# New Mac processors (to come) vs AMD Threadtripper. 3990X.. any thoughts?



## berto (Feb 14, 2021)

Hello,
i have to buy a PC for 3d animation work and i will probably get a
AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 3990X Processor​# of CPU Cores 64
# of Threads 128
Max Boost Clock: Up to 4.3GHz
128 GB of RAM

How does it compare with the Mac processors that are about to be released (anyone knows?)
Will i be able to do music production steadily, better than in a new MAC to come ?
i am a bit uninformed in processors power and possibilities...
Currently i have a iMac 27" 5k late 2015 full spec. But i am having so many latency problems and under performance results...

Plus, i am a Logic user... what would be a DAW that would have the lesser learning curve, coming from Logic?

Thank you

B.


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## berto (Feb 14, 2021)

found this but don't know how to translate it into MUSIC PRODUCTION jargon...






AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X vs. Apple M1 - Benchmark, Test and Specs


AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X vs. Apple M1 - Benchmark, Geekbench 5, Cinebench R20, Cinebench R23, Cinebench R15 and FP32 iGPU (GFLOPS) benchmark results




www.cpu-monkey.com


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## ridgero (Feb 14, 2021)

You cannot compare the M1 with a Threadripper, as the M1 is very limited due to its multicore performance & RAM limitation. In Single-Core Performance and Low-Latency the M1 sets new standards and is unrivaled.
In addition, many things do not run natively yet, but even emulated by Rosetta, they match & beat Intel standards. Neither Kontakt, Sine and Spitfire player etc... run natively under Apple Silicon yet. Once they do, we will see this also improves the RAM management.

*However, the M1 shows the potential of the upcoming M1X and M2.*

If you choose AMD, why a Threadripper? I think Zen 3 (Ryzen 5xxx) is the first AMD generation that has a very low latency. I don't know if the Threadripper 3990x can keep up.

I would wait for March, maybe we will see some upcoming Mac products at their rumored March event. At the latest, we will see the next Apple Silicon generation at WWDC in June.


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## berto (Feb 14, 2021)

ridgero said:


> If you choose AMD, why a Threadripper? I think Zen 3 (Ryzen 5xxx) is the first AMD generation that has a very low latency. I don't know if the Threadripper 3990x can keep up.


The Threadripper is kind of a must when working with 3d animations and 2 Nvidia RTX3090 GPUs.

I was just wondering if it could work for music, but i think now it would be even worse than my iMac 27"now, which i can't work with lower buffer than 1024!!!


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## Technostica (Feb 14, 2021)

Wait for the Zen 3 version if you can which might announced this quarter.


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## colony nofi (Feb 15, 2021)

The current threadrippers can be very very good for daws. There are some big composers who use them. Yes - there’s less than ideal issues with them, but they are still extremely powerful. I wouldn’t discount them. They will do so much more than your 2017 iMac it’s not funny. Even with the single core perf being not brilliant. 

Zen 3 threadrippers will be phenomenal
If you need a serious multi core workstation soon though, epyc next gen is due out first - within the next 6 weeks. Go nuts with 2TB of ram...


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Feb 15, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> The current threadrippers can be very very good for daws. There are some big composers who use them. Yes - there’s less than ideal issues with them, but they are still extremely powerful. I wouldn’t discount them. They will do so much more than your 2017 iMac it’s not funny. Even with the single core perf being not brilliant.
> 
> Zen 3 threadrippers will be phenomenal
> If you need a serious multi core workstation soon though, epyc next gen is due out first - within the next 6 weeks. Go nuts with 2TB of ram...


Pretty sure I read the new TR Pros (Zen 3) are coming...
Maybe better to wait for those?


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## Pier (Feb 15, 2021)

berto said:


> The Threadripper is kind of a must when working with 3d animations and 2 Nvidia RTX3990 GPUs.
> 
> I was just wondering if it could work for music, but i think now it would be even worse than my iMac 27"now, which i can't work with lower buffer than 1024!!!


