20" iMac faster in UT than 17"?

[lightsout]

I am sure most of you have seen this.

http://www.macworld.com/2006/09/reviews/imaclineup/index.php

Whilst the 20" has a slightly quicker processor, it doesn't account for all of the difference. Is the X1600 clocked differently in the 20" model? Did it have 256MB of graphics memory?

Thanks!

 

[cbetta]

didnt they just use the imac 17" with integrated intel graphics?

 

[mkubal]

The $999 17-inch 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo iMac—the first flat-panel iMac for less than $1,000—is a stripped-down model. It has the same 2MB of shared L2 cache as the previous iMacs, and is the only iMac model to ship without built-in Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking, an Apple Remote, or a SuperDrive. It’s very similar to the iMac that Apple sells to educational institutions for $899, except that the extra $100 buys you a Core 2 Duo processor instead of Core Duo processor (running at the same speed) and a 160GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive instead of an 80GB hard drive. It includes 512MB of 667MHz RAM on two 256MB DIMMs, a 24x Combo drive, AirPort Extreme wireless networking, and Intel’s GMA 950 integrated graphics, which borrows the 64MB of RAM it uses from main memory, making a RAM upgrade a good idea on this model. You may want to spend the extra $75 to get 1GB of RAM (the maximum is 2GB).

In bold.

 

[lightsout]

Nope..... both 17" versions are in the list.

17" GMA950 - 21.7 FPS (ouch)
17" X1600 - 65.5 FPS
20" X1600 - 74.4 FPS

Why is the 20" ~13% faster, when the processor is only 8% quicker? My only thought is the 256MB of VRAM, but they never mention it.

 

[StealthRider]

The 20" has 100% more VRAM than the 17", to drive about 73% more pixels. A little gain is inevitable.

 

[Dane D.]

The difference is the CPU.

The 17-inch 2.0GHz and 20-inch 2.16GHz models are nearly identical except for their different processor speeds, hard-drive capacities (160GB versus 250GB)

UT is a CPU intense game unlike Quake or others. That slight speed bump accounts for the better fps. Years ago when UT99 came out, there was a tweak guide available. The first line in the guide stated this and proceeded to walk through all the tweaks you could do to squeeze out a few more fps. I think I still have it, as I still play UT99. I'm sure most of the tweaks would apply to any of the later versions.

 

[Sam*]

There both using the 128 x1600

The other two models have much better frame rates of 65.5 (2.0GHz) and 74.4 (2.16GHz), which beat the old 20-inch iMac’s 54.1 frames handily—even though they all use the same ATI Radeon X1600 graphics processor with the same amount of RAM.

 

[nagromme]

Enemy bots are very CPU intensive as I understand it. So maybe a botless flyby would show no difference, while an intense botmatch would benefit from higher GHz.

Interestingly, Bare Feats showed NO FPS difference between 2.16 and 2.33 iMacs with 7600.

 

[MacProGuy]

Enemy bots are very CPU intensive as I understand it. So maybe a botless flyby would show no difference, while an intense botmatch would benefit from higher GHz.

Interestingly, Bare Feats showed NO FPS difference between 2.16 and 2.33 iMacs with 7600.

Anyone know how to run that bot demo that Bare Feats ran? I've googled it and gotten millions of results saying to run it, many from the Terminal... but... no instructions on how to do it?

 

[nagromme]

Anyone know how to run that bot demo that Bare Feats ran? I've googled it and gotten millions of results saying to run it, many from the Terminal... but... no instructions on how to do it?

It's very easy No messing with Terminal, or even messing with UT settings. Just point and click!

1. Patch UT to the latest version (see http://macgamefiles.com ) of course.

2. Download "Santaduck Toolpak for UT2004" version 3.3 from http://santaduck.com

3. Run "Santaduck Standard Bench" (which is what Barefeats uses). Don't forget to choose Botmatch, Inferno, and enable sound and graphics.

Let us know what you find!

 

[astewart]

If you would like too see a few Benckmarks from UT 2004 on the 20" Core2Duo iMac, Click on this link.

 

[TBi]

Is the X1600 clocked differently in the 20" model?

Yup. On the original Core Duo iMacs the 17" was clocked at 330MHz and the 20" was clocked at 400MHz for the X1600.

 

[lightsout]

Thanks TBi - that is what I wanted to know!