Just bought a Macbook Pro... got some Q's

[iQuit]

SPECS:

MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display (1440x900 resolution)
512MB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera
Front Row and Apple Remote



I am just getting back on the forums as well as on a Mac. I have been using Windows for the past two years because my old mac broke and I've just been using a descently fast Windows computer and was busier with other things. My brother owns a 2.0 GHz Macbook. I know all about the Intel transition and this will be my FIRST INTEL mac. What kind of speed can I be expecting out of this computer now and in the future when more efficient apps are created? How does this chip compare to the G5? and how quick do the CPU's work together? In theory can it be a 4 GHz processor?

Sorry for all the questions I am just so amped up about getting back into OUR culture. As well as seeing Steve Job's keynote in January!

 

[jamesi]

welcome back home slice

you should know the machine you have is a beast! much faster than the G5 in fact, look at some benchmarks online for the comparison but the new intel systems are just so much faster. its not a 4 gig system, you need to think of it as two chips that dont stack on each other but operations get divided up between the two of them.

 

[DaLurker]

Not sure how to compare but my new Macbook is leaps and bounds faster than my old Powerbook G4.

As for dual cores "stacking", it doesn't quite work like that. Multiple cores need to be utilized by applications and currently most applications are programmed such that Dual Core CPU's won't see a double in speed. Theoretically it is possible however programming techniques will limit that speed gains to a lower percentage. This is the case with a single application.

However if you're running two CPU intensive applications, dual core cpus will allow you to almost double your speed (ie Encoding/Decoding MP3's and playing games).

Either ways your MBP will be more than fast enough for almost anything you throw at it unless you're in a very specialized field.

 

[HibyPrime]

The 2.0ghz of your processor is equivalent to the speed of a car (in mph for example).

If you have two cars going at 100mph, the speed of the two cars is still 100mph (by your analogy, the two cars combined should be going at 200mph).

The two CPUs interact seamlessly, just as a dual G5 or dual G4 would.

I hope this helps :/

Congrats on the new MBP, I have the same one as you except I upgraded the RAM to 1GB. You are going to love it

The Core-Duo is hard to compare to the G5.. Suffice to say that the Core-Duo is much faster, and more efficient.

 

[MarkMS]

Same here. Bought the same machine you have a while back. It's very fast, and I'm able to run games like World of Warcraft at highest resolution with no problems and make home videos in no time. Only thing I suggest is to upgrade RAM to maybe 1GB or add a 1GB stick (like I did) to make it 1.5GB. It makes a big difference.

The only thing that bothers me is the heat. It's not like I can cook food on it, but it's a bit uncomfortable after a while. I tried SMCfancontrol and Fan Control. They both work great, but I had to uninstall the apps because I didn't know if it would ruin my system or decrease its life span. I heard that it could ruin the system and possibly void the warranty. I tested out the fan speeds, by putting minimum to 3000 rpm and the fans kicked in and cooled off the lappy. Ran it at 2000 rpms, like the default Core 2 Duo MBPs and it was much cooler.

I'm just afraid that I'm going to destroy something or void the MBP.

Anyone have any insight?

 

[MACDRIVE]

Well, you forgot to mention whether you ordered the glossy or the matte.

 

[eXan]

The Core-Duo is hard to compare to the G5.. Suffice to say that the Core-Duo is much faster, and more efficient.

much faster than the G5 in fact, look at some benchmarks online for the comparison but the new intel systems are just so much faster.

Not true. It is, in some cases, faster than dual-processor G5, but not dual-core 2 GHz. Part of the reason Core Duo (and 2 Duo) win G5 is that they have 2x and 4x (when compared to the dual-core G5, if older, the multiplyer is 4x and 8x, respectively) the processor cache on them, which doesnt mean that they are more efficient.

Look at dual-core G5 and 2 GHz MacBook Pro on this page: