iMac 27" - i5 (3.8GHz) or i7 (4.2GHz)

[EugW]

6+ months of owning the i5 3.8 with 1TB SSD for Multitrack audio recording, mixing and light video editing for music videos (AVCHD 1080P). Performance is stellar across the board. Never hear the fan unless encoding a >4 minute music video. Then maybe 1800rpm - no issue. Like some others - I too owned the 3.4 i5 and the 4.2 i7. The 4.2 i7 ran 20 to 30 degreesC hotter for normal non stressful tasks than the i5s. It also hit the fans for little things and had sustained full speed fans for all encoding over 30 seconds long. In my experience, The i5s are almost indistinguishable in single core tasks from each other and the i7. In multicore the i7 is clearly faster though for the video encoding I was doing 20% faster was all I saw over the 3.4 i5. If one needs the speed on video or image processing tasks the i7 makes sense. If music projects would not fit in my i5 I would have kept my 6 core Mac Pro. Like some others - I care not about future proofing anymore. If the machine can't fit my growing needs I will replace it. FWIW - I up speced every machine for the last 20 years. Only in 1998 was it necessary.

For my 3.5 i5, the fan doesn't usually hit 1800 rpm until after about 9-10 minutes of video encoding.

So at least for our two units and our usage, it does seem likely there is a real-world heat difference between the 3.5 i5-7600 and the 3.8 i5-7600K. That kinda makes sense though since the 3.5 i5-7600 has a 65 Watt TDP, and the 3.8 i5-7600K has a 91 Watt TDP, but the two iMacs use the exact same cooling system apparently.

And yes, when I had my i7-7700K, it would hit 2700 rpm within 30 seconds. Really annoying. 1800 rpm is audible but OK, while 2700 rpm is obnoxious. Some tests we did for video encoding had the i5-7600 non-K taking 25% longer than the i7-7700K for the same encode.

 

[Mac32]

6+ months of owning the i5 3.8 with 1TB SSD for Multitrack audio recording, mixing and light video editing for music videos (AVCHD 1080P). Performance is stellar across the board. Never hear the fan unless encoding a >4 minute music video. Then maybe 1800rpm - no issue. Like some others - I too owned the 3.4 i5 and the 4.2 i7. The 4.2 i7 ran 20 to 30 degreesC hotter for normal non stressful tasks than the i5s. It also hit the fans for little things and had sustained full speed fans for all encoding over 30 seconds long. In my experience, The i5s are almost indistinguishable in single core tasks from each other and the i7. In multicore the i7 is clearly faster though for the video encoding I was doing 20% faster was all I saw over the 3.4 i5. If one needs the speed on video or image processing tasks the i7 makes sense. If music projects would not fit in my i5 I would have kept my 6 core Mac Pro. Like some others - I care not about future proofing anymore. If the machine can't fit my growing needs I will replace it. FWIW - I up speced every machine for the last 20 years. Only in 1998 was it necessary.

Excellent information, thanks! Very useful comparison.

 

[Trebuin]

6+ months of owning the i5 3.8 with 1TB SSD for Multitrack audio recording, mixing and light video editing for music videos (AVCHD 1080P). Performance is stellar across the board. Never hear the fan unless encoding a >4 minute music video. Then maybe 1800rpm - no issue. Like some others - I too owned the 3.4 i5 and the 4.2 i7. The 4.2 i7 ran 20 to 30 degreesC hotter for normal non stressful tasks than the i5s. It also hit the fans for little things and had sustained full speed fans for all encoding over 30 seconds long. In my experience, The i5s are almost indistinguishable in single core tasks from each other and the i7. In multicore the i7 is clearly faster though for the video encoding I was doing 20% faster was all I saw over the 3.4 i5. If one needs the speed on video or image processing tasks the i7 makes sense. If music projects would not fit in my i5 I would have kept my 6 core Mac Pro. Like some others - I care not about future proofing anymore. If the machine can't fit my growing needs I will replace it. FWIW - I up speced every machine for the last 20 years. Only in 1998 was it necessary.

Thanks for the information. I noticed on the intel 3.2 8 core & 3.0 10 core has the same single core performance. I expected to see some difference, but things like cache & Speedtest can affect things.

As far as the temp differences you point out...that's actually because of the 4 hyperthreads/turboboost on the chip. I actually use a tool (turbo boost switcher pro) that allows me to disable my macbook's turboboost to drastically cut down the temps & power use. I have a friend who's a singer/songwriter who does the same thing because she has one that runs extremely hot when it's enabled. It also has some issues with the power supply. Basically, I can turn the i7 into an i5 with a higher clock.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

More cores do better with more threads than less cores with HT do. That was the whole point of my post.

