Basic iMac with M380 fast enough for Lightroom 6 ?

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Basic iMac with M380 fast enough for Lightroom 6 ?

Hallo,

I'm thinking about buying the basic iMac 5k with the R9 M380 GPU for processing my images with Lightroom 6 because I'm really like the 5k display.

I'm especially interested in the speed of the development module in this configuration. How fast is the response when moving the exposure/contrast sliders etc ?

Does Lightroom use GPU acceleration with the M380 or even the integrated Chipset GPU ?

I know, that adding a fusion drive or opting for the upgrade with the M390 will speed things up, but that would be out of my budget. So will the basic version of the iMac do well?

Can anyone share his experience with me ?

Marc

Posted on Nov 25, 2015 12:58 AM

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Answer 1

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Whipman Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 3, 2015 4:49 AM in response to Whipman

I can answer this question by myself now.

I'm the proud own of an iMac in basic configuration (M380 GPU) and did some tests with Lightroom 6.

Working with RAW files from my Canon EOS 700D, everything is responsive and snappy. I compared it with my PC, which is a i7 4790K with Chipset graphics, 16GB, SSD and has a Dell P2415Q 4k monitor.

Maybe the PC is a bit snappier while moving the sliders or using the correction brush, but the iMac has to process nearly double the pixels. Working with the development module is fast and responsive.

So my verdict is, that the iMac with the M380 GPU works and Lightroom 6 work together well. So if you are on a small budget, this combination will do great.

And as for the screen, boy what a difference.

I want to mention a point here, which the most reviewers simply ignore and - besides the 5k - is the most advantage of the iMac screen in my opinion: The 'compensation film'. While especially with other 27'' IPS monitors blacks are becoming more a 'dark grey' in the corners because of the increased viewing angle, blacks stay black on the iMac. Even the high end 5k Dell monitor has no such film.

Best regards

Marc

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Answer 2

pokey b

Level 4

1,893 points

Dec 4, 2015 8:23 AM in response to Whipman

Nicely done !

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Answer 3

Whipman Author

Level 1

15 points

Feb 6, 2016 4:32 AM in response to Whipman

Hallo,

some more facts about the basic model under heavy load.

A year ago i tested a i7 iMac Retina with an R9 M295X Radeon GPU. Under Cinebench the CPU went up to 100°C (212F), which is where the CPU's thermal throttling kicks in. Using FurMark the GPU went even up to 107°C (224F), with the fan blowing at maximum. I would never recommend a system, which drives all components to the maximum thermal limit when under heavy load. But does it make sense to upgrade a system to maximum, if you can not use its resources to the max over a longer period of time ?

So I've tested the base model with i5 (3,2 GHz) and the R9 M380. I let both, Cinebench and Furmark run at the same time for about 15 minutes. The CPUs heated up to a maximum of 93°C (199F), which is high but within specs. The GPU maxed at 95° (203F). Power consumption was 163W and the fan went up to 1400 rpm, which was still inaudible.

Overall I think these are acceptable values for a system under maximal load on both CPU and GPU at the same time. The cooling design of the iMac seems to handle this load well, keeping CPU and GPU within their thermal ranges and with still some reserves in fan speed.

So according to heat and noise, the basic model does very well.

Hope this may be helpful for some 'which version should I order ?' decisions ;-)

Marc

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