8-core vs 10-core 2020 5K iMac: Dont buy the i9 Unless..

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Were you surprised by the Logic Pro & Xcode results? Comment your thoughts below! Buy our Apple Product Mask ➡ teespring.com/stores/max-tech-store Subscribe for more! Amazon Links to the iMac & RAM Deals ⬇️ 2020 5K iMac ➡ geni.us/SppSAA 32GB RAM Kit for 2020 5K iMac ➡ geni.us/bARAzRa 64GB Ram Kit for 2020 5K iMac (order 2x) ➡ geni.us/vqZh 128GB Ram Kit for 2020 5K iMac (order 4x) ➡ geni.us/vqZh

[@user-eb7es4ey9z]

What about for premiere pro? I’m about to change my order to 8core i7.

[@buddhimar]

Is that mean 8 core with 5700xT is the best choice?

[@techiescience474]

10 core seems to be a Gaming Beast

[@mrplasma7094]

@@techiescience474 you mean 5700XT

[@mrplasma7094]

@@buddhimar i think so but if you are photo editing, programming, etc then go for more ram instead of graphics since you need the processor for these

[@HighwayRamos]

I'm honestly blown away by the depth of your comparisons and the quality of presentation, your production values are goals.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Thank you!

[@dirkdee9751]

Indeed, great review!

[@WarriorsPhoto]

It was very good and entertaining.

[@Sapientiaa]

@@MaxTechOfficial can’t I just open it up and replace the CPU with an i9 CPU?

[@JamesHaville]

Switched from an i9 last minute to i7 8 core, 5700xt, 64GB which arrived today. Pretty pleased after this video!

[@KARLOSVOLTA]

James Haville same here

[@mrplasma7094]

great choice

[@LouisLuzuka]

Amazing choice how much TB storage did you get!?

[@KARLOSVOLTA]

Louis Luzuka 1T

[@TvWebNews]

Is the graphic card noisy when doing video editing?

[@garypatterson2857]

I'd really like to have seen the 8-core i7 with the 5700 versus the same specced machine but with the 5700XT. The difference between the 5700 and 5700XT is more interesting to me than the difference between the i7 and the i9.

[@GruBerry-Weddings]

yes it is. there are a youtube video about the 5700 pro. type in "imac 2020 5700 pro". in ungine heaven the 5700 pro has 87fps!

[@goodnightkiwi]

Same here!

[@WarriorsPhoto]

There's no reason for that comparison. We know if we need the 16 GB of VRAM. (:

[@dalekthump2590]

gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-5700-vs-AMD-RX-5700-XT/4046vs4045 Doesn't seem worth it. I dont think the 16GB VRAM is even going to be used i- maybe with heavy video production or future gaming - seems not worth it based on benchmark of +20%

[@ragged9242]

I’m struggling to decide if I need the 5700xt or just buy the 5500xt off the shelf. Where I stay there’s a 6-9 week wait if I want something other than on the shelf models. I want to future proof and extend the life of the Mac for as long as possible. Using a 2017 MacBook Pro and it’s on it’s way out. 3 years just isn’t worth the investment

[@SquirreliciousMe]

I have absolutely no shock at finding out that they’ve botched an i9 option again. They did the same with the MacBook Pro, and I was the victim of this. It is always the same, Apples cooling preferences lead to performance problems but you’re paying a premium to get poor performance. So yeah... I can absolutely believe this is as issue on the iMac too.

[@stephendavies7138]

You're not comparing Apples with... em Apples. You need to compare the 8 and 10 core models with the same video card. How can you assess sustained base clock speeds and thermals/cooling when you know the 5700XT runs a lot hotter than the 5500?

[@neegas2857]

You know I said this last week, and he removed my comment along with another KZbinr, people in forums are saying the same thing about this video, hopefully someone will be able to show the two processors with exact GPU’s

[@costica1234]

The bars at 2:42 showing the Geekbench 5 Metal GPU scores are not scaled correctly

[@pragyanbezbo]

Even at 2:50. Same bars used there. Someone getting fired.

[@AmericanAvenue]

@@pragyanbezbo I've noticed this on several different videos. Not sure how they keep messing that up.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

@@AmericanAvenue Unfortunately we make mistakes but we're trying to do better. We do make about a video a day which means we have to be quick, but even channels that make 1 video a week still have mistakes.

[@AmericanAvenue]

@@MaxTechOfficial No harm, no foul. I was still able to follow along. I’m subscribed and watch most of your videos. Extremely helpful always.

[@pedrorafaelvidalarias6517]

You should compare 8-core vs 10-core model both with the 5700XT. Maybe this gpu consumes too much power.

