I'm sure this is very basic.

If a piece of software need a 2.8ghz processor to work would any kind of multi core processor work below 2.8ghz. For example a 2.2ghz dual core? Or would the dual cores both have to be 2.8ghz in order to run it?

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2.8 ghz would be the total speed needed, not the amount needed by each core.

Cool so technically a dual core 2.2ghz has a a total speed of 4.4ghz?

Basically my dad needs one for the new paye software but it needs a 2.7ghz processor.

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Fixture feeling champion 2013.

Exactly. the 2.2 is speed each core runs at.

Thanks, I was trying to search for the answer but couldn't find anything that answered the question, just loads of stuff about multi tasking and two processors running at once.

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Strictly speaking the speed is irrelevant. Even if a CPU doesnt meet the minimum speed requirements it should still run.

Whether it runs well or not, thats a whole 'nother can of worms. The system requirements should give you an idea of what you'll need to run a piece of software at an acceptable speed. But "acceptable" is one of those eye of the beholder things.

No this isnt true.

2 x 2.2ghz core != 4.4ghz

It means you have 2 cores operating at 2.2ghz. They dont 'pool' their resources like that. That would assume that whatever the app is is perfectly multithreaded and utilises both cores for whatever it is doing.

This was a trick that vendors used in the early days of multicore cpus; "this new machine with a 12.4ghz cpu!". Nah, not how it works Im afraid. Should be ashamed of yourself Errkal, I thought you were a pro.

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Indeed. Also some (bad) software will not utilise more than one core at all, so whether a CPU has two or four cores it will still struggle if they each core runs below the recommended speed.

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Depends. If you had software that used multiple cores perfectly then a programme that took an hour on a 2.2ghz processor would take half an hour on a 2 core 2.2ghz processor, or half an hour on a 4.4ghz processor.

But they had to stop saying it because programmes aren't that perfect and there are other bottlenecks that prevent that from happening.

Isnt that literally what I said?

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Yes.

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Pretty much. I think I must have only read the 2 x 2.2 != 4.4 line

I blame tiredness for this oversight.

They're most likely referring to the 2.8GHz Intel Pentium 4, a CPU that was released in 2002 and is often set as the minimum system requirement for a variety of software.

A modern 2.2GHz single core would be multiple times faster than a 2.8GHz Pentium 4, so you should be fine.

The other problem I don't think people have mentioned is that different processors architectures will have different levels of performance so for example a 3.6Ghz pentium 4 will not be as fast as 2.6 Ghz i7 for example.

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Did you read the post above you before you posted?

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