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iMac 27'' 5K Late 2015 High End model - Performance & Issues
- Thread starter Panosher
- Start date
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Hi everyone...new to this forum...I'm a videographer looking at upgrading from a 27" imac 2009 i5 running 10.6.8 to a new late 2015 27"imac i7 or a used late 2014 i7...
I was looking into the 2014 imac but i read that it had overheating issues with the 4GB GPU and that discouraged me from buying it used..I don't play games on my macs but video will be intensive...not 4K yet but lots of exports etc and I think that will force the imac to work at full load...and the forums I saw seem to indicate that not only it would get hotter than recommended but that performance would suffer as the computer lowers GHZ to compensate for the heat...
I know that most imacs get hotter (no real cooling system inside) but the warnings about the imac late 2014 seem a bit more worrying to me...so for anyone who owns a late 2014 and/or upgraded to a late 2015, how much difference does that 2015 make? I'd rather save up a bit and get a system that will be good for 4-5 years. My imac 2009 does get hot but never shut down or gave a panic warning and it runs fine...sure I have to render at night etc but it sure handles FCP 7 fine and adobe Premiere 5.5 and sure AFX is slow but it works fine...I will keep it as back up but I would love to believe that all those incredible benchmark numbers really make a huge difference in real life work..I don't play games..just video and some photo...
first hand opinions would be greatly appreciated..
I hope I'm suffering from a silly case of upgraditis!
thanks
Erick
I was looking into the 2014 imac but i read that it had overheating issues with the 4GB GPU and that discouraged me from buying it used..I don't play games on my macs but video will be intensive...not 4K yet but lots of exports etc and I think that will force the imac to work at full load...and the forums I saw seem to indicate that not only it would get hotter than recommended but that performance would suffer as the computer lowers GHZ to compensate for the heat...
I know that most imacs get hotter (no real cooling system inside) but the warnings about the imac late 2014 seem a bit more worrying to me...so for anyone who owns a late 2014 and/or upgraded to a late 2015, how much difference does that 2015 make? I'd rather save up a bit and get a system that will be good for 4-5 years. My imac 2009 does get hot but never shut down or gave a panic warning and it runs fine...sure I have to render at night etc but it sure handles FCP 7 fine and adobe Premiere 5.5 and sure AFX is slow but it works fine...I will keep it as back up but I would love to believe that all those incredible benchmark numbers really make a huge difference in real life work..I don't play games..just video and some photo...
first hand opinions would be greatly appreciated..
I hope I'm suffering from a silly case of upgraditis!
thanks
Erick
If your income depends in it, get a MacPro.
All the evidence points to the fact that it's currently the only system in Apple' shop that can sustain high load for hours without throttling.
All the evidence points to the fact that it's currently the only system in Apple' shop that can sustain high load for hours without throttling.
Did you restore from a time machine backup? Besides sound check, what other software have you installed?
If you feel like it, we can try to troubleshoot if this is being caused by an errant application/kernel extension that isn't working in El Capitan.
copy and paste this line into the terminal. Type your admin password and then paste the results into this thread
If you feel like it, we can try to troubleshoot if this is being caused by an errant application/kernel extension that isn't working in El Capitan.
copy and paste this line into the terminal. Type your admin password and then paste the results into this thread
Code:
{ sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|cups|isc|ntp|postf|x)/{print $3}'; echo; sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook; echo; sudo crontab -l; } 2> /dev/null | open -ef
Thermal throttling on the 2015 iMac 5k was no problem in these tests:
I'm a professional video editor and I have both 2015 and 2013 top-spec iMac 27s. In general I would recommend the 2015 or a refurbished/used top-spec 2013. I have both on my desk and have tested them extensively with FCP X and Premiere Pro CC. In general FCP X is a lot faster and more fluid, and uses less CPU for a given operation. Premiere causes the fans to spin up a lot more, especially on H264 4k material. The 2015 is a modestly faster on some things but the 2013 does very well.
However as you know video editing is extremely resource-intensive, especially on the CPU and GPU. If you have the slightest plan to ever do 4k work, get the highest-end 2015 iMac available. If you want to save money get a top-spec 2013 iMac 27 -- they work very well also, but the screen isn't as nice.
If you ever transition to FCP X that will also help a lot since it's much faster than legacy FCP or Premiere. Unlike the other two, FCP X uses Intel's Quick Sync on-chip transcoder which improves encode/decode/transcode performance for H264 up to 4x or 5x.
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oops...premature posting! Thanks Joema2 for your reply...i got 5 good years out of the imac 2009 and i think an upgrade is inevitable soon...I will definitely get an imac i7 late 2015 soon...now, currently I used Lacie D2 drives firewire800 and I know that I can still use them (I only do 1080p videos for now)with a new imac by using a thunderbolt to firewire adaptor-right? and I should still be able to continue to edit as I have so far...I really don't want to buy new thunderbolt drives on top of the imac expense...The other thing I read was about the fusion drive vs SSD internal drive for the imac...I wish I could afford the 1TB SSD but not yet...
If I were to get the imac with a 2TB Fusion drive and i wanted to upgrade in 3 years to a full SSD when prices come down...is it possible? nothing prevents this internally in the imac such as unique architecture etc?