[@jordanallison7105]

Thank you! Excellent video. This is the type of actual information more youtubers should give in their videos! Not that wishywashy lack of an opinion statement "well, it depends on..." We just need to hear, "that sucks, you're wasting your money if you get that, spend any extra money in your budget on this other upgrade instead" because that's helpful.

[@zman360auz]

Can you guys do some adobe Premiere and After Effects tests? I think lots of people utilise the adobe creative cloud especially for after effects so it’d be awesome and really helpful to see how after effects runs on these Macs with the beefed up GPU

[@rexdinosaur2910]

Agree

[@slayerdude10]

Love how practical your comparisons are guys.. real decisions that could cost more for no reason just to have that ability. great work!!

[@stoqnstoqnov7071]

really the best in depth reviews on apple products. I am an iOS developer and in all performance reviews on other channels it feels to me like xcode is left over and everyone is just talking about editing video footage. But here that's not the case 🙂

[@vitalyparhomenko7817]

For me as a dev more interesting is how long Apple will support intel Mac's after arm release. I am going to buy iMac for java/android development.

[@davidyisrael403]

What if the 8-core machine's graphics were upgraded to 5700XT 16gb vid-ram?

[@4nyxy]

Yes, that is interesting

[@WarriorsPhoto]

Watching your videos Vadim and looking at the history. I knew there wouldn't be a reason to upgrade to the i9 10 Core. It's been that way with Apple PCs for several years now and thanks to your videos I know this to be true. Thank you for all the work you all do and as always keep em coming. (:

[@sail4horizon]

You crashed the Apple 8-core page. Trying to buy one and Apple is like... NOPE!

[@Nathan_Lundstrom]

Yup...pricing one out right now and ended up starting over on the website a couple times to get to the page haha.

[@sail4horizon]

@@Nathan_Lundstrom Yeah I was wanting to bump networking to 10gig but they want to push the ship date to Sept 17-24th if I change anything. Same if I add the num pad keyboard or track pad it pushes the date. No Apple stores near me are open. Grrr.

[@conirad]

sail4horizon I upgraded the keyboard, the graphics card and the ssd and will wait til Sept 14th. Worth

[@JamesHaville]

@@sail4horizon Not sure which country you are in but mine arrived 2 weeks before they said it would (UK)

[@davidcox7261]

Thanks Max, super detailed as always. I ordered mine on the 'sneak peak' advice (8 core with 5700XT) and it's due to arrive tomorrow. That's a 10 day total from order to delivery. I'm based in London and the computer is coming from Cork, Ireland so not far to travel.

[@conirad]

You are honestly the best! Going with your recommendations, I ordered the i7 with the upgraded 5700XT card last weekend and plan on upgrading the ram myself, saving $$$ overall. Looking forward to getting it in!

[@SMITT359]

Too late, but I do not reget it! I love it! I already bought 10 core i9, max out graphics card, 8 TB storage, with 10 gig ethernet 27” iMac. RAM I bought from OWC. My iMac was delivered last week! I am not video editor, nothing! 😉👍

[@bernhardriemann1563]

I ordered the i9 10-core Model with an XT5700 16GB because my PC is from 2014 and now to slow. I hope that CAD like CATIA will run well, because I’m an engineering Student in Master and often need CAD Programs. The interesting thing will be the RAM that i ordered. I spent hours on searching a RAM with a good CAS latency because all of the „Mac-Memory“ are having an latency of 19 19 19 43 which is the standard. I found 128 GB with 16 18 18 39 and this is the fastest i found. The difference between Apples RAM and the „Mac Memory“ is ca. 5-10%. So you can get a plus of 5-10% if you invest a few bugs in a RAM with a lower latency. The best Version i found is from Kingston with 513€ for 128 GB

[@nopetyyep]

Wicked video lads. You’ve gone through all this effort to run these tests and then you’ve been so generous to share your findings with us. Really appreciate it lads!

[@sean.sullivan]

Hopefully you guys can update this when the after effects test is working?

[@steveg219]

I got a maxed out 10 core and am sending it back!! It does not work properly with my Universal Audio Apollo thunderbolt gear. If it did I would keep it as I do Logic and Final Cut Work that is taxing my older iMac. But I can also tell you the 10 core does not really feel faster at a user experience level. I agree for most people the higher clock speeds will work best versus more cores

[@berryj2432]

Interested in buying the 10-core, could you elaborate a little on why it didn't work with your UA Apollo? Thanks!

