Comparison of my desktop versus my new MBP

My question falls into the "uber newbie" category, some might even call it a dumb question!

I just got a new MBP, and I"m trying to figure out whether my old desktop even has a purpose anymore. I was interested to know peoples opinions on whether which will run faster. It seems like common sense that the MBP will, but I wanted to get the opinion of a knowledgable person (or even, a person who isnt completely unknowledgable, like myself I might add) who doesnt mind responding to newbies. In my experience laptops always run a bit slower than desktops so I wanted to make sure.

Most people know the specs on the new MBPs, but;

MBP:
2.4Ghz 3MB Cache, 9600GT, 250GB 5400 harddrive, 2GB DDR3

My desktop
2.16Ghz 4MB Cache, 7300GT (Nvidia also), 150GB Velocity Raptor as OS harddrive, 2GB DDR2

I don't put a lot of strain on my computer, but I do a fair amount of work with matlab (data analysis) and do a lot of editing of high-res photos, and in general, I like to do a million things at the same time. So thats why I care about raw computing power.


The reason why I wonder whether the desktop might have an advantage in some sense is actually because it has more cache. And, there maybe other ways in which laptop processers are generally slower, which I am as yet unaware of. But I'd like to learn more, and your knowledge would be helpful!!

Thanks you kindly for reading.

well I have a 2.4 ghz mbp and my desktop is a amd x2 3600 overclocked from 2 - 2.2 ghz with 2 gig of ram and a x1650 pro agp graphics card , I did some benchmarks and the DESKTOP is faster , it has a better cpu score and a better overall score