Worse than your 2017 iMac? No way.

For my DAW I went from a 2017 5K iMac (i5 7600K, Radeon Pro 580) to a Ryzen 3700X + GTX 1070 and it was night and day. I got almost a 3x performance increase when benchmarking virtual synths (Diva, Hive, etc).

My Ryzen machine can handle about 120 voices at 256 of buffer size using a the HS Amped Forces Diva patch (30 instances, 2 effects and 4 stacked voices). I imagine at 512 it would go up to around 150 voices.

The M1 can handle about 120 voices of Diva via Rosetta 2 on 512 of buffer size (on the Mini not the MBA). The ARM optimized version of Diva can run about 190 voices at 512.









KVR Forum: Diva with Rosetta2 on Apple M1 - u-he Forum


KVR Audio Forum - Diva with Rosetta2 on Apple M1 - u-he Forum




www.kvraudio.com





Don't get me wrong, the M1 is phenomenal, but I'm sure a Threadripper will be fine.


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## berto (Feb 15, 2021)

My goal would be to use anything below 128 of buffer with less than 50 tracks (VIs and Audio) with plugins,* and to be able to use live midi instruments in real time (not bounced to audio) inside the DAW *

Will the new zen3 thread trippers be enough for that? (i can't at the moment with a forced 1024 buffer in my late 2015 iMac 5k 27")


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## Pier (Feb 15, 2021)

berto said:


> My goal would be to use anything below 128 of buffer with less than 50 tracks (VIs and Audio) with plugins,* and to be able to use live midi instruments in real time (not bounced to audio) inside the DAW *
> 
> Will the new zen3 thread trippers be enough for that? (i can't at the moment with a forced 1024 buffer in my late 2015 iMac 5k 27")


It will depend a lot on the plugins you're using (eg: Diva) but I seriously doubt you'd be CPU constrained with less than 50 tracks.

With my Zen 2 3700X I can run run 100+ instances of Hive 2 simultaneously playing chords at 256 of buffer and it's not even a Threadripper.

Also, take into account that the latency on Windows depends a lot on the driver of your audio interface. I'm happy with the latency my Audient audio interface (which is about average) but RME usually has the best Windows drivers.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Feb 15, 2021)

I'm thinking your latency has nothing to do with your iMac. What is your audio interface?


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> I'm thinking your latency has nothing to do with your iMac. What is your audio interface?


i tried with 3 of them:
IK AXE io
presonusStudio 192Mobile
presonus RM16i
i had a RME Fireface 800 (actually 2 of them, one blew up, got another one, blew up as well) i don't remember having huge latency problems, but i also was working with a Cheesegrater Mac and Logic 9

you think something like the Apollo x4 or x8 would be better? (i don't want to use direct monitoring, i want to have my live midi instrument be processed by plug ins inside the DAW until i commit to audio at a later stage)


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Pier said:


> It will depend a lot on the plugins you're using (eg: Diva) but I seriously doubt you'd be CPU constrained with less than 50 tracks.


To give you an example:
I am doing a song which has:
one vocal track (with nectar 3, but i also tried Slate VMR preamps and eq)
A drum kit guide with Kontakt Abbey road drums with the new abbey road RS124 compressor plugin (to be replaced by live drums)
Double bass by Orchestral tools LA sessions
And a midi piano (my KAWAY ES8) which arrives sooo late in my logic live input track i can't use it.
And i have to use 512 of buffer, otherwise it crackles.


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Technostica said:


> Wait for the Zen 3 version if you can which might announced this quarter.


when you say ZEN 3 version, to what do you refer exactly, i saw ZEN 3 was out since November 2020?
Where can i find what's coming up this Q1?

EDIT: here?








First AMD Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Zen 3 Series CPU Details Finally Leak


A new leak indicates AMD may launch a 16-core/32-thread Threadripper CPU based on Zen 3, whereas the Zen 2-based Threadripper CPUs started at 24 cores and 48 threads.




hothardware.com


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## tabulius (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> when you say ZEN 3 version, to what do you refer exactly, i saw ZEN 3 was out since November 2020?
> Where can i find what's coming up this Q1?


