Hands-On Report--Mac OS X 10.5.5 How Fast Is It!

This article is a continuation of my series testing the speed of Mac OS X that stretches back to version 10.0. When I got my Dual Quad-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro running Mac OS X 10.5.2 with the upgraded graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT, I was disappointed in its graphics performance relative to my former MacBook Pro with slower graphics, an Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT. But I was hopeful that the subsequent update of Mac OS X would improve the Mac Pro's graphics performance but it did not happen with 10.5.3 nor with 10.5.4 (preliminary test not posted).

Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.5 on Monday, 9/15, with new graphics drivers so my hope of improved performance was again renewed. I installed Mac OS X 10.5.5 on a number of Macs: Mac Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Core 2 Duo, PowerMac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. I have been using it since, experiencing no problems on any of the computers. So, I ran a subset of my speed tests on my dual quad-core 2.8GHz Mac Pro with 6GB of RAM running Mac OS X 10.5.5. Here are the results comparing 10.5.5 with 10.5.3 and 10.5.2:

Speed of Mac OS X 10.5.5 vs 10.5.3

Test	Mac Pro	Mac Pro	Mac Pro	MacBook Pro 2.4GHz C2D
BENCHMARKS/Mac OS X Version	10.5.5	10.5.3	10.5.2	10.5.2
Altivec Fractal 1.3 (GFLOPS)	48	48	49	10
Cinebench R10 Rendering (8x)	18870	18964	18460	n/a
-OpenGL Hardware Lighting	5301	5994	5919	n/a
Let1kWindowsBloom 1.0+	8	8	8	11
Xbench 1.3 - CPU	189	184	190	150
- Threading	811	801	811	188
- Memory	199	182	182	158
- Quartz Graphics	205	227	228	192
- OpenGL Graphics	198	176	191	161
-User Interface Graphics	385	420	403	326
"REAL WORLD" TESTS
Startup (sec)	26	28	25	52
Shutdown (sec)	9	9	12	7
Dup. 500 MB Folder (sec)	--	26	28	63
Quake III Arena (frames/sec)	986	980	999	686
Halo 2.0.2 (frames/sec)	99	99	98	115

Blue is slower by 10% or more.

Curiously, Mac OS X 10.5.5 is not only overall no faster than 10.5.3, it may be even slower for some graphics tasks as illustrated by Cinebench and Xbench. My generally vastly faster Mac Pro still runs Halo 2.0.2 (Intel version) some 14 percent slower than my former MacBook Pro. I updated Halo to v2.0.3 and got the same results.

Over the years, my experience has been that ATI's top graphics cards have out-performed Nvidia's on the Mac for 3D games with only an occasional exception. ATI has finally released a fast after-market graphics card for the latest Mac Pro, the Radeon HD 3870. Unfortunately, it is slower than the Nvidia GeForce 8800GT for 3D games--see this Bare Feats test. However, there are still the even faster ATI Radeon HD 4870 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 graphics cards for Wintels out there--some day...! [Bill Fox]

---

Return to Archive

Copyright © 1995-2008 by Bill Fox
All rights reserved.

MY LAWYER MADE ME POST THIS: 8-/
The Macs Only! web site is for informational purposes only. No one associated with Macs Only! assumes any responsibility for its accuracy. The information is subject to change without notice. Any use of, or actions taken based upon any of the information contained on this web site is done entirely at your own risk. Mention of any products or services is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. Macs Only! and those associated with Macs Only! assume no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of these products.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Apple, Apple Logos, Macintosh, and Mac OS Logos are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners.

[Back to top of page]