mac Pro with a screen! Awesome.

I agree. It has amazing raw CPU/memory performance, if that's what you're looking for. Even in Mac Pro realms in some tests, and easily reigns as the best All-in-one on the market, performance-wise. The advantage in the case with Mac Pro's is simply upgradability, IMHO. (if I compare to the low-end ones and you don't use highly specialized and multithreaded applications) But then there are disadvantages in terms of form factor and price instead to the Pros.

 

[macaximx]

My new i7 2.93 with 8GB & 2TB arrived today ( a day early) and all I can say is WOW! Quite the difference from my 2007 2.8 Ghz iMac!

So far no backlighting/ flashlighting. Love the Maagic Trackpad also.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Hello.....

I've got a rough mix prepared of a ridiculous instrumental I put together - used for the chase scene intro of a non-existent movie with literally dozens of virtual instruments (at least nine different ones), sixteen tracks of harmony guitar doubled with lead synth, sequencers, drums, six string bass massive layered synth pads towards the end with a mellow piano out-tro for the faux romantic scene. I even put weird little environmental sounds in the background ala Pink Floyd/Porcupine Tree.

http://pod.ath.cx/espionage/


Hi All,

I ordered an i7 yesterday so have been on here reading up etc. Read this then downloaded your track Todd. I bounced over to your myspace site and personal website. I'd love to hear more of your music, I'm listening now to the myspace stuff as I type. Do you have MP3's I can download from somewhere?

Can't wait for my 27" iMac to arrive )

Greg

I don't really have much in the way of the new stuff up for download. Stay tuned, I'm trying to get something put together soonly.

 

[kristian21]

I got my iMac today and have no issues with it at all. Gorgeous computer.

 

[stacypatrick]

logic installs (and FCP Studio)

I'm new here and was researching the new iMac (trying to decide whether to go that route or Mac Pro), but came across a few posts about Logic and the pain of the install...

Just a tip for any future Logic installers. If you rip all the discs to images in Toast and then install from those you can do the entire install, including the rip (took me about 45 minutes to do all the discs) in about 1.5-2 hours max.

Whats really nice is you can actually mount ALL of the disc images after you have ripped them and then walk away. Every time the installer needs the next disc, if it is mounted, it just automatically continues.

This works for the otherwise equally painful Final Cut Pro Studio install as well.

 

[lyrrad721]

Oh Yeah!!!!!!!11

Today my 2.93 i7 iMac arrived at last!! Designed and assembled in USA! Just got done checking it, no buzzing, screen looks perfect, no hard drive noise... (KNOCK ON WOOD). I bought it along with the applecare at apple.com, is the iMac warranty registered already? How do I check that? Sorry for the dumb question, this is my first Mac

 

[Mad4WDW]

OFF TOPIC-Aliensporebomb

I don't really have much in the way of the new stuff up for download. Stay tuned, I'm trying to get something put together soonly.

Hi Todd,

New stuff would be great but I'd love all that stuff you have on your website and myspace as AAC or MP3 files so I can listen to it on my iPod rather than by playing it just from where its embeded. Is there somewhere where I can actually download your older stuff? Did I miss something?

My i7 is now showing as prepared for shipping, its like waiting for Christmas hahaha.

Cheers

Greg

 

[stacypatrick]

Cinebench?

My kingdom for some info on how this machine functions for 3d rendering. Cinebench numbers or some sort of explanation of how satisfied you are or aren't with it in terms of non-gaming 3d performance.

 

[ramallite]

Today my 2.93 i7 iMac arrived at last!! Designed and assembled in USA! Just got done checking it, no buzzing, screen looks perfect, no hard drive noise... (KNOCK ON WOOD). I bought it along with the applecare at apple.com, is the iMac warranty registered already? How do I check that? Sorry for the dumb question, this is my first Mac

First of all to answer your question: Enter your serial number on this website (accessible from support.apple.com):
https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

It should tell you that you're under warranty for 3 years. If you ordered Applecare together with your iMac, it should already be registered.

I just received my i7 today also. Assembled in the USA with a QP serial number. I'm having a difficult time telling if I have the yellow tint problem or not; when I do the tests, the bottom grey bar is slightly yellower than the top, but there is no dramatic yellowing of the type I see in the sample photos (in those photos, you can see the yellowing seep all around the bottom grey bar into the white area - I don't see my yellowing as that severe at all). My old Viewsonic had much more yellowing than this iMac does, but I never noticed it until I read this forum and ran the tests. Anyway, I'm in the process of transferring my stuff over from my trusty old G5. Congrats on yours by the way.