THREADRIPPER Zen3 is still not announced.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> i tried with 3 of them:
> IK AXE io
> presonusStudio 192Mobile
> presonus RM16i
> ...


What interface are you currently using with the iMac? What type of external drives are you using for your samples and audio?


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## Pier (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> To give you an example:
> I am doing a song which has:
> one vocal track (with nectar 3, but i also tried Slate VMR preamps and eq)
> A drum kit guide with Kontakt Abbey road drums with the new abbey road RS124 compressor plugin (to be replaced by live drums)
> ...


Yeah the 3700x can handle that. No problem.

But I'd say my iMac could handle it too.

What audio interface are you using?


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> What interface are you currently using with the iMac? What type of external drives are you using for your samples and audio?


those 3 that i mentioned, not at the same time...
IK AXE io
presonusStudio 192Mobile
presonus RM16i

i have several USB3 Seagate external drives and internal SSD for software


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Pier said:


> Yeah the 3700x can handle that. No problem.
> 
> But I'd say my iMac could handle it too.
> 
> What audio interface are you using?


i should not be a problem for any computer, apart from mine...


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## stigc56 (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> To give you an example:
> I am doing a song which has:
> one vocal track (with nectar 3, but i also tried Slate VMR preamps and eq)
> A drum kit guide with Kontakt Abbey road drums with the new abbey road RS124 compressor plugin (to be replaced by live drums)
> ...


That doesn't sound right! It's not a cpu problem, I believe.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> i have several USB3 Seagate external drives and internal SSD for software


Are they SSD or regular 7200 HDD? If they are regular drives connected to USB3, that’s definitely an issue when trying to stream both samples and digital audio.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> My goal would be to use anything below 128 of buffer with less than 50 tracks (VIs and Audio) with plugins,* and to be able to use live midi instruments in real time (not bounced to audio) inside the DAW *


I do that in Logic on my 5,1 Mac Pro (upgraded to 12 x 3.46GHz).


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## berto (Feb 16, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> Are they SSD or regular 7200 HDD? If they are regular drives connected to USB3, that’s definitely an issue when trying to stream both samples and digital audio.


not SSD


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## colony nofi (Feb 16, 2021)

berto said:


> not SSD


in which case I would say this is your performance bottle neck.

although there are other places you might have issues too of course.

first step is to load the same samples onto a test ssd (internal if possible as it takes away some of the variables) and test further.
Like others have said here, you should be able to handle that on many machines that are much much lower spec than yours.

it’s pretty much a matter of figuring out where your bottle neck is - although I think we have found one


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 16, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> in which case I would say this is your performance bottle neck.


Oh yeah. Spinning drives are good for storage or light duty because they're so cheap.

But putting your samples on SSDs will make a bigger difference to the performance than a new computer.


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## berto (Feb 17, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> in which case I would say this is your performance bottle neck.
> 
> although there are other places you might have issues too of course.
> 
> ...


what you say makes sense, but i am talking about 2 libraries ONLY open in this project,NI Abbey road drums (lite patch with a basic ballad grove going ) and a double bass from OT..... should not i be able to load those two and keep the buffer below 128 in a NORMAL computer without SSD for libraries?
i have to keep it at 512/1024


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## berto (Feb 17, 2021)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> Oh yeah. Spinning drives are good for storage or light duty because they're so cheap.
> 
> But putting your samples on SSDs will make a bigger difference to the performance than a new computer.


i have thunderbolt 2 and USB 3
i see a lot of SSD with USB-c (3.1 gen 1 or 2) will it work on my iMac? or will it be slowed down to the point that the SSD is not even worth it?

i was looking at:


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## Pier (Feb 17, 2021)

berto said:


> i have thunderbolt 2 and USB 3
> i see a lot of SSD with USB-c (3.1 gen 1 or 2) will it work on my iMac? or will it be slowed down to the point that the SSD is not even worth it?
> 
> i was looking at:



USB 3 can go up to about 450MBps (capital B). Much faster than any spinning drive.

