Earlier this week Apple released new iMacs which feature Intel’s next-generation quad-core Sandy Bridge processors. To see how well the Sandy Bridge iMacs perform I’ve collected Geekbench 2 results from the Geekbench Browser for these new iMacs and compared them against the previous Wolfdale (Core 2 Duo) and Lynnfield (Core ix) iMacs. While results aren't available for all the Sandy Bridge iMac configurations (in particular I don't have results for the 21.5-inch Core i7 iMac) there are enough results here to examine the performance of the new iMacs. Update! Results are now available for all of the Sandy Bridge iMacs (including the 21.5-inch Core i7 iMac). I’ve updated the chart below with the results.

For people not familiar with Geekbench 2, higher scores are better. Also, Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance; it won’t measure the benefits of new video cards or storage devices.

Finally, if you’re curious how your computer stacks up against the new iMacs you can download Geekbench and find out (it’s a free download).

iMac Benchmarks, 2009 to 2011

27-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i7-2600 3.4 GHz (4 cores)
11,648
 
21.5-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i7-2600S 2.8 GHz (4 cores)
10,248
 
27-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i7 870 2.93 GHz (4 cores)
9,123
 
27-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i5-2400 3.1 GHz (4 cores)
8,357
 
27-inch Late 2009
Intel Core i7 860 2.8 GHz (4 cores)
8,335
 
21.5-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i5-2500S 2.7 GHz (4 cores)
7,890
 
27-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i5-2500S 2.7 GHz (4 cores)
7,844
 
21.5-inch Mid 2011
Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz (4 cores)
7,241
 
27-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i5 680 3.6 GHz (2 cores)
6,934
 
21.5-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i5 680 3.6 GHz (2 cores)
6,828
 
27-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i5 760 2.8 GHz (4 cores)
6,726
 
27-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i3 550 3.2 GHz (2 cores)
5,922
 
21.5-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i3 550 3.2 GHz (2 cores)
5,854
 
21.5-inch Mid 2010
Intel Core i3 540 3.07 GHz (2 cores)
5,681
 
Late 2009
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33 GHz (2 cores)
4,647
 
Late 2009
Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3.06 GHz (2 cores)
4,221
 

While the improvements aren’t as dramatic as with the Sandy Bridge MacBook Pros, there’s a consistent 25% performance improvement between Sandy Bridge and Lynnfield at both the low-end and the high-end of the iMac model range (and over a 70% improvement between Sandy Bridge and Wolfdale). While this update may not tempt Lynnfield iMac owners into upgrading, it’s certainly a compelling upgrade for Wolfdale iMac users.