The new iMac is a lot noisier!

[badlydrawnboy]

According to Apple, the new Core i7 iMacs are significantly lower power than the older Core i7 iMacs.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201918

iMac Late 2014 27" Core i7 4 GHz Radeon M295X
Idle: 70W
CPU Max: 288W

iMac Late 2015 27" Core i7 4 GHz Radeon M390
Idle: 63W
CPU Max: 240W

iMac Mid 2017 27" Core i7 4.2 GHz Radeon 580
Idle: 71W
CPU Max: 217W

1. Power consumption data (watts) is measured from the wall power source and includes all power supply and system losses. Additional correction isn't needed.

2. CPU Max is defined as running a compute-intensive test application that maximizes processor usage and therefore power consumption.

3. These numbers reflect a 23°C (73.4°F) ambient running environment. Increased ambient temperatures requires faster fan speeds which increases power consumption. At 35°C (95°F), 50W should be added to reflect increased power consumption.

---

These numbers are somewhat difficult to compare as I suspect some of the increased power usage in the older models is likely related to the GPU differences, but nonetheless it would seem the Core i7 iMac in 2017 may be cooler and overall (including GPU changes), the 2017 iMacs are likely quieter than the Core i7 iMac in 2014. According to Apple, the overall system idle power for your 2014 and the current i7 is the same, but at CPU Max, your 2014 uses 70 Watts more power. However, if you want to be absolutely sure a new iMac is very quiet at all times, you might want to consider the i5-7600 non-K.

BTW, take a look at this one:

iMac Mid 2010 27" 3.6 GHz Core i5 Radeon 5670
Idle: 145W
CPU Max: 365W

Ouch, that's a lot of power, even at idle.

That's a dual-core though. They don't list my 2010 quad core i7.

Thanks! What would the numbers be for the 3.8 Ghz i7 Mid 2017 with Radeon 580?

 

[EugW]

Thanks! What would the numbers be for the 3.8 Ghz i7 Mid 2017 with Radeon 580?

Dunno, cuz Apple didn't publish them. But my guess is closer to the 200 W mark.

Maybe it's time for me to do some testing with my Kill-A-Watt and Turbo Boost Switcher.

BTW, I was looking through some of the configurations because I was thinking if I did go to a lower power machine, I might have considered using the saved money toward a 2 TB SSD. However, that's impossible. The only way to be able to get a 2 TB SSD is to get something with the Radeon 580 (3.8 GHz i5 or 4.2 GHz i7).

Next year will prove even more interesting in the decision making. Although the i7 is way faster than the 65 Watt models, they're all still quads. I suspect in 2018, the low end models will be quads and the top tier models will be 6-core.

So, we may have options like a 3.5 GHz i5 quad and 3.7 GHz i5 quad, and then a 3.5 GHz i5 6-core, and a 3.7 GHz i7 6-core. In that scenario, I'd probably still strongly consider the i7, because of HyperThreading, although to be honest, the i5 6-core would suit me fine.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Dunno, cuz Apple didn't publish them. But my guess is closer to the 200 W mark.

Maybe it's time for me to do some testing with my Kill-A-Watt and Turbo Boost Switcher.

BTW, I was looking through some of the configurations because I was thinking if I did go to a lower power machine, I might have considered using the saved money toward a 2 TB SSD. However, that's impossible. The only way to be able to get a 2 TB SSD is to get something with the Radeon 580 (3.8 GHz i5 or 4.2 GHz i7).

Next year will prove even more interesting in the decision making. Although the i7 is way faster than the 65 Watt models, they're all still quads. I suspect in 2018, the low end models will be quads and the top tier models will be 6-core.

So, we may have options like a 3.5 GHz i5 quad and 3.7 GHz i5 quad, and then a 3.5 GHz i5 6-core, and a 3.7 GHz i7 6-core. In that scenario, I'd probably still strongly consider the i7, because of HyperThreading, although to be honest, the i5 6-core would suit me fine.

Thanks. I am definitely going with a 2 TB SSD; in fact, it's one of the main reasons I want to upgrade. Since I do a lot of audio and video recording, I like having a completely silent work environment. I have an external OWC Thunderbay 4 enclosure with my photos, but I don't like having it on throughout the day because it makes noise. I want to be able to put all of my photos on the internal drive. With the # of photos I take, 2 TB will be plenty... at least for the next few years, at which point the cost of internal storage will fall and the iMac I buy will have a 4 TB SSD, etc.

I did see that Coffee Lake will have 6 cores, and am considering waiting until those come into the iMacs before I upgrade. That said, do we have any idea when that might happen? There was a 2-year gap between mid-2015 iMacs and mid-2017 iMacs, and I don't necessarily want to deal with this louder fan for another 2 years.

