Hey everyone,

Question about clock speed versus # of cores. I want to know is if a laptop performs better with a faster processor clock or performs better with a processor with more cores?



As an example:



Processor 1: Core i7, 2 cores, 2.9GHz.

Processor 2: Core i7, 4 cores, 2.3GHz.



At first glance, the second processor is better (it has four cores instead of two). But from what my mind is telling me, in certain instances, the first processor is better because it has higher clock speed. Can anyone explain this further? Thanks!

 

I'm not super techy anymore but from what I have read when I was building my desktop (quad core core i5) that the higher processor speed with less cores will typically run faster as the way most people use their machines and the software they operate can't even take advantage of all 4 cores so the higher speed wins.



I am always looking at how much each core is utilized, even when I am multi-tasking and typically core 3 and 4 are doing pretty much nothing. I still opted for the quad core because of the really nice integrated (overclockable) GPU so I didn't need a separate card.

 

This is a no-brainer. Go hit up google with the model numbers of the processors and search for cpumark testing results. Pick the one that is higher if you can afford it. If they are about the same, they will generally perform about the same in use. Both of those will be amazingly fast compared to a prior generation (or 2+ generations ago) of processor. If you do things that involve lots of threads go for more cores.