I missed that point and agree with you 100%, since physical cores are the real thing and HT is a kind of workaround.
However, probably there will be an i7 counterpart, otherwise it won't be sold.
Thanks for sharing those benchmarks.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

Thank you Miguel!

The Pegasus3 feels like overkill of my needs and what I had in mind in terms of budget

The AV PRO 2 seems very big? And is it only offered as HDD or is it also as SSD?

Do you mean big for your budget, or physically? Do you need something more portable?
Answering your question, yes, the AV PRO 2 is also SSD compatible, although that would probably blast your budget.
The AV PRO 2 acts as a drawer (usually used in RAID storage, so you can swap drives seamlessly. All you need is to purchase drive modules, and switch them according to you needs (speed, or capacity).

I'd prefer something smaller, found this from the same store, would that also work?

Again, it depends on your project specs, such as resolution, number of video tracks, and codec. For HD and 2K the HDD version, will do fine, as long as you don't work with very high quality codecs.
In UHD and 4K, I would recommend at least an HDD disk with 2 drives in RAID 0, or an SSD (or you could cut on the video tracks, effects, codec quality...). If opting for HDDs, make sure their spinning velocity is at least 7200 RPM. Smaller and more portable HDD disks are generally slower, as they can't hold the same capacity as the larger ones.

Would it work/be smart to put the Windows bootcamp on an external drive or is it better to put it on the internal and then just put all the games/files on the external?

I'm not a Bootcamp expert and I'm sure you'll find answers in other threads.
That being said, I would keep it in my internal SSD drive, including games, since games are applications.
The internal drive, should hold the OS and applications, nothing more. Everything else, such as documents, pictures, music, videos (to play, only) should rest in a separate HDD. Everything related with your photo/video editing workflow should be placed in the disk you that select, form our conversation.
This way everything will be neat, and speedier and more easily manageable.
It's also better for troubleshooting, should something go wrong.

 

[_Refurbished_]

To revive an old thread....has anyone tried gaming w/ the 3.8? I'm preparing to play Rocket League @ 1440p and I'm curious how loud the fans will get. Encoding noise won't bother me much, hopefully it won't be too loud. Gaming noise tends to be more bothersome. Does anyone have a video comparing the fan noise of the i5/i7 or "just" the i7. I would prefer the i7, but it sounds like it's not a good choice for noise (no pun intended).

 

[Miguel Cunha]

I've been wo

To revive an old thread....has anyone tried gaming w/ the 3.8? I'm preparing to play Rocket League @ 1440p and I'm curious how loud the fans will get. Encoding noise won't bother me much, hopefully it won't be too loud. Gaming noise tends to be more bothersome. Does anyone have a video comparing the fan noise of the i5/i7 or "just" the i7. I would prefer the i7, but it sounds like it's not a good choice for noise (no pun intended).

I've been working in video and sound post-production with i7s for ages - in fact, I'm writing this answer in one of them - and until now they have been the most silent workstations I experienced.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I've been wo

I've been working in video and sound post-production with i7s for ages - in fact, I'm writing this answer in one of them - and until now they have been the most silent workstations I experienced.

From my understanding the 2017’s make noise, while previous iterations fared better. Are you saying your current gen i7 works silently? Or precious i7’s work silently.

Assuming you’re working on the 2017 model, have you ever gamed with the i7? Fan noise while rendering using professional apps may not bother me, but I like a silent computer for gaming.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

From my understanding the 2017’s make noise, while previous iterations fared better. Are you saying your current gen i7 works silently? Or precious i7’s work silently.

No, I was not referring to a 2017 i7 model, rather to models from previous years (2012, 2013)

Assuming you’re working on the 2017 model, have you ever gamed with the i7? Fan noise while rendering using professional apps may not bother me, but I like a silent computer for gaming.

I'm also a gamer and I like it veeeeery quiiiieet!
That said, if the current i7 is loud... not good!

I wonder about the fan noise in the iMac Pro?
Does anyone know how quiet or loud it is?

 

[mpConroe]

My iMac get's really noisy with heavy stuff like rendering or gaming. But I don't regret buying i7 at all. It's the best configuration you can get and it's not so costly like iMac Pro.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

My iMac get's really noisy with heavy stuff like rendering or gaming. But I don't regret buying i7 at all. It's the best configuration you can get and it's not so costly like iMac Pro.

