I've just taken the same 130 files into an Aperture 2 library on my MacPro and gone through the same process to get to the same end result which is 130 files with settings and cropped.

Aperture 3: 21m+

wait for it...

Aperture 2: 13m 16s

almost 8 minutes quicker!!

I'll say again I'm stunned!!

Aperture 2 felt SOOO much snappier, each crop was re-rendered instantly, I say the "loading" appear about 10 times through the whole 13 minutes not every single image in Aperture 3. The second I'd finished the last crop in Aperture 2 all 130 images were cropped and ready to go rather than waiting for 9 minutes as in Aperture 3.