Apple Makes the Switch: iMac G5 vs. iMac Core Duo
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 30, 2006 11:26 PM EST- Posted in
- Mac
Intel Macs use More Memory
One thing I encountered when running some of the benchmarks for this article was that the Intel based iMac used more memory than the PowerPC based iMac G5. Each application ends up taking up another 1 or 2MB on average on the Intel side, but it does add up.
For example, just after boot while sitting at the desktop, there was a difference of 15MB between how much memory the iMac G5 and the Intel based iMac had in use. If you do end up with an Intel Nac, it is yet another reason to opt for more memory than the default 512MB.
One thing I encountered when running some of the benchmarks for this article was that the Intel based iMac used more memory than the PowerPC based iMac G5. Each application ends up taking up another 1 or 2MB on average on the Intel side, but it does add up.
For example, just after boot while sitting at the desktop, there was a difference of 15MB between how much memory the iMac G5 and the Intel based iMac had in use. If you do end up with an Intel Nac, it is yet another reason to opt for more memory than the default 512MB.
Memory Usage on the iMac G5 - 336.39MB Free
Memory Usage on the Intel based iMac - 314.57MB Free
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Illissius - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
Compared to native applications, obviously, it's less than ideal; on the other hand, compared to, say, PearPC, it's pretty amazing. (I don't have any data and haven't tried it myself, but from what I've heard I'd suspect it runs at 5%-ish performance; compared to that, 30-70% is a minor miracle.)I know it won't interest the end user any whether it could've been even worse, but wanted to point it out, nonetheless ;).
yacoub - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
I wonder how it compares in game- oh, right, Mac. Hehehe ;)DrZoidberg - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
there is one very popular game on mac.World of warcraft....could anandtech pls include a benchie comparing mac with intel core duo vs g5 in wow? It would be interesting to see if apple switching to intel means macs are better at games (or not).
fitten - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
Is the Universal Binary out for WoW yet?Cusqueno - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
I have a 20" iMac Core Duo and with the default 512 RAM it was bad performance. About 5-10 fps in IronForge and 20-25 elsewhere. When I upgraded to 2 GB RAM it has improved greatly, maybe 10 - 20 in IF and 30 - 40 on the road. I guess this is due to Rosetta using lots of RAM.As of last night, there was no Universal binary. But today is patch/reboot day so might be pushed when I get off work. It is supposed to be included with version 1.9.3 according to the WoW forums.
fitten - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link
That's pretty awesome considering that you're running WoW in emulation (Rosetta).vortmax - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
Seeing that Rosetta is needed for all MS and Adobe apps. and since using Rosetta seems to take lots of memory, it would be nice to see how it runs with 1gb. Also, some benchmarks from Photoshop would be nice :)Thanks Anand!
Lifted - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
"... but those are the ones we want to measure anyways so they have to be there."Eug - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - link
Does turning off one core turn off half the cache?ie. Is it really Yonah Core Solo, or is it Yonah Celeron M?
maconlysource - Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - link
Where did you get the toolbar single proc- dual proc utility.I installed the developer pkg on my Intel iMac but can't find it?
Can you email me it?
Thanks.
Pete.