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Cooling in the new 2020 27" iMac?

M

miretogo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 19, 2014
137
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Do we have any indication if the cooling in the new 2020 27" iMac has been improved compared to the 2019 model?

Do we have any indication if the cooling in the new 2020 27" iMac will be sufficient to cool the highest-end configuration (without it overheating or becoming incredibly loud)?

I plan to order the 8 core i7 (instead of the 10 core i) but am still unsure whether I should order it with the RX 5700 or the RX 5700 XT because of the cooling uncertainties. I once had a high-end 2015 iMac that reached absurd 107 °C during gaming despite manual fan control on full throttle and don't want that experience again.
 
Will probably need to wait for the reviews and tear downs to check cooling and fan noise.
 
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It does not sound like Apple made any substantial changes to the cooling system and the iMac does have a custom i9-10910 CPU that runs a bit slower at base and boost (by about 100Hz) which would imply it runs cooler to fit better in the existing cooling system, which is designed for 95W TDP chips while the top-end i9-10900K is a 125W TDP part.
 
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It doesn‘t have the slot in the back like the Pro, but still don‘t know for sure if cooling has changed.
41B77E9B-183F-4DCC-9278-EBD2B6E7B981.jpeg
 
Considering that the design hasn't changed, I really doubt it. We will find out soon enough (tomorrow).
 
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The cooling issue is the only thing keeping me from deciding on this new 10 core iMac or splurging on a 10 core iMac Pro. I need this to run cool with no fan noise. I’m in Audio production.
 
Whiteman007 said:
while true there isnt a fusion drive in there anymore so maybe used that extra space for better cooling
Click to expand...
But since you can order Fusion Drive the space can not be occupied with new cooling so I don't think they've changed much. On the other hand I wonder how they cool Radeon 5700XT and i9 unless they have underclocked both a lot.
 
Homy said:
But since you can order Fusion Drive the space can not be occupied with new cooling so I don't think they've changed much. On the other hand I wonder how they cool Radeon 5700XT and i9 unless they have underclocked both a lot.
Click to expand...

you cant order a fusion drive on any of the 27 inch models just checked
 
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Arguments for the existence of better cooling in 2020 iMacs:
* The absence of Fusion Drive brings extra space to work with
* Lower noise compared to 2019 model according to Apple (13 vs. 16 dB): https://support.apple.com/kb/SP821?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
* quite powerful CPU & GPU, especially the i9 and the RX 5700 XT

Arguments againts
* No iMac redesign & no vets on the rear like on the iMac Pro
* Apple's often careless negligence of cooling
 
There's a new report that the SSD on the 2020 iMac is soldered to the mainboard. While I dislike that, it means more space that Apple maybe uses for better cooling. We'll find out soon.
 
I actually think it's quite possible they redesigned the internals to allow better airflow. Maybe a bigger fan, different motherboard layout... who knows. It would be stupid to not use the extra space left after Fusion Drive.

Hope iFixit will do a teardown soon.
 
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So far, this seems to be the only review of a superior version (10 core, 5700XT) that actually has benchmarks and useful information. Unfortunately, it's in German, and I didn't understand too much. But the takeaway is that the CPU seems to be better than the one in the iMac Pro, and the 5700 XT also scores higher than the Vega 64.



Tally Ho also has some thermal and noise observations regarding the base version:

 
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wave84 said:
So far, this seems to be the only review of a superior version (10 core, 5700XT) that actually has benchmarks and useful information. Unfortunately, it's in German, and I didn't understand too much. But the takeaway is that the CPU seems to be better than the one in the iMac Pro, and the 5700 XT also scores higher than the Vega 64.



Tally Ho also has some thermal and noise observations regarding the base version:

Click to expand...
Try auto translate and choose english! :)
 
Isn't here any review yet to show iStatMenus or MacsFanControl? So, we can at least see if the iMac still has one fan or more?

btw, just watched the German video and around 7500 score on 3dmark time spy is low. Normal 5700xt gets over 9000 score. That 5700xt should be heavily down clocked and I doubt the cooling system has changed. Just as I expected from Tim Apple. Gross..
 
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I like this guy videos
are you going to buy one? or will you wait tell the Apple silicon new design models are here.? And it has the 10.80 webcam :)
 
ondert said:
Isn't here any review yet to show iStatMenus or MacsFanControl? So, we can at least see if the iMac still has one fan or more?
Click to expand...
Hows your other halfs Thunderbolt 3 drive going? i am not sure how long it will take for me to get it here in the UK?
 
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Roxy.music said:
Hows your other halfs Thunderbolt 3 drive going? i am not sure how long it will take for me to get it here in the UK?
Click to expand...

You're asking for the jeyi tb3 drives right? Still rock solid. No restarts or any issues. My wife's iMac is in sleep mode always when not in use, it works without any problem also.
 
ondert said:
Isn't here any review yet to show iStatMenus or MacsFanControl? So, we can at least see if the iMac still has one fan or more?
Click to expand...

iStat Menus needs to code support for the new models, and their fans and sensors, they don't automagically see them. This likely won't be a source of truth for fan count or other details
 
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