Are All GHZ Created Equal on CPU's in Gaming

[ZweiGaming]

What is the difference in gaming between say my Q8300 and an i7 on a laptop running at the same speed. Iv been wondering this because my Q8300 is 7 almost 8 years old but its still able to run games like Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin on max at 60 fps, which confuses me because its giving me the same performance as my friends gaming laptop running an i7 at 2.4 ghz. So my question is are all GHZ equal? The most I know on this topic is a video posted by a guy on youtube called LinusTechTips doing an apples to apples comparison of an old cpu and a new i7 5960x nerfed to the same level and they were rather close in not so cpu intensive games

 

[PHaS3]

What is the difference in gaming between say my Q8300 and an i7 on a laptop running at the same speed. Iv been wondering this because my Q8300 is 7 almost 8 years old but its still able to run games like Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin on max at 60 fps, which confuses me because its giving me the same performance as my friends gaming laptop running an i7 at 2.4 ghz. So my question is are all GHZ equal?

No. Newer CPUs can do more work per "GHz" as they are able to process more instructions per clock. This means 2 different CPUs running at the same clock speed will differ in how quick they are for a given task. Your older Q8300 can still run the games you mention, but an i7 will run them faster. Naturally the difference varies between different tasks, and you are comparing a mobile i7 to a desktop Core2. This is why, as another example, a 5GHz AMD CPU will process tasks at the same rate as a 3.5GHz i5 (don't troll me guys, I'm talking 1 thread, 1 instruction).

Hope that makes sense

 

[BarbaricSoul]

simple answer, no

more complex answer, 2.4 ghz on one CPU is not the same as 2.4ghz on a different CPU running a different architecture. As newer CPU architectures are produced, they become more efficient, making them able to accomplish more in the same amount of time as a CPU of a older architecture. An i7 is a lot faster than a core2quad at the same GHz speed.

 

[mickel116]

the simple answer is no. there are IPC improvements in almost every generation. (lately less then before).
in you're scenario i would say the bottlenech is the GPU. as in most gaming situations, so you don't really feel the benefits of the IPC improvements.
to the question at hand, we need to know the generetion of the i7 to tell you what are the improvement per clock. its somwhere between 25-35% depends on the generation.

edit: wasn't fast enough ;-)

 

[BarbaricSoul]

to the question at hand, we need to know the generetion of the i7 to tell you what are the improvement per clock. its somwhere between 25-35% depends on the generation.

25-35% is the performance spread between Skylake and Sandy Bridge. I'd bet the difference between the C2Q and i7 is more like 45-50%

Here's the difference between the 2600k and Q9650-

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/49?vs=287

 

[ZweiGaming]

This is his laptop, https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_ROG_G750JW/specifications/

 

[GorbazTheDragon]

Haswell is pretty close to double the IPC of Core 2. When I was testing my E7200, it gives just over the performance of the haswell pentiums at double the clock speeds, so pretty crap.

I'd assume you are looking at a laptop with a 4700MQ or something similar, which is a hyperthreaded quad core, it will be a lot more powerful. However as far as games it really depends. Back when I played CoD4, I found the E7200 at 3.2GHz would max out at around 120 FPS at any resolution, while with my older (ivy bridge) laptop Icould get 250-300ish and my desktop can get to around 500, although the GPU is the limiting factor unless I turn the resolution down. On the other hand, I could run BF3 on the E7200, with a GTX670 it could sit pretty comfortably at 60-70 FPS, but it did have some stuttering. What GPU is your friend using on his laptop? My GTX670 with E7200 outperformed my laptop, which was a 3630QM and 670m (the 670m is equivalent to a downclocked GTX 560 desktop card)

Edit: Just saw the specs, the 765m is outperformed by your 750Ti. I'd assume that if he had a more powerful GPU he should get higher framerates.

 

[mickel116]

25-35% is the performance spread between Skylake and Sandy Bridge. I'd bet the difference between the C2Q and i7 is more like 45-50%

Here's the difference between the 2600k and Q9650-

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/49?vs=287

for that comparison you need to account for clock speed, and look at gaming benchmarks. the CPU's got a Lot better at professional work, and the improvements for gaming are less extreame.

and for the laptop at question, its at least 50% present faster then the the Q8300.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Haswell is pretty close to double the IPC of Core 2. When I was testing my E7200, it gives just over the performance of the haswell pentiums at double the clock speeds, so pretty crap.

I'd assume you are looking at a laptop with a 4700MQ or something similar, which is a hyperthreaded quad core, it will be a lot more powerful. However as far as games it really depends. Back when I played CoD4, I found the E7200 at 3.2GHz would max out at around 120 FPS at any resolution, while with my older (ivy bridge) laptop Icould get 250-300ish and my desktop can get to around 500, although the GPU is the limiting factor unless I turn the resolution down. On the other hand, I could run BF3 on the E7200, with a GTX670 it could sit pretty comfortably at 60-70 FPS, but it did have some stuttering. What GPU is your friend using on his laptop? My GTX670 with E7200 outperformed my laptop, which was a 3630QM and 670m (the 670m is equivalent to a downclocked GTX 560 desktop card)

Edit: Just saw the specs, the 765m is outperformed by your 750Ti. I'd assume that if he had a more powerful GPU he should get higher framerates.

