Re: Eagle's latest toys
RogerBK wrote:Now, I have only one question (OMG, I love to ask things. ) I was thinking, is a Intel i7 of 2.66 Ghz better than a Dual Core of 3.0 Ghz?? I know it can be a really dumb question, but I was confused, since the i7 is the newest processor in the market, it should be better than an older one like the Dual Core. Does the Ghz of the processor is the thing that really matters when you compare 2 processors??
Thanks again Bytes!
Never worry about asking questions, especially if they are intelligent ones like you asked. Also, here's a little quote I made up regarding this: "It's better to ask a question and sound stupid than it is to not ask and be stupid."
Anyway, here's the deal with the Core i7. It is actually a quad-core processor (four processors on the die), so even though it has a slower clock speed than the dual-core processor, it has quite a bit more processing power. Also, when comparing processors from different generations, you also have to consider different things, such as how efficient the processor is per clock cycle (in other words, it does more processing per hertz), or if it has more L2 and L3 cache, which is the processor's on-board memory.
Rather than spending all that time trying to figure out which is better, though, just use a benchmarking site if you are not sure which processor is better. Passmark has some good tools which show the relative performance of processors using their benchmarking software. Here's the link for their high-end CPU chart: LINK
Take a look at the Core i7 860 (which the processor I own), which is a quad-core i7 running at 2.80GHz. Compare it to the Core i7 930, which is also a quad-core i7 running at the same 2.80 GHz. The 930, however, is much faster. Why? Well, the big difference between these two is that the 930 processor runs on the 1366 chipset, while the 860 runs on the 1156 chipset. The 1156 chipset is Intel's standard-line chipset, while the 1366 chipset is their "Enthusiast" chipset.
It can be very easy to lose track of what the hell is going on in the CPU world, especially if you are not in the field, so benchmarks are your friend. So are those of us that will answer your questions.