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The new iMac is a lot noisier!
- Thread starter Darajavahus
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Sounds more or less what I have read around..
But have you read/heard any experiences how the 7700K behaves with the Turbo Boost off?
Naturally I mean the fan noise and heat etc..
If it helps, it sounds like a nice trade off for a more silent operation (while still having a speedy base clock speed and HT).
Gaming doesn't say much, playing World of Warcraft my 7700K was below 50, very few games actually take advantage of a modern CPU (that's why 95% of all games see no benefit of going i7 over i5). The GPU usage also varies wildly on how and what you're playing, I saw temp ranging from 60 to 75 on a 1080. So for people to be able to get a reference you need to specify which games
Personally I couldn't care less if the machine was making noises while gaming, but I want it to be silent when working in Photoshop.
Yeah I can try out all of Adobe CC as well as Ableton once I have them all downloaded. For games I was playing Final Fantasy 14 the most, which should definitely be the most taxing. And then some Left 4 Dead 2, Paladins, and Speed Runners, which are less taxing.
That being said there were a lot of complaints in this thread saying the computer was super noisy while just idle, or surfing the web. I can at least say my experience hasn't mirrored that at all.
Which 2011 iMac?
propower tested it and I tried it briefly too. Here is my post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-new-imac-is-a-lot-noisier.2051501/page-9#post-24734192
To summarize: The 7700K under sustained high load with Turbo turned off will still max out the fan, but it takes a bit longer to get there. I think to get the temps under better control you need to turn off HyperThreading. The problem there though is you turn off HyperThreading, you defeat the purpose of the i7.
I believe propower did some testing with HT turned off too BTW.
My experience has been that the last 24 hours (since I got my iMac) that it is generally quiet. I haven't heard it go crazy with fan noise. I've played Heroes of the Storm on it and installed all my apps. It was quiet as a mouse. I actually wondered if the fan was working. My 13" macbook pro gets noisier when doing more intensive stuff. Just my experience.
Yeah, those complaining about 1200 rpm fan noise may just be much more sensitive than average to fan noise, and as I've said before, under most of my usage scenarios, my 7700K was effectively silent, at least by my own criteria of "effectively silent". It was really just with sustained high load it was a problem. However, sustained high load is the spot where the i7 actually shines.
I decided I can't be bothered to worry about this so much and just decided to forego the extra performance. I'd rather just wait longer for the task responsible for the sustained high load (like video encoding) to finish. I'm not a gamer either, so the 580 was overkill for me. It was just that Apple has designed the config setups so that the i7 580 is not much more expensive than the i7 575 so I figured why not, especially given that it had twice the video RAM. In fact, in some config-to-order scenarios in the US, the i7/575 and i7/580 are actually the same price.
The 7700k will downclock itself to base speeds since the thermal capacity isn't high enough to handle turbo for longer periods. So in other words, not much need to do it manually when the system will do it for you, except if you really just want to minimize peaks.
If the CPU and GPU is faster there be more fans running to cool it down and it mke more noise.
You should see the desktop computers in 90's and early 2000's it sounded like tractor.
That'll work more like a regulator to keep it going beyond max, though--it won't keep it from going to max any more slowly or less often. Downclocking it proactively would potentially lengthen the ramp by keeping the nominal-use temperatures a little lower.
That said, micromanaging clock sounds fiddly and I doubt it'd help all *that* much. It might make the fan speed slightly less volatile, but it'll still pin eventually.
I'd look towards fan speed control to bump minimum for more constant but minimally acceptable noise before I'd look towards downclocking. That's basically the Dyson Air Multiplier value prop, better something you can get used to and tune out than something you notice by changing all the time. It does work well there, probably would work here too.
can't say for all 3d tools but rather popular modo by foundry is still using 1 core so single core performance must have and that's 7700k
Sure, you might get a little bit more leeway, but once the CPU is running hot, it runs hot quickly
Consistency is more important than absolute silence for me too so I'm happy I went with the i5/580 (I really need the 580), hopefully it will be more consistent (and measurements seem to indicate that it is, and with a lot lower heat output than the i7).
It seems like there are opposing opinions on it. To me it sounds a bit muffled. More like having the speaker in a rubbish bin
However this is/was my first iMac so I can't compare to older ones.
EugW's test does a good job showing the CPU under perfect max load with HT conditions. Keep in mind that most things we do use less than 100% of the core & will change things. Encoders, compressors, encryptors, & rendering software that focuses on CPU will tend to use 100% CPU & leave nothing for hyper threading. If a cpu core does not reach 100%, the respective ht core that is tied to that will use what's left. A HT core is a small hardware add-on that makes the virtual core that uses the unused hardware of the primary core. If enabled, it uses more power & causes more heat. If you want to know the impact, do a test under perfect load with & within HT & see how much the voltage & temps differ. It's not much. HT on tends to force the CPU to up-volt the core for the HT, but if HT is disabled, that doesn't happen. So the HT off goes from a lot cooler due to the low voltage of the CPU to slightly cool due to the lack of the HT hardware being powered. Be aware that there is some mis-information as I have had one person tell me HT are full cores & Cores can either be 100% used or 0%...that there is no in-between. If you believe that, research the HT original design from around 2004.