The iMac Pro is another option, but probably overkill for me. I like that it will have a 1080p FaceTime camera, because I do a ton of webcam video recording, along with all of the other great features. But I imagine the model I would get (base + 2 TB SSD) would be at least $6,500, and that's tough to justify.

 

[EugW]

Thanks. I am definitely going with a 2 TB SSD; in fact, it's one of the main reasons I want to upgrade. Since I do a lot of audio and video recording, I like having a completely silent work environment. I have an external OWC Thunderbay 4 enclosure with my photos, but I don't like having it on throughout the day because it makes noise. I want to be able to put all of my photos on the internal drive. With the # of photos I take, 2 TB will be plenty... at least for the next few years, at which point the cost of internal storage will fall and the iMac I buy will have a 4 TB SSD, etc.

I did see that Coffee Lake will have 6 cores, and am considering waiting until those come into the iMacs before I upgrade. That said, do we have any idea when that might happen? There was a 2-year gap between mid-2015 iMacs and mid-2017 iMacs, and I don't necessarily want to deal with this louder fan for another 2 years.

The iMac Pro is another option, but probably overkill for me. I like that it will have a 1080p FaceTime camera, because I do a ton of webcam video recording, along with all of the other great features. But I imagine the model I would get (base + 2 TB SSD) would be at least $6,500, and that's tough to justify.

If you buy now with a 2 TB SSD, then I would recommend the 3.8 GHz i5 7600K with 580, and then install Turbo Boost Switcher. That will lock the machine at 3.8 GHz with no boost above that, and since it doesn't have HyperThreading either, and because it usually runs cooler than the 7700K, you would be good to go for your audio work judging by propower's 4.2 GHz tests.

 

[iMi]

The new iMac arrived today. It's i7 version. There is no excessive noise when under load. Seems pretty quiet to me.

 

[Smoothie]

The new iMac arrived today. It's i7 version. There is no excessive noise when under load. Seems pretty quiet to me.

How are you putting the CPU under load? When Tom's Hardware put the 7700K under maximum load (100%) the CPU hit 101 deg. C. This is with a cooling system that's probably better than the one in the iMac.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...i7-7700k-i7-7700-i5-7600k-i5-7600,4870-8.html

 

[badlydrawnboy]

If you buy now with a 2 TB SSD, then I would recommend the 3.8 GHz i5 7600K with 580, and then install Turbo Boost Switcher. That will lock the machine at 3.8 GHz with no boost above that, and since it doesn't have HyperThreading either, and because it usually runs cooler than the 7700K, you would be good to go for your audio work judging by propower's 4.2 GHz tests.

I've been paying a lot more attention to the fan in my current late 2014 iMac since I've been participating in this thread. I'm frankly amazed at how often it kicks on, even without running any audio or video apps. For example, it is clearly audible right now and all I have open are a bunch of productivity apps (Polymail, Evernote, Chrome, etc.).

Does make me wonder if something is wrong with my hardware/software. Even with the 2014 model, the fan shouldn't be on in those circumstances, should it?

 

[iMi]

How are you putting the CPU under load? When Tom's Hardware put the 7700K under maximum load (100%) the CPU hit 101 deg. C. This is with a cooling system that's probably better than the one in the iMac.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...i7-7700k-i7-7700-i5-7600k-i5-7600,4870-8.html

First, I ran Civilization 6 for about 15 minutes. Fans came on, but nothing too exciting. Even with the game muted, I couldn't really hear it much at all. Next, I ran eight instances of the "yes" command to stress all cores. The fans kicked in but they are not very loud. You can hear them, but the noise is not excessive by any means.

I probably wouldn't notice the noise unless I was paying attention. It's there. Just not every noticeable. The iMac is sitting on a desk with a good amount of room behind it (maybe two feet). It's not right up against the wall. So, I even tried moving it closer to the wall to see if the noise level would increase. I figured the sound would reverberate and maybe that's what others are noticing. It does get more noticeable, but again, nothing out of ordinary.

The perception of noise is very subjective. I personally don't see a problem here. This is a relatively quiet machine.

 

[Smoothie]

The perception of noise is very subjective. I personally don't see a problem here. This is a relatively quiet machine.

Thanks for the info. Is there any way you can report on the CPU temps while stress testing?

 

[iMi]

Thanks for the info. Is there any way you can report on the CPU temps while stress testing?

I did not monitor to the temps. Is there a good free monitor? I'll run it again.

 

[BuCkDoG]

I did not monitor to the temps. Is there a good free monitor? I'll run it again.

iStat menus or TG Pro both work.

 

[Smoothie]

iStat menus or TG Pro both work.

Yeah, I think iStat Menus has a 14-day free trial. After that, it's $18.

 

[BuCkDoG]

Yeah, I think iStat Menus has a 14-day free trial. After that, it's $18.

