The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    13" macbook air performance difference top spec oct 2010 vs bottom spec jul 2011

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by masterchef341, Jul 28, 2011.

  1. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

    Reputations:
    3,047
    Messages:
    8,636
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    206
    So basically I'm comparing these 2 models:

    core i5 1.7ghz
    4 GB memory
    128 GB SSD
    Intel HD 3000 graphics

    vs.

    core 2 duo 2.13ghz
    4 GB memory
    256 GB SSD
    Nvidia 320m graphics

    I know the nvidia should be slightly faster and slightly more compatible, especially in windows (which I will use for some 3d games).

    The real question is, how much slower for general use is a core 2 duo 2.13ghz vs a 1.7ghz core i5?
     
    masterchef341, Jul 28, 2011
    #1
  2. jaguare

    jaguare Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    172
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    It won't really matter for general use as a Core 2 Duo is more than adequate for surfing the web. But it's significantly slower.

    The new Macbook Airs have thunderbolt, which is a big selling point.

    The difference between the Nvidia card and the HD 3000 is so small and both IGPs are so relatively bad that I don't think you'll really care which one you get.
     
    jaguare, Jul 28, 2011
    #2
  3. shriek11

    shriek11 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    190
    Messages:
    783
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Has anyone used thunderbolt for anything yet and how did it perform?
     
    shriek11, Jul 28, 2011
    #3
  4. redrazor11

    redrazor11 Formerly waterwizard11

    Reputations:
    771
    Messages:
    1,309
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    redrazor11, Jul 28, 2011
    #4
  5. GadgetsNut

    GadgetsNut Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    187
    Messages:
    493
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    31
    According to this article the 13" MBA is faster than last year's 17" MBP with i7 when it comes to raw CPU and memory speeds.

    2011 MacBook Air benchmarked; outperforms all 2010 MacBook Pros – MacDailyNews - Welcome Home

    MacBook Pro Benchmarks (Early 2011)

    Plus everything Jaguare said. There are endless discussions about the Geforce 320m vs the Intel HD3000 which IMHO are so pointless - they both suck for any serious gaming so really what's the point? The performance gain going from C2D to Sandy bridge is enormous, whereas the difference between the 320m and HD3000 is pretty small. The HD3000 runs games like Lego Star Wars games just fine, but neither will play the serious FPS with playable framerate at decent resolution.

    I bought the new 13" MBA last week. Will be selling my 2011 13" MBP shortly.

     
    GadgetsNut, Jul 28, 2011
    #5
  6. jaguare

    jaguare Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    172
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    anandtech.com published a macbook air review that includes thunderbolt just today or yesterday
     
    jaguare, Jul 28, 2011
    #6
  7. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

    Reputations:
    3,047
    Messages:
    8,636
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    206
    I'm not really interested in thunderbolt. Anyone have benchmark numbers for the 2.13ghz core 2 duo vs the 1.7 ghz i5?

    In the end, it's not really a choice for me. I have to get the previous model because I need 256 GB of storage space and the price difference is astronomical (in my case, I found a decent deal on the 2010 model).

    I'm still very curious as to the difference specifically between the 2.13ghz core 2 duo vs the 1.7ghz i5. Benchmarks preferred.

    The new model costs $1900 (after tax) for me to get it with applecare. Even if I wait a few weeks, it's still going to be almost 1800 without tax.

    The old model cost me $1130 total (with applecare).

    So, for me, I had no choice. It's on the order of *half* to get the previous version. Plus, I may want to do some openCL coding, which is a non-option on the new model. I'm also interested in windows game compatibility in addition to performance. So, there are a variety of reasons I had to get the old one.

    I know I had to sacrifice some CPU power for this, and the backlit keyboard. However, I want to know specifically how much slower the CPU is.
     
    masterchef341, Jul 28, 2011
    #7
  8. Lieto

    Lieto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    108
    Messages:
    896
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I5 will fully compensate for any 320m advantages. I doubt any 3d game would run slower on new i5. In fact cpu has huge impact on gaming.
     
    Lieto, Jul 29, 2011
    #8
  9. ClearSkies

    ClearSkies Well no, I'm still here..

    Reputations:
    1,059
    Messages:
    2,633
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    See also this full comparison at MacWorld with performance numbers of all 4 new std MBA configs vs 2010 MBA C2D models.

    Well, there are published gaming results that show the HD3000 can run 15-20% slower FPS in various games, despite having similar results in 3DMark.
     
    ClearSkies, Jul 29, 2011
    #9
  10. BigAl

    BigAl Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    42
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Not sure how much help this is but this article compares the 2010 1.86 C2D to the BTO 2.13 C2D MBA and says the 2.13 C2D is 10% faster:
    2010 MacBook Air: ultimate-edition lab tests | Business Center | From the Lab | Macworld

    You could then look at anandtech's benchmarks and guesstimate how the 2.13 C2D would compare to 1.7 Ci5 by adding 10% to the 1.86 C2D numbers.
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/4528/the-2011-macbook-air-11-13inch-review/9

    I'm sure there will be more benchmarks in the coming days to make it more concrete...
     
    BigAl, Jul 29, 2011
    #10
  11. rshankar

    rshankar Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Can we use the latest Macbook air for Java development? is it fast enough for compiling and executing Java?
     
    rshankar, Jul 30, 2011
    #11
  12. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    of course... Java doesn't require that much
     
    doh123, Jul 30, 2011
    #12