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A techinal question for the advanced computer users

Hee Ho HoHee Ho Ho
edited January 2010 in General Chat
Hello,

There are some games which require 3ghz processor p4. Now, i have got my eye on an i7, but it's only a 1ghz. now,there are some games which only support single core. For these games, is it better to keep a p4 at 3ghz, or an i7 at 1ghz?

thanks

Comments

  • patterspatters
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    Hello,

    There are some games which require 3ghz processor p4. Now, i have got my eye on an i7, but it's only a 1ghz. now,there are some games which only support single core. For these games, is it better to keep a p4 at 3ghz, or an i7 at 1ghz?

    thanks

    Can you get an i7 at 1GHz? link please?
  • Hee Ho HoHee Ho Ho
    edited January 2010
    it's approx 1.x ghz. it's in a retail store, just trust me on this, it's laptop. the question is not p4 and i7, it's any single core/multicore question
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    it's approx 1.x ghz. it's in a retail store, just trust me on this, it's laptop. the question is not p4 and i7, it's any single core/multicore question

    That sounds suspicious indeed. Do you know the Manufacturer and Model of the Laptop?

    From what I found the i7 is quite good at dealing with single threaded applications as well, because it dynamically overclocks one core in that case. From Notebookcheck:
    Because the i7 CPUs use relative low base clock rates (1.6-2.0 GHz), the Turbo Boost technology already introduced in the latest Core 2 Duos becomes more important. Depending on load and temperature single cores of the CPU can be clearly overclocked. E.g., if only one core is used to capacity (and the cooling system is sufficiently sized) the Core i7-820QM can be overclocked from 1.73 GHz to 3.06 GHz. Due to this automated overclocking the low clocked i7 can especially score points in old applications (e.g., older games) which only use one core. This way it can even outperform fast Core 2 Duo processors in these applications.

    In your position I would not try to compare the CPUs directly, but rather look for reviews and benchmarks of each one of them which test their gaming capabilities.
  • patterspatters
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    it's approx 1.x ghz. it's in a retail store, just trust me on this, it's laptop. the question is not p4 and i7, it's any single core/multicore question

    It depends on a few factors overall, I reckon a 1.06ghz i7 would fare better than a 4ghz P4 due to the architecture being far superior. The clock speed isn't good enough to warrant an i7. A higher clocked core 2 duo would do better. It's really not worth using a single core processor any more, the P4 being a over half a decade old now.

    Make sure the Laptop comes with a real graphics card, I'd suggest an Nvidia 250, ati 4850 or higher. You could go lower, but it would help a lot of games to go with a higher graphics card.

    I'd suggest keeping a clock speed of 2 GHz always advisable though
  • Hee Ho HoHee Ho Ho
    edited January 2010
    the manu, is hp and the retailer is pc world. both respectable. it's a 1.8 i think.

    ok, so from what you quoted, about overlocking, is that done automatically by the processor or does it require me to overclock it? because if i have to overclock it, then that would be saying, that the p4 is better.

    i know i shouldn't be comparing the two, but what if i want to play a single core game and it works slow, then it would be pointless for me to spend 1.2 grand in the first place. the graphics card is great, 1gb ati radeon mobility hd 4 series.
  • patterspatters
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    the manu, is hp and the retailer is pc world. both respectable. it's a 1.8 i think.

    ok, so from what you quoted, about overlocking, is that done automatically by the processor or does it require me to overclock it? because if i have to overclock it, then that would be saying, that the p4 is better.

    i know i shouldn't be comparing the two, but what if i want to play a single core game and it works slow, then it would be pointless for me to spend 1.2 grand in the first place. the graphics card is great, 1gb ati radeon mobility hd 4 series.

    You don't know the full model of the graphics do you? Actually I think it's this model . if so the card is a bit below what I suggested, still not a bad card. Do you need a laptop for gaming, as for that price you could get a gaming desktop and a laptop.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    ok, so from what you quoted, about overlocking, is that done automatically by the processor or does it require me to overclock it? because if i have to overclock it, then that would be saying, that the p4 is better.

    It is done automatically and transparently to the OS.
  • Hee Ho HoHee Ho Ho
    edited January 2010
    DjNDB wrote: »
    It is done automatically and transparently to the OS.

    ok i don't know what you mean by transparent to the os, but it seems good.

    guys, the graphics is fine, the only problem is that, basically, i'm getting a warranty on my old laptop, which eventually is going to die. it already is having trouble running the latest games because it's a p4 3.0ghz with 64mb vram ati 9 series (not hd series, not x series, older). so basically i need a new laptop. i have desktops but they are dying all the time. i've found laptops to be more reliable. i have 2 intel core 2 quads, and i'm going to get cards for them, the intel graphics chips just don't cut it. the grafx cards built in is 4870 or 4850, i think it's the former. anyway, i just need to know if a 1.8 i7 is better in EVERY way to a p4 3ghz
  • patterspatters
    edited January 2010
    Hee Ho Ho wrote: »
    ok i don't know what you mean by transparent to the os, but it seems good.

    guys, the graphics is fine, the only problem is that, basically, i'm getting a warranty on my old laptop, which eventually is going to die. it already is having trouble running the latest games because it's a p4 3.0ghz with 64mb vram ati 9 series (not hd series, not x series, older). so basically i need a new laptop. i have desktops but they are dying all the time. i've found laptops to be more reliable. i have 2 intel core 2 quads, and i'm going to get cards for them, the intel graphics chips just don't cut it. the grafx cards built in is 4870 or 4850, i think it's the former. anyway, i just need to know if a 1.8 i7 is better in EVERY way to a p4 3ghz

    With further investigation I am confident it is the HP Envy I linked to, HP seem to have it cheaper on their site also http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-3995710-3995710-3995936-4033912.html
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