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Mac Musings
Beyond MHz and GHz
Selling processors by something other than megahertz speed isn't a new idea. Some companies have used model numbers to mislead the public, while others claim they are helping consumers better understand the real performance of their processors.
There was quite a debate in the 80486/68040 era. Until then, microprocessors ran internally at the same speed they accessed the system bus. With the 486DX design and the '040, the CPU ran at twice bus speed.
Apple stuck with bus speed for quite a while, eventually switching to internal CPU speed when the Wintel world sounded faster. That's why you may see the PowerBook 540c rated as a 33 MHz computer by some source (including LEM) and as a 66 MHz computer by others.
Today we think nothing of rating a CPU by internal MHz speed, not the 66, 100, 133, or 200 MHz but the processor uses to access the motherboard.
From the beginning, we have considered the MHz rating an important indicator of CPU performance. After all, a 40 MHz 68030 ran circles around a 25 MHz 68030. Of course, there were problems with next generation CPUs, such as the 68040 outperforming the 68030 by a factor of roughly 2.5 - in other words, the 20 MHz Centris 610 held its own against the 40 MHz Macintosh IIfx.
Likewise, the G3 turned out to be significantly more powerful than the earlier 604e processor. The G3/233 was roughly equivalent to the 604e/350 - and, as you may remember from the ads, about twice as fast as a Pentium running at the same clock speed.
And that points to the great problem with MHz rating: It doesn't predict performance between different processors.
I recently looked over the various benchmarks for different models, trying to devise a scale that would help quantify the performance difference between the 8 MHz 68000 of the earliest Macs and the G3s and G4s used today. It's not strictly scientific, but here's what I came up with:
- 1: 8 MHz 68000
- 4: 16 MHz 68030
- 6: 25 MHz 68030
- 10: 40 MHz 68030
- 15: 25 MHz 68040
- 40: 60 MHz 601
- 233: 233 MHz G3
By this scale, we see that a 500 MHz iMac or iBook is roughly 500 times more powerful than the original Macintosh, nearly 100 times as powerful as a Mac IIci, and 25 times more powerful than the Power Mac 6100. These are rough figures, but they'll get you into the ballpark.
Of course, that's all using the same brand of computers. It gets messy when we throw the 603/604, G3/G4, Celeron/Pentium, Duron/Athlon, and Intel/AMD comparisons into the mix. Megahertz will tell you which G4 or Athlon is faster than another G4 or Athlon, but it gives no indication whatsoever how either of these compare with the Pentium III or Pentium 4.
What the computing industry needs is some sort of cross-platform performance rating that indicates how well a particular processor performs inside a computer and under an operating system. That said, it should avoid being software specific - you really can't compare Microsoft Office optimized for Windows with the Mac version, let alone make a meaningful comparison between Office on Windows and an Office-equivalent running under Linux.
I can't say just how the benchmark should work, but it should be general enough that it can be easily ported to Windows, Linux, the Mac OS (classic and X), and any other OS people may want to try. It should be processor oriented, so it should avoid tasking the video subsystem, accessing the hard drive, talking to a network, etc. The performance rating should test the CPU, cache, motherboard, and system memory.
It may be that we'll end up with several different benchmarks, just as the SPEC benchmarks floating point and integer performance. One test should emulate number crunching in a spreadsheet, another might work with a large memory-based database, another might simulate word processing, and yet another might specifically look at how well the system rips MP3s or video.
Whether all that will help you get a better price is hard to say, but at least prospective buyers will know exactly what you have without having to await feedback from the seller.
Such a set of performance ratings wouldn't just level the playing field in Mac vs. Wintel comparisons. It would help Mac users quantify the difference between the various G3 and G4 processors; help Intel differentiate the Celeron and Pentium lines; let performance junkies better compare Athlon, Pentium III, and Pentium 4; and possibly answer some of the questions of Mac OS 9 vs. 10 and Linux vs. Windows performance.
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Mac Musings
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- The Future of Personal Computing: Personal Servers and Low Cost Portables, 11.02. With WiFi everywhere, virtual network computing, and remote access, your iPhone, iTouch, iTablet, or MacBook Air becomes a gateway to your home or office computer.
- The Late 2009 Mac mini Value Equation, 10.21. We called the Mac mini 'the best value in desktop Macs' two months ago, and the refreshed Mac mini only improves that value.
- The Late 2009 MacBook Value Equation, 10.21. The redesigned consumer MacBook uses unibody construction, gains LED backlighting and battery life, but loses FireWire.
- More in the Mac Musings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed.
- Group of the Day: Puma List is for anyone using Mac OS X 10.1.
- November 7 in LEM history: 00: PowerBook Lite dreams - Our first Macs - 01: OS 9, OS X, or Linux? - 02: Xserve for the classroom - 03: Panther on slot-loading iMacs - High capacity Lombard/Pismo battery - 05: Clean keyboard residue from laptop screen with ROR - SeaMonkey - 06: Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet - Turn any Mac into a gameshow buzzer - 07: The transforming PowerBook 1400 - PowerBook 540 on Compact Flash
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Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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