What's faster: a MBP with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7?

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I have a MBP that is showing age. I'm thinking of a buying a new (well, refurbished) one.

I was looking online to compare speeds but I couldn't find the answer. So, simply put, I'm looking at a 2012 or 2013 refurbished MBP that has a 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7. My current 2009 machine has a 3.06 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo.

Which of these is faster?
 

Raz0rEdge

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The i7 is way faster than your Core2Duo (or i3 in the new speak). Even though the 2.3 Ghz i7 might have a lower clock speed, it has 4 cores while your Core2Duo only has 2.

Additionally, the newer generation of chips are much better than the previous generations. So even the Haswell i7 is going to be faster than the Ivy Bridge, for example, at the same clock speed..
 

pigoo3

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I would also say that comparing a 2-core cpu to a 4-core cpu is not as easy as it looks. Not all apps will take advantage of all 4 cores. A better comparison is 1-core vs. 1-core.

Of course cpu speed does play a factor (3.06ghz vs. 2.3ghz)

And like Raz0rEdge mentioned...the newer i7 cpu vs. a core 2 duo cpu will be faster.

I like to look at things on a single core basis:

- Your 2009 MBP (core 2 duo 3.06ghz) has a single core Geekbench 3 score (64 bit) of = 1792
- A 2012 MBP with a quad-core i7 cpu at 2.3ghz has a single core Geekbench 3 score (64 bit) of = 2986

As you can see...the single core score of a 3.06ghz core 2 duo cpu is much lower than the single core score of a 2.3ghz i7 cpu.

- Nick
 

bobtomay

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How would that compare to what I thought at the time was a screaming machine that had a P4 3.4 overclocked to 4.1Ghz?
 
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GeekBench offers pretty reliable comparisons. Higher scores the better. The 2009 3.06GHz comes in at 3,989 compared to the 2012 2.3GHz machine at 12,527. Quite a difference. For this and other information on all models download and use Mactracker.


http://mactracker.ca
 

Slydude

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I
I like to look at things on a single core basis:

- Your 2009 MBP (core 2 duo 3.06ghz) has a single core Geekbench 3 score (64 bit) of = 1792
- A 2012 MBP with a quad-core i7 cpu at 2.3ghz has a single core Geekbench 3 score (64 bit) of = 2986

- Nick

Not being one to spend a lot of time interpreting Geekbench scores I wouldn't have thought of making that comparison. Excellent idea.
 

pigoo3

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Not being one to spend a lot of time interpreting Geekbench scores I wouldn't have thought of making that comparison. Excellent idea.

Thanks man!:) Luckily Everymac lists Geekbench scores on a single core and a total core basis…which makes single core comparisons easy.:)

- Nick
 
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Or try Whats your BlackMagic Disk Speed ?? Disk Speed Test and it will give you a definitive answer. Link to the App is in the Thread or download it from the Mac App Store.

But to answer everything above has already been said. . .
 

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