Btw are you sure you have TB2? My 2017 iMac has TB3.


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## berto (Feb 17, 2021)

Pier said:


> USB 3 can go up to about 450MBps (capital B). Much faster than any spinning drive.
> 
> Btw are you sure you have TB2? My 2017 iMac has TB3.


i have late 2015 5K 27"

so if i got those USB-C SSD NVME (one for kontakt libraries and one for audio recording) it would allow me to use a lower Buffer? maybe coupled with better audio interface (RME?)


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## Pier (Feb 17, 2021)

berto said:


> i have late 2015 5K 27"
> 
> so if i got those USB-C SSD NVME (one for kontakt libraries and one for audio recording) it would allow me to use a lower Buffer? maybe coupled with better audio interface (RME?)


If you're going to connect via USB 3.0 get a SATA SSD, there's no point in getting an NVME SSD as it would run at roughly half its speed.

About the buffer size, I have no idea. Before buying the SSD you should try moving the samples to the internal SSD like @colony nofi suggested and see if that helps. If not, then your problem is somewhere else.


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## rnb_2 (Feb 17, 2021)

Your most cost-effective upgrade right now, after testing some samples from the internal SSD, would be a SATA SSD and a USB3 enclosure - anything from Orico or Sabrent at Newegg or Amazon should be fine, and if you can get an enclosure with a USB-C connector but both USB-C and USB-A cables, you'll be set for future use of the case. This will also allow you to re-use the SSD more easily down the road, in something like a RAID or multi-drive enclosure.


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## berto (Feb 17, 2021)

rnb_2 said:


> Your most cost-effective upgrade right now, after testing some samples from the internal SSD, would be a SATA SSD and a USB3 enclosure - anything from Orico or Sabrent at Newegg or Amazon should be fine, and if you can get an enclosure with a USB-C connector but both USB-C and USB-A cables, you'll be set for future use of the case. This will also allow you to re-use the SSD more easily down the road, in something like a RAID or multi-drive enclosure.


would you advice to have 2 SSD drives in the same USB 3.0 Hub? 

I have this one and i am using it for 4 USB3 HDD drives (i would swap 2 drives, so to have 2 SSD and 2 HDD in the same hub)


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## Pier (Feb 17, 2021)

berto said:


> would you advice to have 2 SSD drives in the same USB 3.0 Hub?
> 
> I have this one and i am using it for 4 USB3 HDD drives (i would swap 2 drives, so to have 2 SSD and 2 HDD in the same hub)



You can connect as many SSDs as you want, but once you start reading/writing from multiple external SSDs at the same time, the pipe will fill up quickly and performance will degrade. If that's your most likely scenario then a single SSD would be a better idea.


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## rnb_2 (Feb 17, 2021)

berto said:


> would you advice to have 2 SSD drives in the same USB 3.0 Hub?
> 
> I have this one and i am using it for 4 USB3 HDD drives (i would swap 2 drives, so to have 2 SSD and 2 HDD in the same hub)



Honestly, after ascertaining if running your samples from the internal SSD improves things for you, I'd go one of two directions. Either pick up a Thunderbolt 3 dock (Caldigit or OWC are good bets) to get a new set of USB ports that doesn't share bandwidth with the iMac's built-in ports, or get a Thunderbolt RAID enclosure, like the OWC Thunderbay 4 mini (get the Thunderbolt 3 version, as it's the same price as the Thunderbolt 2). In either case, use the Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter to connect to your current iMac.

If you go with the dock, you can get USB3, USB-C, or Thunderbolt drive enclosures for single SSDs (go NVMe for USB-C or Thunderbolt, SATA for USB3). If you need more than one SSD to hold all of your samples, you're probably better off with the Thunderbay mini instead of the dock - you can add drives to it as needed and either run them as individual drives or set up a RAID for better performance and/or protection against an SSD failure.

