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i5 dual core vs core 2 duo

P

Popis1991

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
65
0
Sweden
Hey guys!
as the title is stated I'm wondering if the new i5 dual core processors in the current MBP are much better then the core 2 duo in the 2010 MBP?
I actually have the 2010 MBP and I'm wondering if i should upgrade it? is it worth it?

I am also thinking about exchanging my current HDD for an SSD, is that going to be better that upgrading to the new MBP with a normal HDD? or is it better to upgrade?

Help please!
 
miles01110 said:
Depends on what you use your computer for. Since you're asking the question it probably won't make much difference.
Click to expand...
dont understand what u mean with that last part but okay, I'm mainly going to use it for basic stuff, like school work, mail, internet browsing and watch HD movie on the go. Basically thats it. To do heavier stuff i use my iMac
 
dont understand what u mean with that last part but okay, I'm mainly going to use it for basic stuff, like school work, mail, internet browsing and watch HD movie on the go. Basically thats it.
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Any computer made in the last 5 years will be fine for those types of things. It's probably not worth it to spend the extra money for the i5.
 
It's probably true that you won't notice a lot of difference in basic tasks. Maybe battery life is better, HD playback could be better, but that's about it. Users like yourself benefit the most from SSD's in my experience.
 
There is a considerable difference between the C2D and core i series. However unless you use demanding programs like photshop or finical cut pro then you may not notice to much of a difference. That being said if you current machine meets your need then there really isn't any reason why you need to upgrade.
 
No you probably won't notice at all for your uses. I went from a 2008 macbook to a 2011 macbook pro and I barely noticed the difference in processor speed (apart from when ripping DVDs.) Your Mac is good for at least another few years, save the money :)
 
Popis1991 said:
dont understand what u mean with that last part but okay, I'm mainly going to use it for basic stuff, like school work, mail, internet browsing and watch HD movie on the go. Basically thats it. To do heavier stuff i use my iMac
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You don't need to upgrade then. The 2010 handles all those tasks with a breeze. If you really want to upgrade something you could get more RAM or an SSD.
 
From what you're doing, it doesn't look like you'll need the upgrade. Perhaps investing in a solid state drive would be a good thing.
 
hmm okay cool, thanks for all the answers! i think ill get an ssd drive and some new RAM for it ;) that will have to do ;)
 
I was in a similar position about 6 months ago ( mid 2009 2.53, c2d, 15.4", 250gb HDD, 2gb ram ) ... After upgrading my ram to 8gb and adding a 64gb SSD as a boot/app drive I no longer see a need to upgrade for another few years at least .... £100 on upgrades = £1500 saved on replacing mbp :)
 
Good for you, OP. That's the responsible decision. Like others have echoed, you'll benefit way more from an SSD than you would from the upgraded processor.
 
samac92 said:
No you probably won't notice at all for your uses. I went from a 2008 macbook to a 2011 macbook pro and I barely noticed the difference in processor speed (apart from when ripping DVDs.) Your Mac is good for at least another few years, save the money :)
Click to expand...

I have a Early 09 (still late 08 build) with a 2.66ghz... Would there be much difference in getting an i5?
 
astroboy907 said:
I have a Early 09 (still late 08 build) with a 2.66ghz... Would there be much difference in getting an i5?
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The real question you should be asking yourself is that, Is your 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo not working properly anymore? Is it slowing you down? If you wanna speed it up, just buy RAM and upgrade to an SSD. If you wanna do video/photo editing or gaming. It would be worth the upgrade in that case. But it's alot cheaper to get the SSD and RAM.
 
I'll go against the grain here and say that the i5 is much faster. Again, depending on what you use it for, but to give you an idea, in a lot of benchmarks, a Core i3 is faster than a Core 2 quad at about the same clock speed (maybe slightly higher).

If you plan on using encryption, including Filevault, the i5 has built in AES encryption support which speeds those operations up by a factor of 30x over a Core 2.

However, the fastest CPU in the world is no good if you are bottlenecked by disk or memory.

Work out where your system is bottlenecked - if it is ram or io, fix that instead... you may well get more benefit from an SSD + 8gb of ram (or more) than upgrading to a base model Core i5 with 4gb or less and spinning disk.... for most people those upgrades will be of more benefit.
 
Thanks you guys

Yeah this is exactly the thread I have been looking for:

[My set up is a MacBookPro7,1 Intel Core 2 Duo
2.4 GHz originally running on 4GB ram but I've upgraded it to Corsair 8GB 1066mhz.]

