Below we have a performance comparison between
the new Power Mac dual G4/867 and the new Dual Processor G4/1000.
The GHz machine costs $800 more than the 867 MHz. From a performance
standpoint, is it worth the extra money?
From a pure clock-speed standpoint, the GHz
machine is just about 15% faster. When we look at the results
below, we indeed see that in many of the tests that stress
processor performance, the GHz Power Mac comes out just about
15% faster.
In other tests, the higher -clocked machine
turns in anywhere from 22% faster (multi-tasking test), to
32% slower (CD burning).
In our Scroll Test, inexplicably, the GHz machine,
with the Radeon 9000 Pro graphics card, turned in a poorer
performance than the 867 with the NVIDIA GeForce4 MX.
In our game testing, on cue, the GHz machine
turned in a 18% improvement over the 867.
So is a average 15% speed improvement, a SuperDrive
and 20 GB of extra hard drive space, worth the extra 800 bucks?
We'll let you decide that. Bear in mind that going from the
Dual GHz machine to the Dual 1.25 GHz, (which is shipping
from most outlets
now), will be a bigger performance step up than going from
the 867 to the GHz.
We will be ordering a 1.25 GHz machine shortly,
and so should be able to provide you with more detailed performance
information on this machine in the very near future.
The tests below are from our suite of real
world application tests. These tests feature a diverse selection
of applications commonly used by the Mac community. The
test suite was designed to render an accurate and well rounded
picture of a machine's performance. All of the tests below,
except for the game tests, were timed with a stopwatch.
The times were then converted to percentages, relative to
the Power Mac Dual G4/867, which is set to 100%. For all
scores, higher numbers are better.
Desktop Tests
Slightly better performance on booting ...
but nothing to write home about
The Faster processor is probably the prime
factor in the GHz machine's better showing
In reading and writing large documents to
the hard drive both machines are pretty evenly matched
Combo drive trumps SuperDrive in basic CD
burning (16x vs 8x)
Slightly better performance in this 2D graphics
test . Let
1K Windows Bloom is a simple carbon application that
opens and closes 1,000 windows.
Large document is scrolled from one end to
the other using Classic OS 9.2.2 when booted in OS 10. Test
shows the performance of on-screen graphics. Don't understand
this result. Not only is the GHz machine faster, but it
is also suppose to have a better graphics card. Take this
result with a grain of salt, unless it is confirmed elsewhere.
Two folders with many items are searched using
OS X new search function. The faster processors are no advantage
here. To carry out this function only 10% of the processing
power of each machine was utilized. So the bottle neck is
not at the processor level.
Large Document & Database Type Tests
A Macro
(series of complex actions) was run in Microsoft's Word
program, which is part of Office
X
A Macro (series of complex actions) was
run in Microsoft's Excel program, which is part of Office
X
Stresses the processing & memory systems
of the machine. This test takes place in a large AppleWorks
document. This is a raw processing power test.
Number Crunching & Rendering Tests
The Fractal
program has been highly tuned to take advantage of the
G4 and is precisely the type of work that the G4 was made
for. It will also gobble up whatever processing capability
is present. This is a good test for assessing the fundamental
processing potential of each machine.
A Ripple Effect is applied to an iMovie
A QuickTime export is imported into iMovie.
Drive performance is an important factor
Encoding/Decoding Tests
A Sorenson
encode compresses a QuickTime movie for streaming on the
Web
Preps QuickTime Movie for import into iMovie
Multitasking
A Sorenson encode and fractal render are
performed at the same time
MP3 Encode, AppleWorks search & replace
and folder copy are all carried out at the same time
Gaming
Aside from the graphics card, Giants
is also tuned to take advantage of the processor as well.
Indeed, when run on a dual processor machine, you will see
Giants fly
ahead of the same game running on a single processor
machine. Frame rates here are 38 fps for the 867 MHz machine
and 45 fps for the GHz machine.
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