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iMac 2020 fluctuating Geekbench scores?

wendylou said:
Thanks! I make multitrack music in Reason Studio so the slight single core advantage of i7 is desirable. But I’m conflicted because I would also prefer the i9 10-core multicore speed advantage for X-plane, Final Cut Pro X, and Blender 3D renderings. Any musicians out there in the same boat trying to decide which processor?
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Yeah I'm also undecided. I run Ableton and there seem to be pluses and minuses to having higher clock speed or more cores, depending on how one manages their projects. I'm edging towards the i9 but am wavering from some of these inconsistent benchmarks.

This is an interesting read relating to Live specifically - https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/209067649-Multi-core-CPU-handling-FAQ
 
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wendylou said:
Thanks! I make multitrack music in Reason Studio so the slight single core advantage of i7 is desirable. But I’m conflicted because I would also prefer the i9 10-core multicore speed advantage for X-plane, Final Cut Pro X, and Blender 3D renderings. Any musicians out there in the same boat trying to decide which processor?
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I highly doubt you will feel any difference in Final Cut between those two. To be honest, both processors are a major upgrade compared to previously and both are beasts. Don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
But in the french video I linked the i7 performed considerably better in Logic - Most likely due to the higher clock.
 
mlykke said:
I highly doubt you will feel any difference in Final Cut between those two. To be honest, both processors are a major upgrade compared to previously and both are beasts. Don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
But in the french video I linked the i7 performed considerably better in Logic - Most likely due to the higher clock.
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But they also show very reduced Geekbench 4 + 5 scores vs other i9's, which makes me think that unit was either faulty or setup incorrectly. I wouldn't trust that review or those benchmarks.
 
jobinhosyntax said:
But they also show very reduced Geekbench 4 + 5 scores vs other i9's, which makes me think that unit was either faulty or setup incorrectly. I wouldn't trust that review or those benchmarks.
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Thats an issue in multiple tests done by others as well. I've been talked to Rob at Barefeats who posted a score of 7321 on the i7 - Way below the usual 8500-8900 that a lot are getting. He has been testing multiple combinations of ram and getting more or less the same results. So something strange is definitely going on, but he assured me that he did not mix and match memory.

But regarding this specific review, I did see another one that had similar results with the i7 being better in several benchmarks, due to more throttling of the i9. I just can't find the video again - Guess I'll have to re-watch a bunch of Youtube vids.
 
mlykke said:
Thats an issue in multiple tests done by others as well. I've been talked to Rob at Barefeats who posted a score of 7321 on the i7 - Way below the usual 8500-8900 that a lot are getting. He has been testing multiple combinations of ram and getting more or less the same results. So something strange is definitely going on, but he assured me that he did not mix and match memory.

But regarding this specific review, I did see another one that had similar results with the i7 being better in several benchmarks, due to more throttling of the i9. I just can't find the video again - Guess I'll have to re-watch a bunch of Youtube vids.
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That's really strange. I guess my take would be that an i9 scoring 10,000 in Geekbench 5 as opposed to 8000, would probably perform a higher Logic benchmark. I'm still on the fence because of this uncertainty, hopefully Max Tech will shed some light!
 
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Got an update from Rob @ Barefeats. He re-ran the test on the i7 with 128GB(4x32 GB) ram and the result jumped from 7321 to 8865, which is much more in line with my expectations.
 
mlykke said:
Got an update from Rob @ Barefeats. He re-ran the test on the i7 with 128GB(4x32 GB) ram and the result jumped from 7321 to 8865, which is much more in line with my expectations.
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seems about right as i get 9800 ish with the 10 core
 
wendylou said:
Thanks! I make multitrack music in Reason Studio so the slight single core advantage of i7 is desirable. But I’m conflicted because I would also prefer the i9 10-core multicore speed advantage for X-plane, Final Cut Pro X, and Blender 3D renderings. Any musicians out there in the same boat trying to decide which processor?
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I've had word Max Tech will feature Logic benchmarks in their new reviews, which should help us decide...
 
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jobinhosyntax said:
I've had word Max Tech will feature Logic benchmarks in their new reviews, which should help us decide...
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Max Tech is fantastic! Once I saw his superb video about the Apple Silicon, I knew he was the one to watch for the i9 10-core review. I kept checking all weekend. Can’t wait!
 