I think SSD would be awesome but too costly for now and the 512GB is not enough even if I keep all my video files on the lacie drives..
i wanted to save some money buying a Imac late 2014 but the reports are not encouraging. I watched the video about comparing the late 2014 vs the late 2015 and perhaps is best to go with the late 2015-I still have a machine that works fairly well and I have a MBP i7 late 2011 that works well as well...
thanks for your help guys!
Erick
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I'd say that it is software related but it also comes down to what else you have installed - my installation is pretty vanilla, no additional software that requires access to the lower level parts of the system and I haven't noticed any problems with the only difference between me and OP is 16GB, 512GB SSD. That being said, 10.11.2 is being tested pretty extensively and I'd say that it'll fix a large number of problems that you're experiencing.
Buying the latest hardware always ensure the best experience. Seeing how the 2015 is better in every aspect, you'll be having buyer's remorse down the line if you go with the 2014.
Hello, Can't contact you personally so hope you can give me feedback or someone else can. I have the exactly same setup as you do (only difference is the 8gb memory) and also find the system performance laggy. Bought the iMac in late Dec 2015 also shipped from Ireland (don't know if that says anything).
• 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
• 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 1TB Flash Storage
• AMD Radeon R9 M395X with 4GB video memory
I have no heat or fan issues. I did almost everything to find a solution:
• 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
• 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 1TB Flash Storage
• AMD Radeon R9 M395X with 4GB video memory
I have no heat or fan issues. I did almost everything to find a solution:
- Reset SMC
- Reset NVRAM
- Run Apple Diagnostic test (no problems)
- Clean install (did a migration at first thought maybe that gave issues)
- Deleted Logitech driver (though maybe that causes a problem but it is defiantly not that)
- Run Cinebench similar results as you got only my OpenGL was a bit faster and your CPU test a tiny bit over my
I think it is El Capitan + 3rd party Software’s compatibility. For example Kaspersky antivirus is slowing down everything. I ll suggest to keep your mac if you do not have any hardware issues. Let's hope apple will create a better OS in the future.
Sorry for the two posts i also posted a second one ignore that.
Do you also still have issues performance wise? Still bit laggy overall? After the clean install i didn't install any apps to see if the issues where still there. For example iTunes in album artwork view opening albums is still quite laggy! Do you have that? I ruled out driver problems from my Logitech mouse or Wacom tablet used other drivers and no drivers.
After i find out that it occurs without any 3rd party software installed i installed apps i use Adobe apps the most (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Bridge) and Glyphsapp the last one really shows what is wrong the OS (still hope that is problem). When drawing, selecting, scrolling and zooming it feels the most of the time not as it supposed to be, sometimes it comes back as normal but usually just for a minute. For example my Macbook Pro the Mac that i replaced runs that program better! And because you have almost the same setup i was wondering how your performances are and maybe we can compare it. Apple frustrates me i must say this is the 3rd Mac i owned and the first that give me the feeling why did i payed so much for this. I need it for work so i really hope that it is the OS. I didn't called Apple care yet still have warranty, but normally those guys are really quick i saying replace it. Especially when i almost did every trick there is.
I also have the same feeling sometimes with this version. I think it is software related (OS), but yet too much money for something not working smooth. If you think that performance could be hardware related, you can ask for a replacement. My replacement's performance is the same as before ..., my fan noise has been resolved though.
Apple Diagnostics Test came out clean so don't think anything is wrong with the hardware. Also i don't have any heat or fan noise problems. Can't really hear the iMac running very quiet. So you did have a replacement and the performance feels the same? That sucks excuse my French and give me a the idea that this option won't help me.
Only constant thing i also have when booting the iMac is the 'animated' part of it. It suppose to go like this: Apple Logo with time bar and when 100% full fadeOut and FadeIn Desktop. It really boots fast, but with my iMac the Apple logo shows up with bar running for a flash of a second disappears and shows op again and you see the desktop without any fadein/out only when i set the password and enter. It did this from the beginning also after clean install it isn't that of a problem, but i want a overall smooth machine and performances for the amount of money like you said. Your thread and quick feedback have been really helpful! Thank you.
My 2015 top-spec iMac 27 also does that on boot. I don't think it indicates a problem, performance or otherwise. My iMac has good performance overall and is generally not laggy. The areas where it is laggy (certain LightRoom tasks, 4K in Premiere Pro, etc) are inefficient application software, not the OS or hardware.
I purchased my late 2015 27" iMac in October. Last weekend, Apple replaced the logic board due to a video problem with my m395x. Sucks to have a brand new machine that's been cracked open, but it's fully working now.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssues-imovie-quicktime.1947025/#post-22452916
I was not seeing any other issues, only video related problems. If I had been in my 14 days when I first noticed it, I would have returned it without a second thought and re-ordered.
Tim
[doublepost=1452736058][/doublepost]
Mine does exactly the same, with both the original and replacement logic boards. Normal behavior.
Tim
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssues-imovie-quicktime.1947025/#post-22452916
I was not seeing any other issues, only video related problems. If I had been in my 14 days when I first noticed it, I would have returned it without a second thought and re-ordered.
Tim
[doublepost=1452736058][/doublepost]
Mine does exactly the same, with both the original and replacement logic boards. Normal behavior.
Tim