Old iMac v New MacBook Air

[davisjw]

I currently have an older iMac with tech specs of: 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3 GB of RAM (maxed).

What is the performance difference between that and a new Air running specs of: 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with 4GB of RAM (though I could upgrade to an 8)?

Would I see an exponential difference? I guess I get confused with the 2Ghz vs. 1.8Ghz. I know the Air would have a newer processor, but is it that much faster?

I'm looking to upgrade and would love to just have an Air hooked up to a monitor instead of buying a new iMac and laptop. The programs I generally use are Adobe's CS and Corona SDK.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Dark Void]

It will be a large difference. GHz is only good to use as a comparison if the processors are in the same family and use the same architecture. The SSD in the MBA will account for most of the speed differences in everyday tasks, however.