I've been talking to Rob @ Barefeats about the low Geekbench result he saw initially and thankfully we've found the cause to be ram not installed in dual-channel mode. So the initial suspicion was confirmed. He has re-run the test with the ram in dual channel mode and is now getting 8924 - Inline with what KrazyKanuck also saw in his test. Btw. Barefeats are starting to test the i9 as well and some of the initial benchmarks are on the website now.
 
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mlykke said:
I've been talking to Rob @ Barefeats about the low Geekbench result he saw initially and thankfully we've found the cause to be ram not installed in dual-channel mode. So the initial suspicion was confirmed. He has re-run the test with the ram in dual channel mode and is now getting 8924 - Inline with what KrazyKanuck also saw in his test. Btw. Barefeats are starting to test the i9 as well and some of the initial benchmarks are on the website now.
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So, just for clarification what’s the correct way for the RAM? I have the 2 4GB from Apple and 2 16GB from OWC.
 
Robejazz said:
So, just for clarification what’s the correct way for the RAM? I have the 2 4GB from Apple and 2 16GB from OWC.
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One set in slot 1 and 3 and the other set in 2 and 4. But be aware that multiple have had issues mixing the Apple ram with other brands on the 2020 iMac. So after installing the ram, check if the ram speed is 2666 or if it dropped to 2133.
 
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I was curious about the varying benchmarks too so I did a before/after test on my i9 when it was delivered today.

Here are the single/multicore results I got using Geekbench 5
- with 8GB of Apple-supplied RAM (2 x 4GB): 1266 / 7719
- with 32GB of Crucial CT16G4SFD8266 (2 x 16GB): 1288 / 10076
 
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So to summarize, if everything is configured correctly with dual channel etc. we should expect around 8900 on the i7 and around 10000 on the i9.
 
After seeing that the i7 will hit close to 9000 I ended up ordering that machine with the 5700 XT Pro. Now I just have to wait until september 10th... Thats gonna be hard! :D
 
mlykke said:
After seeing that the i7 will hit close to 9000 I ended up ordering that machine with the 5700 XT Pro. Now I just have to wait until september 10th... Thats gonna be hard! :D
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it will be a beast and it will likey arrive sooner. I ordered on the 4th they were sayign Aug 19-21 and it came on the 13th
 
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In this new video, testing i9 thermals during Geekbench, single core = 1347 and multicore = 9577.


Here is their actual Geekbench 5 data: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/3326821

Also, Macworld just reviewed and tested the i9 including Geekbench and other tests:
https://www.Macworld.com/article/3570439/27-inch-imac-2020-review-the-latest-intel-imac-leaves-a-lasting-impression.html

I have a similar i9 on order and will let the order stand, unless Thursday’s Max Tech review indicates otherwise.
 
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wendylou said:
In this new video, testing i9 thermals during Geekbench, single core = 1347 and multicore = 9577.
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The multicore is low here by about 500 points, I wonder why...

It's also apparent that the i9's single core score is often beating the i7 despite the lower clock speed, how is this possible?
 
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Max Tech i9 10-core review. So based on this, is i9 a buy or forget and go i7??
 
Feels like i7 is the way to go for me. These Max Tech videos our probably the most objective and helpful.
 
Rob has updated his initial test results for the 10-core, it seems he was also tripped up by the RAM installation order in his first run of benchmarks:

2020 iMac 5K 8-core versus 2017 iMac Pro 8-core

real world speed test results for performance minded Macintosh users
barefeats.com

Seems like a pretty convincing lead for the 10-core 5700XT vs. a 2017 8-core iMac Pro and the 8-core 2020 iMac.

I'm feeling sorely tempted by it. My issue (versus offloading almost twice as much for a 7,1 Mac Pro) remains I/O for video work. With only two Thunderbolt 3 ports (sharing a single bus), I have 2x Radeon VII eGPUs, external NVME mass storage and a Decklink Video card to somehow connect up to it (moving them all over from my 5,1 cMP). Which is all rather messier than I'd like it to be.

Does anyone know of a NVME-based NAS (or similar external box) that connects via 10Gbps Ethernet?
 
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