Cool! Thanks. Can you also watch Blu-ray discs on an iMac? As far as I know it's can't be done, but not sure.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New i7 2.93Ghz Owners Thread
- Thread starter usi
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Cool! Thanks. Can you also watch Blu-ray discs on an iMac? As far as I know it's can't be done, but not sure.
Yes, you can, but without the menus. It's a bit of a convoluted process, but after you do in a few times it's pretty straight forward. See my sig for the details, but essentially you have to open the disc with Make MKV and start its streaming server. You then open the stream to the Blu-ray disc's titles in a stream-aware app, such as VLC. Probably need a quad-core Mac to do it, though.
Yup...MakeMKV is great. Remember the iMac has a sensational display with IPS. I can easily tell the difference between even 720p Bluray's compared to 1080p's! Also, DTS sound is awesome!
henrikrox said:
I'd love to do a 64-bit test. Can you run a quick test in 32-bit? A lot of people just upload their 32-bit scores.
I bought my i7 (one of the first deliveries) with 8 gigs of memory and bought 8 more from OWC. I have had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever and I'm on my computer 8-10 hours a day and also running Parallels. I'm not a heavy graphics user but, it's on and running a lot. I"m sure Parallels uses quite a bit of memory when I'm back and forth between both operating systems.
Since people are mentioning 64-bit mode, in case people are interested in trying, I run my Core i7 in 64-bit kernel mode 24/7. No issues whatsoever.
While the 2010 Mac Pro may be the first of Apple's machines to run the 64-bit kernel by default, I've had perfect performance with the 64-bit kernel.
While the 2010 Mac Pro may be the first of Apple's machines to run the 64-bit kernel by default, I've had perfect performance with the 64-bit kernel.
Ouch...RAM from Apple --> $$$ I'm with you, though. I'm also running 16GB of DDR3-1067 memory and do not have any issues at all.
I'm also using Parallels with dedicating a full 8GB to Windows 7, along with all 8 cores, and even at that rate, OS X is super fast!
My WEI for CPU and RAM are 7.5 and 7.6, respectively. What are your numbers?Speaking of Parallels, as someone who uses both OS's quite a bit, how do you have your Parallels settings configured, CPU and RAM-wise and why?
Yea, but is there any benefit to running the kernel in 64-bit? And do all your 32-bit applications work properly?
That's great, I'm glad you both are not having issues with 16gb of ram in the new iMacs. I had all kinds of issuesand so did numerous other users on apples forums. Maybe it was software related or something, not sure. I reinstalled OSX and started over from scratch and it still happened two days later.
I ended up sending the second iMac back and bought a mac pro and thankfully have had no issues. I purchased 24gb of ram from OWC and I was surprised that they sent me Hynix brand memory and not OWC branded memory. Either way I'm happy now! Glad to hear you have no issues
I ended up sending the second iMac back and bought a mac pro and thankfully have had no issues. I purchased 24gb of ram from OWC and I was surprised that they sent me Hynix brand memory and not OWC branded memory. Either way I'm happy now! Glad to hear you have no issues
Hey, I am sorry that you had problems with your iMac. While I had no problems with RAM (both 1066 and 1333MHz chips), I did have other problems that left me having to return it three times for a 4th and now perfect iMac. <ferociously pounding on wood>
Did this happen with more than one iMac that you had? How many times did you end up exchanging it for a new one? How did the other people with the same problem resolve the issue?
my imac is pretty good .. when the windows screen is loading i definitely see some ips glow from the bottom corners .. and my hard drive is noisy as hell .. returned it once for the hard drive issue and still have the same issue .. so i dont know what to do .. i only have 4gb of ram .. just ordered 8gb from owc .. eventualy will go 16gb
imac hard drive seems soooooo slow when loading WoW or in windows in general . even at times in osx
question for u guys who upgraded ram from owc .. did u end up selling back your sticks for 50 dollars or did u just keep em ?
imac hard drive seems soooooo slow when loading WoW or in windows in general . even at times in osx
question for u guys who upgraded ram from owc .. did u end up selling back your sticks for 50 dollars or did u just keep em ?
All the 32-bit apps work properly, including iTunes. Nearly all of the apps I use, however, are 64-bit enabled. Doesn't mean they'll necessarily perform any better, but at least they are compiled as 64-bit apps - which saves the kernel from having to switch to 32-bit mode, do the instruction, then switch back.
