Processor Question

[fudgemaker]

Okay I'm kinda confused about processors. I'm thinking about getting a new computer. My old computer has a 2.3 Ghz processor. The ones I am looking at say that it has a 1.86 GHz Intel Pentium dual-core processor T2390. Which would be better? I'm not sure what the Dual-core is..Thanks for the help.

 

[fudgemaker]

up

 

[Denithor]

Are you looking at laptops or what?

Dual-core means the number of processor cores working in there (two processors on one chip).

Your old processor is probably a single 2.3GHz chip. A 1.86GHz dual means you've got two cores each working at 1.86GHz. Software that can use two processors will run much much faster on a dual-core system. And even single-threaded software will usually gain some advantage from dual core processors because one processor works exclusively for the software running while the other handles all of the Windows stuff in the background.

Not to mention that architectural changes have occured so today's chips do a lot more work clock-for-clock compared to older generations of chips. For example, at the launch of the Core 2 Duo chips, the new e6300 (2x1.86GHz, 2MB cache) could match or even beat the fastest Pentium 4 dual-core ever made (P4D 965 EE - 2x3.73GHz, 2x2MB cache) even though it had exactly 1/2 the speed & cache.

 

[fudgemaker]

Okay. Thank you very much. That was great! Im a computer dummy and I actually understood that.. Thank you so much

 

[Denithor]

:thumbsup:

 

[betasub]

Sounds like OP needs a CPU guide for beginners - have you tried the main AT site?

Telling us you have a 2.3GHz processor doesn't mean much (although Denithor has had a good guess at what you may have). You need to be more specific, like you were with the new (laptop) processor: Intel Pentium T2390 is a mobile dual-core processor with a stock speed of 1.86GHz (although for power saving reasons it'll clock down to 1.6GHz when not under load). Its (fairly) new architecture probably means it's far fast than an older generation CPU at 2.3GHz - but that depends on the details you haven't told us.

 

[Denithor]

Unfortunately I'm not aware of a comprehensive guide to CPUs for beginners.

I think I did a pretty good job with the detail provided. If he has more questions or needs specific recommendations he can always ask and give more details for us to work with.