[@steveg219]

Berry J audio dropouts and digital noise. UA was not real specific but said they are seeing this issue on i9 systems. I just returned it and ordered the i7 hopefully it works

[@mrich52891]

How can you compare the 2 CPUs if you use a different GPU and different amount of RAM also? There is no control in the testing

[@FrankJRehak]

I'd like to add that one of the problems with mac tests when it comes to music production is that music is seen as the "lesser intensive" pro hobby compared to graphics and video editing, and the tests are always audio tracks or the stock virtual instruments in logic which use very low cpu/ram consumption. In the real world most people are using third party plug-ins that are way more taxing on the system. I still appreciate you doing at least some kind of DAW test though bc there is barely anyone on KZbin doing them at all 🙏

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Yes, like Mark said. If you can build a Logic Pro X test for us with a readme file and some DMG installer files for some of those plugins, we could add it to our tests.

[@KingNeu]

8-core, 5700XT, 1TB SSD, 8GB RAM (upgrade myself), 10GB Ethernet... HERE I COME! 🤣💪🏽 THANK you for this video man! Y'all are GOATs. Apple should seriously sponsor you guys lol.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Good luck! Thanks for the support!

[@kelvinlau09]

same, but still thinking about the nano texture display.

[@KingNeu]

@@MaxTechOfficial Thanks & you're welcome!

[@KingNeu]

@@kelvinlau09 I personally don't think it's worth $500 lol. If you get a lot of glare and it bothers you then get it but i'd rather deal with the glare or even try finding a screen protector for less money.

[@Nara_Edits]

@@kelvinlau09 I hear you, but the thing that blows with the Nano glass is that after paying all that money, you still have to take extra special care with it or you'll end up damaging it.

[@Oderwat]

I ordered the i7 8 Core with the 5700XT and added 128 GB RAM. Which seems to a very good choice based on these results.

[@travelwithjustin]

Awesome, this confirms what I expected for 4K workflows. Thanks for all the hard work putting this one together!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Glad we could help!

[@josmardon]

Thank you very much I was waiting for this video. I'll order the I7 with the 5700XT (16GB), with a future DIY Ram.

[@ramonbs6075]

6:51 Suggestion: you should run the tests for longer than 10 seconds. If the timeframe is shorter, the difference is under-estimated. Also, the presentation should be in terms of percentages instead of absolute numbers.

[@fbifido2]

@2:49 - why the bars don't match the numbers ??? {41,727 is greater than 57,898}

[@lxmediauk6540]

You’ve saved me more than u realise bro i was going to max the ting out, keep it up👍

[@cppguy16]

This is very useful information. I do light photo and video editing, and C++ programming with absolutely gigantic projects. I'm still with last year's 8 core model, which actually has 16 threads, and it's an absolute beast. Compared to a budget Dell box, the iMac is easily 2.5x faster in compiling large projects.

[@chrisiclickyou3947]

Seriously good information.... very helpful !!! I simply cannot understand why your not getting millions of views, you deserve it !!!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Thank you!

[@petar_begovic]

What about Premiere Pro? Did you compare 8c and 10c in Premiere?

[@raneanubis]

Exactly I don’t understand why they didn’t do that?

[@tmapp689]

I just purchased the imac i7 core with 5700 xt 16gb graphics, 1TB and 10 gigabit Ethernet. I also purchased 64gb of ram on amazon. If your on the fence, This is the best case scenario if you want bang for your buck and resale value later down the line.

[@Paul.J788]

This is literally what I have been waiting for! The 5700xt 16g is a a must. But the 10c was unsure about. Thanks!!!!

[@robertgingg7243]

I ordered the 10c 5700XT for Adobe creative cloud suite. Premier Pro, After Effects, Lightroom and Photoshop. I’m hoping the extra $400 for the 10c will help with video playback and rendering. I wish I saw this video last week when ordering. Great tests!

[@juantiscareno3124]

Wait everyone there is still so much more testing that needs to be done! The 32gb ram kit for $120 is the perfect sweet spot in my opinion but the iMac comes with 8gb standard so should I do 40gb of ram (2-4gb sticks & 2-16gb sticks) or just 32gb (2-16gb sticks)? And what about the mid tier graphics card the 5700 for only $300 more? How much more power do you get from the 5700 compared to the 5700 XT should we save the $200? And what came first the chicken 🐔 or the egg 🥚 😥

[@veewooks924]

Would love these answers too.

[@RisingVisuals]

Where is the test for premiere ?

[@apisittananchai9543]

There's something wrong with the graph at 2:50, the lower bar should be a lot longer!

[@chriscarty2514]

Placing an order tomorrow for the 8 core, 5700 XT, 2TB, 10 GIG E, 64 GB RAM (Myself)! I waited weeks and weeks and now I have all of the information to make my purchase! I cannot thank you guys enough and will continue to support your channel!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

You’re very welcome :) let us know how you like it!