There's a mild improvement in benchmark results from 32-bit to 64-bit, though I doubt I could see it in a real-world scenario. I do it mainly for the (reportedly) improved stability the 64-bit kernel brings.
Absolutely. And I can make a thorough thread on almost every last thing going on in those iMac's, including as to how each of the cores turbos in the Core i7 Lynnfield (800 series) CPU when idle, on a light load, and on full load.
I just did a bunch of benchies yesterday. The Core i7-8x0's are SO much more efficient than the Bloomfield Core i7-9x0's, which PC enthusiasts, overclockers and hardcore games like to use. I was shocked to see for myself what I had read in multiple respected blogs before, which is just how seamlessly TurboBoost works with these "2010" i7's. It almost doesn't matter what the "base frequency" is rated for, e.g. the i7-860's base is 2.8GHz (late-2009 iMac) and the i7-870's base frequency is 2.93GHz, which we have in our new mid-2010 models. When I say they run efficiently, I'm not just referring to power savings and lack of heat problems, but also because I was not able to run the i7 above 82-85 Watts, and it is rated at 95W, which in turn means that TurboBoost will never lower the CPU frequency because of the core temperatures.
Speaking of which, here are some sample benchmarks. This is what I have observed over the course of an entire month, just FYI. I've found that when I am just browsing the web and have, say 20 FireFox tabs open, another 10 in Safari, TweetDeck via Adobe Air, iTunes, iChat, Mail, Calendar, and VLC, the highest temps I've gotten for the CPU were in the mid-150's (mid-to-high 60's C). Occasionally, temps can go up to and over 170F (77C), but the fans come on fairly quickly and get that number down to below 150 (66C) fast and after a while, it will even drop below 140 (60C) when the CPU fan runs at around 2,000rpm. Mind you, these processors are extremely well built and are certainly built to last. The i7-870 (2.93GHz) is rated for 210F (99C). These processors could be safely overclocked by at least one or two clicks, which would take them to max TurboBoost speeds of 3.73GHz and 3.86GHz, respectively. Of course, just one more notch would take it to 4GHz, but these are theoretical numbers, and the Core i7-800 series is not that easily overclocked, which is fine I guess, because it turbo's up so incredibly nicely and quickly.
Anyway, I'll post my screen shots in the coming days. I wonder if anyone even cares. lol...sorry for the long post.
Hey, thanks for the post. I just rebooted in 64-bit and sure enough, it booted right up with the x64 kernel and drivers. Well, the drivers for the Bluetooth wireless keyboard and the Magic Trackpad had not been there yet, so an error message came up, but without having to interfere at all, OS X loaded the drivers within 15 seconds and here I am typing with it in 64-bit.
A few more things happened, such as my Kaspersky Anti-Virus errored out but again, the updates for that application also loaded automatically. Obviously, I knew that the same would happen once I connected my iPod touch to see if there were any issues with it and my Apple TV (1st gen), and again, initially, no x64 drivers for either device, but OS X loaded them and 20 seconds later, both devices showed up and everything's cool.
I decided to restart in x64 again to see if OS X had anything else to say about the aforementioned after it had loaded everything successfully the first time and as expected, the new x64 drivers were in place and so were the software updates, so not a peep from the OS, and as of right now, I'll keep running everything with the 64-bit kernel and see what, if anything, I'll run into.
First, and super-early, impression: I want to say that the login process and launching Safari and iChat "felt" just a tiny bit "more instantaneous", if that makes any sense. It might have just been my imagination, as both Safari and iChat are both 64-bit apps, or is that what you meant by the nanoseconds of time savings because the kernel doesn't have to switch to 32-bit and back? Have you noticed anything like that yourself?
In any case, this was an interesting exercise. If anyone wants to try this, simply (re-)start your Mac and press and hold down both the number 6 and number 4 keys during boot-up if you want to see if this makes any difference to you.
I'm new to the Mac world with my recent purchase of a 2.93 Ghz i7 iMac. I had 8 GB RAM put in knowing that I'd be running Parallels and Windows 7, at least for a time. Everything is installed and transferred from the 5 year old Dell and the external drive hooked up and was recognized with no issues. There are some big differences in some things, little ones in others. Lots to learn and play with as time permits, but my overall impression after two weeks is that this thing is sweet! I should have switched to Mac years ago.