Not so costly as whole, but the iMac Pro is the cheapest workstation around with its specs.
If you don't mind not being able to upgrade you could save about 33%, when comparing it with HP and Dell.

 

[DQ11]

My iMac get's really noisy with heavy stuff like rendering or gaming. But I don't regret buying i7 at all. It's the best configuration you can get and it's not so costly like iMac Pro.

How noisy would it be compared to my 2007 MBP?

I've been making music on that since 2007 and looking to upgrade but the i7700k seems noisy.

If it's noise is less than what I'm already experiencing then it's a non-issue.

I make 90% of my stuff on headphones anyways though. Wondering it that would matter much then.

 

[Jerion]

How noisy would it be compared to my 2007 MBP?

I've been making music on that since 2007 and looking to upgrade but the i7700k seems noisy.

If it's noise is less than what I'm already experiencing then it's a non-issue.

I make 90% of my stuff on headphones anyways though. Wondering it that would matter much then.

Haven’t experienced a 27” 2017 model iMac where the fans were really going, so can’t comment there. But...

I used a pair of MBPs from that era- one 2006 model, one 2008 model. I don’t recall either being especially loud. If music work is what you’ll be using this for, the i5 will have you covered (assuming you don’t skimp on RAM- 16GB should be stock with these machines), especially if your point of comparison is an old Core Duo/Core 2 Duo system. i7 chips will be beefier, run hotter, and have superior performance, but in this generation will be overkill for music production, so you’d have to ask yourself if you’re looking at going for one because it’s something that meets your needs, or if you’re looking at one because Ooooh Shiny(TM). Nothing wrong with the latter reason, but it is good to be real about it.

 

[joema2]

From my understanding the 2017’s make noise, while previous iterations fared better. Are you saying your current gen i7 works silently? Or precious i7’s work silently...

This is not correct with regard to i7 iMacs made since 2012. I've had a 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017 i7 iMac 27, and they are all about the same regarding noise and temperature. If pushed hard by certain software the fan will audibly spin up. The 2014 i7 iMac 27 had some thermal issues which more commonly caused CPU limiting, but this was apparently fixed in 2015.

The 2017 3.8 Ghz i5 is about as fast as the top-spec 2013 i7, but it's a lot quieter. This may or may not make a difference to you. Some workflows use the i7 performance and don't cause lots of fan noise. Others do not. If quiet operation is vital, the 2017 3.8 Ghz i5 is a good choice. If higher performance is more important the 2017 i7 is very fast.

 

[EugW]

At this point, the question should really be if you can wait a few months or not. Cuz most likely by October we'll see quiet 6-core 65 W i5-8600 iMacs that are as fast as the current loud 91 W quad-core i7-7700K iMacs.

If I were looking to buy in 2018 H2, I'd most definitely wait.

 

[J.Gallardo]

I've chosen the top i5 with R580, which is nice for my needs.
The irritating thing with i7 iMac is that it's not difficult to get a specially hot specimen, being most of them much cooler. It's not widely told, but this Intel i7 seems to be irregular in its making, due to how thermal paste is applied at production. "AnandTech" in early reports exposed notable differences in same i7 CPUs...
So, if you buy an i7 (2017) iMac, you can get a "lemon"... although thermal behaviour will be into spec. limits. A lot of users say i7 is the quietest they've experienced... but some complain about fan ramping up just with light work...
(I think Apple knows... Note "i7" is an "upgrade". No "base i7").

 

[mpConroe]

How noisy would it be compared to my 2007 MBP?

I've been making music on that since 2007 and looking to upgrade but the i7700k seems noisy.

If it's noise is less than what I'm already experiencing then it's a non-issue.

I make 90% of my stuff on headphones anyways though. Wondering it that would matter much then.

I had 2008 white MacBook, which noise was comparable to the iMac. But the MacBook get laud on simple tasks. The iMac is only laud while rendering or gaming. It's better than my old Asus K-series laptop and I would buy i7 again.

But for music production maybe you should invest in iMac Pro? They have better, re-designed cooling system.

 

[_Refurbished_]

This is not correct with regard to i7 iMacs made since 2012. I've had a 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017 i7 iMac 27, and they are all about the same regarding noise and temperature. If pushed hard by certain software the fan will audibly spin up. The 2014 i7 iMac 27 had some thermal issues which more commonly caused CPU limiting, but this was apparently fixed in 2015.

