5 replies to this topic

[Agent5]

Largely out of idle curiosity, what differences would Intel's new i3 or i5 processors have on gaming when compared to the Core 2 Duo? Specifically, it's been suggested to me on other forums that the new iX line would preform poorer than the older Core 2 Duo on titles such as Rome: Total War, The Abbey, Ankh 3 (Battle of the Gods), and Pirates! Live the Life. This runs counter to my own (poorly informed) impressions, and so I bring the question to the InsideMacGames community. Would the iX line be an improvement across the board, or would "older" titles (but in some cases recently released on the Mac) be somewhat problematic?

Thank you for any information you guys can give, and I hope my question wasn't too convoluted - The flu makes coherent thought a challenge and my own ignorance is already overwhelming to begin with.

[J'nathus]

I'm not sure about what the specs are for what you're looking at, but here's a comparison between a Core i5 (quad core), Core i3 and Core 2 Duo (3 GHz)

http://www.tomshardw...,1398.html?prod[2884]=on&prod[3311]=on&prod[3520]=on&prod[2634]=on

It looks like it's a bit of a wash between them with the i5 Quad core being slightly faster than the lot of them.  The i5 is cooler / more power efficient than a Core 2 Quad, but I don't think Apple ever put a C2Q in any of the systems. When HardOCP showed comparisons on the i5 initially, it was handily faster than a Core 2 Extreme (clocked at 3.2 GHz I think) and the i5 was 2.66 GHz.  

I doubt you'd be unhappy with any of these choices.

From what I remember, if the i5 has a 7 in the number (ex: 750) it is a quad core. If it is a 6 (ex: 650) it is a dual core with Hyper-Threading , and according to NewEgg, the i3s are also dual core with Hyper-Threading.

Differentiations between the i3 and i5 dual-cores appear to be bus speed and clock speed.  

I personally have a i5 750 in a rig I built last December, and as far as games go, it's serving me well.

[The Liberator]

J, on 25 March 2010 - 07:07 PM, said:

…I don't think Apple ever put a C2Q in any of the systems…

What about the Mac Pros?

By the way Agent, there is always BareFeats…

Liberator.

[J'nathus]

The Liberator, on 25 March 2010 - 09:54 PM, said:

What about the Mac Pros?

Mac Pros have had quad core Xeons, but not Core 2 Quad processors. That's sort of comparing a GeForce GTX 285 to a Quadro FX 4800.  Yes indeed the GPUs are nVidia parts, but those two suit entirely different purposes. Also, there are no Mac Pros with Core 2s, i3s, i5s, nor indications that any of the afore-mentioned are slated for the Mac Pro.

[The Liberator]

Hmmm, well… I stand corrected.

Liberator.

[Agent5]

Thanks for the help guys. This answered my question in its entirety.