Does anyone know why one computer with an Intel i3 would run at 2 1 GHz and another one with an I...

[G+_Luke Kolarsky]

Does anyone know why one computer with an Intel i3 would run at 2.1 GHz and another one with an Intel i5 would only do 1.6GHz? More GHz is better right?

[G+_Jason Perry]

Marketing, well and preference.

 

An i3 is a dual core chip, an i5 is a dual core with hyper threading, giving you a virtual four cores.

 

So the trade off is doing more things at the same time over raw performance.

 

I am pretty sure it is more completed than that but that is the generalization I have come to believe.

[G+_Travis Hershberger]

Jason Perry What you already said.  Then you also have the feature where the chip runs faster than the rated speed when few cores are actually in use.  So the i5 will run a single thread as fast as the i3.  Only when all 4 cores of the i5 are in use will it be running at the slower speed.

 

Assuming correctly compiled software (I'm funny.)  More cores will equal more performance than fewer cores, even when the more cores run at a slower clock speed.

[G+_Arcturus Lancaster]

Long time now where clock speed does not matter. Really comes down to what you want to do with the computer and buy/build accordingly. Trick is remove bottlenecks in the system. Biggest one is HDD. So spend on the ssd before faster CPU

[G+_Luke Kolarsky]

Ok, I think that makes sense. Thanks guys!

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

Hey Luke Kolarsky ... great question! -- This is EXACTLY when the Know-It-Alls can give you a good answer. :)

[G+_Luke Kolarsky]

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ Thanks! I thought it might.

[G+_Jason Perry]

Thanks Travis Hershberger?