3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo vs 2.66GHz Intel Core i7

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hi. A month back when i was configuring the notebook on Apple's website i saw '3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo? and now when i was about to purchase i saw the old processor is no more and now i found '2.66GHz Intel Core i7'.



If I'm not wrong the 'Core i7' should be faster then the 'Core 2 Duo'. My question is how much faster it is? I read on the Apple's website about the Boosting performance of the new 'Core i7' from '2.66GHz' all the way up to '3.33GHz'.



Another question, why the new 'Ghz' name is 2.66, while the old is 3.06. The numbers should be increasing right?



Thanks in advance for your answers.

-Amstos

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by amstos View Post


    If I'm not wrong the 'Core i7' should be faster then the 'Core 2 Duo'. My question is how much faster it is? I read on the Apple's website about the Boosting performance of the new 'Core i7' from '2.66GHz' all the way up to '3.33GHz'.



    Another question, why the new 'Ghz' name is 2.66, while the old is 3.06. The numbers should be increasing right?



    The aim would be for the machine to process the most amount of data in the lowest clock speed it can get away with as it saves on battery and heat. Architectural improvements allow more efficient processing per clock cycle.



    The Core i7 and i5 dynamically change the clock speed of the cores when the others aren't being used so that if a process only uses one core, it runs it at a faster rate.



    They also run more threads per core, which is better for multi-core processing. The results are pretty impressive:



    2.66GHz i7 MBP = 6398

    http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/256890



    3.06GHz Core 2 Duo MBP = 4619

    http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/256052



    So the new one is nearly 40% faster while running at a lower clock speed. It actually has similar performance to one of the older quad Mac Pros.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    amstosamstos Posts: 12member
    Hi Marvin, Thanks for your reply. The 'Geekbench' links are really helpful.



    So, because of the low clock speed, the new MacBookPro will generate less heat. I can't keep my current MacbookPro even on my lap, it burns. Good to hear.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by amstos View Post


    So, because of the low clock speed, the new MacBookPro will generate less heat.



    That's the idea anyway but it doesn't always work out that way between architectures as they change the transistor count. So a 3GHz Core i7 would run hotter than a 2.66GHz i7 but a 2.66GHz i7 probably won't run any cooler than a 3GHz Core 2 Duo.



    There was a recent article saying the i7 CPU hit 100 degrees C under load:



    http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/c...sius-your-lap/



    That's actually not uncommon with Apple as they hold back the cooling until the last minute. I've seen my Mini CPU hit 85 C and the fan wasn't turned on. I think Apple's plan is that most people won't be doing raw processing on these things so the slower fan speeds should be able to cool the CPU to within reasonable limits when it's idling. I run a 3rd party fan software to ensure my CPU always sits at 50 C.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    amstosamstos Posts: 12member
    That's bad. I wonder whether Apple is really trying to find a solution to this heating problem. My current MacBookPro is really bad.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by amstos View Post


    That's bad. I wonder whether Apple is really trying to find a solution to this heating problem. My current MacBookPro is really bad.



    I just use SMCFanControl to manually specify a constant higher fan speed.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    I just use SMCFanControl to manually specify a constant higher fan speed.



    I prefer to use this software:



    http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/index.html



    The reason being that rather than specifying a higher minimum fan speed, you specify a ramp and you can just make the fan speed ramp up quicker when the machine is working hard. This way it's quiet the majority of the time but as soon as it's running demanding tasks, it goes up high.



    It changes the fan speed automatically as the load increases/decreases to try and reach a suitable idling temperature.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    le studiosle studios Posts: 199member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf1Om...os=KrHkybXDJNc





    That's a YouTube link I found the graphic chip-set NVIDIA 330M 512MB DDR 48 cores is way more than the 512MB NVIDIA 9600GT DDR3 with I think 16 cores.





    You just have to search YouTube I seen 2009 vs 2010 MacBook Pro line and 2010 is just way faster! From booting up and navigating and opening and closing the apps. That benchmark that was posted is not a lie.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    amstosamstos Posts: 12member
    Hi LE Studios.

    Quote:



    This is wired. I watched the entire 10 minutes video and nothing was there related to this thread. I understand that somebody or you, playing a 3d game using MacBookPro. But instead of asking us to watch this whole video you would have told us "I had played for 10 minutes on high end game using MacBookPro and nothing happened" .





    Hi Marvin and nvidia2008, Thanks for referring the utilities that would help me to control the heat.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    That's the idea anyway but it doesn't always work out that way between architectures as they change the transistor count. So a 3GHz Core i7 would run hotter than a 2.66GHz i7 but a 2.66GHz i7 probably won't run any cooler than a 3GHz Core 2 Duo.



    There was a recent article saying the i7 CPU hit 100 degrees C under load:



    http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/c...sius-your-lap/



    That's actually not uncommon with Apple as they hold back the cooling until the last minute. I've seen my Mini CPU hit 85 C and the fan wasn't turned on. I think Apple's plan is that most people won't be doing raw processing on these things so the slower fan speeds should be able to cool the CPU to within reasonable limits when it's idling. I run a 3rd party fan software to ensure my CPU always sits at 50 C.



    100C isn't particular new, my MacBook Pro under a heavy load gets up to 95-97C when compressing video - the top temperature that the CPU can handle is 105-110C, so it is well within the same limits of the processor design.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    amstosamstos Posts: 12member
    Thanks 'macintoshtoffy' for your info.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macintoshtoffy View Post


    100C isn't particular new, my MacBook Pro under a heavy load gets up to 95-97C when compressing video - the top temperature that the CPU can handle is 105-110C, so it is well within the same limits of the processor design.



    That's right, it just makes the surrounding machine uncomfortably hot and if your hard drive is nearby like in the Mini, it can cause damage to it.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    That's right, it just makes the surrounding machine uncomfortably hot and if your hard drive is nearby like in the Mini, it can cause damage to it.



    Is there a temperature probe on the hard disk? I know in the case of my laptop my hard disk hovers around 29C.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macintoshtoffy View Post


    Is there a temperature probe on the hard disk? I know in the case of my laptop my hard disk hovers around 29C.



    On the Mini there is one stuck to the side of it. I'm not sure about the Macbook ones but some will just be close to it to allow them to be replaced easily. My HDD goes as high as 50-55C and 55C is the highest recommended operating temp for it. The laptops help separate the drive away from the CPU but the bigger problem is that intense heat being conducted very efficiently into your lap.
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