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    Is this even possible? (or normal?)

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by chyidean, Nov 15, 2008.

  1. chyidean

    chyidean Notebook Evangelist

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    So in the third thread (sorry) concerning my desktop vs the aluminum Macbook, I ran the Vantage test on my Inspiron desktop.

    Specs are as follows:
    Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
    3GB DDR2 RAM @ 667MHz
    8500GT, 512 MB DDR2 RAM
    320 GB HDD @ 7200 RPM

    I got a score less than 1000 (which personally I think is weird concerning my hardware, but I posted on both the forums at Futuremark as well as TomsHardware and they assured me the 8500 GT was complete crap and my score was normal).

    I came across a notebookcheck.com review of the new Macbook (I think it's the 2.4 model) and it scored 3387 points. Review is here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Apple-MacBook-Aluminium-Unibody-13-9400M.12533.0.html

    How is it possible for the Macbook to have more than three times the score of my desktop? Is it really that powerful, or is there something wrong with my desktop?
     
    chyidean, Nov 15, 2008
    #1
  2. Bartlett

    Bartlett The Prophet

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    In games, the graphics utilizes the CPU, and since your GPU is so weak, the extra power of the CPU is unnecessary. The CPU can render all of these frames but the GPU can't. Say the CPU dishes out 100 frames in 2 seconds, but the GPU can only process 20, then the extra frames are worthless and are just "qeued"
     
    Bartlett, Nov 15, 2008
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  3. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    The Macbook was benched in PCMark Vantage. Are you sure you didn't bench your desktop in 3DMark Vantage?
     
    Lithus, Nov 16, 2008
    #3
  4. chyidean

    chyidean Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh, good point. Thanks for pointing that out.

    What's the difference?
     
    chyidean, Nov 16, 2008
    #4
  5. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    PCMark benchmarks the CPU, while 3DMark benchmarks the GPU. So, if you have a good processor but a bad or no graphics card, PCMark would still score high, while if you have the latest graphics card but an ancient or budget CPU, 3DMark would still score high.
     
    Budding, Nov 16, 2008
    #5