The 2017 3.8 Ghz i5 is about as fast as the top-spec 2013 i7, but it's a lot quieter. This may or may not make a difference to you. Some workflows use the i7 performance and don't cause lots of fan noise. Others do not. If quiet operation is vital, the 2017 3.8 Ghz i5 is a good choice. If higher performance is more important the 2017 i7 is very fast.

I ended up getting the i5 3.8. I'm hoping it remains fairly quiet during gaming, it arrives Monday. I'd rather sell my iMac every few years and upgrade, than have to deal with a noisy machine.

 

[EugW]

I had 2008 white MacBook, which noise was comparable to the iMac. But the MacBook get laud on simple tasks. The iMac is only laud while rendering or gaming. It's better than my old Asus K-series laptop and I would buy i7 again.

But for music production maybe you should invest in iMac Pro? They have better, re-designed cooling system.

I just took apart the heatsink and fan assembly on my 2008 white MacBook, cleaned everything out, and replaced the thick goopy thermal paste with a thin layer of Arctic Silver. (I chose Arctic Silver just because I happened to have some, that I bought probably a decade ago. The tube of paste was still in good condition after all that time.)

The 2008 white MacBook is now MUCH quieter than it was before. Stays fairly quiet with simple tasks, and it takes longer for the fan to ramp up with more complex tasks.

The main problem is that the last version of OS X that officially runs on it is 10.7.5, so I'm actually running Ubuntu 17.10 on it instead, to get modern browser support.

 

[mpConroe]

Yeah, sadly my MacBook is not with us anymore . Motherboard died and the cost of repair was too high... I took 4GB of RAM and 60 GB SSD to Mac mini which I bough used and also not use it anymore (replaced by 2012 Mac mini).
If I still had this machine, I would definitely change the thermal paste.

 

[DQ11]

Haven’t experienced a 27” 2017 model iMac where the fans were really going, so can’t comment there. But...

I used a pair of MBPs from that era- one 2006 model, one 2008 model. I don’t recall either being especially loud. If music work is what you’ll be using this for, the i5 will have you covered (assuming you don’t skimp on RAM- 16GB should be stock with these machines), especially if your point of comparison is an old Core Duo/Core 2 Duo system. i7 chips will be beefier, run hotter, and have superior performance, but in this generation will be overkill for music production, so you’d have to ask yourself if you’re looking at going for one because it’s something that meets your needs, or if you’re looking at one because Ooooh Shiny(TM). Nothing wrong with the latter reason, but it is good to be real about it.

Yea I don't think I'll 100% need an i7, and I'd rather it run cooler and quiter, which the i5 will do. I'm just concerned about paying $3,150 for an imac with only an i5 in it. The 7600.

I was working around 20 tracks into my songs back in the day..haven't made music in a couple years. But I'd like to be able to get 35-45 tracks running at the same time without having to freeze.

I'd be using some audio for sampling and stuff here and there but also a lot of vsts as well.
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I had 2008 white MacBook, which noise was comparable to the iMac. But the MacBook get laud on simple tasks. The iMac is only laud while rendering or gaming. It's better than my old Asus K-series laptop and I would buy i7 again.

But for music production maybe you should invest in iMac Pro? They have better, re-designed cooling system.

I'd love an imac Pro but $5000 is too much for me, and that is just base price. That doesn't include the CD Drive,AppleCare+,Logic Pro X, Track Pad & Tax.....All which factor into my price of purchase.

If money wasn't an issue I'd have for the imac pro already as the fans are much better in it.

 

[mpConroe]

I'd love an imac Pro but $5000 is too much for me, and that is just base price. That doesn't include the CD Drive,AppleCare+,Logic Pro X, Track Pad & Tax.....All which factor into my price of purchase.

If money wasn't an issue I'd have for the imac pro already as the fans are much better in it.

Oh yeah, my iMac was £2700 with edu discount, £300 for Corsair memory and £200 for Pro Apps Bundle for students.
Speaking of which, if you are a student or working in the education, you can get computer cheaper around 10% and only pay $200/£200 for all Apple Pro Apps (including Logic, FCPX and more).

Yeah I wish to have iMac Pro but this iMac is already expensive computer, £5000 for an iMac Pro is a lot.

If I could back in time, I wouldn't waste my money on Asus laptop in 2016, I would buy 13'' or even 15'' new MBP and than an iMac Pro in December 2017. Because I spent like £800 on this stupid Asus laptop (which I gave to my dad), I hadn't have enough money to buy better MBP or iMac Pro .