I wouldn't recommend adding SSDs to that USB hub, as that is just splitting your available USB bandwidth (probably 5Gb/s over all four ports) finer and finer over time, and you probably won't see as much benefit from the SSDs as you should. You want to get them their own separate bandwidth, and the Thunderbolt ports on the iMac are the way to do that.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 17, 2021)

berto said:


> i have thunderbolt 2 and USB 3
> i see a lot of SSD with USB-c (3.1 gen 1 or 2) will it work on my iMac? or will it be slowed down to the point that the SSD is not even worth it?
> 
> i was looking at:




That one would be fine, or I can vouch for the Sabrent external enclosure Rich Baumhauer recommends (having just added one to a USB 2 port on my machine a few days ago).



Pier said:


> once you start reading/writing from multiple external SSDs at the same time, the pipe will fill up quickly and performance will degrade



It's going to be very hard to saturate any bus, even USB 2.

The main reason SSDs improve the performance so radically is their seek and read times. There's no spinning platter, it's flash memory - closer to the speed of RAM than to spinning drives.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Feb 17, 2021)

rnb_2 said:


> I wouldn't recommend adding SSDs to that USB hub,


I have three on a powered USB3 hub, still very fast.


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## rnb_2 (Feb 17, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> I have three on a powered USB3 hub, still very fast.


That's a useful data point, but when trying to solve an existing performance issue, I'd rather not recommend splitting up finite USB bandwidth. He has available Thunderbolt bandwidth sitting there (I assume) unused, so I'd still recommend utilizing that if at all possible - buying a dock or enclosure is still a lot less expensive than buying a whole new computer to do something his current rig should be able to do.


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## Pier (Feb 17, 2021)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> It's going to be very hard to saturate any bus, even USB 2.


You think?

USB2 will be a huge bottleneck when loading large files from an SSD.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 17, 2021)

Pier said:


> You think?
> 
> USB2 will be a huge bottleneck when loading large files from an SSD.



Absolutely I do think, and I'm skeptical that USB will be a bottleneck *at all* as a practical matter, let alone
"huge."

Berto: "My goal would be to use anything below 128 of buffer with less than 50 tracks (VIs and Audio) with plugins, and to be able to use live midi instruments in real time (not bounced to audio) inside the DAW"

His aim is to run Logic, not benchmark software.


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## FWB (Feb 17, 2021)

@berto: There is something wrong in your current iMac setup. Maybe you have other apps than Logic open when using Logic, slow soundcard - just to mention a few things.
I have an old iMac i7 late 2012, 32 Gb ram. I can run a Logic project with 6 Spitfire OA Chamber Evo, 10 Omnisphere and 10 Diva (set to highest/Ultra sound quality) at 64 buffersize without any issues.

Edit: I use a silver Apollo Twin interface


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## berto (Feb 18, 2021)

FWB said:


> @berto: There is something wrong in your current iMac setup. Maybe you have other apps than Logic open when using Logic, slow soundcard - just to mention a few things.
> I have an old iMac i7 late 2012, 32 Gb ram. I can run a Logic project with 6 Spitfire OA Chamber Evo, 10 Omnisphere and 10 Diva (set to highest/Ultra sound quality) at 64 buffersize without any issues.
> 
> Edit: I use a silver Apollo Twin interface


When i use logic i only have Logic open (and used to have The Presonus UC control, at times)
I have usually IK ARC2 on the master (it is a bit heavy)
I don't use OZONE until i am ready to bounce the whole thing, so when i record midi or audio i don't have any heavy latency plug in on (like the IK limiters or Ozone , again)
My system and apps are on internal Ssd, i have a separate audio drive (usb3) and a library drive (usb3) - plus others for different other things in 4 different busses with 4 of those powered USB3 hubs.
One thunderbolt is for my Presonus RM16c (with the firewire800 converter) and the display port is connected to a 60" screen, which is most of the time off.
The only issue i can't notice is the temperature. it gets to 66C˚ quickly and i have to stop and use the smcFancontrol to bring it down. BTW How is your 2012 iMac doing with temperature?