I've been a PC user for the past 15 years. As of the past few months, I've mostly been working on a mac at work. I then decided to purchase an iMac i7 at home and I must say it is by far the most impressive piece of hardware I've ever bought. I am really impressed! While I can understand why some people might have issues with the display(slight grey bar at the bottom, only visible when doing the yellow tinge test...otherwise perfect while doing graphic design), I must say that I'm perfectly happy with my investment.
got my i7 today. Totally happy until I turned it on.
Two thick hairs under the glas, buzzing when dimming the screen and a noisy harddrive. Well needless to say I won't keep it...
Two thick hairs under the glas, buzzing when dimming the screen and a noisy harddrive. Well needless to say I won't keep it...
Just got mine!
Just got my i7 today, and it's fantastic. Screen seems perfect, as far as I can see (although I'm not looking too closely, ignorance is bliss). I made my way through all 21 pages of this thread whilst I was waiting, and must have refreshed that UPS page a few hundred times....
Still, all worth it now! Just a quick question regarding RAM. I got my iMac with 4 GB of RAM and bought another 4GB from crucial ( http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=FC4829C3A5CA7304 ), and was just wondering whether anyone knew the best configuration in which to put the RAM in? I know they're all 2 GB sticks, but is it best to put the apple ones in together, or does it really not make any difference?
Thanks in advance!
Just got my i7 today, and it's fantastic. Screen seems perfect, as far as I can see (although I'm not looking too closely, ignorance is bliss). I made my way through all 21 pages of this thread whilst I was waiting, and must have refreshed that UPS page a few hundred times....
Still, all worth it now! Just a quick question regarding RAM. I got my iMac with 4 GB of RAM and bought another 4GB from crucial ( http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=FC4829C3A5CA7304 ), and was just wondering whether anyone knew the best configuration in which to put the RAM in? I know they're all 2 GB sticks, but is it best to put the apple ones in together, or does it really not make any difference?
Thanks in advance!
I got my Imac 2.93Ghz i7 for 5 days now. So far, it's been fantastic. I upgraded from an 2009 Macbook Pro 17" 2.8 Ghz C2D.
The only tiny problem I have is a bit noisy hard drive. It's the 1TB Seagate version.
Especially when booting, the drives just makes easily noticeable noises. You can only hear it when it's dead silent in the room, though. But it's there, and the iMac of someone I know has not got this sound.
It does not decrease performance, thats superb.
The only tiny problem I have is a bit noisy hard drive. It's the 1TB Seagate version.
Especially when booting, the drives just makes easily noticeable noises. You can only hear it when it's dead silent in the room, though. But it's there, and the iMac of someone I know has not got this sound.
It does not decrease performance, thats superb.
No, that won't interfere with one another. Original Apple RAM and Crucial RAM would go fine together. At least mine Apple RAM and 4GB OWC Ram does.
DVD Drive not Reading - 2 iMacs now
My first iMac i7 with 8GB Ram and SSD with the TB HD arrived the first week in September. Having some issues I called Apple techs and after the usual stuff they had me try the boot up from install DVD. Didn't read it would not boot up to the DVD. Since it was only a day old I had them replace it.
The replacement has been here just over 30 days and I stuck a DVD in today to watch and it failed again!
Just spit it out. Called Apple and they are sending a repair guy to replace the drive. Just FYI test your DVD drive out on these cause there must be a bad batch of them that went out in September.
Good thing I really don't need one right now but if I did...I would be SOL.
Gordy
www.gordysgadgets.com
My first iMac i7 with 8GB Ram and SSD with the TB HD arrived the first week in September. Having some issues I called Apple techs and after the usual stuff they had me try the boot up from install DVD. Didn't read it would not boot up to the DVD. Since it was only a day old I had them replace it.
The replacement has been here just over 30 days and I stuck a DVD in today to watch and it failed again!
Just spit it out. Called Apple and they are sending a repair guy to replace the drive. Just FYI test your DVD drive out on these cause there must be a bad batch of them that went out in September.
Good thing I really don't need one right now but if I did...I would be SOL.
Gordy
www.gordysgadgets.com
Exact same here. Noisy HD, glow in corners, and feels slow sometimes. Will buy more ram and might return the iMac for the noise, not sure yet since as with you, many people have said they just get another noisy hd.
Do you people with 2TB disks also notice any loud noise? Heard the 2tb disks are quieter...
I have the Hitachi 2tb HDD in my 27" 2.93 i7 iMac and while it does make some noise, I wouldn't call it "noisy". I expect some noise from any HDD and it's no different. It's also not slow to load WoW, or Photoshop or Lightroom.
Some noise is OK people, don't freak out lol