Single 1.6 G5 v. Dual 1G G4: which is faster

[serger]

Which one... and by how much.

Assuming all other things equal (ram, hd speed etc...)

thanks... a little informal research!

 

[Muskie]

I would also like to know the answer. My Mom got a single 1.6 G5, and she said it was too huge, I love the G5s so we kind of joked about trading. I have a dual 1.25 G4. Always wondered if my dual processors allowed me to do more at once that her G5, I just don't know how much better the arcitechure of the G5 chip is.

 

[gekko513]

Here is a benchmark test that may give you an idea of which would be faster.

It depends on the application, as always. In this test a dual 1.25GHz G4 beats the 1.6GHz G5 in 4 out of 5 tests.

 

[legion]

The Dual 1.25 will be definitely faster. You need the 1.8 to be making a step forward.

Don't know about the dual 1, but I'm guessing it'll be faster too (but I don't have first-hand experience like the above)

I think barefeats might have done tests when the G5 first came out.

barefeats

 

[Jigglelicious]

It depends really. For apps that only take advantage of one processor (games, for example), the G5 would be a good deal faster. But for well optimized processes, the G4 could easily hold its own. For just general web browsing and such, the G5 would probably be faster in terms of speed, but the G4 would be more fluid in multitasking apps since it can offload to the 2nd processor. Still, I would think the G5 would be faster overall. Remember - 2 x 1GHz does not = 2GHz.

 

[Sun Baked]

It was also pointed out that the G5s need a lot of RAM to really see the full benefits of the G5 architecture, though I don't think anybody really went back and tested the G5s with a lot more memory than Apple's standard configuration (which slows the G5s down).

I remember a couple sites mentioning a big increase in the benchmark numbers when they played around with a couple tests, but I never bothered to see if anybody tested a 4GB SP 1.6 G5 (or 1.8) vs. a 2GB DP G4 to see what would happen.

But if you are looking at the SP 1.6 G5, look to see if there are any SP 1.8 G5 machines available -- they usually are near the price of the SP 1.6 G5, but worth any slight premium in price (the 4 extra DIMM slots are worth it).

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Otherwise wait to see if Apple makes a significant change with the next upgrade of the G5s, because the 4 DIMM slots on the SP 1.6 G5 really hold the machine back.