Benchmarked: Quad Core i7 iMac is Wicked Fast

Leander Kahney ()

quad_core_i7_iMac

Gizmodo’s Brian Lam tested the new 27-inch Quad-Core i7  iMac and found it’s a beast. Geekbench benchmarks showed a 2x to 3x improvement over the Core 2 Duo model, but most impressive was a real world DVD ripping test, using Handbrake:

On the Core i7 iMac, it took 43 minutes to rip a DVD, Storm Riders, a surfing film from the ’70s featuring Gerry Lopez (my favorite) and others. On the Core 2 Duo machine, it took 147 minutes! I know this is basically a DVD read test coupled with decoding and video conversion, but the results have me excited because this is a real task that takes my computer a long time to do, performed by a program that hasn’t been revised in a year.

Benchmarked: The Quad-Core i7 iMac is Super Fast

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About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, iMac, News |

  • Hex

    Good to see you guys can get your hands on a i7 iMac I have had one on order for 20+ days now!

  • imajoebob

    [drool]

  • imajoebob

    If they stuff one of these into a MBPro I’m really screwed. I’m just about ready to bite the bullet and spring for a 15″ Pro, but if an i7 comes out I’ll have to reevaluate everything. It’ll likely have a stratospheric premium, so it’d be at least 6 more months to wait for it to come down to being only very expensive.

  • http://ukmac.net Scott

    Oooo… Sooo tempted…. Got to resist….

  • http://mattlongman.com Matt Longman

    I can’t wait to order one!!

  • PWNd

    I love when retards compare a Custom Build PC with the new iMac. In fact, i’ve priced a PC Box with almost identical specs as the iMac, including a Massive Monitor, and guess what?. The iMac is $ 300 bucks cheaper.

  • ed

    @PWNd
    Yea, and you get to have a bunch of ugly crap all over and under your desk, but hey you saved $300. I mean why drive a BMW when at Trabant has 4 wheels, engine and seats and gets you (hopefully) to your destination? Retards go for quality? Looks like you’re the retard.

  • eidolon

    ” performed by a program that hasn’t been revised in a year.”

    Want to have some real fun? Get the 64 Bit nightly build of HandBrake and the 64 bBit VLC version 1.0.2. I went from an average of 27 frames per second on a 3.06 4GB/300GB Velociraptor/ATI HD 4850 to 107 Frames per second on the i7. Now if I can only figure out how to get the Velociraptor in the i7. Mine came with a Segate and I understand the temp sensor is now internal and it’s not a standard that every drive manufacturer uses.
    Oh well time to tear it down and see what’s in there anyway…

  • http://deoclicianocgiportfolio.wordpress.com Deocliciano Okssipin Vieira

    I am broke!
    … Perhaps next year i’ll save enough.