i3 iMac slower than C2D MacBook.

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I don't get it, why is this?

Like even if I click to go About This Mac, its just so sluggish. Dropdown menus won't work on certain websites and will on others whereas the MacBook will be fine with them on all sites.

When I go into applications folder it'll take about 2 minutes to load all the icons and then the rest of the info. Just so slow and I've only had it like 3 months.

Any help on what I can do?
 
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Well something is malfunctioning, or something is running in the background dragging down your performance. Run Activity Monitor and see if anything is using an abnormal percentage of your CPU. Also… can you tell us what apps you are loading on startup? You can get this from your Accounts preference pane.
 
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Nothing really unusual in the background.

Caffeine, iTunesHelper and Cloud only things I have running on login. Bluetooth and all sharing turned off.
 
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Nothing really unusual in the background.

Caffeine, iTunesHelper and Cloud only things I have running on login. Bluetooth and all sharing turned off.

Alrighty. Well I would definitely try running the Apple Hardware Test to check out your hardware. Have you done anything to it like change out the RAM yourself?
The Apple Hardware Test

Also grab Onyx and run its various tools. Maybe you have a corrupted cache or something like that.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Well the i3 being slower than the Core2Duo is expected since it's a lesser processor compared to the i7, which is comparable to the C2D. I know the architecture is completely different, but in terms of the level of quality, i3s are down there where Core Duos were. I did a test with a new MBP with an i7 and my C2D, both with very similar processing power, and created an image in Photoshop that generally takes awhile on mine. The newer i7 was actually slower in processing time than my C2D.
 
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Well the i3 being slower than the Core2Duo is expected

You don't know which C2D i have in my macbook....but no its not expected to be better considering my macbook is 1.8ghz, and it wasn't better until this week, it wasn't even a contest. The iMac ran everything incredibly faster. If we were talking my Windows 7 C2D, then yeah I'd accept this comment.

I'll try the hardware test.
 
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Well the i3 being slower than the Core2Duo is expected since it's a lesser processor compared to the i7, which is comparable to the C2D. I know the architecture is completely different, but in terms of the level of quality, i3s are down there where Core Duos were.

That is so utterly wrong.
Intel Core i3 Vs Core 2 Duo
The technical specifications have made it clearly indicated that Intel core i3 beats its predecessor, core 2 duo in almost all departments. This is but natural as they were indeed designed to replace them. Be it processing speed, multitasking or graphic output, opting for core i3 processors is the logical choice to make!

AnandTech - The Intel Core i3 530 Review - Great for Overclockers & Gamers
 
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Well hardware test came back with no problems. Definitely think its a problem somewhere on the hard drive.....because drop downs on some forums refuse to work whatever browser i use on this but work fine on the macbook.
 
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Well hardware test came back with no problems. Definitely think its a problem somewhere on the hard drive.....because drop downs on some forums refuse to work whatever browser i use on this but work fine on the macbook.

Try creating a brand new user, log into that account, and see if the problem continues. If it does not, then something is definitely amiss with the other user account and we may still be able to root it out. If it does continue, then I'm inclined to recommend reinstalling OS X. Well actually before that, try downloading and applying the latest Update Combo for your OS and see if that helps.
 
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Well made a new account, and it won't connect through the ethernet cable, so turned on airport, put in the correct password and it just times out.

This is pretty embarrassingly bad, because theres no way I'm re-installing and they re-doing everything to setup it after a couple of months....this is like going back to Windows Vista. I haven't had to re-install either Windows 7 or 10.5(on my macbook) since i've had them, both nearly 3 years, yet Snow Leopard on the iMac breaks down after like 3 months ?
 
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It's just something i have experienced, those reviews you have to take with a grain of salt, and develop your own opinions from doing tests.
 
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No you don't.....when they are doing reviews like that....it's not "grain of salt", it's pretty much spot on considering they are using the same hardware and just switching the CPU. You must have set something up wrong, because there no way you'll get more from a lower or mid-range C2D than you would an i3, not a chance.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
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Well i was testing my MBP with a comparable i7, yes the online reviews claimed it to be faster, but the tests i ran said differently for my Photoshop and Illustrator. Maybe comparisons with lower end C2Ds and i3 would be sufficient, but i'm talking about the higher end CPUs.
 
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I wonder why they even bothered to bring out the i7 if you can buy a high end C2D for less and it's better.
 
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Well every so many years they come out with new processors to replace the old, and increasing the speeds of RAM, to DDR3 with the newer i's. The C2Ds are still being put into machines, maybe not as many Macs, but Dell is still dishing them out in their business class ones, which i work with everyday, and they are quite powerful compared to the i5 I am typing on now. Now not everything that comes out will be better than the old, it all comes down to the user, my opinion is obviously different than yours. I for one am still using a Palm PDA instead of getting one of those iPod touches or iPhones which are extremely sluggish compared to my Palm because i actually use it for work, and not playing around. It all comes down to you, if you feel the need to upgrade eevry day when something comes out, that's up to you to waste money like that. I like to keep things until they literally die, but that's just me.
 
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Well made a new account, and it won't connect through the ethernet cable, so turned on airport, put in the correct password and it just times out.

This is pretty embarrassingly bad, because theres no way I'm re-installing and they re-doing everything to setup it after a couple of months....this is like going back to Windows Vista. I haven't had to re-install either Windows 7 or 10.5(on my macbook) since i've had them, both nearly 3 years, yet Snow Leopard on the iMac breaks down after like 3 months ?

It's not normal for Snow Leopard to "break down". That flies in the face of the extensive experience of long-time Mac users here and everywhere. But **** does happen. Your hard drive may well be slowly failing and randomly corrupting critical files. We just don't know. You may have installed "something" or perhaps gotten MacDefender malware that is causing the trouble. We just don't know.

There's no need to "re-do" everything to setup your system again. You always have the option to migrate your user data from a backup when installing OS X and you are back to where you left off. Reinstalling/upgrading OS X is ridiculously easy.

At the moment, I suggest testing out the drive thoroughly. Try Smart Utility to run a comprehensive check of your drive. It's not obvious how to do this, but in the window, by the "Tests" frame at the bottom, click on "More Info" and you'll get a pop-up with testing options.

If your drive checks out, then you can try partitioning your drive and installing a virgin copy of OS X to that partition, create a new user, and then log into that and see if you have problems. If you do, then you have a hardware issue. If not, something is corrupt on your main partition.
 
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btw, it was a sarcastic comment. your opinion is irrelevant, the i7 is the best thing money can buy, everywhere proves it except your dodgy computers.
 
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There's no need to "re-do" everything to setup your system again. You always have the option to migrate your user data from a backup when installing OS X and you are back to where you left off. Reinstalling/upgrading OS X is ridiculously easy.

I wish I could run out and buy another back up, i really do. But as it stands I have two which I use to make sure 50% of my boot drive is always free and they are nearly full....and it's just tiresome copying stuff endlessly, especially when it's usb2.0.

meh, I dunno what i'll do. I'll check a few other forums, see if anything comes up.
 
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I wish I could run out and buy another back up, i really do. But as it stands I have two which I use to make sure 50% of my boot drive is always free and they are nearly full....and it's just tiresome copying stuff endlessly, especially when it's usb2.0.

meh, I dunno what i'll do. I'll check a few other forums, see if anything comes up.

Keeping half your boot drive free is rather extreme. But whatever floats your boat. Feel free to check other forums, but asking for advice and then ignoring it because you don't like it isn't going to inspire anyone to try and keep helping you. Have a nice day.
 
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Just bring it in and have it looked at...simple.
 
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