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May 14th, 2008

Xbench: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 12:01 am

Categories: Benchmark, Clone, Mac mini, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Psystar

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Intel Mac Mini, Apple MacBook, RAM, Jason D. O'Grady, Jason D. O'Grady

I’ve completed some initial Benchmarks of the Psystar Open Computer. The results below are from Xbench 1.3 running on the following systems:

  • Psystar Open Computer, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
  • Mac mini, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2

Open Computer 2.4 Mac mini 2.0
Results 146.87 99.35
CPU Test 133.49 125.63
Thread Test 192.73 187.97
Memory Test 137.86 129.88
Quartz Graphics Test 201.00 180.70
OpenGL Graphics Test 173.80 295.74
User Interface Test 286.67 266.94
Disk Test 74.01 27.16

Higher scores are better.

 

In short, the Psystar pretty much trounces the closest price Mac available from Apple – the Mac mini – in both overall results and the CPU test.As a point of reference, I also benchmarked Apple’s current notebooks, after the jump…

  • MacBook Air 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
  • MacBook, 2.16GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
  • MacBook Pro 2.4GHz (Penryn) C2D, 4GB RAM, 10.4.11

MacBook Air 1.6 MacBook 2.16 MacBook Pro 2.4
Results 46.50 103.81 136.85
CPU Test 84.30 134.51 136.18
Thread Test 154.82 203.43 357.67
Memory Test 140.32 134.86 155.48
Quartz Graphics Test 99.65 159.70 155.63
OpenGL Graphics Test 16.90 307.89 137.02
User Interface Test 108.25 225.28 273.72
Disk Test 21.45 29.66 58.13

Yikes! Those MBA numbers are low.Don’t place too much stock in XBench’s Open GL test though, it only serves to test whether a card supports Open GL, not how fast it is. The same is true (but to a lesser extent) for the Quartz and UI tests.Xbench also has a companion Web site that allows graphical side-by-side comparison of any out of thousands of submitted benchmarks.

Next up benchmarks using Primate Labs’ GeekBench.

Jason D. O'GradyJason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.

Email Jason D. O'Grady

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  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 84 Talkback(s)
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)
Silly Benchmark!!!!
Everybody can build a Hackintosh these days that will run
fast and steady.
I used one in the past on a different disk on a dual boot
Windows - MAc PC.
It was funct... (Read the rest)
Posted by: akaralia Posted on: 05/16/08 You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
The tests Adrian refused to run  markbn | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  mrlinux | 05/14/08
the larger the better  nothingness | 05/14/08
I saw some of the comments too..  mrlinux | 05/14/08
Where's Apple in all this?  russguill | 05/14/08
They are busy rewriting the EULA.  mrlinux | 05/14/08
No lawyers required for this one...  gtimchishen | 05/14/08
Wow  xuniL_z | 05/14/08
no, not a double standard...  devin6687 | 05/14/08
unbeatable performance  GiMMeABreak | 05/15/08
Yes, but..  Etch44 | 05/15/08
They didn't test it against an iMac  MacGeek2121 | 05/15/08
no comparison  nancyjones36507@... | 05/15/08
Worked on the iPhone, so your likely correct  starcannon99022@... | 05/15/08
His likely correct what?  cwallen19803@... | 05/15/08
Maybe Apple will do Apple Genuine Advantage  MacGeek2121 | 05/15/08
It makes them look REAL good  nancyjones36507@... | 05/15/08
Big Deal  aj.redmond@... | 05/16/08
Are you suggesting that Apple have run out of fairy dust?  Scrat | 05/14/08
Do you believe in fairies?  buddhistMonkey | 05/14/08
Fair comparison = mini-itx  croberts | 05/14/08
you MacNuts are hilarious  Paul Fletcher | 05/14/08
No=Known  lantzn | 05/14/08
you must live in the clouds somewhere  Paul Fletcher | 05/14/08
uh-huh...  devin6687 | 05/14/08
You are going to have to face the truth.  xuniL_z | 05/14/08
The argument is valid  Etch44 | 05/15/08
how about this;  leigh@... | 05/14/08
Perfect for a MythTV thanks for the link  starcannon99022@... | 05/15/08
Seriously  Richard Flude | 05/14/08
you make no sense at all  Paul Fletcher | 05/15/08
So where do I find the Mini mainboard, enclosure, etc?  Richard Flude | 05/15/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  makabe | 05/14/08
Good point.  daMan25 | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  gtimchishen | 05/14/08
Microsoft Tactic?  CheezHead59 | 05/14/08
OS X EULA Vs. Windows EULA  nix_hed | 05/14/08
The EULA is not a law.  CheezHead59 | 05/14/08
You don't BUY the OS  nancyjones36507@... | 05/15/08
Right said...  Mac Hosehead | 05/14/08
A good point  starcannon99022@... | 05/15/08
It may beat the benchmarks but...  odubtaig | 05/14/08
Intel parts are quite good  progon | 05/14/08
The big Mac systems are dual processor, quad-core systems.  Atlant | 05/14/08
Base Model is $2800  starcannon99022@... | 05/15/08
Huh?  JakAttak | 05/14/08
Are you nuts?????  MacGeek2121 | 05/14/08
you are well and truly crazy  Paul Fletcher | 05/15/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  dave@... | 05/14/08
Why?  lantzn | 05/14/08
Define 'better'  Oreamnos_americanus | 05/14/08
Better?  willpd13 | 05/15/08
Wow Zdnet were wrong...  Skullet | 05/14/08
Easy now, you've entered the blogosphere  klumper | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  K4thwright | 05/14/08
Sort of like Vista  Oreamnos_americanus | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  xtremebigair | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  Bob.AB | 05/14/08
forgot to add to the MacPro...  Bob.AB | 05/14/08
not sure I would believe a test  Paul Fletcher | 05/14/08
All your assertion means is...  djchandler | 05/14/08
I tried my Dell 1330 3 times  Paul Fletcher | 05/14/08
Have vs. have not...  michael.tindall@... | 05/14/08
your reasoning is incorrect  Paul Fletcher | 05/15/08
....  michael.tindall@... | 05/15/08
excellent assessment  nancyjones36507@... | 05/15/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  zamboj | 05/14/08
OSX on Intel  previso@... | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  MacGeek2121 | 05/14/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  devin6687 | 05/14/08
Who cares?  willpd13 | 05/15/08
seriously we are talking aboutperformance here  Paul Fletcher | 05/15/08
Benchmarks:  Crestview | 05/14/08
Predictable Response  starcannon99022@... | 05/14/08
Typical Comment  3monkies | 05/15/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  Paul Fletcher | 05/15/08
Comparing "Apples" and Oranges ?  hansellt@... | 05/15/08
Re: Comparing "Apples" and Oranges ?  Jefe1 | 05/15/08
Level playing field  hansellt@... | 05/16/08
Price Points  nancyjones36507@... | 05/15/08
Price Points ????  hansellt@... | 05/16/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  quark@... | 05/16/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  hurler1348@... | 05/16/08
RE: Benchmarks: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)  akaralia | 05/16/08

What do you think?

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