More scattered reports have been coming in from users who have started receiving their Intel iMacs. While there's already been a disassembly there have been limited first hand reports.
Macintouch posted their first impressions of the 2.0GHz Core Duo Intel iMac and ran some early Xbench 1.2 benchmarks compared to a 1.8GHz G5 iMac. The results are difficult to interpret, however. While Xbench is a Universal Binary, it is not entirely multiprocessor aware. As a result, it does not generally test both cores of the Dual Core Intel processor. Also, graphics cards are different between the machines, making their graphical performance difficult to compare.
As expected the Intel iMac's OpenGL Graphics test (140.4) bested the G5 iMac's (90.4). The Thread Test which is multiprocessor aware showed a dramatic advantage (198.3 vs 49.75) in the Intel iMac, as expected. The other tests were variable, with the Intel Mac scoring very low on the User Interface test.
Meanwhile, a side-by-side Intel iMac vs G5 iMac video has been making the rounds showing the Intel iMac booting much faster. The video has spawned some debate about accuracy of the G5 iMac's startup in this particular video. Regardless, another user timed the 1.83GHz Intel iMac's startup at approximate 18 seconds -- users can compare this value to their own machines.
Readers will be interested to know that at least a casual attempt at booting Windows XP has been unsuccessful.
Based on Macintouch's impressions as well as this user's post:
- Intel iMacs are quiet.
- Same startup sound as previous Macs
- Same RAM access slots at bottom under removable panel as the iSight G5 iMac
A reminder that we have running Mac Guide page for the Intel iMac, that will reflect any new information.
Update: Arstechnica posts their review of the 17" iMac Core Duo, with Benchmarks. Also no luck booting Windows:
Just for kicks, I tried to boot from a Windows XP installer CD. No dice. I then tried booting from a Vista installer DVD (Build 5270). Again, no dice.