[@CarstenBreschel]

Hi guys, Would it not make more sense to use the words shorter/longer instead of lower/higher when you show the graphic on performance measurements? I would expect most people first look at the bars and then the numbers. Keep up the good work :)

[@tycooko]

I know it's a very subtle and precise necessity, and maybe I'm the only one having the doubt, but I would love to understand the exact difference that the two processors make ALONE, meaning with no other different component inside the systems. When you do the initial tests on the CPU's alone, that makes sense in my head, and they're all very usable data, but when you go to the real-world use and see how much time the two iMacs take to render or export videos, the efficiency and reliability of the tests drop, because the inferior RAM storage and graphics in the 8-core iMac definitely play a part in the final results (as you, honestly, mention in the video). So, since I'm no engineer, I don't understand what percentage of those saved seconds or minutes depends on the extra cores of the CPU and what of it depends on the more powerful GPU. Maybe I'm missing something here and someone can help me clarify the issue?

[@w.harrison7277]

I agree. The reality is that these tests are just too simplistic to mean much in an extreme multithread environment, i.e. having multiple accounts logged in your machine, each with multiple apps pulling and responding to unknown input off a live data feed from the internet. I always get the best of the best for the top price and still lose patience waiting on pageloads and so forth, some of which are just internet bandwidth limitations but it can't be reduced to a simple explanation. These computers are unbelievably complex while running.

[@rosewg6832]

I want to do the iMac 3.8GHz 8-Core, 128 ram and the 5700XT 16 gb card are there benefits of maxing it out? I do tons of graphic art and surface pattern graphics.

[@07ArchAngel]

Thank you for this comparison! Last week, I purchased my first Mac PC....EVER! I bought the 2020 iMac i7 8-Core with the 5500XT and the base 8gb of ram. I also ordered (64GB) two OWC 32gb Ram sticks to put into it and I may upgrade it to 128 later. I am in LOVE with it!!! But, I was a little worried that I should have got the i9 instead but I feel better about it now. I usually build PCs for all my computing needs. I purchased a Mac specifically for Music and Video production(Final Cut Pro X, UAD Apollo and LUNA/Pro Tools/Logic Pro X). The PC Desktop that I upgraded from is a late 2012 self-build (i7 3770k 4Core, 32GB DDR3@2133mhz, NVidia-1070 8GB on an MSI Z77-GD80 w/ Thunderbolt 1!) and My current PC Laptop is an ASUS ROG Zephyrus(i7 8700k 6Core, 64GB DDR4@3200mhz, NVidia 1660TI 6GB-full and 4-USB3.0 ports and 1 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port) I will most definitely use my PC/Laptop for gaming but for just about everything else, the iMac will take the reigns as my main work PC.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Great choice!

[@adventureslav_]

Soo how is editing performance goes for you with 5500xt ?

[@HydetheRapper]

I do a ton of work in Logic (mostly mixing vocals, but occasional production) on a MacBook Pro with a 2.9 GHz dual-core i5 processor and 16 GB of RAM. I get a LOT of system overload errors. I just bought the iMac with i7 eight core processor and 64 GB of RAM. After this comparison, I’m so excited.

[@FrankJRehak]

What was the fan noise like on each during your logic test? I'm returning the 10 core configuration i bought because I do film composing and tested it on a project with about 100 tracks in Cubase. Most of them being heavy cpu/ram virtual instruments/ plug-ins. The fans were wailing maxed out the entire time to the point where it was too distracting, and the back of the imac was cooking hot. I'm upgrading from the 2013 mac pro so its unfortunate this didn't work out bc my hope was to avoid spending on an imac pro or Mac pro 2019.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Watch our 10-core iMac vs iMac Pro video. The iMac Pro kills for Logic Pro x and fan noise.

[@hazza26]

This is exactly my concern. I had hoped the fans would only get noisy on offline bounces.

[@jivati]

What about Premiere Pro?

[@willcarlson2686]

I've been researching iMacs for the past week or so trying to find an decent upgrade. Currently running a 2013 27in iMac with a 3.2GHz i5. The 10 core seems like the good upgrade but I'm still confused on if a iMac Pro is worth the extra money. All these videos say people will not reach track counts in Logic X above 130, track counts like that are not uncommon, maybe 30-35% of my projects are around that size. My main concern is the plugins, which my computer now overloads at around 60-70 tracks with dozens of plugins running. I can't have anything running in the background ever as it also causes overloads. 130 tracks seems great but thats not factoring in that some tracks can have chains of plugins whereas this test just runs virtual instrument tracks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[@thagerty]

Agree! Any professional (or aspiring professional) productions are often easily going to have 70+ tracks. I'm thrilled music production is even getting a mention here in the benchmarks, but it would be great to know more details since - understandably - non-music focused reviewers (and even Apple in their keynote last year) tend to gloss over the fact that things like Kontakt + many plug-ins don't really tax the CPU that much to begin with. It would be great to see separate benchmarks of # of Kontakt or Omnisphere channels (for composers) vs. # of Serum or Diva channels (as a proper CPU stress test).