Yeah, turning HT off would be kind of silly. But I will probably test the system with Turbo off if it makes a difference, once I get my iMac.
Tnx @EugW! clear!
I'm curious if you (@EugW) but also others experiencing a big difference after applying this hack
https://discussions.apple.com/message/29572550#29572550 and run the fan at about 1100RPM
I'm going to put the Mac a bit further away from te wall... it looks like that helps a bit... thanks again
I eventually decided to go with the i7 despite my concerns about heat, noise and mostly longevity. I haven't seen any reports of mass failure of previous i7 iMacs.
The i5 would have been a fairly small performance upgrade over my 2013 rMBP and I need the extra performance of the i7. Especially since I hope to use this computer for 5-6 years. The GPU is almost 10 times as fast though (580)
The i5 would have been a fairly small performance upgrade over my 2013 rMBP and I need the extra performance of the i7. Especially since I hope to use this computer for 5-6 years. The GPU is almost 10 times as fast though (580)
I keep mine off & have maxed it only with encoding. I don't see much impact on 3D gaming with it off & the fan doesn't run while I'm playing!
[doublepost=1499300011][/doublepost]
That's not good...sounds like a bearing the wrong size.
[doublepost=1499300094][/doublepost]
I eventually decided to go with the i7 despite my concerns about heat, noise and mostly longevity. I haven't seen any reports of mass failure of previous i7 iMacs.
The i5 would have been a fairly small performance upgrade over my 2013 rMBP and I need the extra performance of the i7. Especially since I hope to use this computer for 5-6 years. The GPU is almost 10 times as fast though (580)
I haven't heard of CPU failures in mass any time recently.
I have a 4.2GHz i7 (8GB, 2TB Fusion, 580) arriving in less than a week and needless to say I'm giddy with excitement.
I'd like to ask again specifically about the i7 temps. Fan noise aside (I owned a Windtunnel G4 at one point in my life, I can deal with fan noise), I'd like to really pin down a real cause for concern: temperature. I've seen comments ranging from the i7 runs fine to running at 95degC for extended periods.
Can anyone give their temps for the i7 under idle, typical and heavy load usage? I figure now that some of you have had your 4.2 i7's for a while, you have some idea of how hot it gets. Any links would be greatly appreciated too! I know it's been discussed earlier but was hoping to find a clear answer for just the 4.2GHz i7.
I'd like to ask again specifically about the i7 temps. Fan noise aside (I owned a Windtunnel G4 at one point in my life, I can deal with fan noise), I'd like to really pin down a real cause for concern: temperature. I've seen comments ranging from the i7 runs fine to running at 95degC for extended periods.
Can anyone give their temps for the i7 under idle, typical and heavy load usage? I figure now that some of you have had your 4.2 i7's for a while, you have some idea of how hot it gets. Any links would be greatly appreciated too! I know it's been discussed earlier but was hoping to find a clear answer for just the 4.2GHz i7.
Idle 40C
Typical 50C
Heavy 95C
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-new-imac-is-a-lot-noisier.2051501/page-8#post-24731180
I see from my above link that while the Radeon Pro 580 may go above 30 Watts with light usage, it actually was usually more in the 18-30 Watt range with light usage. So probably the heat generation of the 580 isn't a big concern for typical non-gaming, non-3D usage. The 7600K is a bigger concern if you want a silent computer, but it is nowhere near the concern of the 7700K.
Thanks EugW All of your posts have been very informative, and I did see your numbers. I guess I'm wondering how many more i7 owners can confirm the same?
I plan on monitoring my temps and will be happy to report back. 95C just seems so high and I just can't help but wonder if you were an outlier or if it's to be expected with heavy load.
All of your posts have been very informative, and I did see your numbers. I guess I'm wondering how many more i7 owners can confirm the same?I plan on monitoring my temps and will be happy to report back. 95C just seems so high and I just can't help but wonder if you were an outlier or if it's to be expected with heavy load.
propower got similar results, but again with only very heavy load.Thanks EugW
I plan on monitoring my temps and will be happy to report back. 95C just seems so high and I just can't help but wonder if you were an outlier or if it's to be expected with heavy load.
Remember, it seems the macOS / iMac triggers for the fan are precisely those types of temps. Even hitting the low 80s won't necessarily ramp up the fan, as I demonstrated with the 7600. If the 7700K didn't get that hot then the fan wouldn't need to rev up. And it revs up for a lot of 7700K owners here under heavy load.