Also, in case no one noticed, the "friend's" laptop runs 1600*900 resolution

for that comparison you need to account for clock speed, and look at gaming benchmarks. the CPU's got a Lot better at professional work, and the improvements for gaming are less extreame..

Kinda hard to find benchmark results for the C2Q series on newer games.

and for the laptop at question, its at least 50% present faster then the the Q8300.

ain't that pretty much what I said?

 

[Mussels]

What is the difference in gaming between say my Q8300 and an i7 on a laptop running at the same speed. Iv been wondering this because my Q8300 is 7 almost 8 years old but its still able to run games like Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin on max at 60 fps, which confuses me because its giving me the same performance as my friends gaming laptop running an i7 at 2.4 ghz. So my question is are all GHZ equal? The most I know on this topic is a video posted by a guy on youtube called LinusTechTips doing an apples to apples comparison of an old cpu and a new i7 5960x nerfed to the same level and they were rather close in not so cpu intensive games

as others have said, IPC (instructions per clock) matters a lot. Hz, MHz and GHz are simply measurements of time - think about RPM on an engine, a little two stroke lawnmower engine vs a V8 sports car... both at 3K RPM give out vastly different power.

 

[RejZoR]

Laptop CPU's have much more aggressive power saving, meaning they take longer to ramp up the clock and they slow down faster.

 

[ZweiGaming]

I wish i knew nearly as much as i did about computers when i ordered all this stuff 3 months ago

 

[mickel116]

ain't that pretty much what I said?

not really, you implied 45-50% IPC improvements, wich i am not complettly agree upon for gaming, but non the less, in this sample were comparing a 2.5 g.hz C2Q, to potentially 3.4 gh.z Haswell core.

 

[Mussels]

I wish i knew nearly as much as i did about computers when i ordered all this stuff 3 months ago

it changes over time, so it's not the kinda thing you can just learn and set it stone. 'whats the best' questions become irrelevant after a mere 6 months as new products launch and prices change so don't feel too bad.
at least your GPU is decent, so you can upgrade to a new CPU+mobo+ram very easily for a performance boost if you need it.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

not really, you implied 45-50% IPC improvements, wich i am not complettly agree upon for gaming, but non the less, in this sample were comparing a 2.5 g.hz C2Q, to potentially 3.4 gh.z Haswell core.

I implied nothing, you assumed I meant IPC. My comment was that the i7 was up to 50% faster. I made no mention of why it's faster. But to clarify what I meant, between the turbo boost capability, the faster IPC, and HT of the i7, the C2Q doesn't stand a chance at matching its' performance.

 

[mickel116]

But to clarify what I meant, between the turbo boost capability, the faster IPC, and HT of the i7, the C2Q doesn't stand a chance at matching its' performance.

i agree, guess i am bored at work, tried to come up with an argument ;-)

mike.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

it's all good, been there done that before

 

[ZweiGaming]

i agree, guess i am bored at work, tried to come up with an argument ;-)

mike.

i can understand that im bored at school thats why i asked this question partly

 

[EarthDog]

Like everyone has said... gaming is one thing, other applications completely different. For gaming, it really depends on the game as to how each CPU works with it.

All you need to do is look up some reviews for CPUs and gaming benchmarks that compare CPU performance (techspot) and see for yourself!

 

[ZweiGaming]

okay on another note would this be a good streaming machine? I was Going to start saving my money from each paycheck for a couple months till i was able to get this

 

[Mussels]

define 'streaming' - you mean for gaming and streaming your gaming live online?

If so it would suffice, but you probably would want an i7 for the extra CPU threads, as that kind of live video streaming/encoding is very CPU heavy.

 

[ZweiGaming]

define 'streaming' - you mean for gaming and streaming your gaming live online?

If so it would suffice, but you probably would want an i7 for the extra CPU threads, as that kind of live video streaming/encoding is very CPU heavy.

i figured that would be the case... there is an i7 2600k for $178 on amazon idk if thats a good deal or worth it

 

[Mussels]

i figured that would be the case... there is an i7 2600k for $178 on amazon idk if thats a good deal or worth it

its older - same gen as my hardware. still got a lot of power for what it is, and OC's fairly well.

 

[ZweiGaming]

im also prolly going to do a r9 380x depending how it does when it comes out

 

[rtwjunkie]

Just an additional comparison, I've got a system that has an i3-4160 in it. It overall feels snappier, and even most games play better with the same GTX 760 that the old QX9650 used to have. Both cpu speeds are/were 3.6GHz.

I then decided to do an Anand comparison and my gut was right, comparing an i3-4330 (closest I could find to a 4160), and the 4330 is faster for the most part.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/49?vs=1192