| Test |
PowerBook G4/867 |
PowerBook G4/1GHz |
How Much Faster? |
| QuickTime Sorenson Encode |
212.80 |
187 |
14% |
| A Sorenson Encode squeezes down a
movie file to get it ready for steaming on the Web.
It is a very processor intensive activity. The difference
in the scores between the two PowerBooks is just
what you would expect, given their relative processor
clock speeds. |
| QuickTime DV Stream |
184.64 |
168.88 |
9% |
| The same movie used in the Sorenson
test above, is this time exported as a DV file,
suitable for importing into iMovie. Again this is
a processor intensive task. |
| Import Movie Into iMovie |
23.66 |
21.04 |
12% |
| You would not think that importing
a file into iMovie would take much processor strength
.. you would be wrong. When carrying out this function,
both machines processor's were saturated with data.
The import itself took very little time. |
| Render In iMovie |
190.06 |
172.42 |
10% |
| Processor intensive task. In this
test a Ripple effect was run on our movie file. |
| ITunes MP3 Encode |
138.11 |
129.37 |
7% |
| Since an MP3 encode is a processor
hungry, and that the processors on each machine
were maxed out, we are not sure why the GHz PowerBook
did not do better in this test. Perhaps the CD drive
speed is a bottleneck |
| Scroll In Classic |
18.32 |
17.53 |
5% |
| A Photoshop file is scrolled in the
Classic OS 9 layer when booted into 10.2. Only 25%
to 30% of the processor was being utilized during
this test |
| AppleWorks Search & Replace In Large Document |
24.95 |
21.51 |
16% |
| Processor's were maxed out during
this test. A 16% performance increase is just what
you would expect from two machines that have the
same amount of L2 and L3 Cache |
| Finder File Index |
41.49 |
38.01 |
9% |
| Two large folders with thousands of
files are searched in the Finder. This is not a
processor intensive task. Drive performance is also
a factor |
| AltiVec Fractal |
61.01 |
52 |
17% |
| This test is all processor all the
time. This test also takes special advantage of
the G4 processor and dual processors if they are
present |
| Let1KWindowsBloom |
38.06 |
34.21 |
11% |
| This test creates and closes 1000
windows as fast as it can. Nearly 100% of
the processor was used during this test |
| Copy Folder |
18.62 |
14.32 |
30% |
| Hard drive performance and caches
are important to the outcome of this test. The GHz
PowerBook stomps its brother in one of the most
common types of activity you carry out on your machine,
copying files. This test only used 15% of the processor's
capacity |
| Copy File |
15.2 |
13.16 |
12% |
| Large single file is copied.
Processor usage, 15% |
| StuffIt Decode |
11.19 |
9.45 |
18% |
| A processor intensive task. Drive
performance is also a factor. Large file is unstuffed. |
| Reboot Time |
51.31 |
51.77 |
- 1% |
| Basically the same score for each
machine |
| Test |
PowerBook G4/867 |
PowerBook G4/1GHz |
Performance Differential |
| Boot Classic |
22.04 |
19.48 |
13% |
| The speed at which Classic boots is
determined both by the processor and hard drive |
| Burn CD |
116.13 |
110.92 |
5% |
| Both machines burn CD-R's at 8X |
| MultiTasking Sorenson Encode & AltiVec Fractal |
451.31 |
399.40 |
13% |
| A Sorenson Encode and Fractal test
are both carried out at the same time |
| MultiTasking MP3 Encode, AppleWorks Search &
Replace and Folder Copy |
82.90 |
69.19 |
20% |
| Three differing functions are all
carried out at the same time. The GHz machine gets
an extra lift because of the faster drive performance,
in addition to its faster processing speed |
| MultiTasking DV Stream & iMovie Render |
388.56 |
345.31 |
13% |
| Straight processing prowess |
| Excel Macro |
52.63 |
48 |
10% |
| A complex Macro (automated series
of actions) is carried out in Microsoft Excel |
| Word Macro |
89.09 |
77.14 |
15% |
| A complex Macro (automated series
of actions) is carried out in Microsoft Word |
| Giants Lowest Frame Rates (Game) |
11 fps |
13.5 fps |
23% |
| Frame rates from the game Giants,
when left at the default settings. This result is
taken during the most demanding section of the game.
Though both machines have the same graphic's cards,
the GHz machine has twice the Video memory |
| Giants Average Frame Rates (Game) |
21.6 fps |
24.8 fps |
15% |
| Frame rates from the game Giants,
when left at the default settings This result is
taken during moderate activity of the game |
| Giants Highest Frame Rates (Game) |
55 fps |
61 fps |
11% |
| Frame rates from the game Giants,
when left at the default settings This result is
taken during the least demanding part of the game |
| EVO2 4x4 High Quality Setting Average Frame Rates |
16.5 fps |
20 fps |
21% |
| These are the frame rates we got when
every demanding doodad was turned on. It appears
that the extra graphics memory really helps out |
| EVO2 4x4 Medium Quality Setting Average Frame
Rates |
27 fps |
29 fps |
7% |
| About half the settings were set to
faster and the rest set to high-quality. |
| EVO2 4x4 Low Quality Setting Average Frame Rates |
38 fps |
41 fps |
8% |
| Everything was turned off. The game
looks horrible but you can really get those frame
rates up |
| Photoshop Launch |
20 |
16.91 |
18% |
| Large file is used to launch Photoshop.
The performance difference here is mainly due to
the GHz's faster hard drive |
| Photoshop AltiVec Functions |
26.85 |
24.27 |
11% |
| Large file is run through a series
of Photoshop actions that take special advantage
of the G4 processor |
| Photoshop Non-AltiVec Functions |
126.08 |
111.43 |
13% |
| Large file is run through a series
of Photoshop actions that do not take special advantage
of the G4 processor |
| Photoshop BareFeat's
Test |
58.24 |
51.63 |
13% |
| Typical photoshop workflow of mixed
actions |
| Photoshop Scroll |
39.34 |
27.53 |
43% |
| Large file is opened in Photoshop
running natively in OS X and is scrolled from one
end to the other. Unlike when running in Classic,
a significant amount of the processing capability
of the machine was used |
| MultiTasking: MP3, Photoshop & Word Macro |
342.87 |
289.84 |
18% |
| MP3 encode, Photoshop render and Word
Macro test are all carried out at the same time.
It took about 10 seconds less running these processes
at the same time than running them one after another.
The difference would be much greater on a dual processor
machine, where you have much more bandwidth to play
with |
| iDVD Import |
NA |
81.59 |
- |
| Using Apple's iDVD program, a movie
is prepped for burning to disk |
| |
The
PowerBooks are Apple's Class Act. They are elegant in a very
understated way. Apple has bumped up the speed of these machines
by 200MHz on each model. The last generation sported a G4/800
MHz processor at the high-end, and 667 MHz on the low. This
generation has a G4 processor clocked at either 1 GHz or 867
MHz.