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## berto (Feb 18, 2021)

rnb_2 said:


> That's a useful data point, but when trying to solve an existing performance issue, I'd rather not recommend splitting up finite USB bandwidth. He has available Thunderbolt bandwidth sitting there (I assume) unused, so I'd still recommend utilizing that if at all possible - buying a dock or enclosure is still a lot less expensive than buying a whole new computer to do something his current rig should be able to do.


well, out of this mess i just ordered a FIREFACE UFX+ which i believe has thunderbolt 2... so one is gone. I might get a thunderbolt 2 splitter but i can't find any...
they are all TB3... and then i need the TB3 to TB2 adapter cable from apple and then another TB2 cable to plug from the adapter to the iMac... it is just so messy..

Not to mention that most of those docks come with a TB3 cable which is stuck so the TB3 to TB2 won't even work, as i would need the Female TB3 to Male TB2 (or Female TB2 and then another TB2 to TB2 cable - and neither exists apparently!!! 


is there any TB2 dock or Hub that has at least 3 or 4 USB3.0 (i just got 2 Samsung T5) and 2 TB2 or mini display or HDMI ports ???

i only fund this Tb3 without stuck cable... for which i will need the Apple TB3/TB2 adapter, and then another TB2 to TB2 cable...but it comes to a total of £282 to just add a few ports!!!


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## FWB (Feb 18, 2021)

berto said:


> BTW How is your 2012 iMac doing with temperature?


Never gets hot, never heard the fan - except once I rendered out a long and very complex videomaster with lots of masks and color corrections.
If your mac gets hot maybe you should check the fan for dust...


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## berto (Feb 18, 2021)

FWB said:


> Never gets hot, never heard the fan - except once I rendered out a long and very complex videomaster with lots of masks and color corrections.
> If your mac gets hot maybe you should check the fan for dust...


that means opening the iMac....yaiks!!!


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## rnb_2 (Feb 18, 2021)

berto said:


> that means opening the iMac....yaiks!!!


You might try getting a https://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1900-Rocket-Blaster-Large/dp/B00017LSPI/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=rocket+bulb+blower&qid=1613669510&s=electronics&sr=1-2 (bulb blower) and blowing into the vents along the bottom of the iMac, and also take off the RAM access panel and blow into that. I wouldn't recommend canned compressed air because there's always the danger of chemicals coming out with the air at some point. It does sound like your machine is getting hotter than it should.


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## rnb_2 (Feb 18, 2021)

berto said:


> well, out of this mess i just ordered a FIREFACE UFX+ which i believe has thunderbolt 2... so one is gone. I might get a thunderbolt 2 splitter but i can't find any...
> they are all TB3... and then i need the TB3 to TB2 adapter cable from apple and then another TB2 cable to plug from the adapter to the iMac... it is just so messy..
> 
> Not to mention that most of those docks come with a TB3 cable which is stuck so the TB3 to TB2 won't even work, as i would need the Female TB3 to Male TB2 (or Female TB2 and then another TB2 to TB2 cable - and neither exists apparently!!!
> ...



Both the https://www.amazon.co.uk/CalDigit-TS3-Plus-Thunderbolt-Dock-Space-Grey/dp/B07CVMV8VC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3NIILMK8AXTUP&dchild=1&keywords=caldigit+ts3+plus+thunderbolt+3+dock&qid=1613669954&sprefix=cal+digit%2Caps%2C252&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQUo3QjFaQjdPWVVGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDMwNjY1M0VKR09IQzVaNDlSSSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUExMDM3MTEwMjJHWTFLUkJaVzE0WSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= (Caldigit TS3) and the https://www.amazon.co.uk/OWC-14-Porte-Power-Adapter-Centimeters/dp/B07JMH6BSY/ref=sr_1_5?crid=343NTBLZI3VGV&dchild=1&keywords=owc+thunderbolt+3+dock&qid=1613669723&sprefix=owc+%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-5 (OWC 14-port Thunderbolt 3 dock) have detachable cables, so you'd run a Thunderbolt 2 cable from the iMac into the Apple adapter, which then plugs directly into the dock.

