How much faster are the White iMac “Core 2 Duo” models than the original iMac “Core Duo” systems?
Please note that all models mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The “White” iMac Core 2 Duo systems were replaced by the “Aluminum” iMac Core 2 Duo line. Apple claims that the “White” iMac Core 2 Duo systems deliver “up to 50 percent faster performance than the previous iMac.” Although this is true based on the “SPECint and SPECfp rate tests” that Apple uses, it is not true in real-world application tests. Review a quick comparison of the different iMac “Core 2 Duo” system specs, and one would notice that the three higher-end models — the iMac “Core 2 Duo” 2.0 GHz 17-Inch, iMac “Core 2 Duo” 2.16 20-Inch, and iMac “Core 2 Duo” 2.16 24-Inch — have 4 MB of level 2 cache, twice as much as the replaced “Core Duo” models. In addition to 4 MB of level 2 cache, the Core 2 Duo processor design is modestly more efficient than the Core Duo processor that it replaced. You might be interested in reading through the details of both the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors from Intel’s webs
