Mac vs. PC, a hardware issue?

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The PCs at my school have:
2.93 GHz clock speed
2 Intel Core 2 Duo processors
3.21 GB DRAM
161 GB hard drive
Windows XP

My Mac has:
2.4 GHz clock speed
1 Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2 GB DRAM
149 GB hard drive
Mac OS X (Unix)

Clock speed: 2.93 GHz vs. 2.4 GHz - PC wins
Processor: 2 processors vs. 1 processor of the exact same model - PC wins
3.21 GB DRAM vs. 2 GB DRAM - PC wins
161 GB hard drive vs. 149 GB hard drive - PC wins

Slower system crystal, only half the processing power, less than 2/3 the memory and less hard drive space. Hardware-wise, my Mac is strictly inferior to the PCs at my school. And yet it still runs faster.

Mac (Unix) is better written than Windows.

Have you tried running Windows on your Mac via bootcamp?

NOTE: your Mac may beat the PC when it comes to things like: hard disk buffer size. hard disk spindle speed, CPU L2 cache size etc...

I've heard Boot Camp is a slow way to run Windows. I don't know why.

If XP is discernably slow on any system with the specs you mention, something is wrong with the installed software. Otherwise, any everyday task should be pretty much instantaneous on any modern PC.

Its a computer running windows, and used by the public. Of course its going to be slow, because it probably has tons of viruses(People being idiots on them with the internet) among other reasons. My brother's Pentium 4 machine runs circles around my school's Core 2 computers for the exact same reason.

Yes, and that is the fact that the installed software is Winblows.

These days, L2 cache is almost always built into the CPU. Two identical CPUs would have the same amount of cache.

You have a problem with being subjective when an objective answer is called for.

The OP said that he's comparing his own mac with a PC at school. Even if both are Core2 of the same generation, there could be differences in bus speed, cache size, and features like VT. The speed of RAM, harddisk, and display card will also make a difference. The 3.21 GB DRAM figure strongly implied the PC is using the built-in IGP, whereas the mac is using discrete graphics.

I think what really matters most is the softwares installed. Like a few already said before me, a public computer is more likely to be infested. Even if it's not, a slow anti-virus like the older ones from Symantec can have huge detrimental effects. Some school will also install software like M$ Steady State. These kind of software revert the computer to a previous setup after reboot, but they slow down disk access quite considerably.


I've heard that too. From what I gathered the Windows drivers in boot camp is not very efficient. Another impact is the location of the Windows partition. A mechanical disk is faster at the front portion.

okay... L3 cache then

they may have the same CPU, but will have different mother boards.

BTW: Intel-Mac architecture is different from Intel-PC architecture.
(you cannot take an Intel C2D CPU out of a PC and expect it to work in a Mac. or vice versa. No way.)