Question about technology

[Eks]

(I'm not well educated on technology, just thought I'd let you know.)

Okay.
Would a quad-core 3.2ghz CPU be equal to an eight-core 1.6ghz CPU?

 

[shmogt]

Depends on other specs as well.

 

[Infinital-NG]

In general terms yes they would be equal in terms of "total" processing power. However you'd more than likely see better results out of the quad core than the 8-core.

Same if you compared the quad core @ 3.2 to a 20-core @ .64GHZ.

 

[Samus]

No because a lot of programs and applications will not be able to utilize all of the cores so in something that only works with only 2 or 4 cores the quad core will be much better.

 

[Gdog96]

As said above, it depends a lot on the program. Some programs will work better with more cores because they are designed to make use of them, whereas some programs will run better with 4 cores for the same reason.

Also, Ghz isn't everything, a lot of other things will make a difference to the performance of the CPU.

 

[Grayfox]

The 4-core is better since raw process power from each core is higher it can finish tasks faster, but the pipelines of the CPU matter, its architecture(22nm), its instruction sets.

Since windows cant use all 4 cores correctly(heck it cant even use 2 cores correctly) you wont see much improvement in terms of speed but in any modern game.

The games engine can handle 2 cores, so if you get a quad core you will have 2 cores idling.

If you use a program like FRAPS to record your game play make sure you set affinities so your game runs smoothly and you get a good recording

Eg Set your games to run on CPU Cores 0 and 1, and set FRAPS to run on cores 2 and 3.

You can set affinities manually with batch files or use a program to do it for you.

 

[wfooshee]

Mutliple cores only come into effect with proper handling by the OS, and its assignment of applications to processors. Clock speed is still more important than core count.

 

[lbsf1]

Its also important to remember that two different makes of processor with the same spec will be different speeds. For example the new HTC ONE has a 1.7ghz snapdraggon processor that is faster than the 1.7ghz tegra 3 processor in my HTC ONE X +.

There are so many other factors than just simply the processor clock speed and number of cores.

 

[Grayfox]

Its also important to remember that two different makes of processor with the same spec will be different speeds. For example the new HTC ONE has a 1.7ghz snapdraggon processor that is faster than the 1.7ghz tegra 3 processor in my HTC ONE X +.

There are so many other factors than just simply the processor clock speed and number of cores.

The pipelines.

Look up the megahertz myth to understand it.

 

[Lizard]

Are you trying to compare the PS3 and PS4?

 

[lbsf1]

The pipelines.

Look up the megahertz myth to understand it.

Yeah its all about what Bus's are used and stuff. As our computing teacher told us a couple of years ago why you should never buy a cheap 64bit processor laptop as it would have cheap 32bit bus's and thus there would be no advantage having a 64bit processor as it would never run at full power.