“Earlier this week Apple released new iMacs which feature Intel’s next-generation quad-core Sandy Bridge processors. To see how well the Sandy Bridge iMacs perform I’ve collected Geekbench 2 results from the Geekbench Result Browser for these new iMacs and compared them against the previous Wolfdale (Core 2 Duo) and Lynnfield (Core ix) iMacs,” Primate Labs reports.
“While the improvements aren’t as dramatic as with the Sandy Bridge MacBook Pros, there’s a consistent 25% performance improvement between Sandy Bridge and Lynnfield at both the low-end and the high-end of the iMac model range (and over a 70% improvement between Sandy Bridge and Wolfdale),” Primate Labs reports. “While this update may not tempt Lynnfield iMac owners into upgrading, it’s certainly a compelling upgrade for Wolfdale iMac users.”
See the complete benchmarks in the full article here.
[Attribution: MacNN. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Snappier than ever!
Damn. I’m running a late 2009 24″ iMac C2D 3.06 GHz and I think it’s plenty fast for my needs and has been perfect running 24/7/365 for two years and it sits at the bottom of the barrel.
I have seriously got to get one of those 27″ Core i7 3.4 GHz models. If only my freakin’ Apple stock would get the hell moving, I’d be all over that biyatch. Four cores is sweet as hell. I have no need to get a Mac Pro anymore. That 3.4 GHz model is cranking hard. I could keep VMWare Fusion running Plex Server full-time and probably wouldn’t even notice the hit. Apple is crushing it.
wow I finally learned how to spell biyatch….gracias!!!
Laughing_boy48, I’m in the same boat. I have the 2.93 Ghz version with a 24 inch screen and it’s not only worked fine for me, but is blinding fast as far as I’m concerned. I rarely wait on anything to open or load!
I think I’ll let this one get really long in the tooth before I replace it. The longer I wait the faster the newer ones become and the price doesn’t seem to rise as fast as the speeds increase, so it’s a good bet to wait.
I bought my first Mac in ’96 for the same price as one of the new iMacs.
If only I had waited…
I bought my Apple ][ in ’81 for more that that, without a monitor, without a hard drive, without a floppy drive! Happy then and happy now with my family’s 11 iMac’s and iOS devices!
I have a 24″ iMac C2D 2.4GHz from 2007. The new machines are two to three times as fast according to these benchmarks. But my iMac still does the job just fine.
Nice! I’m in the Wolfdale category and definitely looking to upgrade.
I ordered the basic 27″ with a 2 TB internal.
From what OWC is saying, I should be able to add an SSD.
http://blog.macsales.com/10067-2011-imac-benchmark-testing-with-the-owc-mercury-extreme-pro-6g-ssd
Testing my January 2007 24″ iMac (3,445) vs. the new 3.4 Ghz (11,602) Sandy Bridge iMac resulted in the Sandy Bridge being 336% faster than my older iMac.
Maybe time to upgrade?
My ’06 2 GHz Core Duo only scored a 2564.
I look forward to next week’s delivery.
I do not want to see where my power Mac g5 scores…
My gaming pc has scored pretty good but it’s a few years old now.
Monday, my office will be working at ludicrous speed, maybe even plaid!!!
Browsed the Geekbench site, and right there on top was an early 2006 iMac, like my current. Score: 2616. So the new one is 444% faster. Since my old iMac has gotten two of the “Vertical Lines of Doom” on the LCD, I’d say it’s definitely time for me to upgrade.
I was glad to see that chart! My current 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo isn’t even on it. I can’t wait to see what the i7 quad-core 3.4GHz w/ 8GB RAM is going to do for me when it arrives. I may need to buy a seat belt!
UPDATE: I downloaded and ran the Geekbench test on my 2.66GHz 24″ iMac. It scored 3735 vs. the 11602 shown for the new i7 3.4. So according to the Geekbench score (for whatever it is worth) I am looking at 3X the speed. Amazing improvement especially considering this iMac is just around 2 years old.
the geekbench score is a pretty decent benchmark. except you have to purchase it to get the best results…
iMac (27-inch Late 2009)
Intel Core i7 860 2.8 GHz (4 cores) 8332
My Gaming only PC… barely beat this at 8337. (granted apples vs oranges)
and to think my new iMac 27″ is faster 🙂
Monday can’t come soon enough!
I have the oldest possible “Core 2 Duo” iMac. I’ll bet the slowest of the new iMacs is about “1000%” faster.
I don’t want to complain, but this benchmark info is almost useless. When I go to buy and iMac I don’t compare it with last year’s model, I just assume the new ones are faster, better etc. I *do* want to know how the iMac throughput compares against a MacPro Quad Core so I can make an educated decision between buying an all-in-one or bucking up for a tower plus display. That precious info seems to be hard to find, even at Mac Stores.
You can take these results, and compare them to the Mac results on a different page.
Had to do a little research, but here.
Numbers for all macs, but without the new iMac scores osted here.
http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/
Thank you so very much! That was a nice thing to do and just what I was looking for. Hope you have a great day!