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Update: Using 5k iMac as Windows Workhorse

-BigMac-

-BigMac-

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 15, 2011
2,492
2,858
Melbourne, Australia
Hey my dudes,
I have taken the plunge into Windows worlds - head first.

I was chasing a goal of seeing how good it performs as a daily driver with no Fusion Drive limitations, and how long I could survive with no Mac. (macOS is life)

Began with deleting CoreStorage (Fusion Drive assembly). Splitting up the 2 drives.
Then the tiring process of installing windows on the Internal SSD of the iMac. No, not the usual straightforward Bootcamp install.
After it had been done, I am left with a blazingly fast Windows machine.

Performance Notes
- Windows is half decent these days:eek:
- Unsurprisingly SSD works amazingly fast under windows vs Fusion Drive Bootcamp HDD. Completely different ball game.
- Have had no technical issues at all

Side Notes
- 'Apple' AMD Driver updates. Apples Current: 15.3. Newest from AMD(and un-installable): 16.4.:(
- Look into eGPU for 2k+ gaming??

Who else has done this? eGPU ideas? :)
 
This is tempting.. Out of curiosity, how much space did you allocate to Windows on the SSD?

I don't know that 128GB will be enough for all of my OS X and Windows apps :(
 
That's what I did, Windows is running in the internal 128GB SSD. I split up the spinning drive 1/2 for windows storage and 1/2 for OS X.

I'm running OS X off an external 500GB SSD and that is been working very well.
 
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I have a 2011 21.5 imac with a 256GB ssd. I use it with windows 10. They are so much faster than el capitan on my machine. OSX is also installed on the SSD but windows is faster.
 
I'm not fully sure how 5K works, or is supported. But, curious if when using Windows, you're 'seeing' the full effects of 5K, i.e. is Windows taking advantage of the 5K display?

Thanks
 
I had windows on my Imac and hated it, it may have been that I had not used windows at home since 2005 [back when i was in college], but I found it was quite buggy and several issues, including getting malware after only installing a windows update and chrome. Fast forward 12 months, I deleted win 10 [thank god it was a freebie from upgrade from an old family laptop, I now have reclaimed my 40gb windows portion, and have 512gb flash for my mac, I got a surface pro and win 10 pro on the surface is fantastic. Hardly use my ipad pro anymore.
 
-BigMac- said:
yep fully supported
Click to expand...
Scaling and some apps don't display as nicely as you wuld want them too. I use snagit and my resolution and zoom factor in windows makes that app have some issues.

GotomyPC is another example, where in full resolution on my iMac, the cursor is tiny (too small) on my guest system I signed in too.


macmee said:
Last time I checked, windows only supports 4k, not 5k on the imac
Click to expand...
I can run my iMac in full resolution in windows, I don't because of the problems stated above and I'm happy with how everything is configured but I beleive thanks to apple's drivers I get the full resolution - is that what you're asking?
 
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