Dual-Core Versus Quad-Core: Part 2

Performance: SYSmark 2007 Preview

Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8500 dominates each of the SYSmark 2007 Preview runs.

Intel offers 75% faster performance in the 3D modeling benchmark, which runs 3DSMax 8 and SketchUp 5.

The performance gap is almost 90% in the e-learning section, which utilizes Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as Macromedia Flash and MS Powerpoint 2003.

The productivity section of SYSmark 2007 Preview utilizes most of the Microsoft office applications. Again, we found a significant advantage for the Core 2 Duo versus the similarly priced Phenom X4 9350e.

Once more, Intel is faster than AMD with two faster cores instead of four slower ones. In this benchmark, which is based on Sony Vegas 7.0 and Adobe After Effects, the performance gap is smaller.

The overall result is very obvious: more than 60% additional performance for all sorts of office and desktop applications for the Core 2 Duo when compared to the low-power Phenom X4 9350e. The option of purchasing a slower quad core over a fast dual core is not a good decision for office users today.