Step back in performance?

[quintendehaas]

Hello,
I currently own a mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro with 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB ram and I switched the HDD for a SSD. I really like it's performance but I could really use a higher resolution display so I was thinking about upgrading to the new MacBook Air 1.7GHz i5. Or is this actually a step back in performance?

So what is the difference in performance between the 1.7Ghz i5 and the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Quinten

 

[anirudh]

I upgraded from the same MBP to a base 2011 13" MBA (although I didn't replace the HDD with a SSD). Apart from maybe a step backward in gaming performance, the MBA has exceeded expectations in all other fronts.

Someone posted a complete list of geekbench scores here for all generations of MBP, iMacs, Mac Pro etc. And the current MBA beats the high end 2010 MBPs.

 

[mpe]

So what is the difference in performance between the 1.7Ghz i5 and the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?

The 1.7 GHz i5 is almost two times faster than 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo in all CPU intesive tasks.

Don't be mistaken by the nominal frequency. Core i5 has much more advanced internal architecture compared to Core 2. Furthermore, the later does not even has any frequency advantage as the 1.7 GHz i5 runs at 2.4 GHz in two-thread loads and up to 2.7 GHz in single-threaded tasks thanks to Intel Turbo Boost feature.

 

[Chipg]

The 1.7 GHz i5 is almost two times faster than 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo in all CPU intesive tasks.

Don't be mistaken by the nominal frequency. Core i5 has much more advanced internal architecture compared to Core 2. Furthermore, the later does not even has any frequency advantage as the 1.7 GHz i5 runs at 2.4 GHz in two-thread loads and up to 2.7 GHz in single-threaded tasks thanks to Intel Turbo Boost feature.

Yep, I have a couple 2.4ghz iMacs and my geek bench score for them with upgraded 6gig ram is 3,500 and my i7 1.8ghz 4 gig air is 6,400 with both os lion and windows 7 running so almost double and in a super light portable laptop with a bad ass battery.

 

[gentlefury]

i5 blows the C2D out of the water! 1.7ghz is its base speed. It is a flexible mobile core that I believe goes up to 2.6 or 2.8 when needed. And, most of all, its hyper threaded....so it acts and performs more like a quad core.

 

[kdoug]

Hello,
I currently own a mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro with 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB ram and I switched the HDD for a SSD. I really like it's performance but I could really use a higher resolution display so I was thinking about upgrading to the new MacBook Air 1.7GHz i5. Or is this actually a step back in performance?

So what is the difference in performance between the 1.7Ghz i5 and the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Quinten

I recently sold my early 2011 MBP 13" with i5, 160GB SSD and 8GB memory and replaced it with the 13" 1.7GHZ with 256gb Samsung SSD. It feels much faster than the MBP and screen resolution obviously is much better.

 

[Boyd01]

I just got a 13" 1.7ghz i5 MacBook Air to replace my 2008 15" MacBook Pro with 2.4ghz core 2 duo. Like others have said, the i5 in the MacBook Air is almost twice as fast as the old core 2 duo despite the lower clock speed.

 

[Macintosh-HD]

Geez... I though the "Megahertz Myth" was killed a least 10 years ago

Like others have said, the 1.7 GHz performs faster than the 2.4 GHz C2D.