System Requirements and the New Intel i7 Processor

So I was forced to make an account here (because I just couldn't seem to find the answer to my question), so I am hoping you all can help me out.

I just bought a new laptop that has the new i7-720QM processor in it. My current home PC uses a Pentium 4 1.6 GHz processor. The i7 that I am getting has a base clock speed of 1.6 GHZ and can be boosted 2.8 GHz. So I understand that those speeds are similar, what I am trying to figure out is how they compare to each other.

I was looking at the system requirements for Bioshock 2, and it says for minimum system requirements it needs a Pentium 4 530, 3.0 GHz processor or better. My question about this is, with the i7 is the 2.8 GHz (boosted) a total output of all 4 cores, or is each core producing 2.8 GHz giving 4 times the processing?

I also realize the i7 is the newer processor, but I can't determine if it is considered better, or even powerful enough, in reference to the game's system requirements.

I hope that I am asking the question right, and I appreciate any insight. Thanks

Cole

 

Yes, it's overkill for the game's requirements. Clockspeed is a Layman's measure for CPU performance from the 90s; it's very hard to judge a CPU's performance on a 1-to-1 basis and games still use clockspeed unfortunately.

 

thank you for the quick answer........so is it safe to say that if a game is requiring at least a Pentium 4 that the i7 will be able to supersede the requirements?

Also, how would one compare say an Intel Core 2 Quad and the new i7 processors? Thanks again, I greatly appreciate it!

Cole

 

Generally speaking, each new generation of CPUs perform beter clock for clock than the previous generation.

Again, generally, the Pentium 4 is not a well regarded CPU. It is from an era when clock speed was king, and it is designed to run at faster frequencies (largely for marketingpurposes), but that did not necessarily mean that it was a "fast" processor. No disrespect, but I think some of those early Pentium 4 Processors (up to around 2.4GHz?) are some of the worst CPUs Intel ever made.

The Core and Core2Duo CPUs are based on one of Intel's better designs, the Pentium M, or Banias chips. And the i7 is a refinement on that.

Intel now uses a tick-tock cycle where as tick brings a new process and tock is a die shrink.

Pentium 4 ~.90nm

tick core2duo .65nm
tock core2duo .45nm Penryn
tick nehalem .45nm (includes i7)
tock i3/i5 .32nm

The turbo boost does not work the way you seem to think it works, and again, I think Intel is practicing some shady marketing on turbo boost. Most people seem to think that all four cores overclock to 2.8GHz, and the truth is, only one core overclocks to 2.8, a second core over clocks somewhat lower and the other two cores overclock to 1.73GHz.

Regardless, the mobile i7 is a powerful processor, and easily bests your Pentium 4 at 1.6GHz. Basically, the i7 just processes faster per clock.

I'm at work, so the above it rough at the very least, but you get the idea. There is no comparing the Pentium 4 to any CPU you can buy today.

 

Thanks for the response.......I am offended by your comments about the P4 by any means. My home PC is 9 years old, so I don't really consider it to be well performing machine now. It was definitely easier to understand how a processor was considered better back in the day and single cores were simplistic.

Would you be able say that a single core CPU could out perform a quad core with single core software? I know that the i7 would out perform a single core in multi-core software. This might help me grasp the idea better. Thanks again.

Cole

 

The i7 is a special case since it has a technology which allows it to basically use the amount of cores necessary for a given task. So if a task only requires 2 cores, it'll "shut down"(not for real though) the 2 remaining cores. Well in a nutshell that's what it is at least.

 

Hopefully you meant, "not offended"

What I mean was, the Pentium 4 was a borderline marketing sham. Look it runs at xGHz !!! Even if it was not fast. GHz are not like miles per hour. The Pentium 4 did not process very much information per clock cycle.

Even though your Pentium 4 ran at 1.6GHz, there is every chance that at the time, 9 years ago even, I would have preferred a Pentium 3 at 1.13GHz.

I would think/hope you are being blown away by how fast your i7 laptop is compared to your P4 desktop. Enough so that the original question is almost moot.

 

kind of like the new cars that have V8 engines, but only use four cylinders until you need to accelerate or do something that requires the extra four cylinders........

Cole

 

In single-thread software, the i7 can clock up to 2.8GHz on the one core, so no, the i7 will beat most everything out there in performance. Some chips like my i5-540M are a bit faster in single-core (up to 3.06GHz) and cheaper, but the i7 will thrash it in multi-core heavy stuff. I got the i5 since I mostly play games and I'm not doing a ton of video editing or anything like that on my laptop, got a beefy desktop for that. Games are often very single-thread limited, even if they can use multiple threads.

Anywho, back on topic: an i7 will outperform most everything else out there, across the broadest range of benchmarks. Only in a very few specific cases will it be only slightly slower, but that only means it comes in second place instead of first, not in last place by any stretch

 

Sorry I meant not offended.......oops......I actually haven't received my laptop yet. I ordered it from XoticPC and it shipped out on the 11th, I should receive tomorrow or the next day. So I haven't been able to compare them directly yet.

Cole

 

Open up the task manager and what how it distributes the load.

Better software will thread and use all processors.

BTW, you have 4 real cores, and 4 virtual or hyperthreading cores. It looks like 8 cores in the task manager.

 

It will be like a stiff wind in your face.

Prepare for ludicrous speed.

 

Will everything go plaid? (btw, use the edit button... double-posting is bad netiquitte)

 

I didn't buy it for gaming purposes, but thought maybe every once and a while I might. I would probably use it for recording my guitar playing, so that is mainly why I got the i7 instead of the i5 or a Core 2 processor. I also got it for doing college school work away from the homestead.

Cole

 

Word will blaze! lol

If you got 9 years out of a Pentium 4 1.6GHz, this might be your last computer, lolz

 

That gives me GAS for the upcoming possibilities with the laptop. Thanks for the input!

Cole

Oh I imagine that in a year somebody will have something else that can whoop it, but I am not the type to have to buy every brand new thing that comes out. So I should be set for some time. I will be content as long as the upcoming Diablo III can be ran on it........I love that franchise of games!

Cole

 

Just as a quick addition, the new Core i series are generally considered to be about 20% faster than the previous Core 2 series for a given clockspeed. Thus, your i7-720QM at 1.6 GHz can be (very roughly) compared to a 1.9 GHz Core 2 chip. This, of course, ignores special features like turbo-boost, hyper-threading, or whatnot.