Core2 Quad vs. i7 Duo core for computationally intensive tasks

[hajime]

Hello. I have a HP desktop PC (Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66Hz, DDR 2 4GB, Vista 64-bit) and a MacBook Pro 2010 (i7 2.66GHz Duo core, 8GB DDR3). The MacBook Pro has both Vista 64-bit and Mac OS/X installed. For running computationally intensive programs such as Matlab/Simulink, which platform gives the best performance in speed? If I upgrade the RAM on my HP desktop PC to 8GB, will it be faster than the MacBook Pro because the CPU is Quad core? I read that "a few routines" in Matlab/Simulink support multi-cores CPU. However, the i7 has some kind of turbo boost feature. Thanks.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Well although the MBP has an i7,its a dual core CPU(i7 620M).So your desktop would be still faster in tasks that benefit from multi-core CPUs

 

[jsc]

A C2Q processor vs. a hyper-threaded dual core processor with a better architecture and DDR3 RAM running at the same speed?

I'm inclined to think that the i7 would have a same advantage. You could always benchmark both systems and let us know.

 

[hajime]

Thanks for the replies. Actually, what is the simplest and best way to do the benchmark?

 

[Maziar]

There are some apps like 3Dmark,PCmark which benchmark the system, but i recommend testing with real-tests such as PhothoShop,3D rendering... to judge their speed and performance