Are GHz used to tell how good a processor is?

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Sorry for making another question in such a small amount of time, but I was wondering if having a higher GHz than the reccomended processor will mean I can run it? Or is there more to it?

[Air]

If you compare Intel to AMD, Intel CPUs with the same clock speed do benefit from more performance. As well, actual clock speed numbers have not drastically changed in quite a while, while real-world performance has.

The best way to find out how to tell how one CPU fares against another is to look up benchmarks. The clock speed alone doesn't tell you enough at all.

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What if I'm comparing one AMD to another though?

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Also the benchmarks don't seem to work for me, since my PC and the stuff that came with it says my GHz is 3.4 but the site says it's 2.5.

[Azza ☠]

GHz (gigahertz) is a clock frequency. 1 billion cycles per second. So the higher the value the better. You can overclock this, your Motherboard/CPU might even have a Turbo mode to automatically increase this.

However, that's per core. Your CPU could also have multiple cores.

Intel i5 or i7 has quad core (4 cores). Then i7 also has hyperthreading which is like two doorways to each core, hense allow twice the processing to stack on it.

AMD might have 4, 6, or even 8 physical cores.

It will depend on the app/game programming to how well it makes use of these extra cores or hyperthreading. Normally your Operating System will use one core, while the app/games use the others.

Do you know your CPU model?

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My PC has four cores, I know that. It says it's a AMD Quad-core A10-7400P 3.4 GHz, but the benchmark site I went on said it's a 2.5 GHz core.

[SundownKid]

Only if it's within the same CPU model line and generation.

For example an i5-6500 is only 3.2Ghz but it's far more powerful than the FX-6300 at 3.5 GHz.

[Azza ☠]

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

My PC has four cores, I know that. It says it's a AMD Quad-core A10-7400P 3.4 GHz, but the benchmark site I went on said it's a 2.5 GHz core.

Turbo clock speed = 3.4 GHz.
Standard clock speed = 2.5 GHz.

It's fine. You will find your CPU is merely lower it's clock speed down when it's not busy. This helps keep it cooler and save power till it needs it. Under Windows it will probably run at 2.5 GHz as it's not high demand. Under a game, with power/cooling at good levels, it will kick into the turbo clock speed of 3.4 GHz.

Most benchmark tools just don't stress or load the CPU to see this.

[76109108007942031]

Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

My PC has four cores, I know that. It says it's a AMD Quad-core A10-7400P 3.4 GHz, but the benchmark site I went on said it's a 2.5 GHz core.

Turbo clock speed = 3.4 GHz.
Standard clock speed = 2.5 GHz.

It's fine. You will find your CPU is merely lower it's clock speed down when it's not busy. This helps keep it cooler and save power till it needs it. Under Windows it will probably run at 2.5 GHz as it's not high demand. Under a game, with power/cooling at good levels, it will kick into the turbo clock speed of 3.4 GHz.

Most benchmark tools just don't stress or load the CPU to see this.

Does it automatically overclock? Or do I have to do it manually?

[Azza ☠]

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

Turbo clock speed = 3.4 GHz.
Standard clock speed = 2.5 GHz.

It's fine. You will find your CPU is merely lower it's clock speed down when it's not busy. This helps keep it cooler and save power till it needs it. Under Windows it will probably run at 2.5 GHz as it's not high demand. Under a game, with power/cooling at good levels, it will kick into the turbo clock speed of 3.4 GHz.

Most benchmark tools just don't stress or load the CPU to see this.

Does it automatically overclock? Or do I have to do it manually?

It will automatically trigger.

The only thing which will prevent it, is if your CPU is overheating. In that case, it actually drops the clocks to try keep it under temperature. Or if it's a laptop and is currently running off battery, working as a power saving state.

Under your BIOS, it would be called "AMD Turbo Core" and is enabled by default.

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So would my processor that's 3.4 GHz when overclocked run a game that says needs 3.0 GHz to run?

[76109108007942031]

Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

Does it automatically overclock? Or do I have to do it manually?

It will automatically trigger.

The only thing which will prevent it, is if your CPU is overheating. In that case, it actually drops the clocks to try keep it under temperature. Or if it's a laptop and is currently running off battery, working as a power saving state.

Under your BIOS, it would be called "AMD Turbo Core" and is enabled by default.

Ok, is the GHz listed in a games requirement the amount needed when the processor isn't overclocked, or will an overclocked processor over that number work?

[Azza ☠]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBhu4rRIA8

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

So would my processor that's 3.4 GHz when overclocked run a game that says needs 3.0 GHz to run?

Yeah, that would be fine. It will boost you up to 3.4 GHz max.

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Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBhu4rRIA8

Ok I understand how it works now, but I was wondering if the GHz listed on Steams games is the overclocked amount you need? The game I was thinking about needed an AMD Athlon with 3.0 GHz without overclocking, so I was wondering if I needed a processor that reaches 3.0 GHz without overclocking?

[Azza ☠]

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBhu4rRIA8

Ok I understand how it works now, but I was wondering if the GHz listed on Steams games is the overclocked amount you need? The game I was thinking about needed an AMD Athlon with 3.0 GHz without overclocking, so I was wondering if I needed a processor that reaches 3.0 GHz without overclocking?

You can consider your turbo clock as the value to compare against game requirements.

It's not actually even overclocking as such, as the headroom is already there, the CPU is just using less to save power/heat till it's required (underclocked a bit till required for a high load).

Overclocking a CPU on the other hand, actually increases voltage to get higher clock speeds than that headroom would allow.

[76109108007942031]

Escrito originalmente por Azza ☠:

Escrito originalmente por Sir Illic:

Ok I understand how it works now, but I was wondering if the GHz listed on Steams games is the overclocked amount you need? The game I was thinking about needed an AMD Athlon with 3.0 GHz without overclocking, so I was wondering if I needed a processor that reaches 3.0 GHz without overclocking?

You can consider your turbo clock as the value to compare against game requirements.

It's not actually even overclocking as such, as the headroom is already there, the CPU is just using less to save power/heat till it's required.

Overclocking a CPU on the other hand, actually increases voltage to get higher clock speeds than that headroom would allow.

So if I'm reading this right I can compare my overclock value to the normal value of the reccomended CPU? Because if that's the case there's a whole bunch of games I just found out I can run.