15. Office Applications: SYSmark 2004 SE, Continued

SYSmark 2004 SE Conclusions

The overall score from SYSmark 2004 SE certifies that the 945GM dual core system delivers nearly 30% percent higher performance at the same CPU clock speed. A quick look at individual results for Internet content creation and office productivity as well as their subcategories show that for classic office applications such as Word, Excel and Outlook, a 10% performance boost is achievable. But for video editing, working with Web design tools such as Flash MX; or running 3D model applications, the benefits afforded by dual-core processing are apparent. An average performance jump of 48% for these applications speaks for itself.

Those who run both office productivity and content creation applications should give the nod to dual-core systems as well.

However, at the end of the day, typical office users whose applications are only occasionally hampered by virus scanners running in the background won't benefit much by upgrading from a single-core to a dual-core system.