If I understand your current setup correctly, you will have a mini-Displayport cable in one TB2 port (to 60-inch screen) and the FireFace in the other TB2 port. You could connect the dock to where the 60-inch screen is connected now - the OWC TB3 dock actually has mini-Displayport on the back, so your screen could plug right in. It is more expensive than the Caldigit, though, which has a DisplayPort instead (necessitating a different cable).

Thunderbolt is always expensive, unfortunately, and because Thunderbolt 3 has been out for a few years, Thunderbolt 2 docks are very hard to come by now. You can try blowing out the (likely) accumulated dust to see if that helps the temp issues, and then try the Samsung SSDs connected to your existing USB hub. If that gets you past your current performance issues, great - call it a day. If you still have some performance issues, I'd recommend the Thunderbolt 3 dock route.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 18, 2021)

berto said:


> he only issue i can't notice is the temperature. it gets to 66C˚ quickly and i have to stop and use the smcFancontrol to bring it down.



I wonder why the machine doesn't do that on its own. Are you overriding the built-in fan control?

And if so, is that a wise thing to do? Not a rhetorical question, I'm curious.


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## rnb_2 (Feb 18, 2021)

Apple does try to keep things quiet for as long as possible (longer than some are comfortable with), so using software to ramp up the fans earlier has been around for a while. It doesn't have a downside that I've heard about.


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## berto (Feb 19, 2021)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> I wonder why the machine doesn't do that on its own. Are you overriding the built-in fan control?
> 
> And if so, is that a wise thing to do? Not a rhetorical question, I'm curious.


the iMac fan comes up on its own but it is not strong enough.... before i used smcFAncontrol, it would get over 60 and then go to sleep on its own to avoid damage... with smcFAncontrol, if i detect it on time, i push the minimum fan speed to the max, and it gets colder in a few minutes. When Kontakt standalone is on it always gets to 60!!! I can use blender and it stays 48/50...


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## berto (Feb 19, 2021)

rnb_2 said:


> You might try getting a https://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1900-Rocket-Blaster-Large/dp/B00017LSPI/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=rocket+bulb+blower&qid=1613669510&s=electronics&sr=1-2 (bulb blower) and blowing into the vents along the bottom of the iMac, and also take off the RAM access panel and blow into that. I wouldn't recommend canned compressed air because there's always the danger of chemicals coming out with the air at some point. It does sound like your machine is getting hotter than it should.


i got 2 mini Fans for iMac that are stuck close to the opening and suck the heat out... but they are sooo noisy!!! they help. And i have a proper cold fan that shoots air on the metal to keep it cold. But most of the time i can't do music with all those on so i shut them off for a time... until it gets hot again...


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## rnb_2 (Feb 19, 2021)

I don't think fans will generate the concentrated, directed airflow of a bulb blower to try to dislodge dust that is inside the iMac, but even that might not be the whole problem. Something is making your iMac run hotter than it should, and it also isn't responding to that heat as it should. It shouldn't get to the point of "safety shutdown", even doing strenuous tasks - it should be able to ramp the fans up and processor speed down to cool itself off, but it isn't doing that.


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## berto (Feb 19, 2021)

rnb_2 said:


> I don't think fans will generate the concentrated, directed airflow of a bulb blower to try to dislodge dust that is inside the iMac, but even that might not be the whole problem. Something is making your iMac run hotter than it should, and it also isn't responding to that heat as it should. It shouldn't get to the point of "safety shutdown", even doing strenuous tasks - it should be able to ramp the fans up and processor speed down to cool itself off, but it isn't doing that.


time for a new mac, but it is such a confusing time for mac...









Mac trends in 2021: The super Macs are coming


In 2021 new Macs will wow us with completely new designs and M1X or even M2 processors, and finally drive Intel out of town




www.macworld.co.uk


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