[@TvWebNews]

Is the 5700XT upgrade worth it? Seems like it gets more noisy based on other videos. Is the middle 5700 a better long term card in terms of less likelihood of thermal issues? This is the last big question I have before ordering the right iMac 🖥!! Your input will be appreciated!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

We didn’t really experience thermal issues but it’s nice that the 5700 also gets the same 384GB’s bandwidth speed. It’s also a great card if you don’t need 16Gb vram

[@turboracing300zx]

So is it safe to say that the 8 Core iMac with the 5700XT card and 64gb is the better choice for video editing? Not worth the upgrade to the 10 core and earn those small couple of seconds faster right...?

[@KingNeu]

VERY safe to say lol. Buying mines right now!

[@turboracing300zx]

King Neu order placed 😎👌🏻

[@KingNeu]

@@turboracing300zx same! Good luck and enjoy it 💪🏽

[@KingNeu]

Damn right I've been waiting weeks LOL. 🤣 Never clicked on a video so damn fast in my life! Y'all are GOATs 💯

[@corwingarber]

🤣 for real

[@KingNeu]

@@corwingarber I'm glad I'm not the only one 🤣.

[@LouisLuzuka]

Same

[@polarbear6769]

Hi your the best KZbin of technology and with you don’t have more subs

[@malouni95]

Exactly what I needed! Thanks, amazing channel!

[@ambaa302]

This video helped tremendously. I was on the fence initially.

[@jayson_jay_]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you for including the Logic Test and increasing the time for the segment!. So when you say the i7 is not being limited like the i9, does that mean the i9 has thermal throttling which limits the CPU speed?. I want to get the 10 core for Logic Audio production. But, I don't want to get the 2 extra cores, just to have all core run slower to keep the temperatures low.

[@arpeggio8212]

Please respond to the question above, it’s extremely important for Logic Pro users.

[@MaxTechOfficial]

There's only a small difference with the 10-core for music production. The 8-core gets a huge advantage because it's able to run at a higher stable clock speed, and like you saw in our tests, with 64GB of RAM, it handled 125 tracks compared to 131 with the 10-core. definitely not worth it. Now on a separate note, Intel XEON chips are great for music production, like the 8-core base iMac Pro which handled 162 tracks because of the more reliable and stable Xeon chip. The 10-core base iMac Pro should do even better. but of course, those are expensive.

[@Farresyasser]

I'm a big fan, your videos are just amazing, made most of my professional decisions watching your reviews. Just please remember that many that watch your work are architects and graphics designers, therefore, buying the i9 for those who intend to use blender, vray, 3dmax, etc is essential. Your videos are now being watched by graphics designers, and rightfully so. Keep that in mind, my good friend and reviewer. Keep up the great work! God bless.

[@martian1232]

I don’t think you should buy Mac for this

[@zwigy2158]

No joke watching you has litterally made me purchase an imac for music production your vids are awesome keep up the good work

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Glad we could help!

[@zwigy2158]

Max Tech anyway you guys could test ableton and other daws in the future and also test vst usage because that’s a big one with ram

[@V4D2]

which configuration did you go for ?

[@V4D2]

Max Tech i wanted to thank you guys for including that Logic Pro test. it’s not ideal..but it is way better than nothing. It shows you’re listening to your followers, as i (and others) have been asking for it for a while. So thanks ! really ;)

[@V4D2]

Zwigy im assuming the guys @ Max Tech aren’t using any DAW, on a current basis...so ..although i also wish they might extend their testing in the ways you are suggesting, i reckon this is as far as they are gonna go..when it comes to the audio side of things. Since one can swap RAM modules at will, with the iMac, it is not that vital..testing the RAM usage with Ableton..or Logic any other sequencer. That CPU clock is..though..specially for single core usage...and we were able to see that the 400Hz frequency boost makes somewhat of a difference, in the 8core. i’m also looking to getting the 2020 iMac, and, if it weren’t for Photo Editing, and 3D CAD usage..i’d be getting the 8core with the cheapest GPU, for my DAW machine, with Ableton & Logic Pro. i’ll get 32g for RAM, bumping it to 40, and in case i need more, i’ll just buy the extra 32Gb later. i’m just slightly unsure about the storage, as 1Tb would be ideal..but i’m probably gonna stay with 512Gb, and get a couple of external drives _ SSD Read&Write speeds and bus speed is more relevant than the 8core to 10core difference..specially if u use VSTs on the main drive, data/session recording on a 2nd drive, and the VST libraries on a 3rd drive. That’s why i built a Win 10 PC tower a few months ago, instead of spending hundreds of dollars in external TB3 drives.. (Now i’m getting a Mac, just because i’m sort of tired of Ableton...and i wanna get back to Logic.)

