Hi, I am keen on buying a Mac- most likely an IMac or G5 power pc but
I'm concerned by the clock speed. Now that these macs are using Intel
chips, surely the clock speed is slower.... a computer from Dell comes
with Dual core 3ghz CPU where as the Imac is only 2GHz and cost more
?? I've heard Macs use less resources etc but this is a massive
difference in clock speed and more expensive.

So my question is are current macs as fast as their PC equivilents or
not and if not, why are they so much more expensive? Related to this
is when will the new faster versions of these Mac computers be out
(Dell have faster CPUs every few months but I've noticed apple.com has
had the same speed options for ages) Thanks :)

Hi mrhat-ga (and tell Mr. Garrison hello too!),

Clock speed does not necessarily indicate the speed at which a
computer will operate. This is easier to understand if you imagine two
cars, one is 6000lbs and has a 300HP engine, the other is 1500lbs and
has a 250HP engine. The lighter car with the smaller engine will go
substantially faster than the heavier car with the larger engine--even
though the Horsepower is lower. This is the same in the computer world
too.

Basically, Pentium M technology (which is found in the Centrino
chipset used on laptop computers) are a RISC chipset, originally
developed by Alpha. Essentially, the Pentium M chipset (which is found
in Intel Macs) is designed to be the smaller Horse-Power, but
"lighter" CPU. The Pentium M can do more per clock cycle than other
'faster' CPU's, so the net effect is that while it has less cycles, it
does MORE in each cycle. Therefore, the Pentium M is a much
faster/better CPU than *any* desktop chip on the market.

In my own opinion, the Pentium M CPU is the most exciting thing to
come out of Intel in years.

My own notebook has a Pentium M 2.0ghz - that CPU is actually faster
than most 3ghz CPU's on the market today. This strange numbering
scheme is known in the industry as the megahertz myth.

So, the short answer is that Apple's, since they use the Pentium M
CPUs, are indeed faster than the higher-numbered PC counterparts.

Legolas-ga

No searches were performed as this is all knowledge I have as a
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Thanks, fast and answered a question I've not found a straight answer
too in a clear and concise manner. :)

When I worked at Apple,1998-2001, they said the mac at half the speed
was just as fast. Computers ,as a rule of thumb, double in speed every
18 months. They are more expensive so they can make more money. My
opinion. I would go with a PC. There is much more software for them.

It is my understanding that, at one time, the Mac had a special
graphics chip as well as the main processor. This was because it had
been designed from the ground up as a Graphics Machine.

By contrast, graphics capability had to be added on to the PC,
throwing a greater workload on its only processor.

Maybe I'm out-of-date with all this but, for sure, someone (possibly
Joe916?) will straighten me out.

OK Thanks everyone. I also just found out Apples can now run XP too so
there's no reason to be stuck with a PC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4880022.stm

You might also want to define what the Macs are faster at. To my
understanding, buying a Mac for gaming is a very unwise decision.