2019 iMac noise levels

[Freida]

Hello guys,

how is the noise on 2019 iMac, please? Are there favourable configurations that keep the iMac silent or is it another 2017? Seeing that the design is the same, can you provide feedback, please (and with config ideally)
Thank you

 

[Sam Marks]

Hello guys,

how is the noise on 2019 iMac, please? Are there favourable configurations that keep the iMac silent or is it another 2017? Seeing that the design is the same, can you provide feedback, please (and with config ideally)
Thank you

I have a new iMac 27" 2019 i9 vega 48 40gb RAM 500Gb ssd and it is pretty silent. Even doing processor intensive tasks it remains very quiet. It is an excellent and silent machine.

The CPU temperatures remain very low also, so the new solder thermal-interface material of the i9 9900K is having a great effect making the processor remain at low temperature.

I have waited almost 2 years to buy this new iMac because I did not want the iMac 5K 2017 i7 4.2 Ghz, because of reports on excessive noise and heat about that configuration. This new iMac 2019 is perfect for me and much cheaper and newer than the iMac Pro 2017.

 

[Freida]

I have a new iMac 27" 2019 i9 vega 48 40gb RAM 500Gb ssd and it is pretty silent. Even doing processor intensive tasks it remains very quiet. It is an excellent and silent machine.

The CPU temperatures remain very low also, so the new solder thermal-interface material of the i9 9900K is having a great effect making the processor remain at low temperature.

I have waited almost 2 years to buy this new iMac because I did not want the iMac 5K 2017 i7 4.2 Ghz, because of reports on excessive noise and heat about that configuration. This new iMac 2019 is perfect for me and much cheaper and newer than the iMac Pro 2017.

thank you, how do you find the Vega card? What made you decide to go for it? (I believe its overpriced, no?)

 

[Sam Marks]

I decided to go for the Vega 48 for the following reasons:

- Newer architecture of the Vega cards, similar to the iMac Pro. Newer GPU memory.

- Much cooler, quiter and energy efficient than the 580x, based on other user ports.

- I found a 8% discount for my new BTO iMac, so the Vega price was more attractive, and additionally I bought it for my company so I can discount the VAT from the price.

- For gaming and 3D modeling the benchmarks of most reviewers indicate that is notably faster than the 580x and also quiter (I also use the iMac for music production so it is also relevant.

- The Vega 48 is better tailored for deep learning modeling than the 580x due to its much higher FP16 precision. This was interesting.

- With the Vega 48, i9, 40gb RAM and the 512GB ssd (plus a 1TB Samsung T5) I have a system with similar specifications to the iMac Pro but at a much lower price point. The differences between the Vega 48 and the Vega 56 are not that big. And the i9 9900K processor is closer to the 10 core iMac pro than to the 8 core iMac pro and whisper quiet (and very cool). My current room temperature is between 32° and 35° C and the CPU rarely goes beyond 55° C.

I have received the i9 iMac last Monday and I did mainly CPU intensive tasks, no much GPU intensive tasks yet. But the temperatures and performance of the i9 + Vega 48 combo are great in my experience and also the temperatures and low noise level of the machine.

I will install Windows using Bootcamp on an external usb3 drive to play some modern games when I have some time. This will be my main use for the Vega 48 for the moment. Also I will try the machine learning capabilities of the Vega 48 GPU using ROCm.

 

[Freida]

I decided to go for the Vega 48 for the following reasons:

- Newer architecture of the Vega cards, similar to the iMac Pro. Newer GPU memory.

- Much cooler, quiter and energy efficient than the 580x, based on other user ports.

- I found a 8% discount for my new BTO iMac, so the Vega price was more attractive, and additionally I bought it for my company so I can discount the VAT from the price.

- For gaming and 3D modeling the benchmarks of most reviewers indicate that is notably faster than the 580x and also quiter (I also use the iMac for music production so it is also relevant.

- The Vega 48 is better tailored for deep learning modeling than the 580x due to its much higher FP16 precision. This was interesting.

- With the Vega 48, i9, 40gb RAM and the 512GB ssd (plus a 1TB Samsung T5) I have a system with similar specifications to the iMac Pro but at a much lower price point. The differences between the Vega 48 and the Vega 56 are not that big. And the i9 9900K processor is closer to the 10 core iMac pro than to the 8 core iMac pro and whisper quiet (and very cool). My current room temperature is between 32° and 35° C and the CPU rarely goes beyond 55° C.

I have received the i9 iMac last Monday and I did mainly CPU intensive tasks, no much GPU intensive tasks yet. But the temperatures and performance of the i9 + Vega 48 combo are great in my experience and also the temperatures and low noise level of the machine.

I will install Windows using Bootcamp on an external usb3 drive to play some modern games when I have some time. This will be my main use for the Vega 48 for the moment. Also I will try the machine learning capabilities of the Vega 48 GPU using ROCm.

Thank you. I'll see around November if we get an update or not and then see if xmas is happening or not

 

[Sam Marks]

Thank you. I'll see around November if we get an update or not and then see if xmas is happening or not

In my opinion the 2019 is one of the best iMacs. This machine replaces my mid 2010 MBP i7 (with 8gb ram and 240gb ssd), which is still perfectly working. But I wanted a more up to date machine. I already had my Christmas time this summer

 

[fastlanephil]

I will install Windows using Bootcamp on an external usb3 drive to play some modern games when I have some time. This will be my main use for the Vega 48 for the moment. Also I will try the machine learning capabilities of the Vega 48 GPU using ROCm.

Maybe with a work-around but Apple’s Bootcamp only allows the installation of Windows on a Mac’s internal drive.

 

[Sam Marks]

I am going to try the method described in the link below when I have some spare time. They could install windows 10 on an external drive. I do not know yet if I will use the 1TB Samsung T5 ssd or a 1TB Touro 7200 rpm usb 3 external hdd for this installation.

https://9to5mac.com/2017/08/31/how-windows-10-mac-boot-camp-external-drive-video/