[@zakiradi450]

What’s your view on the reported issues on screen with 5700XT?

[@AmericanAvenue]

I'd like to see you do Logic Pro tests with more than just audio tracks. Adding several plugins onto those tracks can get pretty CPU intensive at times. That would give a much better real world result speaking as an audio engineer.

[@fraxis2007]

Extremely useful info. Have you run any tests with multiple AU plugins in Logic though? That would be really important information to me, above the number of audio tracks, as most of my music uses sequenced virtual instruments and not recordings.

[@HarrisonKingMusicOfficial]

This was my thought as well, easy enough whacking 100+ instances of Alchemy with a MIDI loop and hitting the space bar and calling it out at the track count it starts to buckle at, but Logic is a little more complex a beast than that really, I'm certain the 10c i9 packs a bigger punch overall in a typical Logic session than the 8c i7... but hey, 400 dollars more to potentially avoid endless overload frustration for the next 5/6 years, then its a bargain 😅

[@david1610]

Mmm... in an ideal world you would have had everything the same except one thing - i7 v i9, amount of RAM, or graphics card (and its RAM). I get that the i9 is not worth it most of the time, but, apart from that, if somebody is willing to spend the money for things that are worth it, what is the best graphics card; with how much RAM for it; and RAM in general?

[@thagerty]

What type of instrument tracks do you use for the Logic Pro benchmarks? Curious whether these are synthesizer (high CPU usage) vs. sampler tracks (higher RAM usage)

[@DuceLeeTV]

Thank u guys, long awaited , and very much worth it! Applause!!👏 👏

[@fredmarshall9013]

I find a lot of value in your videos! Keep up the good work. I’m trying to spec out a new iMac (moving from PC) and your videos have been really helpful. With the i-7 core, is there any value in moving from the graphics stock 5500XT to the 5700? The 5700XT is probably too much power for how I will be using the machine, but maybe there is value in going up one step. What do you think?

[@MaxTechOfficial]

The 5700 is valuable because it gets the faster 384GB/s bandwidth speed compared to 224GB/s on the 5500 XT. This could help with processing graphics effects faster. But if you're doing basic 4K editing without very many effects, the 5500 XT should be fine.

[@mallorydurrick]

I'm still waiting to buy! Thank you.

[@IMP3TIGO]

I know this isn't the perfect comparison video but I'm so glad I came across it as I had just last night placed an order for a 27" iMac with 10-core i9, 1TB SSD, and 5700 XT (16GB), which I just cancelled and instead put in a new order with a 8-core i7 with the 5700 XT but put that $400 freed up from the processor to increasing the SSD to 2TB. I think I'll be much happier with this setup down the line so appreciate this great video!

[@israelisaclown]

Would love to see additional coding benchmarks in addition to the Xcode one. Perhaps one for web developers (frontend/backend). Could be benchmarks showing how long it takes to install dependancies and perform builds.

[@AppleTomorrow]

This is what you call "Quality Content"!! Keep it coming!!!! I am a 3D artist myself, and I use blender. This video helped SO much! I was wondering, if you could do a video, specifically dedicated to 3D Graphics, where you focus on viewport performance, simulations, and rendering.. just a thought.. it would help me alot!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

Glad we could help! Sorry man, we have no real experience with that stuff other than the Blender test we ran, lol.

[@AppleTomorrow]

@@MaxTechOfficial Oh... That's ok! Love your videos, and your channel! I wanted to ask, do you recommend the 10 Core *specifically* for 3D designers like me?

[@AmericanAvenue]

The Blender test you said the 5700XT finished almost 40% faster than the 5500XT, but the numbers provided on screen shows it's actually only about 28% faster.

[@theawesomer]

I'm really glad I took your advice and bought the 8-core. Thanks!

[@chaseallen4352]

Accidentally bought 32GB of 2400MHz ram instead of the 2666MHz. Any suggestions on what I should do? Keep it, sell it on eBay and get the higher speed, just get the higher speed and add it, just not worry about it?

[@cmoney0619]

Just return it and buy the right speed ram.

[@tomwilsonn]

Feeling good about my 8c/5500xt right now. I have a gaming pc so no need for 5700xt but it does look like a good upgrade for those that do.

[@adventureslav_]

How is the editing performance? if you do edit video ofcourse :)

[@tomwilsonn]

adventureslav I don’t edit video sorry I’m a software developer

[@tfphoto-mellomromfoto]

Have you tried gaming on it? Warzone maybe?

