Comparing the 68030, 68LC040, and 603e powered Duos.

"...you conclusively proved a 100mhz PowerPC chip is faster than an '030 and an 'LC040."

Preface

The tests compared three models of PowerBook Duo. I personally tested the 2300c and the 280c using Speedometer 4. For the Duo 270c results, I used the 270c sample scores that come with Speedometer 4. You can download Speedometer 4 from the Software Page.

The PowerBook Duo 270c has a 33mhz Motorola 68030 processor. The Duo 280c has a 33mhz Motorola 68LC040 processor. The Duo 2300c has a 100mhz Motorola PowerPC 603e processor. All run on a 33mhz, 32bit bus. The tests were all run under System 7, with all extensions turned off and no other programs running. Each test was performed 5 times and the average taken (except for 270c).

CPU Performance Test

In the first test, the CPU Performance test, the results were about what I had expected. The 33mhz 68LC040 was a little more than twice as fast as the 33mhz 68030. The PowerPC 603 was significantly more powerful, 3.3 times faster than the 280c and over 7.5 times faster than the 270c.

Graphics Performance Test

The second test was a little more surprising. While the Duo 270c was expectedly slow with Graphics, the 280c and 2300c were right on par, with the 280c even slightly edging past the 2300c. Both were about twice as fast at handling Graphics than the older 270c.

Math Calculation Performance

This test proved the raw number-crunching power of the PowerPC family of Processors. The Duo 270c of course was slowest, with the 280c coming in at roughly 30% improvement over the 270c. Both are completely eclipsed, however, by the 2300c, which clocked in at about 28.5 times faster than the 280c, and almost 37 times faster than the 270c.

So why bother?

After showing these tests results to a friend, he sarcasticly exclaimed "...you conclusively proved a 100mhz powerPC chip is faster than an '030 and an 'LC040!" Duh!

More important, though, is proving by just how much faster the 2300c is compared to all other Duos. It really is a massive jump in Power, especially in Math Calculation Performance.