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Computing Matters - part 3 of 1 2 3

by Mike McNamee Published 01/07/2016

Speed Testing

Our example is with a four-year old Macbook Pro with the following specifications:
Macbook Pro 17" (Early 2011 Model)
2.2GHz Core i7 CPU
8GB DDR3 (1,333MHz) RAM
Intel Graphics 3000 - 512Mb memory

As provided, with a 750Gb Hard disk, running Yosemite 10.10.5 Sophos Antivirus was in place. This was benchmarked and then upgraded with a SanDisk Ultra 2 - 240Gb SSD. The newlyinstalled system was running El Capitan, rather than Yosemite, and was fully patched and up-to-date as of April 2016. Full disk encryption (FileVault) was enabled on the new system for security reasons. This has a small impact on performance, but is recommended best practice from a security standpoint. During testing on the new installation, Antivirus was NOT installed. All tests were performed on mains AC power to ensure system was running at full speed.

For clarity the data are graphed out and we have also added data from our existing, grindingly slow Windows workstation (previous page). The tests included starting up the operating system, loading and reloading Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, and the two high intensity tasks, radial blur and making up a multi-sheet contact set from 144 files. The results demonstrate the effect of both cleaning an OS installation and also the speed of the SSD. The data are self-contained and not directly comparable to other tests.

iMac with Retina display (from Apple website)

With Retina display, text appears sharper than ever, videos are unbelievably lifelike and you can see new levels of detail in your photos. The 21.5-inch iMac is available with the all-new Retina 4K display featuring an amazing 4096 x 2304 resolution and 9.4 million pixels, 4.5 times more than the standard 21.5-inch iMac display. Every 27-inch iMac features a Retina 5K display, the world's highest resolution all-in-one display with a stunning 14.7 million pixels, 7 times more pixels than an HD display.

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1st Published 01/07/2016
last update 09/12/2022 14:52:47

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