[@tshanegilman6278]

Thank you for this. You reaffirmed all the decisions that I made last night while I was configuring an 8-core iMac! I splurged for the 2TB SSD and purchased 2x16GB OWC2666DDR4S32, but I appreciate everything in this review!!!!

[@pbandj7764]

Like many have already mentioned, these videos are “bang on” useful. Performance attribution to purchasable options is what I am looking for. I spoke with Apple chat and got basically the same recommendations BUT without the explanation and so it does not feel like a “sales job”. Thank you for injecting confidence in my decisions.

[@directed6924]

Just received 8 core 5500XT 512Gb model. DIY 64Gb RAM (Kingston HyperX Impact CL15). Geekbench 5 => First run: SC 1288/MC 9072 => Second run: SC 1309/MC 8877 => Third run: SC 1314/MC 8860 Cinebench 20 => 4786 => 4874 => 4833 Blackmagic Disk Speed Test => around 2400 read/write

[@tfphoto-mellomromfoto]

Have played games on it? Warzone maybe? Lf fps preformance

[@directed6924]

@@tfphoto-mellomromfoto Starcraft 2 and Dota 2 at max settings run smooth. Haven't played other games.

[@TacomaEscape]

Great comparison video guys! I'm looking to buy a new iMac very soon. Got a quick question. Which iMac between the 2 has less fan noise? I need this to be the quietest it can be in my recording studio. My 2012 iMac that just stopped working only had fan noise when exporting video which was nice. Appreciate the info. Thanks!

[@hazza26]

But hang on, what about fan noise? Surely i9 @ 141W is going to be less noisy than i7 @ 151W?

[@MaxTechOfficial]

They Both have the same fans and they were both maxed out after a few minutes

[@kvitoroulis]

so here is a question, is it possible that the 8-core gets the spike in wattage and higher clock because the GPU is less demanding?

[@casper2yall]

Nice video, thanks for doing this.. It really does give me more of an idea which model to get so thank you.

[@juliestewartvideos]

Thank you! Now about that SCREEN GLITCH?!? purchased 8core 5700xt (64gb own Ram) the Unit wouldn’t power on and immediately after it did....screen glitches. I know this has been discussed on the forums. Do y’all think it’s hardware or software and should we return units while we can until they sort it out? This video was AMAZING!

[@LouisLuzuka]

The video I've been waiting for!!!!!

[@markahomer]

Test.Mmmm. Having used Macs in studio environments for some 26 years rule of thumb: Max out the RAM to the limit and go for the most powerful box of tricks on offer.

[@TylerHansenVideo]

Needed this video, THANK YOU

[@hollieprescott2859]

Yay I have been waiting for this video!! Going to order my iMac today!

[@berryj2432]

Great comparison. As for music production: I don't think the Logic Pro benchmark reflects real world performance well (if at all, in most cases). The bottleneck will almost never be the amount of 'empty' tracks, just like you say in the video. The bottleneck in music production will be all the (native and third party) plugins you use on those (let's say around 40) tracks. I think it's safe to say most people use 5 plugins per track minimum. The only way to really compare machines, would be to have a real music production project (in Pro Tools/Ableton/whatever) with a realistic number of tracks and a nice mix of plugins running from different manufacturers (like Waves, Soundtoys, U-he, Plugin Alliance, Acustica Audio for instance). Then compare the CPU load on different buffer size settings. Shouldn't be very hard to do, but you need to involve a music producer for something like that and I understand that carries too far for the overview you are giving in this video. So I guess what I just want to say is: in real music production, there is a big chance the two extra cores of the i9 will give a great performance boost because they can take car of some extra tracks/plugins. Especially in the near future when DAW and plugin developers will optimize their software more and more to benefit from multi-core processing, I hope somebody will test that anytime soon. For us music producers, buying a Mac or PC for is a bigger gamble than for graphic designers or something, just because of the lack of representative benchmarks...

[@pawechrustek9952]

Thanks for great work again! 🙏 What about 8c vs 10c fan noise during your tests? Is it also the same? I am corious especially about the idle status.

[@hazza26]

Yes this!

[@MaxTechOfficial]

honestly didn't notice much of a difference But the 10-core does run at lower clock speeds and lower wattage, so it could be a smidge quieter.

[@pawechrustek9952]

Thanks 👍😊

[@joseml88]

Do both reach similar levels of temperature? Thanks!

[@MichaelWashingtonAE]

How many different plugins and effects on those tracks, how many were audio and how many were VST midi instruments plus bus channels were you using on the test using Logic? Personally I use Studio One 5. but just having "a track" vs using plugins and EFX with a specific number of tracks is a very big difference when it comes to necessary processing power then doing mixdown before mastering.