That is correct! The 14 day free trial is awesome though.

 

[iMi]

iStat menus or TG Pro both work.

It races up to about 97-100 degrees pretty quickly. The fan kicks up to 2700 RPM and the CPU settles around 95 degrees average. Seems to hover between 93-95 which seems fine. Did not exceed 100 degrees at all, but the test was brief.

Hope this helps. This thing is niiiiiice by the way. I love it.

 

[Smoothie]

It races up to about 97-100 degrees pretty quickly. The fan kicks up to 2700 RPM and the CPU settles around 95 degrees average. Seems to hover between 93-95 which seems fine. Did not exceed 100 degrees at all, but the test was brief.

Hope this helps. This thing is niiiiiice by the way. I love it.

Thanks for doing this.

 

[iMi]

Thanks for doing this.

No problem!

 

[Falcon80]

I did not monitor to the temps. Is there a good free monitor? I'll run it again.

You can try this. It is free.

http://fannywidget.com

 

[mcomp112]

I've been paying a lot more attention to the fan in my current late 2014 iMac since I've been participating in this thread. I'm frankly amazed at how often it kicks on, even without running any audio or video apps. For example, it is clearly audible right now and all I have open are a bunch of productivity apps (Polymail, Evernote, Chrome, etc.).

Does make me wonder if something is wrong with my hardware/software. Even with the 2014 model, the fan shouldn't be on in those circumstances, should it?

Which CPU do you have on that system?

 

[EugW]

I recorded a simple HEVC 4K 2160p on my iPhone and played it back in Sierra 10.12 on my iMacs, software decoding.

iMac Core i7-7700K with IINA: No sweat. Fans never budged, and playback was smooth. Temps increased moderately and then stopped there.
iMac Core i7-870 with IINA: Played with stutters. CPU usage around 300-350%.
iMac Core i7-870 with VLC: Horrible distorted slideshow. (1080p HEVC works fine on this machine with vlc.)

I have not tried High Sierra yet, but the iMac Core i7 870 will always be using software playback.

 

[BuCkDoG]

It races up to about 97-100 degrees pretty quickly. The fan kicks up to 2700 RPM and the CPU settles around 95 degrees average. Seems to hover between 93-95 which seems fine. Did not exceed 100 degrees at all, but the test was brief.

Hope this helps. This thing is niiiiiice by the way. I love it.

Trust me I know it's nice it's sitting right in front of me

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Which CPU do you have on that system?

i7 4.2 Ghz.

 

[EugW]

i7 4.2 Ghz.

There is no 2014 i7 4.2 GHz.

 

[Ph.D.]

A few comments for those considering a lower-end model due to fan noise:

I just got a 2017 base model (3.4 GHz, 570 graphics, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD). It's not silent, but it's quite far from loud even when pushing it. Even when dead cold, the fan spins, and it can be clearly heard in a quiet room. The character of the sound is just a tiny bit coarse plus the usual woosh, being neither objectionable nor sweet (it just sounds like a normal quiet fan).

I bought it for low-overhead office-type applications and not heavy-duty use, and it's quite snappy for these apps. However, I fired up a game (Borderlands 2) and played it at 1920x1440 with all effects on high. The machine had no difficulties with this game at all. Indeed, it was clearly superior to my old system (Mac Pro 3,1 with 280X graphics). The screen is immensely better (sharper, brighter, more vivid) than my old LED Cinema Display even at the same effective resolution. The sound was quite good too. During the game, the machine warmed up, and I think the fans spun up a little, but turning off the sound revealed very little additional noise if any.

I'm very, very sensitive to electronic noise, and even though I knew it wasn't going to be silent, I was still a little sad that it produced any noise at all (I really want a fan-less Mac). But I was very grateful that pushing it didn't ramp up the noise much if at all, and certainly not to hairdrier-levels.

I can heartily recommend the base model, and likely the mid-tier model (haven't compared it), if you are concerned about noise. During normal use, the fan noise should remain low and steady (it also irks me when fans spin up and down). I think it would take a power-virus type application, or gaming very hard indeed, to make it spin up noticeably (I don't use audio or video tools, so I wouldn't know about those). But don't expect complete silence.

 

[propower]

I have the same base model and an i7 with 1TB ssd that I am testing. I assure you that 75% of what you hear is the Spinning HDD not the Fan . Spend $100 more and get the smallest SSD option and you will have very quiet - not Silent - but very quiet .

 

[Ph.D.]

I assure you that 75% of what you hear is the Spinning HDD not the Fan . Spend $100 more and get the smallest SSD option and you will have very quiet - not Silent - but very quiet .

I assure you that I have a 512GB SSD in my "base" model; no spinner.

Yes, if people are concerned about noise and vibration, you are well-advised to skip straight to a pure SSD.