New iMac Core i7 Head and Shoulders Above the Rest

**Paul Daniel Ash** · 11-14-2009, 10:54 AM

Reports began trickling out mid-week that some people who had placed orders for the new high end quad-core iMac Core i7 processors had been notified that their computers had finally shipped from the manufacturer in China. Now, the first benchmarks are coming to light, showing considerable speed bumps for the Apple's new top performer.

The Primate Labs Geekbench program provides a suite of tests for comparing single and multi-core processors in 32- and 64-bit versions. Users have run tests on their own computers and submitted them to Geekbenchs server, giving a good indication of performance irrespective of individual configurations. While it can be difficult to wad through all the results, Timon Royer put together a side by side comparison in a nice graphic (at the top of this post) which shows how significant the performance improvement really is. The score for the i7 (9638) compared to the i5 (7131) shows that the 2.8 GHz i7 performed 35% better than the 2.66 GHz i5... and that both leave the 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo (5131) far behind.

The 27-inch 2.66 GHz Core i5 750 iMac has a suggested retail price of $1,999, with the 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 860 processor available as a $200 upgrade. Both systems include:

quad-core processor with 8MB shared L3 cache
27-inch 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit display
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB
ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics; with 512MB GDDR3
1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm
A slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+ / -R DL/DVD+ / -RW/CD-RW)

**PlatoTheForms** · 11-14-2009, 11:32 AM

good to see they're keeping up with PC in terms of speed of the processors.

**adsonjustin** · 11-14-2009, 11:37 AM

that's cool

**zatpgw** · 11-14-2009, 07:41 PM

But what are the real world differences like? I hate benchmarks because they are usually just that, running benchmark programs. Tell me how it handles Logic Pro comparatively and I'll be satisfied.

**rhekt** · 11-14-2009, 10:48 PM

i remember when "made in china" meant "crap"......good 'ol 80's...

**Poseidon79** · 11-15-2009, 09:49 AM

I'm at the bottom of the list with my 3.06 core 2 duo Sad times... but I don't do any high power processing so I don't think I'd notice the difference anyway.

**Filo01** · 11-16-2009, 04:24 PM

i would love a mac, or even better a macbook pro, but there just so expensive compared to a when you build your own pc.

**CaptainChaos** · 11-16-2009, 04:28 PM

The $200 dollar upgrade price is really nice. For a comparible PC the upgrade price is $400.

**masterp0606** · 11-16-2009, 04:47 PM

I have an HP DV7 laptop with the Intel Core i7 and love it. It gets warm tho but that's to be expected.

**CaptainChaos** · 11-16-2009, 04:55 PM

Heh I was looking at that model today. Does it have the Nvidea card or the ATI card?

**henson** · 11-17-2009, 05:04 PM

Arrrrg... why are macs so expensive?

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