[@ajehfsdjfid]

I think, that 02:50 graph is wrong...

[@PolluxChung]

Another "more core doesn't mean sh!t" case. Spending $ on better video card is a much wiser choice.

[@armeniancrusader301]

Unless you work with rendering programs wich mainly need CPU power.

[@creativeorstrange]

Great video! As someone who opted for the 10 core with the best graphics, this is extremely disappointing. I feel like I wasted 400 pounds. I trusted Apple and I feel burned. I wanna return it and change the processor option but I bought on the last day of 0 percent finance and if I return it then I will have to pay 14.9 percent interest. I don’t know what to do. I wish I could have waited until you finished your testing, but 0 percent finance tempted me. I hope this video stops others from making my mistake. I will now go hang my head in self pity😀. Any chance that the 10 core is not properly configured yet and Apple will issue a software fix, which improves the performance of the 10 core?

[@TheAudacitytoPodcast]

I'm in the same boat! My 10-core iMac arrives next week and now I'm regretting overblowing the CPU.

[@PumperWolf]

Don't feel bad, you got a great CPU and always age better than the base ones.

[@mirkozorz]

I ordered the 10-core too and I don't regret it. The video's "do not buy" title is very misleading. Before watching I assumed there was something terribly wrong with the i9, the reality is much different. Since I'll use this machine for heavy video editing, it will pay itself in time saved ;)

[@TarekSaneh]

I9 platform is 40 pci lanes it’s better and more stable so don’t worry if you don’t see big difference in speed it doesn’t mean that they are the same

[@MacXpert74]

Why would you want to return it though?, it’s not like the i9 performance is bad, it’s just less of an upgrade as one might have thought is was.

[@cremehonig]

Great Review - ok there is not a big difference in performance BUT at lower wattage there is the argument of lower power consumption. I think we should begin to include these considerations more in reviews than sheer performance ‘only’

[@hazza26]

Exactly, if i9 has same / better performance than i7 but at lower wattage, this is massive for noise sensitive users.

[@TheAudacitytoPodcast]

Except it seems the noise level is the same for both 8-core and 10-core.

[@engineer4life]

Thanks Max Tech for the numbers of very useful review on 2020 iMac. I have just bought my first iMac: 8 Core i7, 40GB RAM, Radeon Pro 5700XT & 2TB SSD. Wish you could do another performance review of my machine

[@natelove187]

Are the fans loud

[@engineer4life]

nate love I’m ok with the fan noise. Most of time the fans ran only low speed, except the prolonged video editing tasks

[@christianandkatia4995]

Great work as always - so would you recommend getting the i7 with 16GB video card? 32GB... music production, video editing, photography?

[@MaxTechOfficial]

64GB of RAM for Lightroom Classic editing 16GB 5700 XT video card if you're gonna be doing RAW video editing or 3D graphics rendering. the 5500 XT is fine for basic 4K and HEVC video editing i7 is great for music production

[@teoAI_]

Great video. I get that the 10 core is not worth the additional money, but is it actually worse? For the same money, would you get the 8 core or 10 core (with the 5700xt and same 64GB)? Does the 10 core make more noise?

[@MaxTechOfficial]

I would definitely get the 5700xt and 64gb of ram. 10 core just doesn’t give you enough extra performance to make it worth $400

[@MattHalpain]

thank you for this in-depth comparison as is very enjoyable to watch and learn on these iMacs.

[@Sean-Seymour]

Great video. Thoughts on hooking up two 42" 4K monitors and performance? Would love to hear about some good I/O solutions as I still need two more usb c ports.

[@reisender7776]

Best Comparisons ever. Thank you Max. Does anyone have any experience with the 5700 (not the XT)? How loud are the fans? How is the heat development? Use capture one. Does the 5700xt bring me advantages over the 5700 (not XT)?

[@mrplasma7094]

yes, the XT is ~10% better for gaming if it is not able to max out 8 gigs of vram and 3x faster in the most graphics intensive tests that max out even 16 gigs of vram

[@MinhTran-vp4wb]

Will you be making a video comparing the Macbook Pro Nov 2021 M1 - 8 core vs 10 core?

[@motomuso]

Hiyo! Logic Pro user here since the Emagic days as well as being one of your new subscribers. Thanks for including the LPX test in your comparo. The 27" iMac looks like a good way to bridge the present to the Apple Silicone future - not the immediate future but the one where all my plugins have been running and all the bleeding edge people have figured it all out. Do you have an opinion as to OWC RAM? I've always bought my sticks from them but I have an open mind. Thanks again!

[@sunofsotep8265]

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.