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C2d 3.06ghz IMAC vs. i3

D

Drecca

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 30, 2010
264
116
hey guys,

I'm a macbook pro guy through and through. I'm looking for a used iMac as a backup, but I'm struggling with some stuff.

There are 2 I'm currently looking at :

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz
Ram : 4GB DDR2 Ram
Hard Drive : sata2 500GB
Video Card : Nvidia 8800GS 512MB

I researched the video card, and it appears to be mid-range, which is okay

The next one :

Processor Class Intel Core i3
Processor Speed 3.06 GHz
Cache Size 4000 KB
Number of installed processors 1
Graphics
Number of video cards included 1
Installed Video Memory per Card 256 MB
Video chipset ATI Radeon HD 4670
Memory
Memory technology DDR3
Maximum system memory 16000 MB
Storage
Total Hard-drive capacity 500 GB
Hard Drive Speed 7200 RPM


Now, how can both the i3 and C2D have the same clock speed? Is it the seller making a mistake? And the DDR3 ram?

About the ATI, how does that card fare vs the nvidia? People state memory isn't the only factor, since some cards can't even use it all.


All it would do, would be office work and playing some world of warcraft (raiding). I assume the first one would play it just fine on medium settings? What about the latter?


Many thanks for your help in advance. I'm using the i7 MBP and never had to worry about clock speeds and graphics cards before.
 
You don't really have to worry now either.

The i3 will have greater performance than a Core 2 Duo at any given clock speed. DDR3 RAM is more advanced technology which will likewise outperform DDR2. I don't know about the video, but I expect the Radeon would be better as well as Apple rarely steps back in performance.

Can't address games, but either of these would be far more than adequate for office apps.
 
Well, that's the thing, I don't even know which one is the new one (I'm only up to date on MBP's).

The prices are very similar. 980 for the first one listed, 950 for the second one.
 
Drecca said:
Well, that's the thing, I don't even know which one is the new one (I'm only up to date on MBP's).

The prices are very similar. 980 for the first one listed, 950 for the second one.
Click to expand...

Definitely the latter then. It's newer and faster.
 
The i3 is newer. Do they both have the same screen sizes, RAM, and hard disk size? They specs you give don't say. As it is, the i3 is the much better buy.
 
Do they even make i3's at 3.06ghz with the ATI card (256MB)? Sorry, just want to make sure since I don't want to get screwed by the seller either.


Ram/disk are all the same. The first one is 24 inch, the second is 21.5. Screen size at that point doesn't matter much to me.
 
Core 2 Duo vs i3

I have a mid-2010 imac 27 with a 512mb radeon 5670

you are definitely better off with the newer model because it has a better harddrive model and more L3 cache which is a big boost:D:D
 
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