First my problems were:
- should I buy a Samsung 830 256GB SSD
- will that ssd be compatible with my MBP, my macbook pro 7,1 is after all SATA II by default so I wasn't sure if the Samsung 830 SATA 3 (which is the only one available I found not SATA II in my local area it is easier to find, just like 1333mhz ram is easier to find than 1066mhz)

But after deciding on all of this, I wasn't sure about whether it was worth the extra $200 for the sad because I wondered if my mbp would be made useless by all the newer models coming out.

But then, by chance I discovered that our Macbook Pro models are the most upgradable and the newer Retina and Air models are basically **** non upgradable computers.

So feel fortunate that I have a 'Pro' model.
 
Anywhere from 50% to 100% faster depending on the benchmark. You can also get the i7 in the 13" which is even faster...

Adding an SSD to your current machine will make some things faster. Opening programs, reading/writing files...

You can put a SATA II or III SSD in your curret Mac - they are backwards compatible. And don't forget to save your HD, you can take your SSD to your next Macbook Pro (but not an Air or Retina) when you get a new one.
 
rrgjl said:
It's probably true that you won't notice a lot of difference in basic tasks. Maybe battery life is better, HD playback could be better, but that's about it. Users like yourself benefit the most from SSD's in my experience.
Click to expand...

Unless you are performing heavy processor intensive tasks, you most likely won't see that much of an improvement moving from a Core 2 Duo to the latest i5 chips. Moving from a mechanical hard drive to a Solid State Drive however will speed things up tremendously (in my personal experience). So I wholeheartedly agree with this poster.

----------
Mikkadyu said:
Yeah this is exactly the thread I have been looking for:

[My set up is a MacBookPro7,1 Intel Core 2 Duo
2.4 GHz originally running on 4GB ram but I've upgraded it to Corsair 8GB 1066mhz.]

First my problems were:
- should I buy a Samsung 830 256GB SSD
- will that ssd be compatible with my MBP, my macbook pro 7,1 is after all SATA II by default so I wasn't sure if the Samsung 830 SATA 3 (which is the only one available I found not SATA II in my local area it is easier to find, just like 1333mhz ram is easier to find than 1066mhz)

But after deciding on all of this, I wasn't sure about whether it was worth the extra $200 for the sad because I wondered if my mbp would be made useless by all the newer models coming out.

But then, by chance I discovered that our Macbook Pro models are the most upgradable and the newer Retina and Air models are basically **** non upgradable computers.

So feel fortunate that I have a 'Pro' model.
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert here, but my understanding is that your model has a SATA II connection (which can't be changed I believe), whereas the newer models are equipped with SATA 3. This is an important distinction because your read/write speeds on your SSD will be limited/capped due to the connection.

Now, that doesn't mean it isn't worth it to upgrade to an SSD, because it is, and you will still a great improvement in the overall speed (opening applications, turning on/off, etc.). That said, I don't think it would be worth it to purchase the perceived best or more expensive SSD option, as the speeds are going to be capped anyway. I would try to find the cheapest drive that is still considered quality. I know the Crucial M4 is a great drive (and frequently used) by all accounts, and is currently priced less than $200 for a 256GB drive, or close to $100 for a 128GB drive. Just a suggestion.
 
robvas said:
Anywhere from 50% to 100% faster depending on the benchmark. You can also get the i7 in the 13" which is even faster...

Adding an SSD to your current machine will make some things faster. Opening programs, reading/writing files...

You can put a SATA II or III SSD in your curret Mac - they are backwards compatible. And don't forget to save your HD, you can take your SSD to your next Macbook Pro (but not an Air or Retina) when you get a new one.
Click to expand...

Plus, no fan noise on the i7, and less heat, thunderbolt, and USB3. I did the upgrade from a mid 2009 core 2 duo 13", and I'm really enjoying the speed difference.
 
Popis1991 said:
watch HD movie on the go
Click to expand...

Since 2011, Intel processors have incorporated Quicksync, which accelerates video playback and recording. Newer versions of quicksync support newer video codecs.

It is probable that playing these videos on a newer mac will not run down the battery as quickly, and will leave your cpu free for other things. In addition, the newer CPUs should consume a lot less power.

Moreover, the newer processors can execute more instructions per clock than a Core 2 Duo.

Plus, a portable machine comes with an SSD which is likely to be much faster than what every you had in your old machine.
 
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